An Ear to the Ground

Four

Harry had a depressing day in the office. Nothing had gone right. He knew that if he had been a more forceful salesman he would have got a rich client from Texas on the dotted line, but at the last moment, the tall, leathery-looking man had shaken his head and said he wanted more time to think before he committed himself. The deal that slipped through Harry’s fingers was worth three hundred thousand dollars.

Feeling deflated, he drove home and walked out on to the terrace where Lisa was sitting in her wheelchair. She was staring across the magnificent garden where three Chinese gardeners were looking busy and doing nothing. One glance at her sullen expression made Harry’s heart sink. She was obviously in one of her bad moods.

As he came over to kiss her, she waved him away.

“Don’t touch me!”

Harry sighed and sat down near her.

“Had a bad day, darling?”

“When don’t I? That woman Selby is a fool! I’m thinking of getting rid of her!”

Remembering Miss Selby’s glacial smile this news was no skin off Harry’s nose.

“You know best... I’ve never thought much of her.”

This was quite the wrong thing to have said.

“She has more brains in her little finger than you have in your head!” Lisa snapped viciously.

To-To, a small, sharp-eyed Japanese, came out on to the terrace with a dry Martini which he placed on the table by Harry, bowed and withdrew.

“And you drink too much!” Lisa looked enviously at the ice-beaded glass. Dr. Gourley wouldn’t allow her to drink any alcohol and Lisa liked a drink.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said. “This happens to be my first drink of the day. Would you rather I didn’t have it?”

“Oh, have it!” Lisa bit her thin underlip. “I want to be taken out tonight.”

“Why, sure. Where shall we go? The Yacht Club? Bernini? Alfredo?”

“I’m sick of those places. We’ll go to the Saigon Restaurant.”

Harry was surprised.

Along the waterfront there was a number of small, somewhat crummy restaurants and bars. When he worked at the store, he often went to them. He knew the Saigon Restaurant, but had never eaten there. He didn’t fancy Vietnamese food. This restaurant was shabby, and usually full of tourists after a cheap meal, and the idea of Lisa dining there seemed to him to be a mistake.

“Do you think you’ll like it? It’s always crammed with tourists.”

“That’s where we are going!”

“Well, fine... I’ll call them to book a table.”

So they went. It was always a commotion to get Lisa from her wheelchair into the Aston Martin. Harry had to lift her out of the chair and into the bucket seat. She always complained that he was hurting her. Then he had to collapse the chair and stow it in the back of the car.

They drove down to the crowded waterfront, arriving at the restaurant around nine o’clock. He wheeled her into the big, rather dingy main dining hall.

Dong Tho, the owner of the restaurant, came scurrying forward. Harry had alerted him on the telephone who Lisa was. A tubby little man with a yellow wrinkled skin and bright black eyes, wearing the traditional black Vietnamese dress, Dong Tho bowed to the ground and smiled as he led them into a private room, away from the main restaurant and that overlooked the busy harbour. There were carnations on the table, and it was obvious from the snow-white tablecloth and the way the table had been set that Dong Tho had made special efforts to please, but Lisa wasn’t impressed.

“I expect we will be poisoned,” she said as Harry wheeled her chair up to the table.

Dong Tho giggled with embarrassment. He handed out two menus, a foot long. Harry stared at the list of dishes: they meant nothing to him, then he looked at Lisa.

“Should we leave it to him?”

“I suppose so,” Lisa said indifferently. Harry could see that she was now sorry to have come, but since it had been her idea, she couldn’t take it out on him. “This is a mistake.”

Harry could have slapped her. He was embarrassed for the little man hovering around them. He told him they wanted a simple Vietnamese meal and would he arrange it?

While they waited, Lisa stared out of the window, watching the crowds milling around the sponge fishing boats that had just come in. She wasn’t in the mood for light conversation so Harry kept quiet. Then the door opened and a girl came in carrying a tray with the first of Dong Tho’s offerings. The girl was wearing Vietnamese costume: white silk trousers and a sheath long tunic of rose pink. Her hair was plaited and lay in a thick black rope down her slim back: the sign of virginity: the married Vietnamese women wear their hair up.

She came into the room behind Lisa and facing Harry. He looked at her, then his heart skipped a beat. He had never seen any woman quite so beautiful. The small, delicate features, the big, almond-shaped eyes, the fairy-like figure rocked him back on his mental heels. He quickly looked away as the girl began to place the dishes before them.

Lisa glanced at her, then seeing her beauty, looked sharply at Harry, but Harry had somehow managed to hoist a bored expression on his face and was now looking at the dishes.

“This looks acceptable,” he said. “What do you think?”

“I suppose so.”

The girl had gone. Harry had a feeling that the sun had shone on him — a white, burning, bone-melting sun — for the space of a few seconds and now he was in sudden gloom.

