When the car stopped out front and the door opened I went out and stood at the top of the steps to call down. But the middle-aged colored driver was holding the door for her to get out. Then he followed her up the steps carrying a small overnight case. So I just waited. She reached the top and turned to the driver: "Mr. Marlowe will drive me to my hotel, Amos. Thank you for everything. I'll call you in the morning." "Yes, Mrs. Loring. May I ask Mr. Marlowe a question?" "Certainly, Amos." He put the overnight case down inside the door and she went in past me and left us. "'I grow old. . . I grow old. . I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.' What does that mean, Mr. Marlowe?" "Not a bloody thing. It just sounds good." He smiled. "That is from the 'Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.' Here's another one. 'In the room the women come and go/Talking of Michael Angelo.' Does that suggest anything to you, s-fr?" "Yeah—it suggests to me that the guy didn't know very much about women." "My sentiments exactly, sir. Nonetheless I admire T. S. Eliot Very much." "Did you say 'nonetheless'?" "Why, yes I did. Mr. Marlowe. Is that incorrect?" "No, but don't say it in front of a millionaire. He might think you were giving him the hotfoot." He smiled sadly. "I shouldn't dream of it. Have you had an accident, sir?" "Nope. It was planned that way. Goodnight, Amos." "Goodnight, sir." He went back down the steps and I went back into the house. Linda Loring was standing in the middle of the living room looking around her. "Amos is a graduate of Howard University," she said. "You don't live in a very safe place—for such an unsafe man, do you?" "There aren't any safe places." "Your poor face. Who did that to you?" "Mendy Menendez." "What did you do to him?" "Nothing much. Kicked him a time or two. He walked into a trap. He's on his way to Nevada in the company of three or four tough Nevada deputies. Forget him." She sat down on the davenport. "What would you like to drink?" I asked. I got a cigarette box and held it out to her. She said she didn't want to smoke. She said anything would do to drink. "I thought of champagne," I said. "I haven't any ice bucket, but it's cold. I've been saving it for years. Two bottles. Cordon Rouge. I guess it's good. I'm no judge." "Saving it for what?" she asked. "For you." She smiled, but she was still staring at my face. "You're all cut." She reached her fingers up and touched my cheek lightly. "Saving it for me? That's not very likely. It's only a couple of months since we met." "Then I was saving it until we met. I'll go get it." I picked up her overnight bag and started across the room with it. "Just where are you going with that?" she asked sharply. "It's an overnight bag, isn't it?" "Put it down and come back here." I did that. Her eyes were bright and at the same time they were sleepy. "This is something new," she said slowly. "Something quite new." "In what way?" "You've never laid a finger on me. No passes, no suggestive remarks, no pawing, no nothing. I thought you were tough, sarcastic, mean, and cold." "I guess I am—at times." "Now I'm here and I suppose without preamble, after we have had a reasonable quantity of champagne you plan to grab me and throw me on the bed. Is that it?" "Frankly," I said, "some such idea did stir at the back of my mind." "I'm flattered, but suppose I don't want it that way? I like you. I like you very much. But it doesn't follow that I want to go to bed with you. Aren't you rather jumping at conclusions — just because I happen to bring an overnight bag with me?" "Could be I made an error," I said. I went and got her overnight bag and put it back by the front door. "I'll get the champagne." "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Perhaps you would rather save the champagne for some more auspicious occasion." "It's only two bottles," I said. "A really auspicious occasion would call for a dozen." "Oh, I see," she said, suddenly angry. "I'm just to be a fill-in until someone more beautiful and attractive comesalong. Thank you so very much. Now you've hurt my feelings, but I suppose it's something to know that I'm safe here. If you think a bottle of champagne will make a loose woman out of me, I can assure............