Oh, I quite forgot the strainer, she said.
Never mind, Hatty.
Its because of my clients. I never strain theirs, so I forget when Im alone.
There was a plate of ginger-snaps and I accepted one for politeness sake. From the Old Steine, Aunt Augusta told me. Ye Olde Bunne Shoppe. You dont get gingersnaps like that anywhere else in the world.
And now they have turned it into a betting shop,
Hatty said. Pluto, dear? Was it Pluto?
No, Im sure it wasnt Pluto. I think it began with a T.
I cant think of anything classical beginning with T.
There was a point to his name.
There certainly was.
Historical.
Yes.
You remember the dogs, dear. They are in the photo too.
It was them gave Curran the idea.
The Revered, Aunt Augusta repeated again, and they laughed in unison at their private memory. I felt very much alone, so I took another ginger-snap.
The boy has a sweet tooth[51], Hatty remarked.
To think that little shop in the Old Steine survived two great wars.
Weve survived, Hatty replied, but they arent turning us into betting shops.
Oh, it will need an atom bomb to destroy us, Aunt Augusta said.
I thought it was time to speak. The situation in the Middle East is pretty serious, I said, judging from todays Guardian.
You can never tell, Hatty said, and they were both for a while buried in thought. Then my aunt picked out a tealeaf, put it on the back of her hand and slapped it with the other; it clung obstinately to a vein which was surrounded by what my mother used to call grave-marks.
Cant get rid of the fellow, Aunt Augusta said. I hope hes tall and handsome.
That isnt a stranger, Hatty corrected her. Thats the thought of a departed you cant get out of your mind.
Living or dead?
It could be either. How stiff does he feel?
If hes living I suppose it could be poor Wordsworth.
Wordsworth is dead, dear, Hatty said, a very long time ago.
Not my Wordsworth. Its stiff as wood. I wonder who a dead one could be.
Poor Curran perhaps.
I have thought a lot about him since I came to Brighton.
Would you like me to do a professional cup, dear, for you and your friend?
Nephew, Aunt Augusta corrected Hatty in her turn. It would be fun, dear.
Ill make another pot. The leaves have to be fresh and I use Lapsang Souchong[52] professionally, though I drink Ceylon Lapsang gives big leaves and good results.
When she came back after washing the pot and our cups my aunt said, You must let us pay.
I wouldnt dream of it, dear, not after all weve been through together.
With the Revered. They giggled again.
Hatty poured in the boiling water. She said, I dont let the pot draw. The leaves speak better fresh. She filled our cups. Now toss the tea away, dear, in this basin.
Ive got it, my aunt said. Hannibal.
Whos Hannibal?
The elephant that trod on Currans toe.
I do believe youre right, dear.
I was watching the tea and it came to me suddenly in a flash.
I often notice that with the leaves. Things come back. You are watching the leaves and things come back.
I suppose Hannibals dead too.
You cant tell, dear, with elephants.
She picked up my aunts cup and studied it closely. Its interesting, she said, very interesting.
Bad or good?
A bit of both.
Just tell me the good.
You are going to do a lot of travelling. With another person. You are going to cross the ocean. You are going to have many adventures.
With men?
That the leaves dont say, dear, but knowing you as I do, it wouldnt surprise me. You will be in danger of your life and liberty on more than one occasion.
You are going to do a lot of travelling. With another person. You are going to cross the ocean. You are going to have many adventures.
With men?
That the leaves dont say, dear, but knowing you as I do, it wouldnt surprise me. You will be in danger of your life and liberty on more than one occasion.
But Ill come through?
I see a knife or it might be a syringe.
Or it could be something else, Hatty you know what I mean?
There is some mystery in your life.
Thats nothing new.[53]
I see a lot of confusion a lot of running about this way and that. Im sorry, Augusta, but I cant see any peace at the close. Theres a cross. Perhaps you find religion. Or it could be a double-cross.
Ive always been interested in religion, my aunt said, ever since Curran.
Or it could be a bird, of course a vulture perhaps. Keep away from deserts. Hatty gave a sigh. Things dont come to me so easily as they once did. I exhaust myself with strangers.
But youll take one look at Henrys cup too, dear, wont you? Just one look.
She poured my tea away and looked in the cup. Men are difficult, she said. They have so many occupations beyond a womans knowledge and that affects the interpretation. I had a client once who said he was a bevel-edger. I dont know what he meant. Are you an undertaker?
No.
Theres something that looks like an urn. Do you see it there? On the left of the handle. Thats the recent past.
It might be an urn, I said, looking.
You will do a lot of travelling.
Thats not very likely. Ive always been rather stay-at-home. Its quite an adventure for me coming as far as Brighton.
Its in the future youre going to travel. Across the ocean. With a lady friend.
