Battle of the Rhine

In John's words, everyone in the town knew that Mary had "got" with Daniel Bollison, the little man in the factory, including the old lady Michelle, "just like you are a fool, stupid Study hard—study is useful!"

Michael didn't trust John, the guy who'd been carrying a bottle with him all the time since he'd been back from Iwo Jima.In the evening, when Mary came home, Michael told her John's accusation as a joke, "I fried eggs—John drank too much, you should ask Helen to persuade him to drink less and go to school?"

"It's true, Mike." Mary held a cup of steaming juice concentrate, "It's true."

"You think so too? It's really good to go to school."

"I mean, the thing about me and Dan, it's true."

Michael was setting the dishes on the tablecloth, a nice, neat gray tablecloth that he had paid for.It took him 5 minutes to digest Mary's words. At the same time, Mary was holding the red cup, sitting motionless at the table, looking into his eyes without fear.

"Really?" Michael pointed at Mary. "You, and that 'Dan'?"

"Daniel Pollison, he's the chief accountant at the plant." Mary sipped the juice. "He's a nice guy, very gentle. He's not like you, Mike."

This is the time to throw the plate on the floor and make a loud noise, ideally to get the attention of the neighbors.But Michael couldn't.He carefully put the white porcelain plate on the gray tablecloth, trying to maintain his tone and expression, "So, you don't love me anymore, do you?"

"It's not that I don't love you anymore," Mary lowered her eyes, "it's you, you don't love me anymore."

"It's fucking nonsense," Michael finally couldn't hold back his anger, pulled away the chair and sat down.The electrical appliances in the house are basically brand new. He just paid for a new TV last month. This old chair is the only piece of furniture he is willing to deal with. "When will I stop loving you, Mary?"

"After you came back from Europe," said Mary quietly, "I've been thinking a lot lately that maybe you never loved me."

"This is ridiculous," Michael growled in a low voice. "It's you and that Dan messing around, but you should blame me? I worked hard in Europe to fight wars, and my monthly salary is sent to you... In the end, I managed to come back alive, but you accused me of not loving you enough? Mary Joan, touch your conscience! I am not as good as that little bastard! He is not as tall as a musket!"

Mary snorted coldly, "Stop yelling at me, Mike Fiennes. Conscience? You should touch yours!"

"My conscience is very stable!"

"Fart, Mike, you've learned to lie!"

"When did I lie!"

"Shut your mouth," Mary stood up, slammed the red cup on the table, and the juice flowed all over the table, "You want to attract neighbors? All right, do whatever you want, I want to see who it is Even more embarrassing—how the hell have you been back? A year! Then how many times have we slept? You count on your fingers!"

Michael shut up—just for that?He hadn't slept with Mary a few times.He tried, but failed every time.From this point of view, as a husband, he really failed to fulfill his responsibilities, "... Well, I admit, this is my fault, but—"

"But damn, you idiot soldier," Mary's eyes were red and her body was shaking back and forth, "if it's just for this, I'll bear it... I know you're not interested in me—"

"It's not that I'm not interested in you—"

"Shut up and listen to me!"

The Mary in front of her was the Mary Joan Anderson who broke Michael's nose for a piece of eraser. "You're just not interested in me. If you were, you wouldn't have... We haven't slept that many times, have we?"

"Because you always laugh."

"That's me covering up my embarrassment, fool."

Now it was Michael's turn to be embarrassed.When his wife pointed out the "that aspect" of the problem, he should find a hole in the ground and get into it.For God's sake, old Michael hadn't heard the quarrel while he was alive, or he'd have shotgun the Fiennes' only child. "But I don't care, even if you don't sleep with me, I don't care." Mary sat down and wiped the juice off the table with a rag. "But I can't stand you falling in love with someone else."

This is too wronged, Michael forced a wry smile in astonishment, "I didn't fall in love with others, it's because you think too much."

"Don't deny it, Mike," said Mary, pinching the rag, "who is that German woman?"

"For God's sake, where is the German woman?" Michael thought hard, and suddenly realized, "You mean Utta? I told you more than 1 times, Utta is Tim's girlfriend... "

"It's not her," Mary's lips twisted, "it's the woman who gave you the pendant."

