Doctor Fischer of Geneva Or The Bomb Party Read Online Free Page A

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    â€˜Madame Jones, he has sent his best wishes for your happiness.’
    â€˜You are a tax adviser, aren’t you?’ she said. ‘What are his best wishes worth? Do I have to declare them to the fisc ?’
    I had opened the envelope. There was only a printed card inside. ‘Doctor Fischer requests the pleasure of the company of . . .’ (he had filled in the name Jones without so much as a Mister) ‘at a reunion of his friends and an informal dinner on . . .’ (he had written in ‘10 November’) ‘at 8.30 p.m. RSVP.’
    â€˜It’s an invitation?’ Anna-Luise asked.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜You mustn’t go.’
    â€˜He will be very disappointed,’ Monsieur Belmont said. ‘He particularly hopes that Monsieur Jones will come and join us all. Madame Montgomery will be there and of course Monsieur Kips and we hope that the Divisionnaire . . .’
    â€˜A gathering of the Toads,’ Anna-Luise said.
    â€˜Toads? Toads? I do not know the word. Please, he wishes very much to introduce your husband to all his friends.’
    â€˜But I see from the card that my wife is not invited.’
    â€˜None of our wives are invited. No ladies. It has become a rule for our little gatherings. I do not know why. There was once . . . but Madame Montgomery is the only exception now. You might say that in herself she is the representative of her sex.’ He added a piece of unfortunate slang, ‘She’s a good sort.’
    â€˜I will send a reply this evening,’ I said.
    â€˜You will miss a great deal, I assure you, if you do not come. Doctor Fischer’s parties are always very entertaining. He has a great sense of humour, and he is so generous. We have much fun.’
    We drank our bottle of champagne with Monsieur Excoffier at the Trois Couronnes and then we went home. The champagne was excellent, but the sparkle had gone out of the day. Doctor Fischer had introduced a conflict between us, for I began to argue that after all I had nothing really against Doctor Fischer. He could easily have opposed our marriage or at least expressed disapproval. By sending me an invitation to one of his parties he had in a sense given me a wedding present which it would be churlish to refuse.
    â€˜He wants you to join the Toads.’
    â€˜But I’ve got nothing against the Toads. Are they really as bad as you say? I’ve seen three of them. I admit I didn’t much care for Mrs Montgomery.’
    â€˜They weren’t always Toads, I suppose. He’s corrupted all of them.’
    â€˜A man can only be corrupted if he’s corruptible.’
    â€˜And how do you know you aren’t?’
    â€˜I don’t. Perhaps it’s a good thing to find out.’
    â€˜So you’ll let him take you into a high place and show you all the kingdoms of the world.’
    â€˜I’m not Christ, and he’s not Satan, and I thought we’d agreed he was God Almighty, although I suppose to the damned God Almighty looks very like Satan.’
    â€˜Oh, all right,’ she said, ‘go and be damned.’
    The quarrel was like a dying wood fire: sometimes it seemed to dwindle out, but then a gathering of sparks would light a splinter of charred wood and flare for a moment into a flame. The dispute only ended when she wept against the pillow and I surrendered. ‘You’re right,’ I said, ‘I don’t owe him anything. A piece of pasteboard. I won’t go. I promise I won’t go.’
    â€˜No,’ she said, ‘you are right. I’m wrong. I know you aren’t a Toad, but you won’t know you aren’t unless you go to that damned party. Please go, I’m not angry any more, I promise. I want you to go.’ She added, ‘After all, he is my father. Perhaps he’s not all that bad. Perhaps he’ll spare you. He didn’t spare my mother.’
    We were tired