Free The Gobi Desert

disdain:
    â€˜It’s one of them, at any rate! But not the type which we need. It’s as big as our Mikado, at the very most.’
    After a moment’s reflection he added: ‘Do you want to get a better idea of it? That sheep that was bleating a moment ago. Well, between the sound of that bleating and the cry of the beast you just heard, there has to be the same distance between that latter cry and that of the nice little animal that we are looking for. Do you understand? Very good! I hope you’re not regretting anything, are you?’
    I was silent, and as if for one last time, it was the cry of the beast which seemed to reply for me:
    â€˜Ahong! . . . Ahong!. . . ’

VII

    So it was on that Friday five weeks earlier that we had all left Fouzan: Alzire, Otto Streep, and the Mikado in the morning, heading for Macao and Sydney, via Singapore; Jack Sanders and I for Tien-Tsin in the afternoon. Everything had proceeded exactly according to plan.
    On the other hand, who could have imagined, and then conveyed, the atmosphere of those last hours spent together with Alzire, a mixture of solemnity and wonder, of sadness and serenity, all at the same time? The sorrow she felt in leaving me could be seen only too clearly on her face, in her silences, in the way she suddenly stopped laughing. But on the other hand, she still possessed a joy for life, and a compensation in seeing me with a task which fully engaged me. ‘You will begin to understand,’ she said to me on several occasions, ‘how much I suffered when I accused myself for having been a bad influence on you, when all along, as you well know, I only had one desire, and that was to see you working.’
    Dear Alzire, in those last moments, one could say that we were not often out of each other’s arms, and I’m not talking only about night time, that goes without saying, but also during the day. How had we managed to live for so many long years without knowing each other? That was what we spent our time wondering about.
    In the end it was only Mme Domestici of our little circle who was left in a bad mood. The consolation of having had her bill paid wasn’t enough for her. She would not have been upset, I’m sure, to keep me as I was in the condition which we have seen. But she ended up by taking part in her own downfall, as I did by making my peace with her. I was at one of those points in life when you wonder what good it can do to have enemies.
    It was already Wednesday morning. ‘There’s a lot more to talk about,’ Sanders had said to me the day before. ‘We haven’t settled anything yet. I like your confidence, of course. But all the same we must have a serious talk. Make sure you come to the Myako
this afternoon.’
    Alzire was trying on a simple little dress when I got back after my meeting with Sanders. When I came in she saw me in her wardrobe mirror, and she also saw the sort of feverish joy which I was unable to hide.
    â€˜What’s up with you, Michel?’
    â€˜Just take a look at this.’ I put in front of her a cheque for two thousand dollars. That’s right, for two thousand dollars.
    She turned pale. ‘What’s all this money?’
    â€˜Good honest American money, as you can see. It doesn’t all belong to me. But all the same there is one thousand, three hundred and sixty dollars which is mine. Almost thirty-five thousand francs, if I calculate correctly.’
    She abandoned trying on her dress and sat down. She was no longer looking at the cheque. Now she was looking at me.
    â€˜I don’t understand. Was it Mr Sanders who gave you this money?’
    â€˜Who would you want it to be?’ I asked triumphantly. ‘Besides, his signature is perfectly legible. Didn’t I tell you I had a meeting with him to talk about our contract? I’ve just this minute left him. He showed me the greatest consideration and let me have the rest of the day to