'I was surprised that Harold was not on the landing-stage to meet me; he was always very punctilious about that sort of thing; he used to say that husband and wife should treat one another as politely as they treated acquaintances; and I could not imagine what business had prevented him.
I walked up the little hill on which the bungalow stood.
The ayah brought Joan behind me.
The bungalow was strangely silent.
There seemed to be no servants about, and I could not make it out; I wondered if Harold hadn't expected me so soon and was out.
I went up the steps.
Joan was thirsty and the ayah took her to the servants' quarters to give her something to drink.
Harold was not in the sitting-room.
I called him, but there was no answer.
I was disappointed because I should have liked him to be there.
I went into our bedroom.
Harold wasn't out after all; he was lying on the bed asleep.
I was really very much amused, because he always pretended he never slept in the afternoon.
He said it was an unnecessary habit that we white people got into.
I went up to the bed softly.
I thought I would have a joke with him.
I opened the mosquito curtains.
He was lying on his back, with nothing on but a sarong, and there was an empty whisky bottle by his side.
He was drunk.
'It had begun again.
All my struggles for so many years were wasted.
My dream was shattered. It was all hopeless.
I was seized with rage.'
Millicent's face grew once again darkly red and she clenched the arms of the chair she sat in.
'I took him by the shoulders and shook him with all my might.
"You beast," I cried, "you beast."
I was so angry I don't know what I did, I don't know what I said.
I kept on shaking him.
You don't know how loathsome he looked, that large fat man, half naked; he hadn't shaved for days, and his face was bloated and purple.
He was breathing heavily.
I shouted at him, but he took no notice.
I tried to drag him out of bed, but he was too heavy.
He lay there like a log.
"Open your eyes," I screamed.
I shook him again.
I hated him.
I hated him all the more because for a week I'd loved him with all my heart.
He'd let me down.
He'd let me down.
I wanted to tell him what a filthy beast he was.
I could make no impression on him.
"You shall open your eyes," I cried.
I was determined to make him look at me.'
The widow licked her dry lips.
Her breath seemed hurried.
She was silent.
'If he was in that state I should have thought it best to have let him go on sleeping,' said Kathleen.
'There was a parang on the wall by the side of the bed.
You know how fond Harold was of curios.'
'What's a parang?' said Mrs Skinner.