"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 12 - Eloise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

Only the wine stopped the words; the savage, biting words
which sprang from the outraged core of his being. For her to
have so broken all accepted convention, at a time like the
present!

The goblet rang a little as he set it down, its rim barely
touching that of another, producing a thin, high note of ringing
clarity.

He didn't look at the woman as he stepped towards the
window.

Outside the streets were deserted as he had known they would
be. Now everyone was inside, warm, seeking what comfort they
could; those with the low numbers having already accepted their
fate and engrossed with a final enjoyment of the flesh, or sitting
in solitude doubting their ability to maintain their composure.

But not all of them. Some would be surrounded by friends, the
center of attention, drinking with careless abandon or lost in the
euphoria of drugs; the need of careful abstinence thrown aside
like an outworn garment.

He said, his forehead tight against the coolness of the pane,
"How long?"

"Not very long now." He scented her perfume as she moved
towards him, felt the soft weight of her hand on his shoulder.
"AdaraтАФyou are not alone."

Words, comforting perhaps, but what did they mean? What
else was he now but alone? Who could share his torment, ease it
by taking a part of it from him? Like physical pain, it had to be
borne. Like the dreams which had ruined his sleep, the sickness
he had felt when on his way to this very room.

"Adara?"

Irritably he moved away from the hand on his shoulder,
stepping back from the window a little, unwilling for her to see
his face. A soft face, older than he remembered; the eyes
shadowed pits as they stared at him from the reflection in the
crystal, the muscles lax with lack of self-control. Yet control must
be maintained. Tradition and pride demanded it. Self-respect if
nothing else. And still it was hard.

Harder still when he remembered the incident which had
happened while on his way to join Eloise.
 A small thing, but it had shaken him. He had passed two
Monitors in the passage and the sight had turned his knees to