Atdtda37: Somebody'd told me you were coming, 1045-1047

[Paul Nightingale]

And now we have Merle's back story, 'out here since before the War'. In the
previous section he is seen at a distance through the perspectives of Thetis
and Lew, but the narrative now adopts his pov to recall meeting former wife
Erlys Zombini, last seen in Venice in Ch41, parting from Dally on 573, then
mentioned a few pages later by Bria (583). From Erlys' pov Merle is 'an
aging obsessive who [doesn't] smile as much as he should' (1046). Cf down
the page, Merle's 'quick social smile'. Cf also Jardine's photo on 1042:
'Technically she was smiling ...' etc.

Merle suggests their marriage, had it continued, 'would've went on to been a
disaster' with stories in the press (1046); this fantasy is succeeded, down
the page, by 'a velveteen album with clippings ...' etc, a representation of
Dally's career in London. For Erlys this career goes on as they speak
('She's a star of the London stage'), even though the reader will have in
mind Dally's departure from London at the end of Ch61 on 907, her subsequent
involvement with Kit. At the end of Ch62 she speculates about a return to
London and 'a small part in a new show' (918) but then disappears from the
narrative. Now, at the top of 1046, Dally is 'living in London and actually
[writes] from time to time' - how frequently, and what she tells her mother
is another matter. Cf the reference to Bria on the previous page, according
to her father 'pursuing an international banking career' (1045): again we
are left to wonder how much this involves the proud parent's exaggeration,
or even performance in front of Merle. The updating is dependent on the
telling and positions Merle - last seen back a few pages displaying
omniscience ('a mission to set free the images ...' etc, bottom of 1037) -
as one out of the loop, an audience for whose benefit everyone here performs
a reconstruction of the family we remember.

Meeting Luca at the start of the section Merle is invited home: 'Come on
over ...' etc (1045). The narrative then cuts from Luca's speech to Merle's
first glimpse ('Erlys's hair was a lot shorter ...') of his ex-wife; and it
is only at the bottom of the next page that Luca's appearance informs us
that he has been, throughout this scene, absent, that Merle appeared without
warning, if not without an invitation. Cue Merle's 'quick social smile'
(1046) here as Luca (appearing with groceries) becomes the audience. 


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