The girl was Dong Tho’s daughter. She was eighteen years of age. Her mother, an American, once worked at the American Embassy in Saigon. She had met and married Dong Tho and had one child: Tania. They had left Saigon when Tania was five years of age and had settled in Paradise City. Dong Tho had opened his restaurant with his wife’s money.

When Tania was sixteen years of age, her mother died. She had been eaten up with cancel for some years: her death came as no surprise.

Tania had to take her place. She worked in the restaurant, hating it. With half-American, half-Vietnamese blood, she found the need to balance her life correctly bewildering.

When she came in to change the dishes and to bring more dishes, Harry again gave her a quick appraisal, careful it was quick because he was aware of Lisa’s hostility towards the girl.

This fairy-like beauty caught at his throat. She had all the advantages of Vietnamese beauty, but retained the American feminine figure. Her breasts made a blood stirring mound under her rose pink tunic, her legs were long and her hips narrow, but solid.

Lisa found fault with everything although she ate well. Harry was glad when the meal finally ended.

“That girl...” Lisa said as they waited for the check. “She’s a half-caste. What do you think of her?”

“Is she? I didn’t notice.” Harry looked out of the window. “Anyway, I’m not interested in Orientals.”

Lisa leaned forward, her eyes glittering.

“What are you interested in, Harry?”

He forced a smile.

“I’ll tell you,” he lied. “I’m interested in you. I remember when we first met... when it was never better. I go along with that memory, darling... the best ever.”

Lisa’s hard, sad face crumpled a little. She put her hand on his.

“That’s the nicest, loveliest thing you have ever said to me, Harry.”

For the next three days, Harry dreamed of Tania. Then the following morning when he was in his office, Miss Bernstein came in to tell him the client who had a luncheon date with him had had to cancel.

Harry saw his chance.

“Too bad... well, phone the Yacht Club I’m not coming.”

Miss Bernstein looked suspiciously at him.

“Where will you be lunching, Mr. Lewis?”

“I don’t know... I’ll get a sandwich somewhere.”

Harry went to the Saigon Restaurant. As soon as Dong Tho saw him, he bowed to the ground and conducted him to the private room.

A minute later, Tania came in with the menu. They looked at each other. Harry knew he couldn’t afford to waste time. He smiled his charming smile and said, “You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

There was that Oriental, blank expression on her face that was to bother Harry for months ahead.

“Thank you,” she said and handed him the menu.

Her closeness, the fairy-like slimness of her, her ivory, perfect skin set Harry on fire.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Tania.”

“I am Harry Lewis.”

“Yes.”

Tania knew all about Harry Lewis, and especially all about Mrs. Harry Lewis who was said to be the richest woman in Paradise City.

Harry hesitated. He knew he might not have the opportunity to visit the restaurant again for weeks. He had to rush his fences. There was something about the way the girl was looking at him that encouraged him.

“Have you anything to do next Sunday morning?” he asked. This was kill or cure. He knew the approach was crude, but he had no alternative.

There was no change of expression. She continued to regard him with that Oriental, deadpan face.

“I have to be here at midday.”

“But before then... you aren’t tied up?”

“No.”

Harry drew in a deep breath. He said gently, “Could we meet somewhere? I would like to talk to you... to get to know you better.”

She lowered her eyes. She looked so lovely Harry had to restrain himself from shoving away the table and taking her in his arms.

“I must ask my father,” she said quietly, not looking at him.

Harry thought: God! Now, what have I started?

“Do you have to?” he asked, alarmed.

She looked at him and smiled reassuringly.

“My father has great admiration for Americans. He is very understanding. What would you like to eat?”

“Oh...” Harry relaxed. “To eat? Oh, anything... I’m not hungry.”

She nodded and went away.

Harry lit a cigarette and stared out of the window. Was he walking into trouble? Dealing with Orientals might be tricky, and yet... he thought of that slim body, that exquisite body.

Tania found Dong Tho supervising in the kitchen.

“Papa...” She beckoned.

He followed her out into the corridor.

“Mr. Lewis wants to talk to me on Sunday morning,” she said. “Where can I take him?”

Dong Tho’s little black eyes lit up with joy.

“Ask him here, of course. He can always have the private room.”

Tania looked steadily at her father, then shook her head.

“There should be a bed, Papa.”

Dong Tho flinched, but he was a realist. His brain always worked swiftly. If his daughter became the mistress of the husband of the richest woman in the City, not only Tania, but he, himself, must surely benefit.

“There’s the Wang-Cho Hotel,” he suggested. “It is very discreet.”

Tania shook her head.

“Oh no. Mr. Lewis wouldn’t like that. He is a great gentleman. The rooms are too small and there is only the bed. No, that wouldn’t do.” She paused, then looked steadily at her father. “I believe he has fallen in love with me.”

Dong Tho brightened. This was becoming better and better. He thought for a long moment, selecting and discarding, then he said, “I could speak to Anna Woo. She might let you have her apartment for the morning.”

