The Sphinx Read Free Page B

wheel.
    “Do you want to
direct me?” he asked Lorie.
    Lorie shook her
head. “Mathieu will drive on ahead. All you have to do is follow him.”
    “No detours?”
    “Not unless you
want him chasing after us. And I can assure you, he won’t let us get away.”
    Gene pulled
away from the curb, traffic signals flashing. “Doesn’t that ever bother you?
Being kept on a tight rein like that? You’re a grown-up girl now.”
    She released
the catch of her cape and let it fall back from her shoulders. In the
flickering light of passing streetlamps, he could see the shine on her lips,
the intense green sparkle of her emerald choker, and the sheen of silk on her
breasts. Inside the car, that musky perfume of hers seemed even stronger, and
for a girl who professed to be so quiet and so moral it seemed peculiarly
rampant and aggressive. For some reason it reminded him of an animal in heat.
    “I suppose you
find us strange,” said” Lorie huskily. “But you must remember that we’re not
Americans. This is not our country. That’s why we stay close together and guard
each other.
    Apart from
that...”
    “Apart from
that, what?”
    She lowered her
eyes. “Well, we’re different, I suppose. And when you’re different, you tend to
keep your own company.”
    Ahead of them,
the red taillights of Mathieu’s limousine turned left, and Gene followed. It
was starting to rain again, and a few drops spattered the windshield. Gene
switched on the wipers.
    “Can I ask you
something?” he said to Lorie.
    She nodded. “As
long as it’s not too personal.”
    “Well, I guess
it is kind of personal, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but
it’s the sort of question that a guy always thinks about when he meets a girl
as beautiful as you.”
    “You’re
flattering me again.”
    “Damn it, I’m
paying you a compliment! Don’t people ever pay you compliments? Hasn’t a man
ever said that to you before?”
    She shook her
head.
    “Anyway,” he
said, “that was my question. I wanted to know if you had a steady boyfriend.
    Anyone in tow.
I wanted to know if you were tied up with someone, some man, or whether you
were free.”
    Lorie looked
away. “Does it matter?” she said.
    Gene shrugged.
“Well, I don’t know. It matters to some girls. If they’re going steady with
someone, they won’t contemplate the possibility of anyone else.
    There’s still
some loyalty left in the world, although you wouldn’t believe it.”
    She said nothing
for a long while, and even when Gene glanced across at her, she didn’t turn or
smile.
    Eventually, as
they were driving past the Watergate, she said softly, “There aren’t any men.
None at all.”‘
    “None?” he
said, Surprised. “Not even an aged admirer who pesters you with dinner
invitations and buys you emerald chokers?”
    She touched the
jewels around her neck. “Nobody bought this. It’s a family heirloom. And no,
there are no old admirers. Not even any young admirers.”
    The way she
said that made him frown at her in disbelief.
    “Are you saying
you haven’t any boyfriends at all?”
    “Not only now,
Gene, but never.”
    He looked ahead
at the road, and the glowing rear lights of Mathieu’s limousine. He found it
completely incredible that a girl with Lorie’s looks and figure, should never
have dated a boy.
    He guessed her
age at nineteen or twenty, and most Washington groupies by that age had lain on
their backs for half, a government department, as well as a minor galaxy of
congressmen, and senators. He knew she wasn’t a groupie, but even the nicest
girl from the nicest family gets to date one boy, even if he’s only a carefully
selected Harvard frat-tie.
    “You’re a
virgin?” he asked.
    She lifted her
chin and looked at him, and he caught the same aloof self-possession in her
eyes that he had seen when she first walked into the Schirra’s party.
    “If that’s what
you want to call it,” she said.
    He was
flustered. “I didn’t mean to