instigation, of course, and poor Lilian couldn’t resist. He must have suggested it that morning and I was gotten rid of.”
I wasn’t put off by the thought of a woman Lilian Ashman Gilbert’s age doing the backstroke in the buff. Lady Cynthia Horowitz, Connie’s boss, has been known to do the Australian crawl in her birthday suit and Lady C admits to celebrating seventy of those anniversaries. As with Hollywood folk, I add five years. Although Lady C has a face that could stop Big Ben, her figure has been, shall we say, an inspiration to many.
“By your own admission, Bianca, it wasn’t unusual for the two to cavort like Adam and Eve prior to sampling the apple tart.”
“But never in the morning,” she declared.
“Yeah, and never on Sunday.” The captain was beckoning. I told the bartender to transfer the tab to our dinner bill and left a few bucks on the bar. “I’m starved,” I said, taking Bianca’s arm.
Are you going to come with me tomorrow, Archy?”
“We’ll discuss it after dinner.”
Did I happen to mention that Charley’s Crab features ‘cozy, tucked-away dining areas’? No? It must have slipped my mind.
“This is cozy,” Bianca said, as if she had read the ad.
And tucked away, to boot,” I pointed out.
“Let’s not order another drink and have a nice white with dinner.” I asked the captain for the wine list.
“I didn’t think you liked wine,” Bianca said. “You hardly touched the glass I gave you.”
“Because it was appalling, dear. But hang on to it. In a few days it will be perfect for a vinaigarette.”
With a deadpan delivery, Bianca said, “Binky brought it last night when he came to dinner.”
Our cozy, tucked-away dining area pulsated with silence. Then Bianca laughed so loud I feared the captain would withhold the wine list. “Oh, Archy, you step in doo-doo every time out.” Wait till I tell Binky.”
“No. I will tell Binky. The boy is a menace to himself and others.
Now hush while I concentrate,” I was torn between a white Burgundy, a Graves, and a Taminer. I went with the Burgundy. “Would you like to share a seafood pasta pagliara to start?”
“It sounds yummy. What is it?”
“Egg pasta. Paglia is Italian for hay. There is a dish called paglia e He no straw and hay, which is egg-and- spinach noodles. Delizioso.”
“You know a lot about food, Archy.”
A hobby and a huge capacity to enjoy all life has to offer. Here’s our wine, tell me what you think?”
The waiter had me inspect the label before he removed the cork from the bottle. I nodded because one is supposed to nod when shown you’re getting what you asked for. After removing the cork he poured my libation. I sipped, pursed my lips, and nodded my approval. In all my years of dining out in the better chop houses from Palm Beach to New Haven, I have never seen anyone sip, grimace, and request another vintage.
He poured Bianca’s before refilling my glass. Civilized customs are so time-consuming. When accompanying a lady into the backseat of a car do you know she should plop right by the door, forcing her knight to crawl over her legs to plop beside her?
“This is good,” Bianca said, ‘but I wouldn’t have minded another apple martini.”
“One should not drink them with dinner. It simply ain’t done.” If nothing else, I would teach her a few things before the night came to a close. As it turned out, she had a few lessons of her own to impart.
Our pasta arrived looking good enough to eat. “Will it leave room for the crab cakes?” Bianca wondered.
“And a few claws, I’m sure.”
I must say she had a healthy appetite and with good reason. The pasta was molto deliziosa. She forgot about her vendetta against Antony Gilbert long enough for us to enjoy polite conversation over our meal.
In the seesaw between clever and obtuse I will say that Bianca Courtney was a little bit of both. Like the very young she knew a little bit about a lot of things and a whole lot about nothing.
She was remarkably naive about her former employer’s desire to marry an obvious gigolo. “How could she do it?” And blase regarding her brother. “Ken is gay but very well adjusted to his sexual orientation.
I guess he’s getting it on with his new roommate in New York.” The young think they have an exclusive copyright on sex.
Her major was computer science and her minor was, of all things, psychology.
“What did you intend to do with the Computer Science?” I questioned.
“I intended to marry someone young, cute, and very rich. If it didn’t happen, I could teach.”
Ask a stupid question…
To do justice to the crab cakes and claws we limited ourselves at the salad bar to the basic greens crisp iceberg, leafy spinach, romaine, bibb, arugula, and radicchio for color. We both avoided the vinaigrette dressing. One of the joys of summer are freshly picked tomatoes, which we enjoyed, sliced, with nothing but sea salt, cracked pepper, some torn fresh basil, and a tiny drizzle of olive oil I ordered a second bottle of wine, and although I imbibed more than my share, Bianca wasn’t far behind.
“Are you trying to get me drunk, Archy?”
“But of course. Omar recommended a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.”
“Good for Omar. Art thou dessert?”
“I thought the creme caramel if you don’t mind. It goes down so much easier than your sass.”
She began to laugh. “Oh, come on. I’m just having some fun with you.
You got me here under false pretenses and now you’re wondering what you’re going to do with me. You don’t want to go back to my place where your red car will stick out like a neon calling card, and you wouldn’t dare take me to a motel because I wouldn’t go. Checkmate.”
She was a barrel of laughs, all at my expense. “What do you suggest, Ms Courtney?
“Have the creme caramel, Archy, and we’ll take a walk on the beach.
Then you can drop me off — real fast.”
“He who makes love on the beach knows the meaning of true grit.”
“Archy, that one is older than you.”
“But younger than King Tut.”
The clouds were dispersing to uncover small patches of stars but the moon remained hidden. The steady sound of the surf and the distant sound of cars moving north and south on the Al A are the heartbeat of Palm Beach. With a beautiful woman in your arms it takes on the tremor of a rhapsody.
“Do you kiss on a first date, Bianca?”
“Only when I’m asked.”
She was warm, tender, yielding, and doing the most amazing things with her hands. “Did you learn that in college?”
“No, high school. Oh, buttons. How quaint. Will you come with me to meet Tony tomorrow?”
“You little devil, you have me by my compromising position.”
“That’s the idea. Yes or no, Archy?”
What’s a Discreet Inquirer to do? “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”
Seventeen
As you may have guessed I awoke late the following morning and Ursi surprised me with one of my breakfast favorites, kippers and scrambled eggs.
“Everyone is talking about Sabrina Wright and her daughter, Archy. Have you heard about it?” Ursi asked as she poured my coffee.
“I’ve heard something, Ursi. What are people saying
“It seems Sabrina Wright’s daughter, Gillian, and her boyfriend are down here looking up old society news stories at the library. Well, Mrs. Marsden over at Lady Cynthia’s says that Lady C thinks the daughter and her boyfriend must be looking for someone from these parts who was on the social scene some years back. And Hanna
