Atdtda32: I'm supposed to have a small part in a new show, 917-918

[Paul Nightingale]

The new section brings Dally's pov, although we initially see her from Kit's
pov: "The sun through the window ..." etc positions her as an object of his
gaze as she "observe[s] him carefully". There is dialogue here; above the
section break they "[look] into each other's eyes". Not least, the narrative
gives us her thoughts, for the first time since their reunion. On 913, in
the paprika field, she "trie[s] to think back to the last time [she] felt so
wobbly on her feet", her thoughts on that occasion interrupted by "an
embrace smooth as the solution to a puzzle". Here on 917 she is caught in
front of a window--the sun recalling their departure, above the section
break, from the lake--but keeps moving, "pac[ing] the little room". Such
movement brings with it thought and talk: "She decided to let him in ..."
etc, "and cannonballed straight down into her history with Clive Crouchmas",
a topic that hasn't been broached before this time. Cf her comments to Lew
in the previous chapter, "as if Crouchmas were any of who knows how many
West End juveniles" (902). Nonetheless, the chapter will end--Dally again
caught in the sunlight on 918--with sex as a means to evade further
discussion of her past.

Their opening exchange on 917 offers different takes on Dally's situation.
Kit thinks she is being pursued, still an object of desire; implicitly, he
returns to their meeting at the station, thereby repositioning himself as
her saviour. Dally, by way of contrast, projects a world in which she no
longer exists. As the narrative adopts her pov it hints at "her colorful
past"; consequently ("nervously waiting for Kit to start inquiring ..." etc)
she has now considered a world in which he doesn't exist. One recalls the
passage that leads to her meeting with Crouchmas. On 898-899 the account of
the excesses of fandom, Dally "celebrated as one of the wonders of the world
..." etc, contains her detachment from it all, "inside some glacial and
lucid space" (898).

Reference to "a small part in a new show" (918) takes us back to her
departure from England: "The new show won't go into rehearsal for a while
..." etc (907) stalls Crouchmas while she waits for instructions from Lew.
Dally speaks of herself here ("I could go back ..." etc) as though none of
it involves Kit.