Michael touched the military card subconsciously, and Mary immediately sneered, "Look, look, Mike, how many times is this? You can touch that pendant three hundred times a day—you touch the pendant to open it in the morning. Eye, you sleep with that pendant at night. Touch it when you have something to do...Who gave it to you?" She yelled sharply, "How dare you lie?"

"God, it's a military card," Michael argued, "it's—"

When the words came to his lips, he found that he couldn't continue: how would he explain it?Oh, dear Mary, look, here is the name engraved on it, Carl von Quinnessy, a second lieutenant in the Wehrmacht of the German Empire, a prisoner, whom I raped for a while, and in compensation, I gave almost all of my own money Contributed to him... Mary would have passed out if he had dared to say it.Satan!Michael Fiennes raped a man, more than once! ...

"Soldier card?" Mary squinted her eyes, "Stop talking nonsense, what are you doing with your military card around your neck? You haven't woken up from that bloody war yet?"

Michael had nothing to say, and the bad thing was, he made a habit of touching the little metal plate again.Now Mary broke down, covering her face and crying loudly, "Fuck you, Mike, I'm so worried about you, but you fell in love with another woman in Europe..." She pushed Michael's arm away and lay down on the table Sobbing, "As soon as you come back, you will recite vocabulary, memorize your German. I foolishly thought that you were going to make progress... I didn't expect that you were for German women!"

"I'm not……"

"If I don't call you, you won't call me." Mary sat up straight, took out a handkerchief and wiped her face, "Okay, I thought about it, since you don't love me, there's no need for us to live on. Dan told me Very gentle, at least he will care about me. I decided to be with him. Originally, I planned to tell you after Christmas, but since John's long tongue told you, I don't need to hide it: let's divorce. "

Michael blinked, "Divorce?"

"Yes, divorce. I'm with Dan, you go to your German woman." Mary gritted her teeth. "It's fair, isn't it?"

It's not fucking fair at all.Mary and Dan can go into church and receive God's blessing.Michael and Quincy—don't even think about it, what's a man and a man?But the divorce sounded reasonable, and Michael knew that he had been too indifferent to Mary after the war.But isn't he a very good husband?He never made Mary go home and have a baby—well, couldn't have a baby, since they didn't "do that" after all...

"It hurt my self-esteem too much." Michael murmured.

"Aren't I?" said Mary, with another stream of tears. "It never hurts more than thinking you're loved when you're not, Mike. I'm done. If you're mad, take Shoot me, I won't fight. The shotgun's in the storeroom, your Luger's under the pillow. Come on, come on."

"Why should I kill you?" The scrambled eggs were already cold, and Michael's mouth was bitter, and any delicacies were tasteless, "I just want to say, if you insist on divorce, I have no objection-at least it can To make you happy. That's... that German woman..."

"Isn't she beautiful?" Mary's eyes were dim. "Am I right? European women are more fashionable, cute, and coquettish than our American girls."

"There aren't many German women—"

"Please, it won't kill you to be honest. I used to be jealous of her," Mary said wearily, blowing her nose with a handkerchief, "envy of her motivation to read, study... when you touched that pendant, you often Smirking. You read the paper every day and never miss a piece of news about Germany. I'm so jealous, Mike, how beautiful she is to make you like this? Your soul is fucking in Europe!"

Michael had ten thousand words to explain, but he couldn't tell Mary the premise of Quincy.Now, he has to admit against his will that he "fell in love" with a German woman, after all, his attention to Germany is too abnormal.

"Tell me about her," Mary sniffed. "I want to hear it."

"She..." Michael carefully used personal pronouns, "she—"

"What color is her hair?"

"Golden, with very blue eyes."

"and then?"

"She's thin and likes, likes gray clothes."

"A gray dress? Very trendy. I suppose it must have been made in a slim fit with a big hem?"

Michael closed his eyes, God bless, he made mistakes again and again, and if he told a lie, he would have to make up for it with countless lies, "She doesn't eat much, so I give her some bread, butter, chocolate and coffee...she has Husband, husband went to the front, so I... I didn't touch her."

Mary obviously didn't believe it, and said sarcastically, "You are still lying, Sergeant Fiennes, war really can change a person."

"...She is a college student." Michael let out a long breath, "College student, just graduated."

Mary was silent, rubbing a new handkerchief in her hand, "...a college student?" She shrugged, "I see. No wonder you fell in love with her. There is no way, you like girls who can study, I've seen through you a long time ago."