ursula entered the room.
she reached for the light and switched it on.
oh! jeffrey! she exclaimed . you startled me.
jeffrey turned in his amchair and regarded ursula with the baleful gaze she had come to know so well.
startled you, my dear? surely after all these years you must have come to know that i often sit brooding the dark?
yes, of course, ursula replied a bit testily, but even after all this time, i can not get used to it.
really? and why do you think that is? jeffrey sneered..
are you asking me why i can not get used to it?
what part of my question did you not understand?
do you really want to know why i can not get used to your sitting in the dark?
i have told you that i do.
very well, then, i will tell you.
please do.
it is because i hate you!
jeffrey laughed. is that all? well, my dear, it may interest you to know that i am not all that fond of you either.
do go on, please. this is interesting. and of course so entirely unexpected.
so you wish to know why i am no longer fond of you?
if you care to tell me, please do!
it is because i am in love with another.
ha ha! and the fortunate creature who arouses this longing in your dessicated soul - does she return your ardor?
she professes to, jeffrey replied stiffly.
ha ha! professes to! then i leave you to her.
jeffrey leapt out of his chair. what! am i to being given to understand that you are granting me my freedom?
that is exactly what i am giving you to understand, as you put it in your typically pompous and overstated way,
well, i , i, i thank you. may i ask why, after all these years, you are choosing to act in this manner.
ursula laughed. i see that you have not heard the news.
news? what news?
why don’t you turn on the television and find out? and with a last triumphant look, ursula stalked out of the room.
what could this momentous news be? still in something of a daze, jeffrey decided to pour himself a drink before following ursula’s advice and turning on the television.
jeffrey never watched television, except for an occasional opera or symphony on the public broadcasting channel.
he went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a stiff whiskey.
the next thing he knew he was sitting in his armchair and light was streaming through the french windows.
had he dreamed the whole thing? no, there was the empty whiskey glass beside him. and no sign of ursula, or the butler, or any of the maids, any of whom should have awakened him.
he got up and turned on the television set.
the screen was completely blank and silent.
jeffrey went to the window and looked out. what he saw astonished him.
what appeared to be some sort of army, or at least a large group of men in black uniforms, was marching down the street toward his building. a large man in a white uniform rode in front of them, on a white horse.
were they some sort of marching band? no, they were neither playing nor carrying instruments. nor, so far as jeffrey could see, were they carrying any sort of weapons.
jeffrey descended the four stories to the street. the house was strangely silent, as if ursula and all the servants had fled.
when jeffrey got to the street, the marchers had stopped in front of the house.
the man on the white horse turned to jeffrey.
are you mister jeffrey jefferson? the man asked. his eyes were hidden under the bill of his white uniform cap.
yes i am.
i have a message for you.
indeed? and what might that message be?
that you can shave off your silly little mustache, because you are no longer what you used to be.
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