OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

202 MAINLY MAIGRET
steps echoed in the emptiness. In spite of her nervousness, Beetje
looked as seductive as ever in a blue tailored suit and a white blouse.
" So you've managed to escape? "
She didn't answer at once. Evidently she had a lot to say and
didn't know where to begin.
" Yes, I got out," she said at last. " I couldn't bear it any longer.
I was afraid. The servant came and told me that my father was
furious. She thought he was in such a state he might even kill me.
.. . Last night we went into the house together without speaking.
He led me to my room and locked the door without saying so much
as a word. He's always like that when he's angry. . . . This afternoon
the servant came and talked to me through the keyhole. She
told me he had been out and come back about twelve o'clock, white
in the face. He had his lunch, then he'd walked round the farm,
striding like a man possessed. ... Finally he went and visited my
mother's grave. . . .
" He always goes there whenever he's got an important decision
to make. . . . Then I got out by the window.. . .
" I don't want to go back. . . . I'm afraid to. . . . You don't know
my father."
" One question ..." interrupted Maigret.
And he looked at die litde bag in glace kid that she was holding.
" How much money did you bring away with you? "
" I don't know. .. . Something like five hundred florins."
" Which you had in your room? "
She reddened, stammering:
" They were in the bureau. ... I thought of going to the station.
But there's always a policeman there. . . . Then I thought of
you "
They were standing there, much as they might have stood in a
station waiting-room. It was a place where ease and intimacy were
impossible. They didn't even think of taking two chairs down from
the stack.
If Beetje was nervous, she was nevertheless not the one to lose
her head. Perhaps it was for that reason that Maigret looked at her
with a certain hostility. It showed in his voice as he asked suddenly:
" How many men have you asked to elope with you? "
The question staggered her. She looked down, muttering:
" What do you say? "
" First of all, Popinga.... At least, was he the first? "
" I don't understand."