She has someone else Learn English through story level 2
in law the third party is a person
involved in a situation in addition to
the two main people involved
a third party quite often appears in
cases of divorce for example
however
all threesomes are different
and in some of them it is not always
clear which of the three people actually
is
the third party
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um
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the two men met by arrangement in the
bar of buswell’s hotel at half past
eleven
i think we’ll recognize each other all
right the older man had said
i expect she’s told you what i look like
he was tall his face pinkish brown from
the sun his fair hair turning gray
the man he met was thinner wearing
glasses and a black winter coat a
smaller man whose name was lardman
well we’re neither of us late bowlin
said a little nervously
fergus poland
how are you they shook hands
bowling took out his wallet i’ll have a
whiskey myself
what’d i get you
oh
just a lemonade for me fergus this time
of day
poland ordered the drinks and they stood
by the bar
boland held out a packet of cigarettes
do you smoke
lardman shook his head
he placed an elbow tightly on the bar
sorry about this he said
they were alone except for the bar man
who put their two glasses in front of
them
bowlin paid him i mean
i’m really sorry lardman went on at
doing this to anyone
good luck
bowlin said raising his glass
he had softened the colour of the
whiskey by adding twice as much water
you never drink this early in the day i
suppose he said carefully polite
well that’s very sensible i always think
i thought it might not be an occasion
for drinking
i couldn’t talk to you without a drink
inside me lardman
i’m sorry about that
you’ve stolen my wife for me it’s not an
everyday event
i’m sorry
it’d be better if you didn’t keep saying
that
lardman made no protest at bowling’s
sharpness
the whole thing’s awkward i must confess
i i didn’t sleep at all last night
you’re from dublin she tells me bowlin
said still politely
you’re in the wood business
there’s money in that no doubt
lardman was offended
she described her husband as clumsy but
had added he wouldn’t hurt a fly already
five minutes into the difficult meeting
lardman wasn’t so sure
i don’t like dublin
bolan continued to be honest i never
have
i’m a small town man
but of course you’ll know that
he imagined his wife telling her lover
about the narrowness of his experience
she liked to tell people things she
talked a lot
i want to thank you lardman said for
taking all this so well
annabella has told me
i don’t see that i have any choice
lardman’s lips were very thin
his mouth a line that smiled without any
obvious effort
i wonder why he doesn’t have a funny
little moustache like so many dubliners
thought bowland
i thought you might hit me when we met
lardman said
but anabella said you weren’t like that
at all
no
i’m not that’s what i mean by taking it
well
all i want to know is what your plans
are
plans
i’m just asking if you’re thinking of
marrying her and what your arrangements
are i mean have you a place that’s
suitable for her
i’ll have another whiskey
he said to the bar man
we were hoping that if you agree
she would move into my place more or
less at once it’s suitable all right a
seven room flat on wellington road but
in time we’ll get a house
thanks
bolin said to the bar man paying him
it was my turn to pay
lardman protested just a little late
she wouldn’t care for meanness bowling
thought when it began to have an effect
on her which it would in time
but marriage bolan said it isn’t easy
you know to marry another man’s wife in
ireland
annabella and i would naturally like to
be married one day
that’s what i wanted to ask you about
how are you thinking of getting a
divorce
she doesn’t really know much about it
we talked about it for a long time
thank you for that and for suggesting we
should meet
you two have given me good reasons for a
divorce lardman but it’s no damn used to
me a divorce will take years
it wouldn’t take so long if you had an
address in england
then we could get a divorce over there
but i haven’t an address in england
it’s only a thought fergus
so she wasn’t exaggerating when she said
you wanted to marry her
i don’t think i’ve ever known annabella
exaggerate lardman replied stiffly
then you don’t know the most important
thing about her bowl and thought that is
she can’t help telling lies which you
and i might politely describe as
exaggerating
i’m surprised you never got married he
said
he really was surprised because in his
experience self-confident little men
like lardman very often had a
good-looking woman in their life
