The Good Life (42 page)

“It slipped out. I wondered if you'd noticed.”

“I didn't faint, but almost.”

“Are you going to tell Daddy now?”

“God no. It's got to be more of a secret than ever if you don't want to be locked up in Switzerland for the rest of your life.”

“That's true. If Mummy makes difficulties about my coming home now, what'll we do? Is there any chance of your coming back to Europe in the spring, or should I plan to come back to the States as soon as school is over? It all seems so unbearably far away.”

The letter from Arlene came two days later. Billy brought it up with him when he joined them on deck for lunch.

“We've won our case, up to a point,” he announced.

“Oh, Daddy, tell me,” Bet cried. She looked at Perry as if she were about to throw herself into his arms.

“She doesn't think there's any call for a sudden change, but she says if things continue to look as serious as I make them sound, she's willing for you to drop school and come home for Christmas. She tells me I can write your headmistress and ask her to make inquiries about sailings in December. I'll assure the woman that I don't expect a refund.”

“Oh, Daddy, you're a darling,” she cried, looking at Perry triumphantly. “December. That's not much more than three months away. Christmas in New York. We'll have the most glorious reunion.” Bet's shining eyes were on Perry all through the meal, but the two of them didn't attempt to discuss the new development until they were in the car on the way to the beach. A long kiss said most of it for them.

“I don't have to worry anymore,” she sighed in his arms. “It'll be so thrilling planning for New York, the time will flash by. We'll be together again in no time.”

“But we're talking about a war. You can't always be calm about war. I suppose we should be thankful she's relented as much as she has. At least we can sort of begin to plan now, after a fashion. Let's begin at the beginning. Is it settled that we are going to get married?”

“We both want to. What's to stop us?”

Their last evenings were taken up with farewell parties, both for them and for other members of the foreign colony who were leaving. The sense of ending and departure was pervasive, although the parties were festive enough.

Perry gave a dinner at the restaurant on the old port for the dozen-odd people with whom he felt intimate, having secured in advance the services of the accordionist. He took great care with the choice of food and wine without even consulting Bet, and the exclamations of approval throughout the meal made him feel that he had made a successful debut as an international host. The accordionist did something heart-wrenching with “Night and Day.” The music wrapped itself around the enchanted setting and turned the night into one that Perry knew he would remember always.

Inevitably, they found themselves going through their last day together, and after that, just as inevitably, their last night. Perry felt the whole summer's experience evaporating into memory. Three, even four months was no great length of time to be parted, but they would never get back to what they had had here.

They would have to survive a clean break. When they came together again it would be as a couple who had committed themselves without having had the chance to grow into it. They would have to find out what marriage was like without being married. City clothes would contribute to turning them into different people.

He glanced at his watch as they climbed the gangplank after saying their final farewells to the Courtlands and saw that they had only about nine hours left of the life together they had grown used to. Bet was being picked up the next morning.

“I'll be right there,” he muttered to Bet at the foot of the stairs as Billy went on ahead to his door. Even Perry was ready to relax the rules tonight.

He ducked into his cabin and changed into his dressing gown and peered out the door. Nothing could keep him from her tonight, so he didn't much care who saw him. The passage was clear, and he hurried to her cabin.

He let himself in and pushed the button on the door to put it on the lock, dropping his dressing gown as he turned to her. She was waiting for him, stretched out on the bed with a sheet over herself. She smiled mischievously and lifted her arms for him. He pulled the sheet back and lay out beside her, gathering her into his arms.

“Here we are,” he murmured. “Let's just lie here like this and look at each other for hours.”

“Without doing anything? I'll bet we can't.”

“I'll bet you're right.” They giggled, tickling and teasing each other as they grew amorous. At her prompting he pulled himself to his knees in front of her, and she propped herself against the pillows so that she could make love to him with her mouth.

He heard the handle of the door turn, but it hardly registered in his consciousness; the door was locked. The faint sound of movement behind him finally wrenched him from his sensual daze. He glanced over his shoulder. Sylvain was standing near the foot of the bed, naked to the waist.

Perry jerked himself away from her and reached frantically for the sheet. He heard her startled cry and realized the covers had slid to the floor. He dropped forward and threw an arm across her breasts.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, looking past Bet's partially covered body at Sylvain. Sylvain's hands were poised on top of his pants as if he were about to take them off. Perry's mind was in an uproar. His heart pounded. He took a deep breath. “How did you get in?”

“I must be able to unlock the doors in case a guest is in trouble,” Sylvain said with a confident smile.

“We're not in trouble,” Perry said, surprised that he still sounded reasonably calm.

“So I see.” Sylvain's smile broadened. “She looks as if she was enjoying herself. Don't let me stop her. You've had a fine summer. Plenty of sex. No interruptions, thanks to me. It's my turn now.”

“Goddamn it! Get out of here. I don't want to have to bodily throw you out.” Perry struggled to retain a reasonable tone despite his mounting rage.

“Don't be foolish. We don't want trouble at the end. How would I explain it? All of us naked.” He made a few quick movements and stood naked in front of them. His erection lifted over them at a lively angle. “Let me join you. Squeeze over a little. Our bodies are good together. We know that. We'll be good with her.” He approached around the end of the bed. Perry felt Bet's body stiffen against him.

“Listen, I'm warning you,” Perry roared, forgetting control. “You must be crazy. Guys don't parade their cocks in front of girls unless they're wanted.”

“I'm sure she'd like to compare us. You don't have anything to worry about. You're bigger.”

“He is lovely,” Bet said with lively approval. “Have you done it together?”

“What the hell has that got to do with it?”

“Well, I told you I'd like to see you with a boy. We can all be naked together. Do you want him to have me?”

“Jesus.” Perry ground his teeth. His hands were doubled into fists. He wanted to hit her. He reminded himself that they had only a few hours left.

