Cora slipped off George's lap. She crossed the room and picked up the whip.
George, feeling suddenly deflated, watched her. She swished the whip once or twice, her face spiteful. Then she laughed. 'I'll bet he'll yell the place down,' she said.
'It's all fixed,' Sydney said. 'He'll be alone. I've got a car. We leave at eight-thirty. It'll take us about an hour. By that time it'll be getting dark.'
Cora raised her glass. 'To our new member,' she said, looking at George, and she tilted her head and emptied her glass.
George felt hot. Whisky burned in his stomach. He was a little light-headed, but uneasy, nervous.
The past hour had been difficult. As the hands of the clock crept forward, all of them showed signs of strain Even Sydney, for all his sneering coldness, began to fidget and look at the clock.
Cora drank steadily. She showed no sign that the whisky was affecting her, except that her face became paler and her eyes brightened.
When, at last, Sydney got to his feet, there was an immediate tightening of the tension. George looked from one to the other.
'Perhaps we ought not to go . . .' he began, facing them.
They stood side by side, brother and sister, their eyes cold and cautious, oddly alike. They stared at him as if he were a stranger.
'Don't talk wet,' Sydney said.
'Go on,' Cora said. 'We're coming '
Sydney shrugged and moved to the door. He opened it and began to walk down the stairs.
Cora went to George. 'You're coming hack here tonight,' she said, putting her hand on his arm. 'I don't cheat. I meant what I said, only I didn't think Sydney would be hack so soon.' Her eyes were inviting. Then she added, 'I'll be nice to you tonight—promise.'
After that it didn't seem to matter. When he turned to pick up the gun, she was before him She took it up very carefully by the barrel.
'I'm your gun moll,' she said, her mouth smiling 'I want to carry it.' She slipped it into a leather bag she had slung from her shoulder. Then she went up to him 'Kiss me,' she said.
They left the flat a few minutes before eight-thirty. It was a sultry night; the sky was cloudless, but there was the smell of rain in the air.
They Joined Sydney in the street a few moments later.
There was a smear of lipstick on George's mouth and he seemed bemused.
None of them spoke. Cora walked stiffly because of the whip she had thrust down the leg of her slacks. George was between the two of them, and it seemed to him that they were his jailers.
They turned down an alley and into a little courtyard. A dark green Ford coupe was standing round the corner, out of sight from the mouth of the alley.
Sydney unlocked the door and slid under the wheel. Cora got in at the hack.
'Come on,' she said to George, who was hesitating.
He got into the car beside her and slammed the door.
'I didn't know you had a car,' he said blankly
'He thinks this is our car,' Cora called to Sydney.
Sydney laughed. It had a mirthless sound. He started the engine and drove the car slowly down the alley.
'Well, isn't it your car?' George asked.
'We borrowed it,' Sydney said. 'Now shut up. I want to think '
They drove out of London in silence. As Big Ben, coming over a wireless set, struck nine, they passed through Wimbledon. Later they got on to the Reigate road.
George sat hunched up, alone and lost. He thought of his room in the dull boarding-house and Leo. That part of his life seemed remote now: he wasn't even sure that it had ever happened. But Cora—he could feel her thigh against his—was real enough, so was the back of Sydney's head, and the swift passage of the car through the darkening streets: all frighteningly real.
He lost count of time He didn't want to think about it. He felt that the car was taking him towards a destiny from which there was no escape.
Sydney leaned forward and switched on the headlights. 'We turn off just about here,' he said shortly: there was a nervous hesitation in his voice.
They peered through the windows. They were overanxious, as if it were the most important thing in the world not to miss the turning.
They saw it at last, and they both exclaimed.
'All right,' Sydney said, braking sharply. 'I'm not blind.'
They turned into a country lane and stopped. The headlights made the grass banks and hedges on either side of the lane look startlingly fresh and green.
'It's just at the end of the lane,' Sydney said, cutting the engine. 'We'll leave the car here.'