Anna Woo was the most successful call girl in the Chinese quarter of the City. She had a luxurious one-room apartment on the ground floor of an apartment block inhabited by rich Chinese who minded their own business and were never curious.

“That would do very well,” Tania said.

“But Anna is a great thief.” Dong Tho frowned. “It will cost a lot of my money. Are you sure he is serious? This isn’t just a one-night stand?”

“No... I am sure he is very serious.”

“Then I will telephone her now.”

Tania went into the kitchen and filled a bowl with Chinese soup. She filled another bowl with fried shrimps and rice and carried them to Harry.

“Well?” he asked feverishly. “Have you spoken to your father?”

“Not yet,” Tania said, putting the bowls before him. “Please enjoy your lunch.” As she left the room, she paused and looked at him, then she smiled. “Don’t be anxious,” and she shut the door.

“Well, that’s how it began,” Al Barney said, accepting another cigarette. “It had to end in trouble, of course, but these sort of affairs generally do, but the following Sunday morning was the happiest Harry had ever spent, and after all those months of living like a monk, he became obsessed with Tania.”

As luck would have it, Lisa was having one of her bad spells. From time to time, she had a lot of pain and when Harry went to her room this Sunday morning, Helgar met him at the door and said Madame shouldn’t be disturbed. She was under sedation. This was a relief to Harry as he was so worked up at the thought of meeting Tania, he wasn’t too sure that he wouldn’t have betrayed himself if Lisa had seen him. He told Helgar he would be back in a couple of hours or so, and she stared at him with her cold, hostile eyes, saying nothing.

Harry had already called Jack English, warning him he would be at the club house. English said it was okay with him because his girl had the ‘curse’ and he would be playing golf.

“Found something interesting, Harry?”

“Yes. We’ll have to take it in turns now.”

“My luck! Well, okay, you’ve been a pal to me. I’ll go along with you.”

Harry was pleased with Anna Woo’s apartment. There was parking space under cover for the Aston Martin, and when Tania let him into the apartment, he was startled at the luxury of it all. Anna Woo knew how to live. The big airy room with its green sun shutters, its ornate furniture and blood-red, heavy pile carpet and its king’s size divan made an ideal love nest.

Tania was wearing a pale blue sheath over her white trousers and she had her hair loose... it reached down to her waist.

She looked so lovely that Harry could only stand and stare at her.

“Would you like a drink first, Harry?” she asked, smiling at him. “Or shall we make love now?”

They made love at first violently and then gently and tenderly. They made love like this three times before Harry realised he had been in the apartment over three hours.

“My God! I must go!”

While he was dressing Tania lay like an ivory goddess, naked on the divan, watching him. She was smiling gently, although her heart was beating fast. Had she made a mistake? Was this just this once and now satisfied, the American would forget her, but she need not have worried.

“How about next Sunday?” Harry asked as he slipped on his sports shirt.

She got off the bed, shaking her head. Her heart beat less fast.

“My friend won’t be able to let me have this apartment again... it was a special favour.”

Harry stared at her in dismay as she began to dress.

“But we must... isn’t there any other place you know where we could go?”

For the past two days both she and Dong Tho had hunted for some other place. Dong Tho had been horrified at Anna Woo’s charges.

“There is a small furnished apartment — not quite as good as this — but nice, that is to let opposite,” Tania said. It was in fact Anna Woo who had told her about it. “It costs one hundred dollars a month... three months in advance.”

Harry didn’t hesitate.

“Take it,” he said. “I’ll give you the money.” He thought a little uneasily of his dwindling bank account. He would have to try to cut down on his personal spending. He gave her three one hundred dollar bills. “I must go.” He took her in his arms, fondled and kissed her, then knowing he was dangerously late back home, he said goodbye. “The next Sunday at nine o’clock... across the way”

She smiled happily.

“Yes.”

Harry met Jack English at the Yacht Club. Both of them had been lunching clients.

“I won’t be at the Golf Club on Sunday,” Harry said.

“Oh, come on!” English looked dismayed. “We agreed to take it in turns. It’s my Sunday.”

“I’m sorry.”

English’s eyes narrowed.

“You could be. If you don’t cover me — I don’t cover you.”

Harry had anticipated that this would be English’s reaction. He had given the situation some thought.

“Do you think we could fix something with Joe Gates?”

Joe Gates was the Golf Club’s barman who handled all the telephone messages coming in for members out on the course.

English brightened.

“That’s an idea... how?”

“Why don’t we slip him twenty bucks a week, and if either of our wives call, he can say we are out of reach. Before we leave our girl-friends, we call him and he alerts us if there have been any messages.”

English regarded Harry with admiration.

“What a mind! That’s terrific! For twenty bucks Joe would betray his own mother. Okay, leave it to me. I’ll talk to him. You pay him one week... I’ll pay him the other. Okay?”

