A corncrake in the hay-close called insistently. The moon slid quite quickly downwards, growing more flushed. Behind him the great flowers leaned as if they were calling. And then, like a shock, he caught another perfume, something raw and coarse. Hunting round, he found the purple iris, touched their fleshy throats and their dark, grasping hands. At any rate, he had found something. They stood stiff in the darkness. Their scent was brutal. The moon was melting down upon the crest of the hill. It was gone; all was dark. The corncrake called still.
Breaking off a pink, he suddenly went indoors.
“ Come, my boy,” said his mother. “I’m sure it’s time you went to bed.”
He stood with the pink against his lips.
“ I shall break off with Miriam, mother,” he answered calmly.
She looked up at
