Agatha Christie The Hollow Chapter I At 6:13 a.m. ... - bzelbublive.info

job, that jobs weren't easy to get, and that the holding down of a job entailed moreunpleasantnesses than the mere performing of a stipulated task. Up till thenEdward had vaguely accepted the fact that a great many young women had "jobs"nowadays. If he had thought about it at all, he had thought that, on the whole, theyhad jobs becausethey liked jobs--that it flattered their sense of independence and gave them aninterest of their own in life. The fact that a working day of nine to six, with an hour offfor lunch, cut a girl off from most of the pleasures and relaxations of a leisuredclass had simply not occurred to Edward. That Midge, unless she sacrificed herlunch hour, could not drop into a picture gallery, that she could not go to an afternoonconcert, drive out of town on a fine summer's day, lunch in a leisurely way at a distantrestaurant, but had instead to relegate her excursions into the country to Saturdayafternoons and Sundays and to snatch her lunch in a crowded Lyons or a snack barwas a new and unwelcome discovery. He was very fond of Midge. Little Midge--thatwas how he thought of her. Arriving shy and wide-eyed at Ainswick for the holidays,tongue-tied at first, then opening up into enthusiasm and affection. Edward'stendency to live exclusively in the past, and to accept the present dubiously assomething as yet untested, had delayed his recognition of Midge as a wage-earningadult. It was on that evening at The Hollow when he had come in cold and shiveringfrom that strange upsetting clash with Henrietta and when Midge had knelt tobuild up the fire, that he had been first aware of a Midge who was not an affectionatechild but a woman. It had been an upsetting vision--he had felt for a moment thathe had lost something-- something that was a precious part of Ainswick.And he had said impulsively, speaking out of that suddenly aroused feeling, "I wishI saw you more often. Midge my dear. ..." Standing outside in the moonlight, speakingto a Henrietta who was no longer, suddenly, the familiar Henrietta he had loved for solong--he had known sudden panic. And he had come in to a further disturbance ofthe set pattern which was his life. Little Midge was also a part of Ainswick--and thiswas no longer Little Midge--but a courageous and sad-eyed adult whom he did notknow. Ever since then he had been troubled in his mind, and had indulged in agood deal of self-reproach for the unthinking way in which he had never botheredabout Midge's happiness or comfort. The idea of her uncongenialjob at Madame Alfrege's had worried him more and more, and he had determinedat last to see for himself just what this dress shop of hers was like. Edward peeredsuspiciously into the show window at a little black dress with a narrow gold belt,some rakish-looking, skimpy jumper suits, and an evening gown of rather tawdrycoloured lace. Edward knew nothing about women's clothes except by instinct buthad a shrewd idea that all these exhibits were somehow of a meretricious order. No,he thought, this place was not worthy of her. Someone-- Lady Angkatell,perhaps--must do something about it. Overcoming his shyness with an effort,Edward straightened his slightly stooping