D.C. Dead

25

“Only some of what you have heard is true,” Milly Hart said. “I did come from good stock. I am well educated, hold a master’s degree in English literature from Mount Holyoke College. I did marry a good man, and he did die sooner than I would have wished, but he did not leave me in dire straits.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Stone said.

“He left me quite well off, in fact: a little more than six million in securities, two small office buildings that produce a very good income, an apartment in New York, and a house in Virginia. And in the ensuing years I have improved my positions in almost everything, thanks to good advice from good friends.”

She took a sip of her wine. “And,” she said, “I have never taken a penny from a man for sex.”

Stone didn’t know what to say.

“I do have … relationships,” she said, “and quite often more than one at a time. You see, when I married the senator we formed a tight physical bond and we enjoyed a very active sex life, so much so that, when he died, I found myself sharply wanting that to continue.” She took another sip.

“Please go on,” Stone said.

“The most difficult thing was that I was suddenly a widow and expected not to form attachments with men for quite some time. Fortunately, someone came to the rescue: a marrieeveeth is mod man.”

“I see,” Stone said, though he didn’t quite.

“I couldn’t be seen out with men, and of course he couldn’t be seen out with women, so we met here and … at other places.” She polished off the last of her lobster and took a gulp of wine. “His name was Brixton Kendrick.”

Stone scooped up the last of his lobster and kept his mouth shut.

“Brix understood me, and he knew that because of his marriage and his work, he could not offer me the kind of attention I required-that is, enough attention. So he suggested I take other married lovers. He even suggested one or two.”

Stone sipped his wine, entranced.

“The gentleman you encountered when you got off the elevator yesterday is one of them, and one of the nicest. We see each other once a week, always varying the day, and we enjoy ourselves.”

“I don’t know how many there are,” Stone said, “but they are very fortunate men.”

She colored slightly. “That’s very kind of you, Stone,” she said.

“Kindness has nothing to do with it,” Stone said. “You are a very beautiful woman.”

“Thank you,” she breathed. “I am aware of your situation,” she said. “In fact, I knew and liked Arrington. My Virginia home is not far from the house she built. I was invited to her housewarming on that day, but I had other plans in New York and had to send my regrets. That was a terrible day for you, I know, and I understand how you must have been feeling during the months since that time.”

“Thank you,” Stone said.

“I find you a very attractive man,” she said, standing. Her peignoir had fallen open, and her body was exposed its whole length.

She was a real redhead, Stone noted. He slipped an arm around her waist and kissed her, and the peignoir fell to the floor.

“Come,” she said, taking his hand and leading him into her bedroom, a large sunny place with a bed that was already turned down. She did not bother to close the curtains, she simply lay on the bed and watched him, smiling, as he undressed.

In his arms she was luscious and ready, and she welcomed him with all her charms.

An hour later, both of them spent, they lay beside each other. Then she got out of bed, left the room, and returned, still naked, with half a bottle of champagne and two crystal flutes. They piled up the pillows and sat back, sipping the cold wine.

“And now,” she said, “having had carnal knowledge of you, I will tell you why else I asked you here. I meant to tell you sooner, but I was overcome.”

“Tell me,” Stone said.

“I was not Brix’s only lover,” she said.

“I heard that he was seeing Muffy Brandon. I spoke to her.”

“Oh, not Muffy,” she said. “I mean, yes, he was fucking her, but I also mean he was seeing someone much more important to him.”

“Brix was quite a guy,” Stone said.

“Someone in the White House,” Milly said quietly.

Stone nearly choked on his champagne.

“You se="3llye, in his position, Brix had the run of the place, saw everyone, knew everyone, knew when he could take a quiet moment, lock a door, and conduct an assignation.”

“In the White House?” Stone asked, flabbergasted.

“Oh, yes. For Brix, knowing what he knew about that world, there was no safer place.”

“I’m having some difficulty accepting this.”

“I’m telling you only what Brix told me. It wasn’t always in the White House, he said. After all, Mimi worked, and he did have his own house. There is a garage, and someone could drive right in and enter the house unseen.”

“How very convenient,” Stone said.

“On other occasions they used the White House family quarters.”

Stone sat up in bed and faced her. “Are you telling me he was having an affair with . . .”

“With Katharine Rule Lee? Possibly, he wouldn’t say. But the family quarters were sometimes available when the president was traveling, or just in the daytime, and Brix had full access, keys and everything. I mean, not in the presidential bed, but there are a number of bedrooms in the quarters, and they are usually unused. Brix knew the schedules of the cleaners, and the Secret Service wouldn’t enter the quarters without his permission. I think that the apparent impossibility of what he was doing was a big thrill for him.”

“I can see how it could be,” Stone said. “As far as you know, did anyone at the White House suspect?”

“He told me once that there was someone who had seemed to know something, but he couldn’t be sure. So he just continued as he had before.”

“Did he mention a name?”

“No, Brix was a very discreet man.”

“Did Mimi know about these other women?”

“I think she preferred not to know. If Mimi had been a more attentive and adventurous wife, none of this would ever have happened. I think she viewed sex, perhaps for religious reasons, as a means of procreation and little else. He told me once that she was shocked when he tried to give her cunnilingus, and disgusted by the thought of giving him fellatio. She wouldn’t touch his cock with her hand.” She glanced at the bedside clock.

“Perhaps I’d better go,” Stone said.

“I do have an appointment at five o‘clock, and God knows, after what we’ve been doing, I need a nap.”

Stone got into his clothes, and she walked him to the elevator, still nude. “I’m in New York once, sometimes twice a month,” she said. “I have an apartment at the Carlyle Hotel. Would you like to see me there sometime?”

“I would be delighted,” Stone said. He gave her his card.

“No attachments, no entanglements. I prefer it that way,” she said.

“I understand. That’s fine with me.”

They kissed, then he got onto the elevator. His last image of her was her standing, naked and relaxed, blowing him a kiss.

“Dino is not going to believe this,” Stone said aloud to himself. “Not any of it.”