Page 18 of The Gathering Storm

‘It’s very kind of you …’ he began to demur.

But she tucked her hand through his arm and turned him towards the hotel’s entrance. ‘I simply can’t take “no” for an answer. I loathe eating alone, don’t you? Such a bore!’

Basil was only just twenty. She was a glamorous woman, and London society was still thrilling to him. Also he was hungry and his pockets were to let. ‘In that case,’ he said, ‘I shall let my inclination follow my duty.’

‘How prettily you put it,’ said Veronica. ‘Now do say more things like that. I could listen to you all day.’

‘I’m at your service,’ said Basil.

He had been planning to be seen at his desk again later in the afternoon, but he had never yet got into trouble for not being there, so he was willing to take the chance. To let his inclination override his duty, in this case.

When Basil got home to his rooms in Ryder Street the next day, the porter was not in the hall, for which he was grateful, since he had long suspected him of spying on Gloria’s behalf – she owned the lease of his rooms, so the porter ultimately worked for her, and she was generous with tips. Basil would have liked to be generous with tips, but his wages at the Bugle fell short of his ambitions; and while Gloria spent lavishly on him, she did not often give him actual cash.

He ran up the stairs two at a time, whistling. Life was good. Gloria would be back that evening and he expected a passionate reunion. He would have to think of some excuse for his absence from work that day, but Gloria had got him the job through a friend of hers who was managing director (he suspected that ‘friend’ in this case meant ‘former lover’), and with so much influence in high places he doubted he would be in trouble.

He opened the door to his set, and was surprised to see Gloria standing in the middle of the room. Before he could say anything she flew at him and slapped his face.

He reeled back, his hand to his stinging cheek – it had been a hard slap – and cried, ‘What—?’

‘Don’t you dare say, “What have I done?” Don’t you dare!’

Basil backed up against the door, staring. He had never seen anyone so angry – she looked almost mad. If she had been holding anything in her hand to attack him with he would actually have run. ‘But – darling – Gloria—’

‘Don’t call me “darling”, you – you swine!’

He shut his mouth on any further protest. He was beginning to fear he knew what was wrong.

‘How dare you betray me with Veronica? Oh, yes, I know about it. When I got home Morton said she’d rung several times but wouldn’t leave a message. Then the phone rang again. She called me to gloat.’

‘I thought you weren’t coming back until tonight,’ he said, and immediately could have groaned. As soon as he heard himself he realised it was not a good thing to say.

‘Oh, I’ve no doubt about that,’ Gloria said bitterly. ‘I wonder how else you’ve been amusing yourself while I was away. No!’ She held up a hand, like a policeman stopping traffic. ‘Don’t tell me. I may be a fool about you, but I’m not an idiot. I dare say you’ve been tom-catting your way around all my acquaintances, and they’re all laughing at me for thinking you actually care about me.’

‘I do care about you,’ he said, with all the emphasis he could muster. ‘Gloria, darling, please—’

She was cold now, and that was worse than the heat of her fury. ‘Veronica called me to congratulate me. She said she understood now why I prized you so highly. Your skills in the bedroom were quite remarkable, she said. You’d given her the best thrill she’d had in ages.’

Oh, my God, Basil thought. What a cat. That horrible spiteful woman! (Though a tiny bit of his brain preened itself over the compliment. He was only twenty, after all.) He knew he was in real trouble now, and thrashed around mentally for a way out.

‘But it’s you I love! You have to understand—’

‘Understand why you did it? No, I don’t.’

‘It – it just sort of happened. I bumped into her by chance. We had lunch. And a lot to drink. Things got out of hand. It all happened in a flash—’

‘No, Basil, these things never happen in a flash. You have to take your clothes off, for one thing. That takes long enough for you to have second thoughts, if you were going to have them.’

‘But I didn’t mean— I would never—’

‘But you did. And you stayed all night.’ He was silent, unable to think of anything to mitigate that. ‘I’m done with you,’ she said, without emotion. ‘Pack your things and go. You don’t live here any more. And you don’t work at the Bugle, either.’

‘You’ve spoken to—?’

‘That was the first thing I did after I’d taken Veronica’s obliging call. You’d better see if she’s willing to finance your carefree life, because I won’t.’

‘Gloria, you don’t understand,’ he said desperately. ‘Veronica doesn’t mean anything to me.’

‘And while you were in her bed, neither did I,’ Gloria said. ‘Go and pack. And please don’t speak any more. There’s nothing you can say that will make this any better.’