Love in Our Time Read Online Free

his phone calls. It was from Rex that Gerald had bought his own car.
    â€œThat you, old boy?” Rex asked in his clipped, Sandhurst-sounding voice. “How’s the car?”
    â€œWhat I really phoned up about,” Gerald explained, “was to ask if you could come out and see us. Just a little beer-and-sausage party.”
    â€œSwell,” Rex answered. “When is it?”
    â€œNext Friday? Come along about half-past eight.”
    â€œShall I bring the wife?”
    â€œOh, yes, of course. Bring her. Bring the wife by all means.”
    No doubt Mrs. Beale was in the same sort of hole as Alice; they would be glad to know each other.
    â€œRighty-o. See you on Friday, then. So long, old man.” And Rex had rung off.
    Gerald envied him: he was the sort of man who went to parties every night.
    The rest of the morning was a mixture of Ridgewells’ Port and Bill Graham; M. Maurice, the Hair Specialist, and Ted Baker; Society Gowns Ltd., and Charley Woodman; Schwartzkopf and Himmelmayer, the jewellers, and Jimmy Watson.
    By twelve o’clock there were five of the bunch coming. Some of them admittedly sounded a bit surprised; and Jimmy Watson had to get Gerald to repeat his name twice before he caught it. But they all accepted.
    The only mistake Gerald made was to ring up Tony. He wasn’t really in the group at all. It was simply that he used to turn up at The Spaniards at about the same time on Sunday mornings and drove a Bentley. It was really his car that they had wanted to get to know, not him. But he was friendly enough. He was in Gerald’s line of business, too, except that he was at the top of it, and he seemed to have all the money he wanted. That was why he always said whisky when they asked him what he would have.
    â€œDo you want me to bring any girls along?” he asked when he learnt that it was a party.
    Gerald paused. He knew the kind of girls that Tony took about with him. They were all the same, all blonde, all obliging and all rather brassy.
    â€œIt’s my wife’s party,” he explained.
    â€œI get you,” said Tony. “We’ll give the girls a rest.” There was a pause. “Are you dressing?” he asked.
    â€œCome as you are,” Gerald told him. “It’s only quite a small affair. Just some of the bunch.”
    â€œI’ll be there,” said Tony pleasantly. “Ta-ta for the present.”
    As Gerald put up the receiver he began for the first time to have misgivings about the party. It was Tony’s remark about dressing that worried him. He suddenly wondered if all the others were thinking of turning up in dinner-jackets and boiled shirts. The idea hadn’t occurred to him before, and it rather frightened him. Perhaps they would think it was a swell sort of do that they were coming to, and would feel pretty sore at having toiled out to Finchley for a couple of sausages and a glass of beer. He remembered, too, that Alice had only met Tony once or twice and hadn’t particularly liked him.
    In every other respect it was a good, almost a record morning. When he got back to the office he had orders for a full-page, two half-doubles and a six-inch single in his pocket. All that Mr. Potter, the redoubtable North-countryman, had brought in was one half-page and a two-inch stop. It was very handsomely Gerald’s day. Mr. Hubbard admitted it, and took it as an opportunity to blow up Mr. Potter …
    Gerald’s journey back home that night was as exciting as if he had been bringing back a present. He was thinking all the way how pleased she would be about the party he had got together for her. But Alice was not at all pleased. She seemed puzzled and rather resentful.
    â€œIf you really want to see them all that badly,” she said, “why don’t you go along on Sunday morning like you used to? I wouldn’t mind.”
    â€œBut I want them to come
here
” Gerald explained. “I want