The Ballad and the Source (49 page)

‘Of course you won't be—what an absurd idea. Does he love Jackie?'

‘I think he hates her. I shouldn't have said that, forget it. The fact is, I doubt if he loves anybody. Perhaps he did once upon a time, before he—I believe he was engaged and broke it off, after the crash. Poor girl, whoever it was. I imagine her one of those long-legged outdoor English blondes. Perhaps he did love that old Mrs—I'll remember her name in half a tick. She was old enough to be his grandmother, but—well, I don't know, she didn't act like one. I suppose she must have been a famm fatall—and with that sort old age doesn't mean they're on the shelf. They've got something different from ordinary common or garden sex appeal. The same of course goes for Johnny, in a different way. You'll see for yourself.'

Then they have arrived before the hut, whose shell-encrusted­­­­ surface gleams and sparkles; beyond it, Johnny is to be seen in a wheel chair drawn up to a table upon which a chess-board is set out.

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About the Author

Rosamond Lehmann (1901–1990) was born on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral, in Buckinghamshire, England, the second of four children. In 1927, a few years after graduating from the University of Cambridge, she published her first novel, 
Dusty Answer
, to critical acclaim and instantaneous celebrity. Lehmann continued to write and publish between 1930 and 1976, penning works including
The Weather in the Streets
, 
The Ballad and the Source
, and the short memoir 
The Swan in the Evening
. Lehmann was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
 
(CBE) in 1982 and remains one of the most distinguished novelists of the twentieth century.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1944 by Rosamond Lehmann

Cover design by Andy Ross

978-1-5040-0771-9

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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