‘You’re supposed to be learning to drive. You haven’t a lot of time. It’s twenty to ten.’
‘I told Roger I was going to the movies. He doesn’t expect me back until midnight.’ She opened the car door and slid out on to the sand. ‘There’s no one here: no one at all. We have the beach to ourselves. If you don’t want to swim, stay in the car and wait for me.’
She started to run across the sand towards a clump of palm trees.
For a long moment I sat in the car and watched her. Surely this sudden move of hers must be the answer to the question that had nagged me most of the night? If she didn’t mean to let me make love to her, surely she wouldn’t have brought me to this lonely spot?
Only briefly did I pay heed to the warning bell that rang sharply in my mind. You’re fooling with Aitken’s wife, I told myself. You go ahead with this now, and you could regret it for the rest of your life.
But that didn’t stop me. Breathing hard, with my heart thumping, I got out of the car.
I could see her clearly. She had reached the clump of palm trees. She paused to kick off her shoes, then she zipped down her dress and stepped out of it. She had on a one-piece swim-suit under her dress.
I went around to the back of the car, opened the boot and took out a couple of towels and my swimming trunks I always kept there. I stripped off behind the car, left my clothes on the sand, and picking up the towels, I ran down to where she was now moving slowly towards the sea.
As I joined her, she turned and smiled at me.
‘I knew you would come. I’ll tell you something. I’ve always wanted to swim in the moonlight, but Roger would never let me. He makes out it’s dangerous.’
‘You seem to be doing all the things you’re not supposed to do—and with me,’ I said, walking across the hot sand with her.
‘That’s why I like you so much,’ she said. Then, breaking into a run, she raced across the remaining strip of sand and splashed into the water.
She may have been only a learner-driver, but she certainly could swim. I went in after her, but I saw it was hopeless to attempt to catch up with her. After a while, she turned around and came back, almost as fast as she had gone out.
She circled around me.
‘Aren’t you glad you came in?’
‘I guess so.’
I turned on my back and stared up at the big moon. The water was warm, but I wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it. I was impatient for her to finish her swim and come out.
She swam away from me, came back, and then floated beside me.
We remained floating in silence for some minutes, and they were the longest minutes I have ever lived through. Finally, I could stand it no longer.
‘We’d better get back.’
I began to swim towards the shore and she kept pace with me.
As we came out of the water and began walking across the sand to where she had left her dress,
she said suddenly: ‘What are you doing tomorrow, Ches?’
‘I don’t know… nothing in particular. I might play golf.’
‘I was wondering if we could meet. I’ve been invited out by a girl-friend. I can easily put her off and we could go for a long drive in the country.’
We were in the shadow of the palm trees now. I picked up one of the towels and tossed it to her. Then taking the other I began to dry my hair.
‘We might be seen,’ I said, and sat down on the sand.
She stood over me, drying her arms, her back to the moon.
‘We could be careful. I could come to your place on my bicycle and we could keep off the main roads.’
I found myself screwing the towel between my clenched fists.
‘I don’t think it would be wise for us to meet during the day, Lucille. Anyone could see us.’
She dropped the towel and came to sit beside me. She wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled her knees up to her chin.
‘It’s a bore, isn’t it?’
‘It’s certainly that.’
‘It would have been fun to have gone out all day in the car. We could have taken a picnic. Don’t you think we could risk it?’
‘Do you want to risk it?’ I asked, my voice suddenly harsh.
‘I don’t see who would see us. I could wear a big shady hat and sun-glasses. I could put my hair up. I bet no one would recognize me.’
‘Would you mind, Lucille, if your husband found out?’
She dropped her chin on her knees.
‘Well, yes.’
‘What would he do, do you think?’
‘He’d be angry, of course, but don’t let’s talk about that. Look, suppose I come to your place? We could spend the day together. It’s lonely there, isn’t it? We could swim and have a picnic, and no one would see us.’
‘You’re not serious, are you?’
She thought for a long moment, then she jumped to her feet.
‘No, I don’t think I am,’ she said. ‘I’m feeling chilly. I’m going to get dressed.’
She picked up her dress and shoes and ran off towards the car.
I sat like a stone man, my hands still gripping the towel. I remained like that for perhaps ten minutes, then I heard her calling me.
‘Ches…’
I didn’t move and I didn’t look around.
‘Aren’t you coming, Ches?’
Still I didn’t look around.
Then I heard her running across the sand and in a few moments she paused at my side.
‘Didn’t you hear me call you?’ she asked, standing over me, her long, slim legs level with my eyes.
I looked up.
She had on her dress now, but it didn’t help me to know she had nothing on under the dress.
‘Sit down. I want to talk to you.’
She dropped on the sand within a few feet of me and curled her legs under her.
‘Yes, Ches?’
‘Would you really like to go for a drive tomorrow and have a picnic—the two of us?’
The moonlight was directly on her face. She showed her surprise.
‘I thought you said…’
‘Never mind what I said. Would you like to do it?’
‘Why, yes, of course I would.’
‘Okay. Tell your husband you want to spend the day with me and if he agrees, then we’ll go.’
She stiffened.
‘But I can’t do that. You know I can’t. He—he doesn’t know I know you.’
‘Then tell him we’ve got acquainted.’
‘I don’t understand.’ She leaned forward and stared at me. ‘You sound so angry. What is the matter, Ches?’
‘Tell him we’ve got acquainted,’ I repeated, not looking at her.
‘But I can’t do that. He wouldn’t like it.’
‘Why not?’
‘Ches, I wish you would stop this. You know as well as I do why he wouldn’t.’
‘I don’t know. You tell me.’
‘He’s jealous and silly about me. He wouldn’t understand.’
‘What wouldn’t he understand?’
‘Ches, you’re being horrid. What’s the matter?’
