When she returned to report that Derek did not appear tl have suffered from the upheaval and, although still unco11 scious, was breathing stertorously, Hemmingway was just >' ishing laying the table.
Gervaise felt that, having survived the cataclysm, they were all entitled to a glass of wine from the limited stock for which they had been able to spare space in one of the store-rooms and, going down the hatchway, he brought up a couple of bottles of Bollinger.
When the meal was served they had to be careful how they ate it as, now that it was grounded again, tremors shook the Ark every few moments and just as they were finishing there was a moderately severe one which set them afloat for several minutes. But the food and wine did them good and at a quarter-past five they crawled into bed in a more cheerful mood than had been possible all through the long and anxious hours since the previous morning.
Such sleep as they got did little to refresh them as the sheeting rain drummed a tattoo on the top of the steel sphere, and tremors woke them which made them feel sick and queasy. About ten o'clock they foregathered once more in the living-room; a scarecrow crew, the two girls tousled, the men unshaven, Hemmingway with a three-day beard.
The skies were leaden grey and it was still raining, but daylight enabled them to examine the scene of desolation around them. Branches, uprooted bushes and whole trees were floating in the lake; and the meadows, too, were dotted with the debris of the storm. The entire landscape was haggard, dreary and depressing beyond description.
At breakfast, to which they sat down in dressing-gowns, they were rather silent; and, afterwards, Lavina declared that she was going to have a bath. The others voted it a good idea hut as it had been her suggestion, they naturally let her have first turn in the bathroom.
After she had been there for half an hour Margery called °ut to know how much longer she was going to be, but her cheerful treble came back to them:
'What's it matter how long I am? We've got all day before haven't we?'
She stayed there for a good hour and then disappeared into |he cabin which she shared with Margery. The others took their baths in turn, sat about, read and talked at intervals until 'Ur>chtime, while the rain descended without intermission, still frther swelling the lake. Margery prepared the meal as usual
H and the others laid the table. When it was ready they shouted to Lavina.
It was another ten minutes before she appeared and, when she did, they all stared at her in astonishment. Throughout the previous day she had worn the bedraggled garments in which she had spent her captivity and made her escape out of London: her only attempt to restore her appearance having been to comb her hair back flatly on her head in imitation of the Garbo. Now, however, she had selected a girlish summer dress from among the old clothes she had collected at the house before coming aboard the Ark, and had spent the entire morning beautifying her person. Her hair was curled; if not with the art of the professional hairdresser, at least in a simple and graceful fashion. Her nails were repainted and her make-up as perfect as if she had been going to a Royal Garden Party.
'Well, what are you all looking at?' she asked with supreme self-satisfaction.
'You, of course,' said Sam with a chuckle.
'Oh? What's wrong with me?' she smiled back innocently.
'Why, nothing. It's a joy to see you looking the Princess again. I like that little frock, too. It makes you appear even younger than you really are.'
'Thank you, darling.' She sat down at the table. 'I saw no reason why I should continue to go about looking like something the cat sicked up just because we have to remain cooped up in this thing for a day or two.'
Margery stiffened, and, apparently unable to contain herself, left the table. Dashing into the kitchen she slammed the door behind her.
Lavina looked up wide-eyed. 'What on earth's bitten her? she inquired, raising her carefully plucked eyebrows.
There was an awkward silence until Gervaise said: 'I fear she took your remark personally.'
'Naturally,' said Sam, with a worried glance at his beautiful young wife. 'Between clearing up after breakfast, looking after Derek, and preparing lunch she hasn't had a moment to tid> herself; whereas you've been gilding the lily the whole morning. I'm sure you didn't mean it, darling, but it was damned tactless of you, and you'd better go and apologise.'
Lavina's eyes snapped. 'Of course I didn't mean it. HoVf absurd! But Margery always was over-sensitive. She imagines that everyone is always thinking about her. I was only expressing a personal opinion as to the best way in which I can keep up my own morale while we have to remain here.'
'Well, you'd better go and tell her so,' said Sam.
'Certainly not. Why should I apologise for something I never said—or, at least, never intended to refer to her?'
'Margery can be very stupid sometimes,' said Gervaise quietly, 'but that's not her fault. I think it would be a gracious act, dearest, to tell her you weren't thinking about her at all, don't you?' He knew his Lavina infinitely better than Sam did, and she rose at once.
'Of course, you old sweet, if you want me to, and I'll offer to set her hair for her this evening into the bargain.'
When the two girls returned from the kitchen everyone began to talk at once, to cover Margery's embarrassment, and Lavina inquired quickly what Gervaise thought of Derek's prospects of recovery.
'He's still unconscious, as you know,' Gervaise said. 'J had a look at him several times during the night, and this morning we stripped him and washed him all over. He was in a shocking mess with bruises and cuts, but otherwise uninjured, apart from his head.'
'That'll be the packet he got when he was beaten up in Hyde Park,' declared Hemmingway, 'unless he's collected a fresh lot since.'
T don't think so,' Gervaise shook his grey head. 'All his major injuries were bandaged, so they're almost certainly the ones to which you attended three nights ago. I put fresh lint °n them, but until he comes round there's nothing else we can do.'
'I can't think why Roy wasn't with him,' remarked Oliver. 'It's been worrying me all night.'
'But they became separated in Hyde Park. We told you, Oliver, dear,' murmured Lavina, with a warning glance at Hemmingway.
'That's it,' he agreed, 'and Roy may still be quite all right. I expect most people are who had the sense to go underground Yesterday, and so avoid the rays of the comet.'
'Well, we can only hope so,' Oliver sighed.
Directly after lunch Lavina set about clearing the things and washing up without making any parade of doing so as, having decided to do it, her one idea was to get through the business as quickly as possible.
During the afternoon the weather cleared a little, but the tremors continued, and they sat about uneasily, disinclined to read as the shocks still made them feel sick and shaky every time they came. At four o'clock the sun broke through the clouds, but it was a pale, watery disc, quite unlike the splendid giver of light and life which had been blazing upon them throughout the mid-June days. Its sinister companion now having rushed from the heavens to bury itself in the North Pacific, the red radiance had disappeared, and, removing the coloured mica shades from the port-holes, they looked out once more upon a landscape of normal colours. The lake was greatly swollen from the hundreds of tons of water that had rushed into it both from the skies and down its slopes. The broken trees looked more bedraggled than ever, and the fields to the south were flooded as far as they could see.
What with Lavina's incessant smoking, Oliver's cheroots, and all the others puffing at cigarettes from time to time, the atmosphere of the big room had become so loaded that it was almost blue. On Margery's remarking on it, Gervaise suggested that they should get some air and exercise by walking round the circular landing-stage outside the Ark.