Page 398 - tender-is-the-night

moved; in the same slow manner he caught her wrist and
drew her near.
‘You ruined me, did you?’ he inquired blandly. ‘Then
we’re both ruined. So—‘
Cold with terror she put her other wrist into his grip. All
right, she would go with him—again she felt the beauty of
the night vividly in one moment of complete response and
abnegation—all right, then—
—but now she was unexpectedly free and Dick turned
his back sighing. ‘Tch! tch!’
Tears streamed down Nicole’s face—in a moment she
heard some one approaching; it was Tommy.
‘You found him! Nicole thought maybe you jumped
overboard, Dick,’ he said, ‘because that little English poule
slanged you.’
‘It’d be a good setting to jump overboard,’ said Dick
mildly.
‘Wouldn’t it?’ agreed Nicole hastily. ‘Let’s borrow lifep-
reservers and jump over. I think we should do something
spectacular. I feel that all our lives have been too re-
strained.’
Tommy sniffed from one to the other trying to breathe
in the situation with the night. ‘We’ll go ask the Lady Beer-
and-Ale what to do—she should know the latest things.
And we should memorize her song ‘There was a young lady
from l’enfer.’ I shall translate it, and make a fortune from its
success at the Casino.’
‘Are you rich, Tommy?’ Dick asked him, as they retraced
the length of the boat.

398 Tender is the Night