did.
“Excellent idea. I’ll take Mrs. Donaldson home,” Geoffrey said.
“Now hang on a minute . . .” Penelope interjected.
Geoffrey cleared his throat noisily.
“Well,” Penelope said petulantly, “a girl knows when she’s not wanted.” She leaned over and kissed Field on the cheek, her skin warm and her hair soft. As she did so, she touched his hip with her hand, leaving it there as she pulled her head back, before slipping it into the pocket of his jacket. “I hope you’ll be virtuous tonight.”
“Actually, I really ought to be getting home.”
“Nonsense,” Lewis said, adjusting his jacket and glancing at himself in the mirror.
Field’s face was reddening. “I’m not actually sure I can afford . . .”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Geoffrey said, looking at him with astonishment. “You’re a policeman. Fraser’s will pay.”
Penelope’s hand was still in his pocket and she scratched his side, then leaned forward to give him another kiss.
She picked up her shawl from the back of the chair and walked toward the door. Geoffrey edged around the table, smiling at him. “Good to see you, old chap.” He shook Field’s hand. “Let’s stay in touch.”
“I’d like that.”
“Let’s see to it, then.” He nodded at Charles, then set off after his wife, who’d already gone through the big wooden doors.
Seven
Lewis looked at Field. “You need a new dinner jacket, old man.”
“This one will be fine in the winter.”
Lewis smiled as he led the way out to the reception area and the stone steps beyond. Field had not realized how drunk he was and half wished that he’d had the good sense to say no to this excursion.
Charles Lewis leaned through the window when his chauffeur-driven Buick came to a halt. “Delancey’s,” he said before climbing into the back, Field following him. As they drove off, they saw Geoffrey and Penelope Donaldson getting into rickshaws. “He’s a good man, Geoffrey,” Lewis said. “One of the very best.”
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t even seem to mind about Penelope.”
“What do you mean?”
Lewis smiled at him, leaning back into the far corner of the rear seat. “You must have seen she’s a bit of a goer.”
Field frowned.
“You should give her a try. Goes like a belter. Geoffrey doesn’t mind.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Handsome chap like you could use a bit of experience.”
“Geoffrey is my uncle.”
“So what? She’s no blood relation, is she?”
Field’s moral dismay was only offset by the image of Penelope’s nipple that had somehow contrived to stay with him. “I’m sure she’s not at all like that.”
“He won the Victoria Cross in the war, you know,” Lewis went on.
“Yes, my mother is very proud of him.”
“And so she should be. He’s a bloody good sort.”
Field found that this reflection of his own judgment on his uncle made him warm to Lewis a little, but they were both silent until the car pulled up outside a dimly lit building that showed no sign of being anything other than a warehouse. He began to wonder if this was some sort of joke until he saw a bouncer standing a few feet away, hidden in the shadows. The door was opened immediately to reveal what looked like a seedier version of the club they’d just been to, with a bar to their left and tables in front of a stage bathed in red light. A Chinese waitress in a skimpy, figure-hugging cream dress led them through to a table at the front. On the stage, two women were kissing each other. One was naked, the other wore a garter belt and stockings.
The one who was naked had blond hair—both were Caucasian—and she broke off the embrace and began to run her tongue over the other girl’s nipples until they were erect and proud, the girl arching her back in feigned, or possibly, Field supposed, real pleasure, as the blonde sank lower, sitting her partner on a chair and raising her stockinged legs over each arm, parting the dark hair at the base of her belly and moving her tongue slowly toward the pink lips beneath. Field and Lewis were only about two yards from the seated woman as she moaned with pleasure, pushing her hips up and her head back.
The blonde pushed her buttocks back and her legs out.
Field was sweating. A glass of beer was placed in front of him by the waitress and he turned and looked first at her, then at Lewis, who was smiling at him. Lewis leaned forward. “For Christ’s sake, man, will you take off your jacket?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Field did so, swinging it over the back of the chair and immediately feeling better,
