Atdtda30: Lovely to see you both, 847-848

[Paul Nightingale]

At the bottom of 846 Cyprian "ha[s] no idea why" he and Vesna part as they
do; as 58.17 opens he travels and, "for no reason he knew of" (847), finds
himself heading towards Cetinje. Here, he will find himself on the margins
of, if not exiled altogether from, the narrative of Bevis, "the lovestruck
young imbecile" last seen exchanging fezzes with Cyprian on 832. When Bevis'
absence was discovered, Cyprian had insisted on the script: "We're both
supposed to bring you out" (833). Cyprian's response to Bevis' disappearance
here is a tad ambiguous: "Fearing mischief, Cyprian, wanting only to go on,
had felt obliged to get off ...": concern for Bevis, perhaps betrayed by
Theign, or concern for the script (ie his identity based on the script)?

Nonetheless, during the unforeseen detour that follows, Danilo is given the
role of sidekick to Cyprian as Gabrovo Slim's escape from Salonica is
engineered. At the end of the previous section, Danilo has confirmed
Cyprian's "good thing" (847), a declaration that trumps Cyprian's own
bewilderment at his parting from Vesna. Here, Cyprian's "winter of so much
hardship and misdirection" is juxtaposed to Bevis' own journey, "driven by
something he thought was love". The section has opened with Cyprian alone
and craving company, "as if alone he might be jumped by something
unwelcome"; down the page we find him "sitting across a table from the
cooing couple".

As the chapter ends, then, Cyprian can devote himself to the "Cosmic
Revelation" (848) inspired by Bevis/Jacintha. Travelling, he found refuge in
"the linear and the quotidian" (848), safety in anonymity. Subsequently, in
response to Bevis/Jacintha, he adopts another role, silent contemplation
instead of the earlier "chatting, smoking and drinking" (847). It is a form
of imprisonment: "... at great personal effort keeping his expression free
of annoyance" (848), not to mention "smil[ing] tightly". Cf. the "smile he
could not control" on 842. Disguise might have been liberating previously;
here it is rather more restrictive, with Cyprian, "observ[ing] himself being
annoyed" and hoping he doesn't give himself away. A successful impersonation
of himself?

On 846, Cyprian reintroduced fezzes, and by association Bevis, with "the
plan"; here, Bevis in turn reintroduces Jacintha, whose first appearance
came as the chapter opened, post Yashmeen, aboard the John of Asia. There
also she was associated with gossip as the narrative summarised her
backstory in the form of gossip shared by passengers (822). Here, Cyprian
"felt frightfully happy" to find Bevis "instantly and publicly smitten", all
of which leads to a relationship that, by the end of the chapter on 848, has
provided "the linear and quotidian".