He ended by suggesting
coffee. "And a liqueur?"
Benham had some Benedictine!
One could not slight such sympathetic helpfulness. The Benedictine
was genuine. And then came the coffee.
The cup of coffee was generously conceived and honestly made.
A night of clear melancholy ensued. . . .
17
Hitherto Benham had not faced in any detail the problem of how to
break with Mrs. Skelmersdale. Now he faced it pessimistically. She
would, he knew, be difficult to break with. (He ought never to have
gone there to lunch.) There would be something ridiculous in
breaking off. In all sorts of ways she might resist. And face to
face with her he might find himself a man divided against himself.
That opened preposterous possibilities. On the other hand it was
out of the question to do the business by letter. A letter hits too
hard; it lies too heavy on the wound it has made. And in money
matters he could be generous. He must be generous. At least
financial worries need not complicate her distresses of desertion.
But to suggest such generosities on paper, in cold ink, would be
outrageous.
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