Later, English called Harry at the office and said it was fixed. Harry had already warned him Miss Bernstein listened in, so English just said, “Joe has arranged our game for Sunday. It’s in the bag.”

Somehow, Harry got through the days while waiting for Sunday. He could only think of Tania, and once or twice the faraway expression made Lisa demand sharply what he was thinking about. Startled, Harry said he was wondering how he could persuade the Texan — his name was Hal Garrard — to buy that parcel of land.

“I am sure I can sell him if only I can find the right approach.”

“Is that all you’re thinking about?”

“Well, damn it! It’s worth three hundred thousand.” Harry lit a cigarette so he needn’t meet her eyes. “It’s a big deal.”

Lisa shrugged.

“You men... we have all the money we want. You’re just greedy.”

Harry thought grimly that she had all the money she wanted, but he hadn’t.

“Look, darling,” he said quietly, “it’s all very well for you to talk that way. I have only twenty thousand, and it gets used up with so many incidental expenses.”

She regarded him, her hard, pain-worn face suspicious.

“If you want any more money, tell me. Give me your bills... I’ll pay them.”

Harry controlled an outburst with an effort.

“That makes me a bit of a gigolo, doesn’t it?”

She lifted her black eyebrows. Well, you are, aren’t you? her expression conveyed.

“It’s my money, Harry. Will you please turn on the TV?”

Well, that was that. Somehow Harry told himself he would have to make do with his twenty thousand. At least, he could now charge his clothes to Lisa’s account, but he would have to be very careful. He mustn’t give her the excuse to ask to see his bank pass sheets, and this was something she might well do.

Saturday night, he got a shock.

They were sitting on the terrace after dinner. Harry was trying to read a thriller which didn’t hold his interest as his mind was on Tania and thinking that in another few hours he would be lying in her arms when Lisa who had been doing a crossword puzzle said, “I forgot to tell you, Harry. We are going to Miami tomorrow morning. The Van Johnsons have invited us to lunch.”

Harry nearly gave himself away. With an effort, he kept his face expressionless.

“I’m sorry, darling, I can’t go. I promised Jack...”

“We are going, Harry!”

“Look, why not let To-To drive you. I have a foursome with Jack and...”

“You are driving me, Harry,” Lisa said in that cold, flat voice that brooked no argument. “You have been invited.”

“But look...” Harry began, then seeing Lisa turn pale and her eyes light up with fury, he stopped short. He couldn’t face the scene that was bound to come if he persisted in this. “Well, okay... I’ll call Jack,” and getting to his feet, he went into the lounge. He stood for a long moment, so furious at his own cowardice, so frustrated that he now couldn’t make love to Tania after all the past days of waiting and dreaming, he wanted to go back on the terrace and kill this hook-nosed, cripple bitch, but he controlled himself. He dared not telephone Tania. Either Helgar or To-To could listen in from one of the many telephone extensions in the house. So he called English. He said he was taking Lisa to Miami and he was sorry he would have to scrub the game. English was quick to realise what had happened. He said it was bad luck. Maybe the following Sunday.

There was no way to get word to Tania. The telephone was too dangerous. The Post Office was three miles away. He scarcely slept that night.

They left in the Rolls soon after ten o’clock the following morning. As he drove, Harry thought of Tania waiting for him, thinking he had betrayed her. Somehow, he must control himself.

Lisa said abruptly, “I don’t know what’s the matter with you this morning. You act like a stuffed dummy. Haven’t you anything to say to me?”

Well, there were other Sundays, Harry thought. He was behaving stupidly. He just couldn’t afford to take any risks.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’ve got this deal on my mind.” Then he began to make that small talk which was so vapid, Lisa told him to stop it.

“If you’re so disinterested in me that you can’t think of anything better to talk about than this, then for God’s sake, keep quiet!”

They got back from Miami soon after five o’clock. On the way back Lisa criticised the Van Johnsons, the meal and their servants.

To keep her happy, Harry agreed with everything she said. When they got home, Lisa said, “I’m tired. I’ll take a bath. We’ll have a light supper on the terrace.”

“Okay,” Harry said. “You take a rest. I’ll run the car down to Jefferson’s. The carburettors want re-tuning. Did you notice how she was running on the way back?”

“She was running perfectly” Lisa said, staring suspiciously at him.

“I was driving,” Harry said quietly. “She’s using too much gas. I want to get it fixed.”

“Oh, very well.”

When he had carried her to her chair and had seen Helgar wheel her into the house, Harry got back into the Rolls and drove fast to the nearest drug store, some two miles down the long avenue. He parked the car and shut himself into a telephone booth.

He called the Saigon Restaurant.

Dong Tho answered.

“Is Tania there?”

When Dong Tho recognised Harry’s voice, he drew in a long sigh of relief. Both he and Tania had been distracted all day, believing that Harry had had his fun and the affair was over. Although they were three hundred dollars in credit, they were now landed with six months’ lease on the apartment as well as Anna Woo’s exorbitant charge for the loan of her apartment.