i’ve known your wife a long time lardman
said softly trying not to let his smile
show
as soon as i first saw annabella i knew
she was the only woman i’d ever want to
marry
boland stared into his whiskey
he had to be careful about what he said
if he became angry for a moment he was
quite likely to ruin everything
the last thing he wanted was for the man
to change his mind
he lit a cigarette again offering the
packet to lardman who again shook his
head
in a friendly conversational way bowlin
said
lardman’s an interesting name
it’s not irish
french maybe are part of it anyway
when she had said her lover’s name was
lardman
bolin had remembered it from his school
days
and in buswell’s bar he had immediately
recognized the face
at school lardman had been famous for an
unexpected reason
his head had been held down a toilet
where his hair was scrubbed with a
toilet brush
the boys who had done this were older
and bigger than him
called roach and dead smith they took
pleasure in punishing small boys whose
faces and habits they found annoying
i think we were at school together
bowlin said
lardman almost gave a jump and this time
it was boland who tried not to smile
clearly this had come as a shock to
lardman
i don’t remember a boland lardman said
i’d have been a little older than you
i hated the damn place
oh i quite liked it lardman said
you day boys went home in the evenings
and at weekends we boarders had to stay
there all the time
i suppose that made a difference
of course it did
for the first time bolin felt annoyed
not only was her lover mean he was
stupid as well
if he had any common sense at all he’d
realized he’d be mad to buy a house for
annabella because no one could ever be
sure she would do what she had promised
i’ve always thought actually it gave an
excellent education
lardman was saying
the awful little frenchman who couldn’t
make himself understood the history
teacher who gave the class a history
book to read while he wrote letters
the mathematics man who couldn’t solve
the problems he presented
the head teacher who enjoyed causing as
much physical pain as possible
oh a great place boland agreed a fine
school
i’m sorry i don’t remember you
i wouldn’t expect you to
we’ll probably send our children there
if we have boys
your children
you wouldn’t mind
oh dear no
why should you i’m sorry that was a
silly thing to say i’m having another
whiskey bolan said how about you
no i’m okay thanks
this time lardman didn’t mention even
too late that he should pay
bowland lit another cigarette
so she hadn’t told lardman
she had let the poor man imagine that in
no time at all this seven-room flat
wouldn’t be big enough for all the
children they were going to have
bowland could almost hear her telling
lardman that her husband was to blame
for their childless marriage in fact
she discovered before they got married
that she couldn’t have children
in a quarrel long after the wedding she
confessed that she’d known and hadn’t
told him
naturally
lardman continued we’d like to have a
family
you would of course
i’m sorry that side of things didn’t go
right for you
i was sorry myself
the thing is fergus is it okay about the
divorce
are you saying i should agree to be the
guilty party it is what men in your
situation usually do actually but if you
don’t like the idea of it
don’t worry i’ll agree to be the guilty
party
you’re being great fergus
his wife used to say i think i’ll go up
and stay with phyllis
saying it more often as time went by
phyllis was a woman she knew in dublin
but of course
phyllis had just been a name she’d used
a friend who tell lies for her if
necessary
phone me he used to say
and obediently his wife phoned him
telling how dublin looked and how
phyllis was
no doubt she’d been sitting on the edge
of a bed in the seven room flat in
wellington road
it’s really good of you to come all this
way lardman said
sounding eager to end the meeting
i’ll ring annabella this afternoon and
tell her all about it you won’t mind
that fergus
not at all
bowland had often interrupted such a
telephone conversation
he would come home and find her sitting
on the stairs talking on the phone
as soon as he came through the door
she’d wave a greeting and start to
whisper secretly into the phone
the trouble with annabella was that
sooner or later everything in the world
bored her
now i want to hear every single thing
that’s happened since the moment she
left home this morning she would soon
say to lardman and the poor man would
begin a long story about catching the
bus and arriving at work and having a
cake with his coffee
later in a quarrel
she would throw it all back at him
who could possibly want to know about
your damn cake she’d scream wildly at
