فصل سوم

Chapter three

After Sarah left the lounge, Dr Gerard moved and sat nearer to the Boynton family. He was curious about them and wanted to look at them more closely from a professional point of view, as a doctor. He pretended to read a newspaper, while looking at each of the family in turn.

Dr Gerard had guessed that Raymond Boynton and Sarah were attracted to each other, so first he looked at Raymond. The young man looked sensitive and clever. ‘But why,’ thought Dr Gerard, ‘is he so nervous and excited?’

Raymond’s sister Carol was also nervous. She kept moving in her chair and looking around her, as if she couldn’t relax. ‘And she is afraid,’ decided Dr Gerard. ‘Yes, she is afraid! But why?’

The Boynton family’s conversation - about the tourist sights they would visit tomorrow - sounded normal. But Dr Gerard thought that their words were hiding something. Underneath the surface there was some other emotion - though he didn’t know what that emotion was.

Next Dr Gerard looked at the elder brother, whose name was Lennox. Lennox didn’t seem to be as nervous as Raymond and Carol. Instead he looked very tired - exhausted.

He didn’t seem to care about anything. Dr Gerard was reminded of people he had seen in hospital. ‘He is exhausted - yes, exhausted with suffering.’ thought the doctor. ‘Now he just waits, waits for the end to come.’

Finally he looked at the youngest daughter - the girl with the red-gold hair. She was about nineteen, with a thin, beautiful face. She was sitting very still, and smiling calmly at nothing. But then Dr Gerard saw her hands - under the table they were busy tearing a delicate handkerchief to pieces.