Free I Would Rather Stay Poor by James Hadley Chase Page A

her relax.
    ‘Have you said that to Kit?’ she asked.
    ‘Yes. I told her you should marry him. I can’t see any obje ctions, but I’ll talk to her again. Don’t you worry about this. When Kit and I marry, I plan to s tart a rooming-house in Florida. She and I will run it. I’m going to persuade her to leave you here to marry Ken. Would that suit you?’
    ‘Of course.’ She leaned forward, her face a nimated. ‘Do you think you can persuade her?’
    Calvin grinned.
    ‘I’ m pretty good at persuading people. I think I can . ’
    ‘I didn’t know you planned to go to Florida. Kit said nothing about that. What’s going to happen to Miss Pearson and Major Hardy?’
    ‘Perhaps the new owner will take them on. Kit is going to sell the house.’
    ‘When it’ s sold then I can get married?’ Iris asked.
    ‘Tha t’s the idea. Don’t worry about it. I’ll fix it. I’m good at fixing things.’
    She was now looking ad m i ringly at him and this pleased him.
    ‘Yes … I’m sure you are. I’m so glad I came to see you.’ She paused, hesitated, then said, ‘There’s one other thing … I don’t know if I should tell you.’
    Calvin stubbed out h is cigarette.
    ‘Tha t’ s up to you. I’d like to think you had confidence in me. What is it?’
    ‘You do love Kit, don ’t you?’
    Calvin frowned.
    ‘Tha t’s an odd question. I’m going to marry her. Of course I love her. What is it?’
    ‘I think you should know that she is an ex-alcoho li c,’ Iris said. ‘She’s all right now, but she mustn’t ever drink alcohol. If she does, the doctor tells me, she will become an alcoholic again. So please don’t ever ask her to join you in a drink. I don’t know if you like a drink, but if it means little to you, it would be much safer and much better if you never had alcohol in your home when you marry and settle down.’
    Calvin stared at her for several long moments. He began to hum tunelessly under hi s breath. Judas! he was thinking, so tha t’ s it! I’ ve gone into partnership for murder and robbery with an ex-alcoholic and she’s already hi tting the bottle again. Judas!
    ‘You know it is a disease,’ Iris said, a little shocked to see a sudden glaring flash light up Calvin’s staring eyes. It was gone in a brief moment, but his fleshy face was now expressionless, his almost lipless mou th like a pencil line. ‘I t’s like diabetes. So long as she doesn’t touch alcohol she’ll be perfec tl y all right. I – I thought I should tell you.’
    ‘Yes … thank you.’ With an effort he relaxed and smiled at her. ‘I’m glad to know. Poor Kit ! I had no idea. Well, now you’ve told me I’ll watch out. I don’t drink much myself. I can easily do without and I wi l l.’
    Iris looked curiously at him. That brief flash in his eyes had frightened her, but now the c harm was back again and she won dered if she had imagined the vicious, frightening glare.
    He got to his feet.
    ‘Well, as far as your affairs are concerned,’ he said, ‘just be patient. As soon as we leave Pi ttsv il le, you can marry your nice young sheriff.’
    When she had gone, he sat behind his desk and lit a cigarette.
    An alcoholic! The most unreliable, dangerous partner he could have chosen! And as the days dragged on towards the end of the month, he became aware that he was going to have trouble with it. She began to avoid him, and he guessed she was not only drinking, but losing her nerve. Whenever he ran into her, and he made a point of searching her out , he saw the obvious signs of h er slow deterioration. He could see she hadn’t been sleeping. She was losing weight and her complexion wa s becoming like wax.
    As soon as he had convinced himself she was drinking heavily, he left her alone. Alice and the old couple had already been told of their engagement. Calvin now spent much of his time in his room. From time to time, he would creep downstairs and remove Alice’s hat and coat to keep up the illusion that