him her fingers spread out in the air so
that her blood red nail varnish would
dry evenly
i’ll be able to say larman was saying
almost proudly
that neither of us got angry she’ll be
pleased about that
boland couldn’t imagine his wife being
pleased since she hardly ever was
he wondered what it was that she liked
about lardman
when he’d asked her she’d said her lover
was amusing that he had what she called
a fantastic sense of fun i wonder what
became of rauch and dead smith he said
he didn’t know why he said it
why he couldn’t accept that the business
between them was over
he should have shaken hands with lardman
and left it at that perhaps saying there
were no hard feelings
he would never have to see the man again
once in a while he would simply feel
sorry for him
i don’t remember either of them said
lardman shaking his head
i’ll say goodbye fergus i’m grateful i
really am
they were the boys who had the bright
idea of washing your hair in a toilet
bowl
bowland had said to himself over and
over again that lardman was welcome to
her
he looked ahead to an easy life living
alone
the house she had filled with her moods
and her lies for the last 12 years would
be as silent as a peaceful sleep
he would clear out the memories of her
because naturally she wouldn’t do that
herself the old-fashioned magazines the
empty medicine bottles the clothes she
had no further use for the curtains torn
to pieces by her cats
he would cook his own meals and mrs
cochran would still come to clean every
morning
mrs cochran wouldn’t exactly be sorry to
see her go either
i don’t know why you keep going on about
your school days lardman said
let me get you a real drink before you
go two big ones
bowlin called to the barman
no really lardman protested really now
he had put on his coat and a pair of
black leather gloves
i’ll go on man we’re bought in need of
it
finger by finger lardman took one of the
gloves off again
and unwillingly picked up the new glass
they drank
i only mentioned the school bowl and
said because that was the other thing
that you and i shared
as i said i think we’d maybe send the
children there
you don’t remember it boland asked
what’s that
the toilet thing
look here boland i’ve offended you
i didn’t mean that at all
of course you haven’t offended me it’s
just that i see no reason to keep going
on about things like that
we’ll talk of something else
actually i’m getting late
the second glove was pulled on again the
cup buttons were checked to see that all
was well for the street
the glove was removed again when lardman
remembered there’d have to be a
handshake
thanks for everything he said for the
second time bolan surprised himself by
being unable to let the matter rest
you mention your children
he heard himself saying
would these be your and annabella’s
children
lardman’s mouth dropped open and he
stared at poland
what other children are there he asked
shaking his head in a puzzled way
she can’t have children lardman
oh now look here
that’s a medical fact
the unfortunate woman is incapable of
being a mother
i think you’re drunk
one whiskey after another you’ve had
annabelle has told me a thing or two
about you you know
she hasn’t told you about the cats she’s
going to bring with her she hasn’t told
you she can’t have children
she hasn’t told you she gets so bored
that her face turns white with anger
it’s best not to be near her then
lardman take my advice on that
she’s told me you can’t stay sober
except for occasions like this i hardly
ever drink i drink a lot less than
annabella does i can promise you
you’ve been unable to give annabella
children
she’s sorry for you she doesn’t blame
you
annabella was never sorry for anyone in
her life
now look here bowland
look nowhere man
i’ve had 12 years of the woman i’m ready
to let you take my place but there’s no
need for this talk of divorce i’m just
telling you that she’ll come and live
with you in your seven-room flat she’ll
live in any house you like to buy but if
you wait forever you won’t find children
coming along
all you’ll have is two cats that want to
bite the legs off you
you’re being most unpleasant boland
i’m telling you the truth
you seem to have forgotten that
annabella and myself have talked about
all this
she knew there’d be bitterness well i
understand that i’ve said i’m sorry
you’re a mean little wooden man lardman
your head belongs in a toilet bowl
where you’re all wet when they let go of
you
i’d love to have seen it lardman
will you keep your damn voice down and
stop trying to quarrel at me i won’t
stand here and listen to this
i think deadsmith went on to become
i don’t care what he became
suddenly lardman was gone
bowlin didn’t even turn his head after a
