THE ENGLISH GARDENS
237
She left the table as Meredith came to sit down.
So
few
women came to this bar that she had the women's room to her–
self. Traveler's checks signed, a quick inspection in the mirror, a
decision to leave, right away, with Meredith, took five minutes.
She came back to the table, passing the checks to Nicolas
smoothly, as she took her place. Refusing the next round of
drinks, she suggested to Meredith that she would like to go home.
He was surprised. She said, firmly, "Yes, I think I'd like to get
back."
"All right! Let me finish this beer." He was attempting to
preserve some independence in front of his friends.
But Mary Jane's habit was that once a bargain had been
completed, the price paid, she wanted things her way. She 'saw
money as a clarifier. She never had stores send purchases, for
example, she always carried them. "Of course," she told Mere–
dith, "I can go alone."
"No, no. Come on," he said, gulping his beer.
"You goin?" Nicolas asked, showing surprise. Actually, he
was anxious to have a look at the checks, just to make sure, and
he was on
his
feet clearing the way even as he asked.
Meredith, always courteous, and in this case determined
to
make his exit his own, stepped behind Mary Jane, who only
nodded and went off to the door. His farewells took a minute too
long. Her impatience, shortening in a logarithmic curve, gave
out. She was on the street and, with her usual good luck, getting
into a taxi when he rushed out to find her.
"Hey!" was all that he managed before the black Mercedes
moved away. He trotted a few steps, stopped, frowned, and stood
there, irresolute.
Inside, the Germans speculated. They imagined that Mary
Jane and Nicolas had made a later appointment. They told
themselves that Meredith would come back in, alone. Ahnost in–
stantly, they were proved correct.
Sitting down, deliberately indifferent, Meredith only said,
"She took off."
