"Frederik Pohl - The Midas Plague" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pohl Frederick)

but you are nowhere near sober.
There is one cure. Morey said thickly, "Let's have a
cocktail, dear."
Cherry was delighted to share a cocktail with him be-
fore dinner. Cherry, Morey thought lovingly, was a won-
derful, wonderful, wonderful
He found his head nodding in time to his thoughts and
the motion made him wince.
Cherry flew to his side and touched his temple. "Is it
bothering you, darling?" she asked solicitously. "Where
you ran into the door, I mean?"
Morey looked at her sharply, but her expression was
open and adoring. He said bravely, "Just a little. Nothing
to it, really."
The butler brought the cocktails and retired. Cherry
lifted her glass. Morey raised his, caught a whiff of the
liquor and nearly dropped it. He bit down hard on his
churning insides and forced himself to swallow.
.He was surprised but grateful: It stayed down. In a
moment, the curious phenomenon of warmth began to
repeat itself. He swallowed the rest of the drink and held
out his glass for a refill. He even tried a smile. Oddly
enough, his face didn't fall off.
One more drink did it. Morey felt happy and relaxed,
but by no means drunk. They went in to dinner in fine
spirits. They chatted cheerfully with each other and Henry,
and Morey found time to feel sentimentally sorry for poor
Howland, who couldn't make a go of his marriage, when
marriage was obviously such an easy relationship, so bene-
ficial to both sides, so warm and relaxing . . .
Startled, he said, "What?"
Cherry repeated, "It's the cleverest scheme I ever heard
of. Such a funny little man, dear. All kind of nervous, if
you know what I mean. He kept looking at the door as if
he was expecting someone, but of course that was silly.
None of his friends would have come to our house to see
him."
Morey said tensely, "Cherry, please! What was that
you said about ration stamps?"
"But I told you, darling! It was just after you left this
morning. This funny little man came to the door; the
butler said he wouldn't give any name. Anyway, I talked
to him. I thought he might be a neighbor and I certainly
would never be rude to any neighbor who might come to
call, even if the neighborhood was"
"The ration stamps!" Morey begged. '"Did I hear you
say he was peddling phony ration stamps?"
Cherry said uncertainly, "Well, I suppose that in a way
they're phony. The way he explained it, they weren't the
regular official kind. But it was four for one, dearfour