Fay stood outside the Staff Entrance at closing time on Saturday waiting for Rudi. He was going to keep driving around the block until they coincided; she looked out anxiously to see his elderly Wolseley. There he was. She ran to the kerb and jumped in when he opened the passenger door.
‘Full steam ahead!’ he said. He was looking pleased with himself, but not insufferably so.
‘But where are we going?’ asked Fay.
‘It’s a surprise,’ cried Rudi. ‘Eat these sandwiches if you’re hungry—we haven’t time to stop for lunch.’
‘Give me a clue,’ Fay pleaded. She really hadn’t the least idea what might be afoot.
‘Here’s a clue,’ said Rudi, as he turned left. Soon they were driving up William Street, and at last along New South Head Road.
‘Oh,’ said Fay, as Rushcutter’s Bay twinkled beside her, ‘I’ve got it: you’ve found a flat!’
‘Yep,’ said Rudi. ‘I think I’ve found one that might do. I want your expert opinion.’
‘Me?’ said Fay. ‘Expert?’
‘Absolutely,’ said Rudi. ‘Now watch out.’ They drove through Double Bay and Fay gazed at the Harbour still glittering beside her, past Point Piper, and then a little further along New South Head Road, but at last Rudi turned right into a side street. The car came to a stop outside a pre-war block of flats.
‘Now then,’ said Rudi. They entered the building and he led the way to the top, which was the third floor. He took out a key and opened a door, and they walked into the flat.
It was quite empty except for the wallpaper and an Early Kooka gas stove, the old-fashioned kind with a picture of a kookaburra on the oven door.
‘It’s this which really decided me,’ said Rudi, indicating the kookaburra.
‘Oh, we used to have one exactly the same at home!’ said Fay.
‘So,’ said Rudi, ‘didn’t I say you were an expert? Come and look at the rest.’
There was a sitting room from which one could just see the Harbour, and two smallish bedrooms. The bathroom was all done in green tiles with a mottled pattern. They went back into the sitting room and looked out of the window.
‘See,’ said Rudi. ‘We could watch the flying boats taking off and landing.’
Fay’s heart thumped. We?
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘It’s lovely.’
She dared not ask about whether it might be expensive, or indeed anything else.
‘And so handy for the Wintergarden!’ said Rudi. ‘Not to mention various other amenities. What do you think?’
‘Well, I think it’s really lovely,’ said Fay. ‘Like I said. But it’s you who have to like it, it’s your flat. What do you think?’
‘Oh—I think—listen: will you marry me?’
‘I what?’ said Fay.
She could not believe her ears.
What a fool I am, thought Rudi. The question had not been scheduled in quite this way; it had slipped out somewhat before its imagined time.
‘Forgive me,’ he said. ‘I’ve startled you. I’ve even startled myself. Let me start—ha!—again, at the beginning. I love you, I adore you, you’re sweet, you make me feel happy, I want us to be married as soon as possible if you’ll have me—please give me your answer—but think about it for as long as you like: I give you five minutes at least. Shall I leave you alone while you think?’
‘No, don’t leave me,’ said Fay. ‘The answer is yes.’
‘Thank God for that,’ said Rudi. ‘We’re going to be rich and have lots of children, at least four, is that all right with you?’
‘Yes, yes, of course,’ said Fay. ‘I love kids. And money—that always comes in handy.’
‘Good,’ said Rudi. ‘Now—’ And he took her in his arms.
They had kissed several times but it is a fact that they had been very proper and circumspect and had never approached the margins of unbridled passion. They began now to kiss in a manner which suggested that propriety and circumspection had now had their day, as was quite certainly the case.
Stefan came into the bathroom where Magda was washing her hair.
‘That was Rudi on the telephone,’ he said.
‘Oh?’ said Magda.
‘He wants to borrow fifty pounds from me,’ said Stefan.
‘Why?’ Magda was very astonished.
‘Oh,’ said Stefan very casually, ‘he wants to buy a diamond ring. Or perhaps a sapphire.’
Magda stood up straight, her hair covered in foaming shampoo.
‘What are you talking about?’ she said. ‘Is he going into the jewellery business?’
‘I don’t believe so,’ said Stefan, ‘although it could come to that in due course. No, for the moment he wishes only to buy an engagement ring, for Fay.’
‘What?’ cried Magda. ‘Engagement ring? For Fay? What is he thinking of?’
‘He is not thinking,’ said Stefan. ‘He is doing. He and Fay are engaged to be married.’
‘This is preposterous,’ said Magda. ‘Let me rinse my hair.’
She did so. Then she wrapped a towel around her head.
‘Pour me a whisky,’ she said.
They went into the sitting room and sat down with their drinks. The sun was in fact just over the yard-arm: it was after five o’clock.
‘I suppose you said you would lend him the money,’ said Magda.
‘Naturally,’ said Stefan. ‘How could I stand in his way? Fay is a nice healthy Australian girl.’
‘Exactly,’ said Magda. ‘The whole thing is preposterous. How can they possibly be happy together? They have nothing at all in common.’
‘As if that were really a condition for a happy marriage!’ said Stefan. ‘You are talking like a woman’s magazine. The point is they are happy together now. It is the only possible beginning. The middle and end must take care of themselves as they always do. Or not, as the case may be.’
Magda thought to herself.
‘At least he hasn’t after all been trifling with her,’ she said. ‘At least he isn’t breaking her heart as I feared. Although he may do it in the future.’
‘Come now,’ said Stefan. ‘My belief is that he has too much pride to let such a thing occur. He will be a very conscientious husband, you’ll see. They both want many children—that will keep them busy; they’ll have all that in common. It will be quite enough, you’ll see.’
Magda reflected.
‘Oh, I suppose so,’ she said. ‘What the hell. So long as I will not be blamed for anything.’
‘You?’ said Stefan. ‘For introducing them you mean? Don’t be idiotic. They are on their own. We can only wish them well. And lend Rudi fifty pounds. Rudi’s found a flat, by the way—at Rose Bay. That’s why he’s short of cash—he has to pay a large deposit.’
‘When will they marry?’ asked Magda.
‘Very soon, as soon as they can arrange it, at the Registry Office probably.’
‘Well,’ said Magda, ‘I do wish them well. With all my heart. But it is still something of a shock.’
‘Yes, one’s friends can be shocking,’ said Stefan. ‘It’s one of their salient features.’
Magda suddenly had a bright idea.
‘We were going to have the young people here to dinner next Saturday,’ she said, ‘to celebrate their examination results. We could make it an engagement celebration as well—what do you think?’
‘Yes, why not,’ said Stefan. ‘A nice noisy dinner party is always a good idea, especially when one has had a shock. We’ll kill a pig!’
‘And we’ll order an ice-cream cake,’ said Magda, ‘with all their names on it!’
‘And ours too,’ said Stefan.
‘Certainly!’ said Magda. ‘Ours too!’