Soldier No More

Madame would kill us if she discovered another man walking around the premises at dawn, and well you know it—you of all people.' She turned back to Roche apologetically. 'Sorry, David, but much as we'd like you to ... there's this Madame Peyrony who rents us this cottage, and she lives right next door.'

“And she conceives it her duty to keep her eye on her jeunes demoiselles anglaises—Jilly's quite right. She's a bit of a dragon, is Madame Peyrony,' agreed Meriel.

'She's an old bag!' growled Lexy.

'Old bag she may be. Nevertheless, she's got my boss's address—he's the only one who got us the place, David,'

explained Jilly. 'And he believes that emancipation has already gone too far ... and she's already threatened to write to him, after having chanced upon Lexy's inamorato— one of the many—swanning around in his underpants—'

That's a slander!' said Lexy.

'Sue me any time you like, Lexy dear.'

It wasn't fair, anyway.'

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'It certainly wasn't fair! He was one of yours—and it's my address she's got! So I had to beg for mercy.'

'I gave her Father's address too, darn it!'

' 'House of Lords, Palace of Westminster, London Wl','

murmured Meriel. 'And he'd probably be overjoyed to hear that you were courting a fate worse than death, getting yourself into trouble, with those little sisters of yours still on his hands.'

'I haven't got myself into trouble!' protested Lexy.

'No—only Jilly, very nearly,' said Meriel.

'Mind you ...' began Jilly thoughtfully, her eye flicking for a fraction of a second at Roche before settling on Lexy again

'. . . mind you—you could do a lot worse than get yourself into trouble with David Audley, you know.'

'I wouldn't have David if he was the last man on earth!'

exclaimed Lexy hotly. 'And he wouldn't have me, either.'

'Oh, he'd do the decent thing if he had to. And you shouldn't judge him by the bachelor squalor he lives in with those friends of his, Lexy dear. There's no shortage of the ready there—he could certainly support you at the standard of living God and your father have accustomed you,' Jilly nodded wisely.

' That's it!' burst out Meriel. 'Why didn't we think of it before?'

'Think of what, Steffy?' inquired Jilly.

'The Tower—David Audley!' Meriel pointed at Roche. 'If dummy5

Lexy asks him nicely, he'll put up this David for as long as he likes. There's room in the Tower, because they don't sleep there—they sleep in the cottage alongside, and only use that for their orgies.'

'Good thinking, Steffy!' Jilly beamed at her friend.

'Of course I'll ask him,' said Lexy. 'He's bound to say yes, David.' She grinned at Roche. 'David is, I mean— the other David.'

'Of course he's bound to,' said Meriel. 'It's one historian doing a good turn for another.'

Roche decided that it was again time for him to show some interest in his fate. 'David who?'

'David Audley. He lives just up the road from us,' said Jilly.

'He's a historian, like you. Only he's more or less a full-time one, sort of. He's got money, we think.'

So did other people. Roche wondered how Major Stocker was progressing on the track of it.

'He's also Lexy's boyfriend—'

'—sort of, also,' cut in Meriel-Steffy. 'David the Dragoon—

ex-dragoon, actually. He was in the tanks during the war, with Lexy's father. That's how we got to know him— it wasn't a casual pick-up.'

'He wasn't actually with Daddy. I mean . . . he's not old,' said Lexy loyally. 'But he was sort of with Daddy, just after D-Day, you know ...' she trailed off vaguely again.

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'What she means, David, is that her daddy was a sort-of general in command of a brigade or something, and David Audley was a sort-of second lieutenant inside a tank,' said Steffy. 'But he was in her daddy's old regiment, so he counts as family.'

'Anyway, he's frightfully nice, and you'll like him,' said Lexy defiantly.

' 'Nice' is absolutely the last word that would come into my mind to describe David Audley,' said Steffy. ''Frightfully'

might be applicable— like 'frightfully clever', or even

'frightfully drunk' on occasion.'