Читать книгу The Complete Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald онлайн

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“How would you like to go to Château-Thierry with me tomorrow?” he asked her one evening.

The name struck a chord in Milly. It was at Château-Thierry that Jim Cooley, at the risk of his life, had made his daring expedition between the lines.

“My husband was there,” she said proudly.

“So was I,” he remarked. “And I didn’t have any fun at all.”

He thought for a moment.

“How old are you?” he asked suddenly.

“Eighteen.”

“Why don’t you go to a lawyer and get a divorce?”

The suggestion shocked Milly.

“I think you’d better,” he continued, looking down at the pavement. “It’s easier here than anywhere else. Then you’d be free.”

“I couldn’t,” she said, frightened. “It wouldn’t be fair. You see, he doesn’t—”

“I know,” he interrupted. “But I’m beginning to think that you’re spoiling your life with this man. Is there anything except his war record to his credit?”

“Isn’t that enough?” answered Milly gravely.

“Milly—” He raised his eyes. “Won’t you think it over carefully?”

She got up uneasily. He looked very honest and safe and cool sitting there, and for a moment she was tempted to do what he said, to put the whole thing in his hands. But looking at him she saw now what she hadn’t seen before, that the advice was not disinterested—there was more than an impersonal care for her future in his eyes. She turned away with a mixture of emotions.