“A moment, please, sir.”

Dong Tho got Tania to the telephone. When he told her Harry was on the line, she pressed her hands to her full breasts and closed her eyes. Dong Tho gave her a sharp slap.

“Talk to him!”

“Tania?”

“Yes.”

“This is Harry”

“Yes.”

“Tania, listen... I had to go to Miami with my wife. I couldn’t contact you. It has driven me half out of my mind. I am very sorry. Will you forgive me?”

Tania smiled, her eyes closed.

“I understand. It is very difficult for you. I am very sorry too.”

Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

“You’re not angry with me?”

“Angry with you? I love you.”

Those words: I love you kept Harry walking on air for the rest of the week. It was a bad week for Lisa who remained in bed, suffering. Harry saw little of her, but he dare not leave the house once he had returned from the office. He waited and longed for Sunday to come. He told himself that if Lisa prevented him from seeing Tania this Sunday, he would tell her to go to hell — knowing that he wouldn’t.

But it was Lisa who told him he should play golf with English on Sunday.

The apartment Tania had rented wasn’t anything like so deluxe as Anna Woo’s love nest, but Harry liked it better. It was simpler, more homely, and there was a king’s size bed, and that was the only thing Harry really cared about.

“This time,” Tania said as she slid out of her clothes, “I make love to you. You are passive... I am active. It is the way the East make love sometimes.”

She made him lie flat on the bed.

“You must keep your eyes open. We must look at each other.”

The next five minutes were the most exciting and exotic moments in Harry’s life.

Later, as they lay side by side, she said, “I have an idea how we can meet more often. You want us to meet more often, don’t you, Harry?”

Harry pulled her closer to him.

“Of course I do, but I don’t see how. I’ve been battering my brains out how it can be done, but I can’t see how. I have to be damned careful, Tania... you don’t know how careful.”

“Yes, I do.” She raised her exquisite face and looked at him. “Suppose she did find out... what would happen?”

Harry flinched at the very thought.

“She would divorce me, and that would be that.”

“What does that mean, please?”

“I would have to find a job.”

“But you have a good job, haven’t you, Harry?”

“Not really. She could throw me out. The business belongs to her — everything belongs to her. If she divorced me, I wouldn’t have a cent.”

Tania absorbed this information, her face expressionless.

“I see... then you must be very careful,” she said finally. “But couldn’t you visit me sometimes when she has gone to bed? What time does she go to bed?”

“Always at ten-thirty unless we have guests. But I don’t see how I can. I couldn’t take the car out. Someone would hear it.”

“But suppose I was waiting for you in a car? I could drive you here and take you back.”

Harry was startled. This could be an idea.

“Can you drive?”

“Of course.”

“Have you a car?”

“No, but we could buy one. I know of a very cheap, good car that is for sale. It is only four hundred dollars... secondhand.”

Right at this moment Harry had only eight hundred dollars in his account to last him another fifteen days before his allowance was paid in. He moved uneasily.

“I’ll have to think about it, Tania.”

Tania was longing to own a car. She saw his hesitation. Her father always said if something was worthwhile, you had to fight for it.

“If we are going to buy this car, we have to do it quickly,” she said, a determined note in her voice. “The owner of the car is Papa’s friend. He warned me if I don’t make up my mind by tomorrow, he will have to sell the car to another friend.”

Harry was thinking. His bedroom was near the patio. It would be simple and safe to leave by the patio door and walk down the drive without being seen. Ever since Lisa’s accident she had gone to bed at ten-thirty unless there had been a party. He had gone to his room to read in bed. Lisa always took sleeping pills. She slept through until seven o’clock. Yes, this could be safe. He could leave the house around eleven-thirty, spend a couple of hours with Tania, get back and no one would be the wiser.

But four hundred dollars!

Seeing he was still hesitating, Tania said wistfully, “But perhaps it is too expensive? Perhaps you prefer to see me only on Sunday?”

That decided Harry. He pulled her to him, his hand running down her slim, beautiful back.

“Buy the car... I’ll give you a cheque.”

She pressed her body against his.

“Wouldn’t cash be safer?”

“Yes, you’re right. I’ll send the money by registered mail.”

“Then when you can see me, you have only to telephone.”

“I can’t do that... they listen in.”

“But you can. If you dial the restaurant, you can say you have the wrong number. Papa always answers the phone. He knows your voice. Then he will tell me and I will be waiting in the car.”

Harry regarded her thoughtfully.

“You’ve really thought this out, haven’t you?”

“It’s because I love you and I realise how careful you have to be.”

Harry rolled her on her back.

“Now, you’re going to be passive and I am going to be very active.”

Before he left the apartment, he telephoned the Golf Club. Joe Gates said with a chuckle there had been no messages.

