You Can Always Duck by Peter Cheyney

Author:Peter Cheyney [Cheyney, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dean Street Press
Published: 2021-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The Clemensky Angle

I

A little breeze is comin’ up but it is a fine night. Piccadilly is a swell place in the moonlight. I take a look sideways at Gayda, who is walking along lookin’ straight in front of her as if life was one big smell. Maybe if she wasn’t holdin’ my hand I would think this baby was annoyed about somethin’. Nobody says anythin’. I think to myself that I won’t say anythin’ until she does, an’ for a woman she goes a helluva long time.

We’re half-way towards Hyde Park Corner when she says: “She’s very beautiful, isn’t she, Sourpuss?”

“Meanin’ who?” I ask her.

“Don’t be damned silly,” she snaps. “You know perfectly well who I mean. I suppose it’s your guilty conscience makes you say ‘meaning who.’”

“Look, honey,” I tell her, “I haven’t gotta guilty conscience. What do I haveta have a guilty conscience about?”

“I don’t suppose you’ve got any conscience at all,” she says. “But I could tell by the way this Pearl woman looks at you she’s crazy about you. If I know anything of you you’ve been leading her on.”

“Leadin’ her on to what?” I say.

She gives a little laugh. “Oh, you wouldn’t know, would you? You’re one of those nice men—you can be trusted with a beautiful woman, can’t you?”

“You oughta know,” I tell her. I give her a big grin.

She makes a little hissin’ noise. “That’s very good,” she says. “I ought to know. You hadn’t known me for three minutes before you were kissing me!”

I get out my cigarette-case.

“Well, for cryin’ out loud!” I tell her. “Me kissin’ you. I like that one. Why dammit, you attacked me as soon as you set your eyes on me.” I grin. “I didn’t know I had so much sex appeal,” I tell her.

“You know only too well about your sex appeal,” she says. “And I’m afraid Pearl Mallory does too. Something’s got to be done about that woman.”

“Look, Gayda,” I tell her. “You got me all wrong! I’m not the sorta guy who goes around makin’ passes at women. I’m too busy, see?”

“You’d never be too busy for that,” she says. “You just take that in your stride.”

“All right,” I say. “Let’s look at it another way. I never did go for blondes in a big way. As a matter of fact I’ve always had a sort of anti . . . anti . . .”

“Antipathy you mean,” she says.

“That’s right,” I tell her. “I have an antipathy to blondes owin’ to some blonde momma tryin’ to knife me some time in Saratoga.”

She says seriously: “Sourpuss, I’m not a fool. You haven’t got an antipathy to any sort of woman. You’re an experimentalist where women are concerned. Provided a woman has something attractive about her you’ve just got to try and get away with something. All right. But I don’t think it’s fair to Pearl.”

“What are you worryin’ about?” I tell her. “Pearl can look after herself all right.”

“I wonder!” she says. “You wouldn’t like me to hate you, would you, Lemmy?”

I stop an’ light my cigarette.

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