OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

268 MAINLY MAIGRET
and fall of a bosom. One of die three men on the fo'c's'le deck was
playing an accordion.
Maigret turned his head and saw on the quay two female silhouettes.
He rushed forward and crossed the gangway.
" What are you doing here? "
He blushed because he had spoken harshly, more especially
because he was conscious that he in his turn had been infected
by this frenzy which had seized all the protagonists of the drama.
" We just wanted to see the ship," said Madame Maigret widi
disarming humility.
"It's my fault!" Marie L6onnec interrupted. "It was I who
insisted."
" All right! All right! Have you had dinner? "
" Why, yes! It's ten o'clock. Have you? "
" Yes.... Thank you...."
The Rendei-Vous des Terre-Neuvas was almost the only place
still showing lights. On the jetty one could just make out some
silhouettes: summer visitors conscientiously taking their evening
stroll.
" You've discovered something? " asked Le Clinche's fiancee.
" Not yet. At least, not much."
" I daren't ask you a favour. . .."
"Goon!"
" I should like to see Pierre's cabin. Will you allow me? "
He took her there with a shrug of his shoulders. Madame Maigret
refused to cross the gangway.
It was a regular metal box. Wireless apparatus. A sheet-iron
table, a bench, and a bunk. On the bulkhead a portrait of Marie
L^onnec in Breton costume. Old shoes on the floor and a pair of
trousers on the bunk.
The girl took in this atmosphere with a mixture of curiosity and
pleasure.
" Yes! .. . It's not quite as I imagined. . . . His shoes haven't
once been cleaned. Look! He always drank out of this glass without
washing it. ..."
A funny girl! A mixture of timidity, weakness, good education,
and on the other hand, energy and audacity. She hesitated.
" And the captain's cabin? "
Maigret gave a faint smile, for he realized that in her secret heart
she hoped to make some discovery. He led her to it. He even went
and got a lantern which he found on the bridge.