Free (1941) Up at the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham Page A

and felt she must see for
herself that everything was in order. She slipped on her dressing gown and went
down into the dining room and so to the kitchen. If by any chance one of the
servants heard her she could -say that she had awakened hungry and had gone
down to see if she could find something to eat. The house seemed fearfully
empty and the kitchen a great gloomy cavern. She found the bacon on the table
and put it back in the larder. She threw the broken eggshells into a pail under
the sink, washed the two glasses and the plates she and Karl had used, and put
them in their proper places. She put the frying-pan on its hook. There was
nothing now to excite suspicions and she crept back to the bedroom. She took a
sleeping draught and turned out the light. She hoped the tablets would not take
long to act, but she was utterly exhausted, and while she was saying to herself
that if she didn't sleep soon she would go mad, she fell asleep.

     
    6
    WHEN Mary opened her eyes she saw Nina standing by her
side.
    `What is 0' she asked sleepily.
    `It's very late, Signora. The Signora has to be in the
Villa Bolognese at one and its twelve already.’
    Suddenly Mary remembered and a pang of anguish pierced
her heart. Wide awake now, she looked at the maid. She was as usual smiling and
friendly. Mary gathered her wits together.
    `I couldn't get to sleep again after you woke me. I
didn't want to lie awake the rest of the night, so I took a couple of my little
tablets.’
    `I'm very sorry, Signora. I heard a sound and I thought
I'd better come and see if anything was wrong.’
    `What sort of a sound?'
    `Well, like a shot. I remembered the revolver that the
Signore had left with you, and I was frightened.’
    `It must have been a car on the road. At night sound
travels so far. Get me a cup of coffee and then I'll have my bath. I shall have
to hurry.’
    As soon as Nina left the room Mary jumped up and went to
the drawer in which she had hidden the revolver. For one moment she had been
afraid that Nina had found it while she lay fast asleep and taken it away. Her
husband Ciro could have told her at once that a chamber had been discharged.
But the revolver was still there. While she waited for her coffee she reflected
intently. She saw why Rowley had insisted that she should go to that luncheon
party. There must be nothing in her behaviour that was not quite natural; for his
sake now as well as for her own she trust be careful. She felt infinitely
grateful to him. He had kept cool, be had thought of everything; who would have
thought that that idle waster had so much grit in him! What would have happened
to her if he hadn't kept his head when the drunken Italians in the car had come
upon them at the most dangerous moment? She sighed. Perhaps he wasn't a very
useful member of society, but he was a good friend; no one could deny that.
When Mary had had a cup of coffee and her bath, when she sat at her dressing
table and arranged her face, she began to feel much more herself. It was
astonishing to see that notwithstanding what she had gone through, she looked
no different. All that terror, all those tears had left no trace. She looked
alert and well. Her honey-coloured skin showed no sign of fatigue; her hair
shone and her eyes were bright. She felt a certain excitement steal over her;
it gave her a kick to look forward to that luncheon where she would have to
give a performance of high spirits and careless gaiety which would lead them
all to say when she left: Mary was in wonderful form today. She had forgotten
to ask Rowley if he had accepted the invitation he had said he had got; she
hoped he would be there, it would give her confidence. At last she was ready to
go. She took a last glance at herself in the mirror. Nina gave her a fond smile.
    `The Signora is looking more beautiful than I've ever
seen her.’
    `You mustn't flatter me so much, Nina.’
    `But it's true. A good sleep has done you