On his way home, Harry wondered how to raise $400 without crippling his account. He had the uneasy feeling that he was getting into a network of lies and intrigues, but he didn’t care. As he drove into the garage, he deliberately steered the Aston Martin into the concrete post that separated one garage from the other. He smashed the front offside wing and the headlamp.

“What’s the matter with you?” Lisa demanded shrilly when he told her of the accident. “Are you drunk?”

“Well, it’s done,” Harry said, shrugging. “I’m sorry... accidents will happen. I’d better take it down to Jefferson’s. He’ll fix it.”

Jefferson, the owner of the garage, liked Harry. They talked the same language about cars and Harry knew Jefferson had no time for Lisa. After Jefferson had examined the damage, he said he could fix it for ninety dollars.

“Do me a favour?” Harry said. “Will you pad the bill out to four hundred and ninety?” He winked. “I’ll pick up the four hundred when Mrs. Lewis pays. Okay?”

Jefferson grinned.

“Sure. It’s a pleasure to do anything for you, Mr. Lewis. Let’s see: wing straightened and repainted, new headlamp, hubcap replaced, front axle taken down and straightened, brakes readjusted. Yeah... can do.”

When the bill came in, Lisa raised the roof. Harry said humbly that an accident was an accident and the insurance would take care of it, but Jefferson would be obliged to have a cheque right away. Lisa wrote the cheque and threw it at him.

“Be more careful in the future!”

So without knowing it, Lisa paid for Tania’s car.

Tania’s plan worked. When Harry felt the urge, he would call the restaurant, apologise for dialling the wrong number. Around eleven-thirty p.m. when To-To had gone to bed and Helgar was in her room watching TV, Harry sneaked out of his bedroom, locked the door, left by the patio door which he locked after him, then went silently down the drive to where Tania was waiting in her T.R.4 at the corner of the road.

Now life for Harry became an agony of nerves and an ecstasy of the flesh. But he was now too committed to draw back. The more he saw of Tania the more he desired her. She seldom asked him for money, and then only to buy some little thing that was of no consequence. He realised that this erotic and wonderful love affair was costing him very little. After three months of this, Tania reminded him that the rent was due, and again he had to think how he could get Lisa to pay the three hundred dollars.

Lisa had just had her bedroom redecorated. Harry went along to the blond homo decorator who he knew hated Lisa and talked him into adding four hundred dollars to his bill: three for Harry and one for himself. The homo had a tricky moment convincing Lisa why the price had gone over the original estimate, but as she was very satisfied with her room, she grudgingly paid. So again she paid for Harry’s affair.

One Sunday morning as Tania and Harry were lying on the divan after their lovemaking, Tania said, “Please tell me about the Esmaldi diamonds.”

“How do you know about them?” Harry asked, surprised. He was relaxed and feeling sleepy.

“I have read about the necklace. Is it very beautiful?”

“I guess so... yes, it is.”

“Does she wear it often?”

“Scarcely at all. It stays in the safe. It’s a damn shame really, she hasn’t the looks to wear it. On a beautiful woman, it would look magnificent.”

Tania edged closer to him.

“Would it look nice on me?”

Harry raised his head and surveyed her naked body. He smiled, nodding.

“More than magnificent.”

“If anything happened to her would you have the necklace, Harry?”

“Not a chance. She has left it to a museum, and besides, nothing is going to happen to her.”

Tania’s almond-shaped eyes opened wide.

“To a museum?”

“That’s right. The Fine Arts Museum in Washington.”

“So no other woman will ever wear it once she is dead?”

“That’s right.”

Tania drew in a long slow breath.

“I think that is very selfish.”

“Yes, but there it is... it’s her necklace.”

Lisa had had a bad week of pain. Her temper became insufferable. Even Helgar came under her lash, but Harry suffered most. He was in the lounge, nervously pacing up and down, when Dr. Gourley who had been giving Lisa a checkup came into the room.

Dr. Gourley was a tall, thin, distinguished looking man who Harry liked.

“How did you find her, Doctor?” Harry asked anxiously.

“Nothing to worry about,” Gourley said. “She is bound to have pain from time to time. I’ve changed her drugs. She’ll settle down in a day or two.” He too had had the sharp edge of Lisa’s tongue, but as she was one of his most profitable patients, he accepted her insults.

“She’s not in danger?”

“Danger?” Gourley smiled and shook his head. “She’ll last for years. She has a splendid heart. No... you don’t have to worry about that, but she does need a change. I’ve advised her to take a few weeks off in the yacht. Nothing better for her than to have some sea air and a change of background.”

When the doctor had gone, Harry went up to Lisa’s room. He found her in bed, her hard, pinched face pale and her mouth a thin line of pain.

“That fool thinks I should have a sea trip,” she said as Harry shut the bedroom door. “We will go to the Bahamas. Tell Captain Ainsworth. We’ll leave at the end of the week. We’ll go for six weeks. I’ve already called the Van Johnsons. They will be coming with us.”

