Дональд Джеймс - The House of Eros

She could not believe the fire in her, the heat surging from face to loins, the trembling of her arms and legs, the fierce, palpitating heartbeat.

He drew back from her. ‘The lady’s hot,’ he said. She didn’t like that. But he had not understood. ‘The lady’s very hot,’ he said.

She could not control her trembling limbs. ‘May I have a cigarette?’ she said.

‘Sure. But you don’t usually smoke.’

‘Tonight I do.’

‘OK,’ he said. ‘But we don’t have to smoke here. I’ve got a nice wide sofa up in my office…’

‘The one Sunny used to speak so highly of?’

‘Mistake, Mary.’ He handed her a cigarette and lit it for her. ‘Don’t hold it against me. These things happen,’ he said.

She drew on the cigarette. ‘The mistake’s mine, Cy,’ she said. She exhaled fiercely. ‘I must be mad to be here.’

‘Mad?’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t think so, Mary. I think this is something we’ve both thought about for a long time. I think it’s something we’ve both wanted for a long time.’ She shook her head, partly to conceal the shiver of excitement that passed through her. Had he watched her, had dreams about her as she had had about him?

‘For me it goes back a long way,’ he said. ‘Strangely enough I remember the very evening. I guess you hadn’t been too pleased about Sunny’s marriage. Saw me as something of an interloper, a boy gold-digger even.’ She flinched. ‘Something like that, uh? Anyway, the evening I’m talking about, we all went over to the Rose house. You remember, Jason Rose was giving a winter garden roast to introduce Ruth to the gentry of Meyerick. You remember that night?’

‘I remember,’ she said.

‘I remember too,’ he said. ‘Because you and me were the only ones who didn’t laugh at the snide “blind man” jokes about “maybe he hasn’t found out what colour she is yet?”’

‘Not the only ones,’ she said.

‘OK, maybe not the only ones. But suddenly we were kind of allies for an hour or two.’ She nodded, drawing on the cigarette. ‘Strange thing about a moment like that between two people. You notice things that you’d always known of course, but it hadn’t really hit where it hurts.’

‘What sort of things?’

‘Like what a pretty woman you are.’

‘That hurts?’

‘Sometimes,’ he said.

‘I’m sorry, Cy. I didn’t mean to be smart.’

He reached his arm around her shoulders. For a moment she hesitated, then yielded to the faint pressure of his arm. As she turned towards him, she felt his free hand slide under her silk jacket, his palm opening slowly to enclose her breast. ‘Just stay like that,’ he said. ‘Just relax a few moments, and we’ll go back.’ He made no attempt to kiss her. No attempt beyond the faintest movement of his hand to caress her breast.

But she could feel herself melting towards him. I am Sunny’s sister , she said to herself. This man is Sunny’s husband . His hand beneath my jacket , moving now , sliding below the scooped front of my dress . ‘No,’ she said, as the tips of his fingers fanned across her bare flesh. ‘No, Cy. Take me home. Take me home now, Cy.’ He withdrew his hand slowly. ‘You’re sure, Mary. You’re sure you want to go back?’

All she felt now was a sort of numb fatigue. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Please, Cy.’

He leaned across and kissed her on the forehead. ‘Give me one minute,’ he said. ‘I’ve got something to pick up from the office.’ He was away a few minutes. Enough for her to repeat to herself four or five times: there’s no justification for the risk. It’s not love, it’s lust. There’s no justification. But she was still hoping he’d say something more.

A few moments later he climbed back into the car and threw something on to the rear seat. ‘OK,’ he said, with a quick smile towards her. ‘Let’s go back and see the folks.’

Sunny stood in the big living room alone. She could hear the crunch of gravel outside as Cy’s car drew up. It seemed to her a long time before the car doors slammed and footsteps approached the house. She hurried through to the hall, flicked on all the lights in the chandelier and pulled open the door.

Mary, her foot on the bottom step, and Cy staring up at her, caught in the blaze of light. ‘Has something happened?’ Mary said. She was looking across to Harker’s car, seeing it for the first time. ‘Sunny,’ she looked at her sister’s grim face. ‘Is that Dr Harker’s car?’

Sunny nodded, mouth clamped tight.

Mary hurried past her into the house. ‘Has something happened to Fin?’ She swung round. ‘Tell me, for goodness’ sake.’

Behind her Sunny exploded. ‘And where were you if something had happened?’

‘He’s all right? Fin’s all right?’ Cy said gripping her arm.

Sunny nodded. ‘He looked bad for a while,’ her anger was subsiding slowly. ‘He was breathing strangely. I thought maybe he was having a heart attack. Where were you?’ There was less of a note of accusation in her voice.

‘We drove into Meyerick,’ Mary said.

‘Had to pick up something from the office.’ Cy waved the file. ‘How is he now?’

Dr Harker was coming down the stairs. ‘False alarm, this time, Mary,’ he said.

‘I’ll go up and see him.’ Mary walked past Harker towards the foot of the stairs.

‘No point now,’ Harker said. ‘Leave him to sleep a little. He’s vomited most of the alcohol. He’ll be OK now.’

‘I phoned the club an hour ago,’ Sunny said grimly. ‘Vic Impari told me you’d already left.’

Mary put her hand out to her sister. ‘Slow down, Sunny,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know Fin was that bad.’ She found she was experiencing a real sense of virtue, as if it were her decision, not the chance mention of the sofa, that had prevented anything happening in Meyerick. Perhaps something showed in her voice.

Suddenly Sunny’s face softened. ‘I was worried. I guess I panicked.’

‘OK, Sunny.’ Cy came forward and put his arm round her. ‘Our fault for leaving you alone.’ He turned to Harker. ‘We’re grateful to you for coming over, John,’ Cy said. ‘It would have been too much for Sunny alone.’

‘I was alone,’ Sunny said, ‘for the best part of two hours.’ She watched the faint flush climb her sister’s cheek and the same ugly suspicions came back to her. Was it possible? Was it even remotely possible? Her sister, the steady, conventional Mary Page Butler. Was it possible she had spent the last hour screwing her brother-in-law on the office sofa?

Dr Harker was going. ‘I’ll call in tomorrow. I want him to go for a complete medical, everything. But I know Fin. By tomorrow he’ll be asking you what all the hassle is about.’

‘I’ll make sure he doesn’t,’ Mary said. ‘I know it’s important.’ She took him to the door and thanked him again.

‘I’ve had a rough night,’ she heard Sunny say to Cy. ‘Are you coming to bed?’

‘Sure,’ Cy said casually. ‘I’ll be up.’

‘I mean like now,’ Sunny snapped.

When they had gone upstairs Mary went up to check on Fin. He was sleeping peacefully enough, snoring gently, his face relaxed and youthful. She felt a rush of emotion for him. Not really love perhaps, but a great surge of friendliness. Bending forward she kissed him on the forehead, the first time her lips had touched him in more than a year. Then she returned downstairs and walked through the house into the kitchen and made herself coffee.

Did Sunny suspect? But suspect what? After all nothing had happened. She sipped the hot coffee. She was trembling again. She wanted to run upstairs and shake Sunny and tell her nothing had happened. And that nothing ever would. Ever .