discover that one of the Morgan family had been ten days in Jerusalem
without his knowledge.
David told him what he wanted, and in twenty hours he had it signed and
paid for. Paul Morgan picked his executives with care, and Cohen was an
example of this attention. The price David must pay for this service
was that Paul Morgan would have a full report of David's transaction,
present whereabouts and future plans on his desk the next morning, but
it was worth it.
Above the Hinnom canyon, facing Mount Zion with its impressive array of
spires, the Montefiore quarter was being rebuilt as an integrated whole
by some entrepreneur. All of it was clad in the lovely golden Jerusalem
stone, and the designs of the houses were traditional and ageless.
However, the interiors were lavishly modernized with tall cool rooms,
mosaic -tiled bathrooms, and ceilings arched like those of a crusader
church. Most of them had their own walled and private terraces. The
one that Aaron Cohen procured for David was the pick of those that
fronted Malik Street. The price was astronomical. That was the first
question that Debra asked, once she had recovered her voice. She stood
stunned upon the terrace beneath the single olive tree. The stone of
the terrace had been cut and polished until it resembled old ivory, and
she ran her fingers lightly over the carved front door. Her voice was
hushed and her expression bemused.
David! David! How much is this going to cost?
That's not important. What is important is whether you like it. It's
too beautiful. It's too much, David. We can't afford this. It's paid
for already Paid for? She stared at him. How much, David? 'If I said
half a million Israeli pounds or a million, what difference would it
make? It's only money. She clapped her hands over her ears. No! she
cried. Don't tell me! I'd feel so guilty I wouldn't be able to live in
it. Oh, so! You are actually consenting to live in it. 'Try me, she
said with emphasis. You just try me, lover? They stood in the central
room that opened on to the terrace, and although it was light and airy
enough for the savage heat of summer that was coming, it smelled now of
new paint and varnished woodwork.
What are we going to do about furniture? David asked.
Furniture? Debra repeated. I hadn't thought that far ahead. For what
I have in mind, we'll need at least one kingsize bed.
Sex-maniac, she said, and kissed him.
No modern furniture looked at home under the domed roof, or upon the
stone-flagged floors. So they began to furnish from the bazaars and
antique shops.
Debra solved the main problem with the discovery in a junk yard of an
enormous brass bedstead from which they scraped the accumulated dirt;
they polished it until it glowed, fitted it with a new inner-spring
mattress, and covered it with a cream-coloured lace bedspread from
Debra's bottom drawer.
They purchased kelim and woven woollen rugs by the bale from the Arab
dealers in the old city, and scattered them thickly upon the stone
floors, with leather cushions to sit upon and a low olive-wood table,