moment he lit a fresh cigarette
for half an hour he remained alone where
his wife’s lover had left him thinking
about his school days and lardman
he had lunch in the dining room of the
hotel ordering soup and fish
he imagined himself one day in the
future entering the silence of his house
he’d actually been born in it opposite
o’connor’s garage it was the last one in
the town yellow painted an ordinary but
a house he loved
did you say the fish sir the waitress
inquired
yes i did
he’d got married in dublin as
annabella’s family lived there
his friends and neighbors had been
delighted when he brought her to live
among them they stopped him in the
street and told him how lucky he was
but those same people would be delighted
when she left
the terrible bitterness that filled her
because of not being able to have
children eventually turned her beauty
into a kind of madness
that’s what had happened
nothing else
slowly he ate his fish
nobody would mention it much
they’d know what had happened
and they’d say to one another that one
day probably he’d marry again
he wondered if he would he ordered a
slice of apple cake with cream and later
coffee came
he was glad it was all over
now he had accepted the truth
it had been necessary to hear it from
someone other than his wife
when first she told him he’d wondered if
it was all just another of her lies
he paid his bill and went out to the car
park
it was because there hadn’t been enough
for her to do he thought as he drove out
of dublin through the heavy city traffic
a childless woman in a small town had
all the time in the world
she changed the furniture around and had
chosen the wallpaper that her cats had
later damaged
but she hadn’t joined any clubs or made
any friends
he’d driven her to dublin as often as he
could before she’d started going there
alone to visit phyllis
for years he’d known she wasn’t happy
but until she told him he’d never
suspected she had become involved with a
man
lardman would have telephoned her by now
perhaps to say
why don’t you drive up this afternoon
maybe all day she had been packing
knowing the meeting at buswells was
nothing to worry about
the little white volkswagen he’d bought
her might be on the road to dublin
already
he was on the open road now looking out
for the volkswagen coming towards him
if she passed him would she greet him
with a touch on the horn
or would he greet her
he didn’t know if he would
better to wait
but over the next 50 miles or so there
was no sign of his wife’s car
and of course he told himself there was
no reason why there should be
it was only his own idea that she might
depart that afternoon and surely she’d
need more than a day to pack all her
things
the more he thought about it the less
likely it was that she would be capable
of completing the move alone
he turned the radio on
and heard a song called dancing in the
dark it reminded him of the world he
supposed his wife and lardman belonged
to the excitement of secret love dancing
close together in the darkness
poor annabella he said aloud while the
music still played
poor girl
to have married a small-town businessman
like himself
it was lucky really that she had met
self-confident little lardman he
imagined them in each other’s arms
and then their shared smile before they
held each other close again
as the dull third party he had no
further part to play
but as boland reached the first few
houses on this side of his hometown
he knew none of that was right
the little white car had not carried her
to lardman today it would not do so
tomorrow or the next day it will not do
so next month or after christmas or in
february or in spring
it would never do so
it hadn’t mattered reminding larman of
what he had suffered as a schoolboy
it hadn’t mattered telling him she was
in the habit of lying or even calling
him mean
that kind of unpleasant talk was more or
less expected in the situation they
found themselves in
and might simply be the result of a few
whiskeys
but something had driven bowland to go
further
little men like lardman always wanted
children
that’s a total lie
she’d have said already on the telephone
and lardman would have pretended to
believe her
but pretending wasn’t going to be enough
for either of them
poland turned the radio off
he stopped the car outside donovan’s pub
and sat there for a moment before going
in
at the bar he greeted men he knew and
stood drinking with them listening to
talk of horses and politicians
they left after a few more drinks
but bowling stayed there for a long time
wondering why he hadn’t been able to let
lardman take her from him
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oh
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you