Voyage in the Dark

Anna becomes anxious about her relationship with Walter. She feels strongly for him and worries he’ll eventually lose interest in her, which is what everyone says always happens. One summer day, Walter tells her to pack her things, because they’re going to spend the weekend in the countryside with Vincent and his girlfriend. Anna is overjoyed, especially because being in the countryside is a refreshing change from spending all her time in her apartment. On the first night of the trip, she feels truly happy for the first time in a long while, as she and Walter relax and have sex. But then Vincent and his girlfriend, Germaine, arrive the next morning. Germaine is in a foul mood and keeps insulting Vincent, but Anna doesn’t know why—all she knows is that it ruins everyone’s good time.

At dinner, Germaine—who’s French—openly insults Vincent. She turns to Anna and says English men don’t care about women. They don’t know how to make women happy, so they dislike them. She eventually storms off, and Vincent tells Walter that she’s mad because he didn’t tell her earlier, though neither he nor Walter specify to Anna what, exactly, Vincent should have told her. But Anna finds out later that night, when Walter suggests that they cut the vacation short. He explains that Germaine is mad because Vincent is going away for a while, and she thinks he isn’t leaving her enough money. When Anna asks where Vincent is going, Walter says that he and Vincent are actually both leaving for New York next week.

Anna doesn’t say much when Walter tells her he’ll be leaving soon. They eventually rejoin Vincent and Germaine, who ask Anna about her theater career when Walter steps away for a moment. She tells them she was part of a troupe in Southsea, which makes them both laugh. Vincent previously thought she was a serious actor, but now he seems to reconsider. When Walter returns, Vincent says that Anna has given him away and asks him what on earth he was doing “on the pier at Southsea.” Flustered, Walter tells Anna not to let Vincent interrogate her so freely.

Furious because she doesn’t understand why everyone seems to be laughing at her, Anna tells them all to shut up and then puts her cigarette out on Walter’s hand. Walter yelps and takes his hand away, but Germaine congratulates Anna, saying, “Bravo, kid.” Shortly thereafter, they all pile into a car to back to London, and when they reach Walter’s house, she finds herself saying goodnight to Vincent and thanking him, though she doesn’t know why and wishes she hadn’t.

Anna and Walter talk about Vincent and Germaine once they go inside. Anna thinks Germaine is pretty, but Walter says she’s quite old—of course, she’s only 31, but he says that’s old “for a woman.” He also chastises Anna for being honest about her theater career, though she doesn’t see the problem. They eventually have sex, and after they finish Anna tells him not to forget her. He promises not to and slips some money into her purse, urging her to take a vacation on her own while he’s gone.

For an entire week after Walter leaves, Anna doesn’t leave her apartment. Her landlady eventually chastises her for staying in so much, insisting that leading such a sheltered existence is no life for a young person. This comment annoys Anna, who suddenly wishes she were old, so that she at least had an excuse to be sad and tired. Nonetheless, she accepts an offer to visit the coast and stay with her landlady’s cousin for three weeks. When she returns, she finds a letter waiting for her, but she doesn’t recognize the handwriting on the envelope.