by Nevil Shute
‘Sir David quite saw that, of course,’ said Dennison. ‘As a matter of fact, the same objection holds for any job. I shall have to have a couple of months off in the yachting season, you see. It meant a special arrangement. I’m being absorbed into the legal department of the Fisher Line. It’s rather a good job, I think – I’m to be second-in-command to the old chap who does all their legal business for them now. And it’s the work I’m keen on.’
Down by the flying-boat the discussion drew to a close. Morris stood leaning against the lower wing, one arm round his wife’s shoulders, talking earnestly to Rawdon and Sir David Fisher. Behind them the fisherman was swabbing out his motor-boat, oblivious of his part in history.
Morris made his last point and stood erect by the machine. ‘Anyway,’ he said. ‘Let’s have some breakfast and talk about it afterwards.’
His wife caught his eye. ‘Give them a little longer,’ she said softly.
All four turned and gazed at the two figures sitting together in the sand-hills at the head of the beach.
Rawdon laughed shortly and turned away. ‘God bless my soul!’ he said tersely. ‘They don’t want any breakfast.’
FIRST VINTAGE INTERNATIONAL EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2010
Copyright © The Trustees of the Estate of Nevil Shute Norway
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published by William Heinemann in 1961 and subsequently published by Vintage Books, a division of Random House Group Limited in London in 2009.
Vintage is a registered trademark and Vintage International and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
eISBN: 978-0-307-47421-6
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