Harry was appalled. He thought of Tania. To be away from her for six weeks! To be cooped up on that damned yacht with those awful Van Johnson bores!

“But, darling, I can’t be away from the office for six weeks,” he protested, trying to smile.

She stared at him, her black eyes glittering.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Of course you can! Miss Bernstein can handle the office far better than you! Tell Captain Ainsworth!”

Harry spent most of the day in the office trying to find a way out. After lunch, he called the Saigon Restaurant from the Yacht Club and asked to speak to Tania.

“I must see you tonight.”

“Harry, dear, I’m sorry, but I have my monthly thing.”

“It doesn’t matter. I must see you.”

That night when Lisa had gone to bed, Harry met Tania at the corner of the street.

“No, we won’t go to the apartment,” he said, sitting beside her in the little car. “Just listen... this is important...”

He told her he had to go with Lisa to the Bahamas and they would be away for six weeks. Tania caught her breath in anguish.

“But don’t worry, it’s not going to be six weeks for me,” Harry said, holding her hand. “I want you to send a telegram to the yacht on September 3rd.” He took from his wallet a folded sheet of paper “The address and the message is written down here I shall be back by the 4th and we can have three whole days and nights together before I have to return to the yacht.”

Two weeks later while the yacht was at anchor in the harbour of Andros Island before making the crossing of the Exuma Sound to Nassau, the telegram arrived.

Harry had had a gruesome fourteen days. At least, Lisa had been in a better mood but being cooped up with the Van Johnsons had nearly driven him crazy. The four of them were sitting in the sun, drinking midday cocktails, when one of the crew came up to Harry with the telegram. Harry was aware that Lisa was watching him while he read it. Then he passed it over to her.

Lisa stared suspiciously at him.

“What does this mean?”

“He’s the guy I nearly sold. The Texan who’s been after that parcel of land,” Harry explained. “It’s a three hundred thousand deal, Lisa.”

“How did he know where to contact you?”

“I’ve never ceased to contact him.”

“Well, Miss Bernstein can handle it.”

“No... he hates the sight of her. I’ll have to go back.”

Sam Van Johnson, a big, puffy, balding man, helped him.

“For Pete’s sake, Harry! Three hundred thousand! Boy! That’s money! How will you get back?”

Harry was still looking directly at Lisa who was glaring angrily at the telegram.

“Your father wanted to sell this land, darling,” he said quietly, aware his heart was thumping. “Do you want me to go or don’t you?”

“Oh, go! But it doesn’t mean he will buy!” Lisa looked at him. “Where will you stay?”

“Oh, some motel. I doubt if I’ll get into the Majestic. It’s bound to be full.”

“So I won’t know where you are?”

“But, darling, I’ll be on the site most of the time.”

“I can’t contact you there.”

“I’ll keep in touch, and I’ll meet you at Nassau.”

Harry flew back to Paradise City. An hour after arriving, he was with Tania in her apartment.

Their love-making was long, tender and passionate. Knowing they dared not be seen together in the City, Tania had arranged for meals to be sent in. The meals arrived from the Saigon restaurant, brought by a smiling Vietnamese waiter.

This suited Harry. He was enchanted with Tania and when he wasn’t making physical love with her, he liked nothing better than to lie on the divan and watch her move around the room, prepare his meals or sit on the floor while she talked to him.

On the morning of the second day together, she said suddenly, “Harry... I would so very much like to see your home. It is your chance to show it to me. Will you?”

The house had been shut up. Helgar was on the yacht. To-To and the rest of the staff had gone off for their annual holiday. The elaborate burglar alarms, wired direct to police headquarters, satisfied Lisa the house was safe to be left unoccupied.

Tania’s request startled Harry.

“I’m afraid not. That’s taking too big a risk. My God! If Lisa...”

“But couldn’t we go late tonight? No one would know. I do so want to see your home.”

But the thought scared Harry.

“I’m sorry... no, Tania.”

When you want anything, you have to fight for it, Dong Tho had said so often to her.

“All right then!” For the first time since he had known her, her beautiful little face became set and hard. “I have done so much for you. I give myself to you whenever you want me. I had hoped you would have done something for me.”

Harry hesitated. From her expression he guessed she would now sulk for the rest of the evening if not for his remaining day, and time was running out.

“All right, we’ll go.”

She gave a squeal of delight and threw herself in his arms.

Soon after midnight, he led her up the drive and around to the patio door. Here, he turned off the concealed switch that disconnected the burglar alarm.

“What are you doing, Harry?”

“Turning the switch off. If I didn’t, we would have a lot of policemen here in three minutes. The whole house is wired direct to the police headquarters. By turning this switch, the alarm is cut off.”

He groped under a flower pot containing yellow begonias and took from under it the key to the patio door.

“I always leave it here,” he explained as he unlocked the door. “If I lost it and couldn’t get back to my bedroom after seeing you, I’d be sunk.”