Perhaps hes coming with me, Aunt Augusta said. Its possible. The leaves dont lie. Theres a round thing like a target. Theres a mystery in your life too.
Ive only just discovered that, I said.
I see a lot of confusion too and running about. Just like in Augustas cup.
Thats most unlikely, I said. I lead a very regular life. A game of bridge once a week at the Conservative Club. And my garden, of course. My dahlias.
The target might be a flower, Hatty admitted. Forgive me. Im tired. Im afraid it was not a very good reading.
It was most interesting, I told her for politeness sake. But of course, Im no believer.
Have another ginger-snap, Hatty said.
Chapter 6
We had dinner that night at the Cricketers, a small public house nearly opposite a second-hand bookseller, where I saw a complete set of Thackeray for sale at a very reasonable price. I thought it would go well on my shelves below my fathers edition of the Waverly novels. Perhaps tomorrow I would come back and buy it. The thought gave me a warm feeling towards my father, a sense of something in common. I too would start at Volume I and continue to the end, and by the time that last volume was finished it would be time to begin again. Too many books by too many authors can be confusing, like too many shirts and suits. I like to change my clothes as little as possible. I suppose some people would say the same of my ideas, but the bank had taught me to be wary of whims. Whims so often end in bankruptcy.
When I wrote that we had dinner at the Cricketers, it would have been more correct to say we ate a substantial snack. There were baskets of warm sausages on the bar, and we helped ourselves and washed the sausages down with draught Guinness. I was surprised by the number of glasses my aunt could put down and feared a little for her blood pressure.
After her second pint she said, It was odd about that cross. In the leaves I mean. Ive always been interested in religion ever since I knew Curran.
What church do you attend? I asked. Didnt you tell me you were a Roman Catholic?
I call myself that for convenience, she said. It belongs to my French and Italian periods. After I left Curran. I suppose he had influenced me, and then all the girls I knew were Catholic and I didnt like to look superior. I expect youd be surprised to hear that we ran a church once ourselves me and Curran, here in Brighton.
Ran? I dont understand.
It was the performing dogs that gave us the idea. Two of them came to see Curran in hospital before the circus moved on. It was visiting day and there were a lot of women around to see their husbands. At first the dogs werent allowed into the ward. There was quite a fuss, but Curran got round matron, telling her they werent ordinary dogs, they were human dogs. Bathed in disinfectant they were, he told her, every dog, before they were allowed to give a performance. It wasnt true, of course, but he was very convincing. They came up to the bed, wearing their pointed hats and pierrot collars, and each gave Curran a paw to shake and touched his face with its nose like an Eskimo. Then they were taken quickly away in case the doctor might appear. You should have heard those women. The darlings, the sweet little doggies. It was lucky neither of them had raised a leg. Just like humans. One woman said, You cant tell me that dogs havent got souls. Another one asked, Are they gentleman doggies or lady doggies? as though she had been too refined to look. One of each, Curran said, and just out of devilry he added, They are married as a matter of fact. Oh, isnt that too sweet? Oh, the darlings. And have any little doggies come yet? Not yet, Curran said. You see, they have only been married a month. At the doggies church in Potters Bar. Married in church? they squealed and I really thought hed gone too far, but how they swallowed it down! They all gathered round Currans bed and left their husbands abandoned. Not that the husbands minded. Visiting day is always a horrible reminder of home to a man.
My aunt took another sausage and ordered another Guinness. They all wanted to know about the church in Potters Bar. And to think, one said, we have to leave our doggies at home when we go to Saint Ethelburgas. My dog is as good a Christian as the vicar is with his raffles and his tea-fights. Once a year, Curran said, they have a collection of dog biscuits. To help the poor strays. When at last they left us alone and went back to their husbands I said, Youve started something, and Why not? Curran said.
My aunt put down her glass and asked the woman behind the bar, Did you ever hear of the doggies church?
I seem to remember hearing something, but it was donkeys years ago[54], wasnt it? Long before my time. Somewhere in Hove, wasnt it?
No, dear. Not a hundred yards from where you are standing now. We used to come to the Cricketers after the service. The Rev. Curran and me.
Didnt the police interfere or something?
They tried to make out that he had no right to the title of Rev. But we pointed out that it stood for Revered and not Reverend in our church, and we didnt belong to the established. They couldnt touch us, we were breakaways like Wesley[55], and we had all the dog-owners of Brighton and Hove behind us they even came over from as far as Hastings. The police tried to get us once under the Blasphemy Act, but nobody could find any blasphemy in our services. They were very very solemn. Curran wanted to start the churching of bitches after the puppies came, but I said that was going too far even the Church of England had abandoned churching. Then there was the question of marrying divorced couples I thought it would treble our income, but there it was Curran who stood firm. We dont recognize divorce, he said, and was quite right it would have sullied the sentiment.