Gene Wolfe - An Evil Guest

Cassie nodded. “Thank you. You saw The Red Spot , though. The final performance.”

“I didn’t. I know I said I did, but that was...”

“Diplomacy?”

“Yes, exactly. India had given me tickets, and I didn’t want to admit I hadn’t used them.”

“I see. What else did you find?”

“One other thing that interested me even more. You have a brand-new checking account. Only one check’s been written on it.”

She smiled. “So I do! I’d almost forgotten about that.”

“It’s a great deal of money.”

“For you? I know better.”

The sommelier arrived, and Reis ordered wine. When they were alone again, he said, “Would you tell me where you got it, if I asked?”

“Are you saying you don’t know? I don’t believe you, Wade.”

“Call me Wally, please. I prefer it. Here.”

“As you wish, Wally.”

“Thank you.” He actually looked grateful. “No, I’m not saying I don’t know. I simply wanted to see if you’d tell me the truth.”

Cassie grinned. “I won the lottery. That’s the total, absolute, brass-bound truth. Good enough?”

“You’re saying you lie.”

“So do you, Wally. You’ve lied to me already tonight. Once for sure and probably more than once. Let’s turn off the lights on this one. You’ll lie to me anytime you think it’s to your advantage. Whether I’ll lie to you depends on the question you ask, how you ask it, and how I’m feeling just then.”

“You’re frank, Cassie. I admire frankness.”

“In that case, I’ll stop.”

“So will I. I’m going to tell you things tonight. You’ll doubt everything I say, but you’ll have no reason to. I’m going to tell you a lot, and it will all be true. Every word of it.”

Their wine arrived. Reis tasted it and nodded. The sommelier poured each of them half a glass.

“I’ve said I was going to tell you the unvarnished truth. I will, and I’ll begin by saying that you are the most attractive woman I’ve ever met. I want to win you. Most of all, I want to win your love. I may not be able to do that, but I’ll deserve it. You’ll see.”

Cassie nodded and sipped. “Pure truth so far.”

“I’m a businessman. I’ve been one all my adult life, even when I was supposed to be a diplomat. It’s the only thing I know how to do, but I’m good at it. I’m so good that I often need to pretend to be somebody else. There are antitrust laws, for one thing. There are other reasons as well. Almost every day I deal with sums greater than the annual budgets of many nations, so you can imagine.”

“I can only imagine,” Cassie said, “but I can do that.”

“Good. Two years ago I hired a consultant. He is an academic, and like so many something of a charlatan, but he gets results. His name is Gideon Chase. It will save time if you don’t pretend you don’t know him.”

“I won’t,” Cassie promised. “It would upset Sharon.”

“Yes, I’m sure it would. He did what I wanted, and I paid him liberally. He realized I commanded very large sums and decided to despoil me. He’s been trying to ever since.”

As their food arrived Cassie said, “I wish him luck.”

“I know you do. Twenty thousand dollars is a large sum, as I said. You’ve gotten that much from him, and hope to get much more.”

“This smells luscious. Thank you.”

“I won’t bother telling you that you might get fifty times as much from me. You understand that already. The things you don’t know are what you might have to do to get it, and whether I can be trusted to keep my promises.”

Cassie’s eyebrows went up. “Can you?”

“Yes. You won’t take my word for that — although it’s good — but as you come to know me better you’ll realize that in business matters I can be trusted absolutely. I do not cheat. Most particularly, I do not cheat my partners.”

“Good for you!” She sampled her capon.

Reis’s smile was principally in his sharp brown eyes. “Exactly. It is good for me, Cassie. It’s good business. The criminal impulse — something your friend Chase has in abundance — is self-defeating in the long run. Would you like to try this ragout?”

“No thanks. I’m trying not to eat too much. I won’t sleep if I do.”

“I always sleep well. My days are long and strenuous. A good night’s sleep is my reward, and I collect it every night.”

“May I ask a question?”

“I invite it.”

“Why did you take my bracelet from Margaret?”

“Because I was afraid of Margaret. Of her honesty. Can I explain?”

Cassie nodded. “I wish you would.”

“You hated my bracelet and did not want to wear it. I saw it the moment it was on your wrist. It hurt. It hurt a great deal. I had designed that bracelet myself. It was special order, and I had paid a German craftsman extra to get it as soon as I did. He had worked nonstop, and sent it to me here by International Express. I deal in gold, as well as certain other commodities. That was why there were no diamonds.”

Cassie nodded again.

“I had hoped that you would love it, that you would think fondly of me each time you wore it. I’d failed. I don’t fail often, but I don’t lie to myself — or to those I value — when I do. If I’d thought your Margaret would steal it, I’d have written it off and tried to forget it. After looking into her background, I decided she wouldn’t. She would return it to you, and you’d wear it as a duty, detesting it the whole time. Objection?”

“No,” Cassie said.

“When the show closed, as it would eventually, you would sell my bracelet. That would be the end of it.” Rosenquist’s well-tailored shoulders rose one-eighth of an inch, and fell. “I got it back and had it melted down.”

“It’s gone?”

“It is. Destroyed utterly. I suppose another like it might be made, but it will not be made to my order. Does that make you happy?”

“I don’t know.” Cassie felt thoughtful, and felt, too, that she must look foolish. “I’ll have to mull it over. You scared Margaret.”

“I had to. She wouldn’t have handed over my bracelet otherwise. I won’t try to make amends to her. It would only frighten her more, if I’ve read her right. I’ll make amends to you, however. Let’s do that now. I promised you’d learn something to your advantage if you’d join me for dinner.”

“I’d forgotten.”

“I hadn’t. Here it is. The price of gold is almost two hundred dollars an ounce today.”

“If that’s supposed to help me, it’s coming a bit late.”

“I have more.” Reis took a tall wallet from the pocket of his jacket. “I don’t suppose you ever weighed your bracelet?”

Cassie shook her head.

“It weighed ten ounces. I gave my German craftsman ten ounces of gold and told him to use it all, and that’s what he did.”

Reis pulled out a green check half again larger than those Cassie had received from Barclays Bank. “This isn’t twenty thousand, but it will have to do for tonight — two thousand dollars, the value of the gold in that bracelet.”

Nodding, Cassie picked it up. “If I were a lady, I wouldn’t take this. Fortunately I’m not.”

“I understand. Gentility is the luxury of those who can afford it. I can’t. Honor has to be enough for me, and it is. No doubt you’re the same.”

“I’m afraid not.” Unable to smile, Cassie sipped her wine. “The first time I got divorced, Herbie and I split up the stuff in our apartment. No fault, you know? Fifty-fifty. He got the honor. Probably I got something, too, but I forget what it was.”

Reis smiled. “In that case you’re for sale. I’m delighted to hear it.”

“Maybe and maybe not.” She picked at her capon. “It depends.”