The Man in the Brown Suit Agatha Christie (i read books .TXT) đ
- Author: Agatha Christie
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âHow did it come about?â I asked.
âWe were both recklessâ âanxious to get killed. One night we exchanged identification discsâ âfor luck! Lucas was killed the next dayâ âblown to pieces.â
I shuddered.
âBut why didnât you tell me now? This morning? You couldnât have doubted my caring for you by this time?â
âAnne, I didnât want to spoil it all. I wanted to take you back to the island. Whatâs the good of money? It canât buy happiness. Weâd have been happy on the island. I tell you Iâm afraid of that other lifeâ âit nearly rotted me through once.â
âDid Sir Eustace know who you really were?â
âOh, yes.â
âAnd Carton?â
âNo. He saw us both with Nadina at Kimberley one night, but he didnât know which was which. He accepted my statement that I was Lucas, and Nadina was deceived by his cable. She was never afraid of Lucas. He was a quiet chapâ âvery deep. But I always had the devilâs own temper. Sheâd have been scared out of her life if sheâd known that Iâd come to life again.â
âHarry, if Colonel Race hadnât told me, what did you mean to do?â
âSay nothing. Go on as Lucas.â
âAnd your fatherâs millions?â
âRace was welcome to them. Anyway, he would make a better use of them than I ever shall. Anne, what are you thinking about? Youâre frowning so.â
âIâm thinking,â I said slowly, âthat I almost wish Colonel Race hadnât made you tell me.â
âNo. He was right. I owed you the truth.â
He paused, then said suddenly:
âYou know, Anne, Iâm jealous of Race. He loves you tooâ âand heâs a bigger man than I am or ever shall be.â
I turned to him, laughing.
âHarry, you idiot. Itâs you I wantâ âand thatâs all that matters.â
As soon as possible we started for Cape Town. There Suzanne was waiting to greet me, and we disembowelled the big giraffe together. When the revolution was finally quelled, Colonel Race came down to Cape Town and at his suggestion the big villa at Muizenberg that had belonged to Sir Lawrence Eardsley was reopened and we all took up our abode in it.
There we made our plans. I was to return to England with Suzanne and to be married from her house in London. And the trousseau was to be bought in Paris! Suzanne enjoyed planning all these details enormously. So did I. And yet the future seemed curiously unreal. And sometimes, without knowing why, I felt absolutely stifledâ âas though I couldnât breathe.
It was the night before we were to sail. I couldnât sleep. I was miserable, and I didnât know why. I hated leaving Africa. When I came back to it, would it be the same thing? Would it ever be the same thing again?
And then I was startled by an authoritative rap on the shutter. I sprang up. Harry was on the stoep outside.
âPut some clothes on, Anne, and come out. I want to speak to you.â
I huddled on a few garments, and stepped out into the cool night airâ âstill and scented, with its velvety feel. Harry beckoned me out of earshot of the house. His face looked pale and determined and his eyes were blazing.
âAnne, do you remember saying to me once that women enjoyed doing the things they disliked for the sake of someone they liked?â
âYes,â I said, wondering what was coming.
He caught me in his arms.
âAnne, come away with meâ ânowâ âtonight. Back to Rhodesiaâ âback to the island. I canât stand all this tomfoolery. I canât wait for you any longer.â
I disengaged myself a minute.
âAnd what about my French frocks?â I lamented mockingly.
To this day Harry never knows when Iâm in earnest and when Iâm only teasing him.
âDamn your French frocks. Do you think I want to put frocks on you? Iâm a damned sight more likely to want to tear them off you. Iâm not going to let you go, do you hear? Youâre my woman. If I let you go away, I may lose you. Iâm never sure of you. Youâre coming with me nowâ âtonightâ âand damn everybody.â
He held me to him, kissing me until I could hardly breathe.
âI canât do without you any longer, Anne. I canât indeed. I hate all this money. Let Race have it. Come on. Letâs go.â
âMy toothbrush?â I demurred.
âYou can buy one. I know Iâm a lunatic, but for Godâs sake, come!â
He stalked off at a furious pace. I followed him as meekly as the Barotsi woman I had observed at the falls. Only I wasnât carrying a frying pan on my head. He walked so fast that it was very difficult to keep up with him.
âHarry,â I said at last, in a meek voice, âare we going to walk all the way to Rhodesia?â
He turned suddenly and with a great shout of laughter gathered me up in his arms.
âIâm mad, sweetheart, I know it. But I do love you so.â
âWeâre a couple of lunatics. And, oh, Harry, you never asked me, but Iâm not making a sacrifice at all! I wanted to come!â
XXXVIThat was two years ago. We still live on the island. Before me, on the rough wooden table, is the letter that Suzanne wrote me.
Dear Babes in the Woodâ âDear Lunatics in Love,
Iâm not surprisedâ ânot at all. All the time weâve been talking Paris and frocks I felt that it wasnât a bit realâ âthat youâd vanish into the blue some day to be married over the tongs in the good old gipsy fashion. But you are a couple of lunatics! This idea of renouncing a vast fortune is absurd. Colonel Race wanted to argue the matter, but I have persuaded him to leave the argument to time. He can administer the estate for Harryâ âand none better. Because, after all, honeymoons donât last foreverâ âyouâre not here, Anne, so I can safely say that without having you
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