Читать книгу The Complete Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald онлайн

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“You don’t know him,” she exclaimed quickly. “You can’t judge.”

“I can judge from what he did to you. I think this shell-shock business is all a plain lie. And what does it matter what he did five years ago?”

“It matters to me,” cried Milly. She felt herself growing a little angry. “You can’t take that away from him. He acted brave.” Driscoll nodded.

“That’s true. But other men were brave.”

“You weren’t,” she said scornfully. “You just said you were scared to death—and when you said it all the people laughed. Well, nobody laughed at Jim—they gave him a medal because he wasn’t afraid.”

When Milly had said this she was sorry, but it was too late now. At his next words she leaned forward in surprise.

“That was a lie too,” said Bill Driscoll slowly. “I told it because I wanted them to laugh. I wasn’t even in the attack.”

He stared silently down the hill.

“Well then,” said Milly contemptuously, “how can you sit here and say things about my husband when—when you didn’t even—”

“It was only a professional lie,” he said impatiently. “I happened to be wounded the night before.”