[cноска дальше]:
– What do you intend to do next?
Я развела руками.
– No clue…
– Don't you think that your paintings can be a source of moderate income? – продолжал он спрашивать.
– Out of the question, Sir Gilbert, – я грустно улыбнулась. – I am less than moderate, in terms of my artistic talent.
– Do you think that you can teach visual arts at an academic institution, then?
– Who would need me as a teacher?! – воскликнула я. – Sir Gilbert, you are a very, very nice person, but, forgive me, you are sort of…
– Naïve?
– Yes—that is, I didn’t mean to be rude.
– Naïve as I may be: can you imagine yourself in a situation when you teach, say, Russian avant-garde art to a group of sixteen- to eighteen-year-old students?
– Not really. I don’t like Russian avant-garde, the whole of it.
– What about Russian classical art of the nineteenth century?
– Gives me no inspiration either. You see, I could teach it all right, but I don’t feel like I can inspire my students by the subject that gives me no thrill. That wouldn’t be very honest towards my students, would it?
– I appreciate this position of yours very much, but it awfully complicates things. You… you must be a good and a brave person, Ms Florensky.
– What makes you think so, Sir Gilbert? – через силу улыбнулась я.
– The fact that you were not afraid to weep in public, – ответил мой собеседник серьёзно. – I would never be so…
– …Weak?
– …Self-forgetting, so daring even. There must be something that sends you good vibes, Ms Florensky. What is it, pray?
Я задумалась. Нам меж тем как раз принесли горячее, но мы оба не спешили есть. Насколько искренней нужно быть? С другой стороны: какая беда в искренности, если я всё равно возвращаюсь в Россию через две недели?
– There are fifteen to perhaps twenty Russian songs that I love very much, – призналась я наконец.
– Excellent! Can you give an academic talk on each of them?
– Yes, – ответила я, даже не успев подумать. – Yes, given that there will be somebody who needs it. Who on earth would need it here?
– Do you know the College of Contemporary Music in London? – ответил баронет вопросом на вопрос.
– No, why? – поразилась я.
– Your humble servant happens to be its… well, patron. Suppose I give a call to Mrs Mercy Walking, the principal. Suppose she invites you as, erm, an academic celebrity, a visiting professor who delivers a series of talks on the subject by which you feel very inspired. Two academic hours a day, five days a week, the whole course comprising twenty academic hours or so. This would give you temporary employment, which then would allow us to extend your work visa—but I would take care of your visa, I promise. How does it sound?
Я, кажется, застыла с открытым ртом, в то время как сэр Гилберт начал всё-таки есть, изредка поглядывая на меня и наслаждаясь произведённым впечатлением.
– I can find no words to express my gratitude, – собралась я с мыслями примерно через минуту.
– Don’t say anything, then, – он почти смеялся.
– Wait—I