The Quaking Widow (1956) by Robert Colby

Author:Robert Colby [Colby, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, General, Romance
ISBN: 9781440536878
Google: cfPrDQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2011-01-01T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

IN ONE OF THE dressing rooms, Millicent, or Millie as I came to call her after the incident of the pool, produced bath towels. We dried each other, giggling and teasing in the strained way of children who have suddenly discovered their nakedness. Then Millie gave me a white terry cloth robe belonging to Emory and donned one like it. She went for the bottles and glasses and brought them into the dressing room. This time she closed the door and locked it.

The dressing room contained several pieces of wicker furniture, deeply cushioned. There were two big chairs with end tables and a kind of daybed with an arrangement of pillows, a standing lamp and a table lamp. She lighted the latter and pulled the curtains across the windows. There was an extension telephone with a switch arrangement. She cut the switch in for calls and poured another round — straight. Then she held up her drink in mock salute. We drank and she turned off the light. There was the muted sound of her body settling on the daybed. I curled up beside her.

She was a hungry and unbelievably skillful lover. But her skill was without tenderness. It left the body satisfied but the spirit empty. Time passed without the knowledge of time. We made sounds but we didn’t speak. And then came the moment of separation when there is the greatest vacuum between lovers who do not love and the mind, free of emotion, is clear and sharp as mountain air at dawn. Lying apart, you pull on your cigarettes and grope for your drinks and you are thoughtful.

“Millie?”

“Uh-huh.” Sleepily.

“What do you want more than anything else in the world?”

“This. And money.” “Which comes first?”

“Right now? Money. This becomes available. Sooner or later.”

“And money?”

“It’s never too available.”

“I thought you had all you could ever need.”

“Ralph has lots and looks for more. Ralph buys things for me with it. But my own bank account wouldn’t take me one way to China.”

“Do you complain?”

“Sure.”

“And what does he say?”

“Wait till after the next big deal.”

“And do you believe him?”

“I believe what I can see and touch.”

“You can see and touch me.”

“Huh!”

“We want to know what’s in the box.”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“We’ll pay to know.”

“How much?”

“Fifty thousand cash.”

“Fifty thousand!” She propped herself on one elbow. “What’s the catch?”

“Alicia gets her two hundred thousand and you get one quarter — fifty thousand.”

“And how does she get her two hundred thousand? Out of Emory?”

“Yes.”

“By knowing what’s in the box?”

“Yes. We can’t bargain if we don’t know what were bargaining with. He’ll pay if he sees we know the value of what we’re selling.”

“Maybe. But it might be dangerous for you to know.”

“How can just knowing …?”

“Suppose the box contained incriminating documents. Or the crown jewels, or … or, say a crooked device of some kind? If you were Emory, would you want anyone to know?”

“No. But I’d pay and worry about that later.”

“Later comes pretty fast. And I wouldn’t want to be on the worrying end of Ralph Emory.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.