
36(a)
[3050] far as to shake her by the hand, which she hastily wiped, as soon as she
grasped my intention, on her apron.
[3051] When I had finished shaking it, that
flabby red hand, I did not let it go.
[3052] But I took one finger between the
tips of mine, drew it towards me and gazed at it.
[3053] And had I had any tears
to shed I should have shed them then, in torrents, for hours.
[3054] She must
have wondered if I was not on the point of making an attempt on her virtue.
[3055] I gave her back her hand, took the sandwiches and left her.
[3056] Martha had been a long time in my service.
[3057] I was often away from
home.
[3058] I had never taken leave of her in this way, but always off-
-handedly, even when a prolonged absence was to be feared, which was not
the case on this occasion.
[3059] Sometimes I departed without a word to her.
[3060] Before going into my son's room I went into my own.
[3061] I still had the
cigar in my mouth, but the pretty ash had fallen off.
[3062] I reproached myself
with this negligence.
[3063] I dissolved a sleeping powder in the milk.
[3064] He asked
for a report, he'll get his report.
[3065] I was going out with the tray when my
eyes fell on the two albums lying on my desk.
[3066] I wondered if I might not
relent, at any rate so far as the album of duplicates was concerned.
[3067] A
little while ago he had come here to fetch the thermometer.
[3068] He had been a
long time.
[3069] Had he taken advantage of the opportunity to secure some of
his favourite stamps?
[3070] I had not time to check them all.
[3071] I put down the
tray and looked for a few stamps at random, the Togo one mark carmine with
the pretty boat, the Nyassa 1901 ten reis, and several others.
[3072] I was very
fond of the Nyassa.
[3073] It was green and showed a giraffe [⁁]grazing off the top of
a palm-tree.
[3074] They were all there.
[3075] That proved nothing.
[3076] It only proved
that those particular stamps were there.
[3077] I finally decided that to go
back on my decision, freely taken and clearly stated, would deal a blow
to my authority which it was in no condition to sustain.
[3078] I did so with
sorrow.
[3079] My son was already sleeping.
[3080] I woke him.
[3081] He ate and drank,
- Segments
Molloy © 2016 Samuel Beckett Digital Manuscript Project.
Editors: Magessa O'Reilly, Dirk Van Hulle, Pim Verhulst and Vincent Neyt