“You're squashing me, darling,” she said, trying to move out from under him.

“I'm just trying to keep you decent. May be it's prudish of me, but I don't like everybody ogling your body.”

“You're sweet. Life is so new and unexpected with you. It's thrilling to be free to do this with you.” Her eyes wavered distractedly to Sylvain as he stopped against the edge of the bed beside her.

“Oh, for God's sake,” Perry burst out. “If you don't mind his seeing you naked, let him look.” He slid off her and lifted his arm away, leaving her totally exposed. She gazed up at Sylvain with admirable composure. “Just get him out of here if you don't want any trouble.”

She lifted a hand and ran it slowly and appreciatively over the intruder's cock. “Nice,” she said.

He felt as if he were going to strangle on his rage. He wanted to kill them both. “Goddamn it! I've had enough,” he shouted.

He disentangled his legs and scrambled to his feet, his fists ready. Sylvain sidestepped him and gave him a rough shove that caught him off-balance and sent him tumbling back onto the bed.

Bet sprang up, her long, slim body resplendently naked in front of them, her hands lifting to Sylvain's chest to restrain him. “No. Don't fight,” she begged in an urgent undertone. “They'll hear us.”

Sylvain pulled her closer and brought her down to the floor under him. Their bodies heaved and jerked as they adjusted to each other. Perry gathered himself for a more effective attack but thought of Billy's secrets and dropped back helplessly. There was no knowing what Sylvain might say if pushed.

He saw the desire in Bet's body straining for satisfaction. Her hands began to move on Sylvain's body. She wanted him. Their hips lunged. She uttered a short, sharp cry.

“It's in me!” she exclaimed incredulously.

“Yes, I'm just beginning,” Sylvain said. “Wait till I'm finished with you. You'll know you've been fucked.”

The breath caught in Perry's throat. He flung himself over on his side and buried his head in the pillows to shut out Bet's moans and grunts. A little animal — that's all she was. Nothing they had said to each other meant anything. All she cared about was having a guy inside her. Nothing else mattered. He would never have anything of his own.

A sob broke from him, followed by others. He wept helplessly. How could he care about Bet after this? She'd probably forgotten that they weren't going to see each other again for months. He didn't care anymore. He didn't care enough even to get out of the cabin. He hoped his presence was spoiling Sylvain's fun.

His sobs subsided, and his tears were spent. He lay in motionless despair, listening to the tumultuous sounds of copulation. He didn't know people made so much noise. It was disgusting.

He shifted over onto his back so that he could take a sidelong look at the couple on the floor. He recoiled with shock. Her arms were flung out over her head, and her legs were wrapped around him. He had her lodged snugly in against his thighs. Her hips bucked to meet his rhythmic thrusts. He was sucking avidly on her breasts. Her nipples looked swollen. Her mouth was open in a croon of ecstasy. Every line of her body conveyed total abandon. He knew Sylvain's cock was nothing special. She was a slut.

He tried to take his eyes off of her, but he failed. Afire with lust, she was the most thrilling sight he'd ever seen. Even being fucked by somebody else, her sweet face retained the innocent purity of youth. She was going to drive him crazy.

In spite of himself, he wanted her. He felt his cock hardening, shifting, stretching out along his belly. It was too late to do anything about it. He was waiting to say good-bye and tell her that they were finished. If she had any decent feelings, they were centered in her making her new lover's satisfaction as complete as she knew how.

Sylvain reached a noisy climax and lay still for a moment before withdrawing from her and hurrying to the bathroom. He returned and pulled on his shirt and pants and picked up his shoes.

“I better get a little sleep if I'm going to help you off in the morning,” Sylvain said. “It was awfully damn good. I wish we'd had it sooner.” He glanced at Perry. “You're lucky. She's the best lay I've had in a long time. See you in the morning.” He left without another word.

Bet lay on the floor where he had left her while the silence grew and seemed to thicken around them. Could they leave it at that?

Perry had come so close to beating her that he was afraid that anything she said would push him over the edge. The silence became a horror of unspoken thoughts. He tried to reason them away. Was there something the matter with him? Was it usual for people having an affair, even a casual one, to feel no sensitivity about what they did in front of each other? How could Bet, with her ladylike background, find it reasonable to be had in front of an audience?

Unlike Sylvain, Perry didn't think of women as having been put on this earth for his convenience. He and Bet had exchanged words of tenderness and love, and he had believed them.

He still didn't understand what made people behave the way they did — especially the rich, who tended to give themselves more leeway than anybody else. Nobody behaved like Bet where he came from. May be he'd be happier if he were still with his family in a row house on the West Coast, but it was a little late to think about that. If love made him soft and sentimental, then he'd better be careful not to fall for spoiled rich girls. Still, he clung despairingly to his view of her as young and misguided. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he couldn't believe that she understood how it affected him.

There was no time left for him to coax himself out of his rage and recover from the shock, but May be later, if Bet got to New York, he might be able to find the patience and understanding to cure her of her sluttishness. It was a little bit his fault at the beginning for letting her think nothing wrong with taking any guy who struck her fancy.

He had been so determined to get her that he hadn't bothered to wonder if she was too young to be encouraged. If he'd taken a little time, he might have made her feel that they were getting into something special. Or was he the only one who thought it was special?

She sat up, and he held his breath. Which of them was going to break the silence? He had nothing to say to her. His mind balked, refusing to function when he tried to think of words to express his feelings. A cry of rage would say it all. Would beating her free him once and for all from the torture she could inflict on him?

He slid over to the side of the bed, dropping his feet to the floor and sitting upright, ready to spring.

She swung around and dropped back against him, laying her breasts on his thigh. She looked at his cock while she caressed it. He was glad that he was able to finally let her see it in a state of indifference.