“Give me another drink.”
She got the bottle of brandy and filled both glasses. I asked: “How long does this last?”
“From now on. Won't that be nice, the two of us together.”
“What about your wanting to wear pretty clothes and dance and see shows and go to night clubs?”
“That was just talk, honey. I'm very happy here... with you.” She leaned towards me. “Honey, you love me, don't you?”
I said: “Sure.” I looked at a clock on the table. It said half past eleven. Thirty minutes. The Princess's eyes went to the clock, too.
“Honey, I'm sorry about that girl.”
“Not as sorry as I am.”
“You couldn't help it.”
“I guess not.”
She ran her hand under my shirt again. “She wanted to join the Vineyard. She even wanted to be the Bride.”
“Yeah,” I said; “after she'd been doped a little.”
“Don't think about it.” She drank her brandy, and then bit my neck. I tried to kiss her lips, but she wouldn't let me. I still didn't understand it. I saw the clock over her shoulder. Twenty-six minutes to go. She lay with her weight on me. “Darling,” she whispered. I ran my hand under the pyjama top. “Yes,” she said. “Yes.”
Now the clock said ten minutes to twelve. She lay naked on the divan, her breasts soft, the nipples flat, looking like all the whores in the world. Her eyes were closed and her pink lips smiled a little. Her skin was pale against the black satin divan.
I poured a glass of brandy and drank it. Then I filled it again. She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Hello.”
“Hello.”
“Give me a drink.”
I gave her the glass of brandy. She sat up and drank a little. I sat beside her on the divan. She leaned over and kissed my neck. Her lips were wet and cool and soft.
“Honey,” she said. “We are going to have a nice time.”
“Yes.”
I kissed her. It was the first time on the lips. It was wonderful. I wondered why she hadn't let me before. I could feel her lips tighten under mine. They were getting warm. It felt like I had kissed an electric battery. I let her go and got up and poured myself another drink. I felt shaky. The clock said eight minutes to twelve.
“You're not going yet?” she asked.
“Pretty soon.”
“Not yet, honey.” She got off the divan and came over to me. “Not yet.” She stood close to me and drank from my glass. She smiled at me. “Karl, do you love me?”
“Yes,” I said.
“You don't say that as though you meant it.”
“I do.”
“Say 'I love you'.”
“I love you,” I said.
She put her arms around me. The glass fell out of my hand. Her body pressed against mine. Her skin was warm. She kissed my lips. There was that shock again. Her arms around my neck were choking me. I tried to push her away. She held me. I pushed harder.
“That's right,” she said.
I got away from her. Her eyes were excited. “Now hit me,” she said. “Hit me.”
I hit her, really hit her. She went flat on the floor. I bent over her and touched her eyes, but there was no reaction. She was cold. I looked at the clock. Six minutes.
I went into her bedroom and searched for the forty-seven grand. I looked everywhere. I looked in the dresser, in both closets, under the beds, even under the rug. In a chest I found the key to the storeroom and I put it in my pocket. Then I searched the bathroom. In the medicine cabinet, in a paper box of Epsom salts, I found the diamonds. They sparkled in the bathroom light. I put them in my pocket. The Epsom salts gave me an idea. I went through the other medicine. No luck. I jerked the can paper roll. Wound around under the paper were twenty one- thousand dollar bills. That was better than nothing. I wondered if McGee had got the rest.
I went into the living-room. She was still on the floor, but she had come to. She looked at me, her eyes dazed. I got the brandy bottle and tapped her on the head with it. She went out again. I looked to see if there was any blood. There wasn't because of her hair. The clock said two minutes past twelve.
I got a blouse and a skirt from the bedroom and put them on her. Then I dressed myself. I picked her up. She was heavy. I went out the door with her and across the damp grass to the temple. She made a snoring noise breathing. Her hair gleamed in the moonlight. The heat lightning lit up the horizon, but there was no thunder. I carried her in the basement door of the temple. I put her down and lit my flashlight and picked her up again. I carried her past where she had killed the guard to the door to the stairs. I could hear my heart beating, and hers. I carried her up the stairs and put her down. Under the door at the top I could see a dim light. I put out the flashlight