He led her into the house.

The shutters were closed and the curtains drawn. It was safe to turn on the lights.

She walked with him through the rooms. She stood for nearly three minutes staring at the fitted kitchen, her almond-shaped eyes wide. The bathrooms fascinated her. Harry had not got over his scare and was enjoying seeing her utter bewilderment at such luxury.

“But those taps are solid gold!” she exclaimed, staring at Lisa’s bath.

“That’s right,” Harry said. “All the fittings in here are gold.”

“But how can one be so rich!”

“Lisa just is.”

She stood in the doorway of the enormous lounge, her hands against her breasts. Watching her in her white trousers and her pale blue tunic, Harry thought how lovely she looked. She examined everything, but touched nothing. She stared at the fully-equipped bar, the big colour TV set, the stereo radiogram and the rack of L.P. records, the furniture, the decor and the hangings. She moved as if she were in a dream.

“All this belongs to you, Harry?”

“Nothing belongs to me... I just live here.”

He showed her his bedroom.

“And you sleep in this beautiful room all alone?”

“Yes, but I dream of you.”

She looked at him, smiling.

“Do you... really?”

“Really... come on, let’s go.”

Her black eyes became appealing.

“Please, Harry, may I see the Esmaldi necklace?”

Harry hesitated. Then seeing the longing expression in her eyes, he hadn’t the heart to refuse.

He took her into Lisa’s bedroom. Tania caught her breath as he switched on the lights. The room was the acme of luxury, comfort and taste. The beauty and magnificence of it still impressed Harry.

“But this is truly wonderland,” Tania whispered, moving into the room. “It’s the most beautiful room I have ever seen.”

“Isn’t it!”

Harry went over to one of the hidden buttons concealed under the edge of Lisa’s dressing table.

“What are you doing?” Tania asked curiously, joining him.

“Opening the safe. There are two buttons: one here... the other across the room. This one cuts the alarm. The other opens the safe.” He crossed the room and located the second button cunningly hidden in the ornate woodwork that surrounded the radiator. As he pressed the button, the safe door, set in the wall, slid open.

“But that’s wonderful! Oh, Harry, please let me do it! Please!”

So Harry reclosed the safe and let her touch the first button and then the second. She clapped her hands like an excited child as the door of the safe slid open.

“Oh, to be able to live like this!” she exclaimed. “This is the most wonderful night of my life!”

“Wait,” Harry said. He was now getting a big bang out of her excitement. He reached into the safe and took out a long, flat jewel case. “Take your clothes off, Tania.”

She stared at him.

“I don’t understand.”

“Go on... take them off.”

With trembling fingers, she slid out of her clothes and stood before him. He opened the case and drew out the Esmaldi necklace that glittered like three ropes of stars.

“Don’t move,” he went on as Tina gasped at the sight of the diamonds.

He fastened the necklace around her slim throat, then moved her to the full length mirror and stood away. Her ivory, satin-smooth skin was the perfect background for the three strands of glittering diamonds.

She stood hypnotised, staring at her reflection.

“I knew it,” Harry said a little huskily. “They were created for you.”

She said nothing. She looked and she looked and she looked. After she had remained motionless for some five minutes, Harry gently undid the clasp and returned the necklace to its case.

“And no one will ever wear them but her?” Tania said quietly as she dressed.

“That’s right. They’ll be behind armoured glass in a museum.”

Tania was strangely quiet as they drove back to the little apartment. She looked around the small, simply furnished room as she entered, her face expressionless.

“What it is to have money, Harry,” she said, then she shrugged and smiled. “Now let us make beautiful love.”

For the first time since they had lain together, Harry had an uneasy idea that Tania wasn’t with him. He felt her thoughts were far away.

The following day, he had to catch the eleven-forty plane to Nassau. They woke late and while he was drinking coffee, Tania said suddenly, “Harry... if anything happened to her, would that wonderful house be yours? Would you have all her money?”

“Yes. When we married, she made a will leaving everything to me, but she will live for years. Her doctor told me.”

“Oh.” Tania walked her long, slim fingers along the edge of the table. “But one never knows, does one? She could die, then you would be free. Please tell me something truthfully, Harry, if you were free would you want to marry me?”

Harry looked up sharply. Would he? He had never considered marrying Tania. But seeing her beauty and the anxiety in her eyes, he smiled, nodding.

“Of course. But look, darling, she’s not going to die for years and years. She could even outlive me. Let’s forget it.”

Tania studied him.

“But if you were free, you would really marry me?”

Harry felt suddenly uneasy. There was a tension about Tania that was foreign to her.

“Yes, Tania, but I’m not free and I won’t be free.” He got up from the table. “I must hurry. Time’s getting on.”

When he had gone, Tania sat on the bed, staring down at her slim hands.

She was thinking of the necklace, the house... she also thought of Lisa.