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.'Untamed.A slave to no-one.'Another interesting observation.'Actually, I was thinking about Samuel Coleridge,' I continued.Miss Lamb joined me at the gnarled whitewashed iron railings overlooking the ship's deep bow, and below that, the angry waves.'Water, water everywhere yet not a drop to drink?' she misquoted with a soft and gentle hint of laughter that was carried away on the wind.Beneath us, the sea seemed to join in with the merriment, its waves swishing and leaping as the ship cut straight through them.Psssht, fssschwt, psssht, fssschwt.Psssht, fssschwt, psssht, fssschwt.Psssht, fssschwt, psssht, fssschwt.I cleared my salt-lined throat.'"Like one that on a lonesome road doth walk in fear and dread, and having once turned round walks on, and no more turned his head,"' I replied.'Less famous, I know, but more imaginative.Or more applicable perhaps.''Social comment, surely?' asked Miss Lamb.'Coleridge was interested in romance and revolution, which is a delightfully dangerous combination at the best of times, wouldn't you agree? He wanted to create something he called a pantisocracy.Which was all fine and dandy, but it came to nothing.Then he got himself involved with all the opium, of course.And that didn't do him an awful lot of good at all.'I did not reply, merely resting next to her on the rails.I returned to watching the crashing waves.But I smiled at her from the side of my mouth, indicating that if I had been feeling so inclined, I could have debated 19th century literature with her for the rest of the voyage and well beyond.A moment of silence followed, broken, again, only by the sounds of the sea.Psssht, fssschwt, psssht, fssschwt.Psssht, fssschwt, psssht, fssschwt.Psssht, fssschwt, psssht, fssschwt.I glanced at the woman.For the first time, I noticed that she was wearing a bathrobe and cap and carrying a large, fluffy white towel monogrammed with the ship's initials.I wasn't usually anywhere near so unobservant.Clearly, I had other things on my mind.'Thinking of taking a dip?' I asked, incredulously.'Not in that, thank you,' she replied, looking at the sea.'There's a First Class swimming pool on deck four that is very beneficial to general health and beauty.Or, at least, that's what all the brochures say.''Never believe what's in the brochures,' I said, speaking from weary experience.'They always tell you lies.It's their raison d'être, so to speak.You seem.'I paused when changing the subject, aware that some delicacy might now be required if I were to continue with this line of conversation.'Somewhat less insane than I was last night?' she suggested with seemingly needless cruelty.'And somewhat more cordial than I was this morning?'I hastily gave her a hot and embarrassed denial as she turned away from the sea and slipped a pair of expensive looking sunglasses onto the bridge of her nose.The sea breeze ruffled what little of her hair was peeking out from beneath the white rubber of her cap.'It's amazing what a day of sunshine can do for you,' she continued.'You leave the darkness behind, so to speak.In more ways than one.Don't worry, I was just acting like a very silly little girl last night.A flibbertigibbet.Raymond Bryce wouldhave called me a right soft tart.'Yes, I could just imagine Bryce saying exactly such a thing.It amused me almost as much as it seemed to amuse Miss Lamb.'And I'll tell you something else, Doctor, he'd be just about damn right too,' she noted.'It's time to grow up, clearly.''Time,' I noted, 'is an abstract concept.I'll accompany you to the pool,' I continued, pointing in the direction of the steps down to the lower decks.'I could do with a little cheering up.''Poor Doctor,' said Miss Lamb, running a sympathetic hand down my arm and taking my hand.'Afflicted by the madness around him? A case of physician heal thyself, isn't it?''Ah, but if only it were all that simple,' I told her.That seemed to be becoming my catch phrase.'What would Coleridge have said about that?''"Never a soul took pity on me, my soul in agony"?' I suggested, somewhat fatuously.Miss Lamb wrinkled her nose as we reached the bulkhead and began to descend the clanking metal steps.'Miserable, rotten spiteful old so-andso,' she said.'No fun those poets.Except for Shelley.He knew how to show a girl a good time.And he did.Often.He was an anarchist, you know.'I nodded.'Indeed.An idealist.A romantic and a dreamer.A man of vision who lived his life in almost unbearable sadness.And he drowned on a pitiless sea just such as this.''Oh, your gloom is outrageous, dear Doctor,' Miss Lamb said, squeezing my hand tighter.'Cheer up, it may never happen.'Strangely, I did cheer up [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]