第95章

SECONDWATCHAnalibi。Youarecautioned。

BLOOM(Producesfromhisheartpocketacrumpledyellowflower。)

Thisistheflowerinquestion。ItwasgivenmebyamanIdon’tknowhisname。(Plausibly。)Youknowthatoldjoke，roseofCastille。Bloom。

ThechangeofnameVirag。(Hemurmursprivatelyandconfidentially。)

Weareengagedyousee，sergeant。Ladyinthecase。Loveentanglement。

(Heshouldersthesecondwatchgently。)Dashitall。It’sawaywegallantshaveinthenavy。Uniformthatdoesit。(Heturnsgravelytothefirstwatch。)Still，ofcourse，youdogetyourWaterloosometimes。

DropinsomeeveningandhaveaglassofoldBurgundy。(Tothesecondwatchgaily。)I’llintroduceyou，inspector。She’sgame。Doitinshakeofalamb’stail。

(Adarkmercurialisedfaceappears，leadingaveiledfigure。)

THEDARKMERCURYTheCastleislookingforhim。Hewasdrummedoutofthearmy。

MARTHA(Thickveiled，acrimsonhalterroundherneck，acopyoftheIrishTimesinherhand，intoneofreproach，pointing。)Henry！Leopold！

Leopold！Lionel，thoulostone！Clearmyname。

FIRSTWATCH(Sternly。)Cometothestation。

BLOOM(Scared，hatshimselfstepsback，then，pluckingathisheartandliftinghisrightforearmonthesquare，hegivesthesignanddueguardoffellowcraft。)No，no，worshipfulmaster，lightoflove。Mistakenidentity。TheLyonsmail。LesurquesandDubosc。YouremembertheChildsfratricidecase。Wemedicalmen。Bystrikinghimdeadwithahatchet。I

amwrongfullyaccused。Betteroneguiltyescapethanninetyninewrongfullycondemned。

MARTHA(Sobbingbehindherveil。)Breachofpromise。MyrealnameisPeggyGriffin。Hewrotetomethathewasmiserable。I’lltellmybrother，theBectiveruggerfullback，onyou，heartlessflirt。

BLOOM(Behindhishand。)She’sdrunk。Thewomanisinebriated。

(HemurmursvaguelythepastofEphraim。)Shitbroleeth。

SECONDWATCH(Tearsinhiseyes，toBloom。)Yououghttobethoroughlywellashamedofyourself。

BLOOMGentlemanofthejury，letmeexplain。Apuremare’snest。Iamamanmisunderstood。Iambeingmadeascapegoatof。Iamarespectablemarriedman，withoutastainonmycharacter。IliveinEcclesstreet。

Mywife，Iamthedaughterofamostdistinguishedcommander，agallantupstandinggentleman，whodoyoucallhim，MajorgeneralBrianTweedy，oneofBritain’sfightingmenwhohelpedtowinourbattles。GothismajorityfortheheroicdefenceofRorke’sDrift。

FIRSTWATCHRegiment。

BLOOM(Turnstothegallery。)TheroyalDublins，boys，thesaltoftheearth，knowntheworldover。IthinkIseesomeoldcomradesinarmsupthereamongyou。TheR。D。F。WithourownMetropolitanpolice，guardiansofourhomes，thepluckiestladsandthefinestbodyofmen，asphysique，intheserviceofoursovereign。

AVOICETurncoat！UptheBoers！WhobooedJoeChamberlain？

BLOOM(Hishandontheshoulderofthefirstwatch。)MyolddadtoowasaJ。P。I’masstaunchaBritisherasyouare，sir。IfoughtwiththecoloursforkingandcountryintheabsentmindedwarunderGeneralGoughintheparkandwasdisabledatSpionKopandBloemfontein，wasmentionedindispatches。Ididallawhitemancould。(Withquietfeeling。)

JimBludso。Holdhernozzleagainthebank。

FIRSTWATCHProfessionortrade。

BLOOMWell，Ifollowaliteraryoccupation。Author-journalist。InfactwearejustbringingoutacollectionofprizestoriesofwhichIamtheinventor，somethingthatisanentirelynewdeparture。IamconnectedwiththeBritishandIrishpress。Ifyouringup……

(MylesCrawfordstridesoutjerkily，aquillbetweenhisteeth。Hisscarletbeakblazeswithintheaureoleofhisstrawhat。HedanglesahankofSpanishonionsinonehandandholdswiththeotherhandatelephonereceivernozzletohisear。)

MYLESCRAWFORD(Hiscock’swattleswagging。)Hello，seventyseveneightfour。Hello。Freeman’sUrinalandWeeklyArsewiperhere。ParalyseEurope。Youwhich？Bluebags？Whowrites？IsitBloom？

(MrPhilipBea