guest-house would. 'You can't get out of this so easily. You accepted money and you '
'For God's sake,' spluttered Piper, 'don't shout like that. What will people think?'
It was a stupid question. In the lounge the residents were staring. It was clear what they thought.
'That you're a man no woman can trust,' bawled Sonia pursuing her advantage, 'that you break your word, that you...'
But Piper was in flight. As he went down the steps and into the street Sonia followed in full cry.
'You deliberately deceived me. You took advantage of my inexperience to make me believe '
Piper plunged wildly across the road into the park. 'I deceived you?' he counter-attacked under the palms. 'You told me that book was '
'No I didn't. I said it was a bestseller. I never said it was good.'
'Good? It's disgusting. It's pure pornography. It debases...'
'Pornography? You've got to be kidding. So you haven't read anything later than Hemingway you've got this idea any book deals with sex is pornographic.'
'No I don't,' protested Piper, 'what I meant was it undermines the foundations of English literature...'
'Don't give me that crap. You took advantage of Frenzy's faith in you as a writer. Ten years he's been trying to get you published and now when we finally come up with this deal you throw it back at us.'
'That's not true. I didn't know the book was that bad. I've got my reputation to think of and if my name is on '
'Your reputation? What about our reputation?' said Sonia as they skirmished past a bus queue on the front. 'You ever thought what you're doing to that?'
Piper shook his head.
'So where's your reputation? As what?'
'As a writer,' said Piper.
Sonia appealed to the bus queue. 'Whoever heard of you?'
Clearly no one had. Piper fled down on to the beach.
'And what is more no one ever will,' shouted Sonia. 'You think Corkadales are going to publish Search now? Think again. They'll take you through the courts and break you moneywise and then they'll blacklist you.'
'Blacklist me?' said Piper.
'The blacklist of authors who are never to be published.'
'Corkadales aren't the only publishers,' said Piper now thoroughly confused.
'If you're on the blacklist no one will publish you,' said Sonia inventively. 'You'll be finished. As a writer finito.'
Piper stared out at the sea and thought about being finito as a writer. It was a terrible prospect.
'You really think...' he began but Sonia had already changed her tactics.
'You told me you loved me,' she sobbed sinking on to the sand close to a middle-aged couple. 'You said we would...'
'Oh Lord,' said Piper, 'don't go on like that. Not here.'
But Sonia went on, there and elsewhere, combining a public display of private anguish with the threat of legal action if Piper didn't fulfil his part of the bargain and the promise of fame as a writer of genius if he did. Gradually his resolve weakened. The blacklist had hit him hard.
'I suppose I could always write under another name,' he said as they stood at the end of the pier. But Sonia shook her head.
'Darling, you're so naive,' she said. 'Don't you see that what you write is instantly
