“I’ve taken it,” she said. “It’s not much, but it’s not too bad, I can almost afford it, and I can get in right away. If you don’t mind a little more taxi service, I’ll pick up my bags and move in now.”
Conway knew that he was being irrational before he spoke. “Must you?” he asked. “Why don’t we have dinner, and then after it’s dark I’ll drive you over.”
She turned to him and smiled, that warm, adorable smile he was finding more and more irresistible. “If you like,” she said.
Conway expected Bauer to appear the moment they reached home, but when, after dinner, the table had been cleared, and he and Betty again sat over coffee and cigarettes, he became optimistic that he might have the evening alone with her. Her youthful enthusiasm, her mature tranquillity, he found more endearing than ever, and it required conscious effort to refrain from making love to her.
He had not told her about Helen and Taylor, not for the reasons Bauer had advanced, but simply because there had been no time to go into it. Now, because he wanted to be as honest as he dared be, there seemed no reason to withhold it.
“I got rather a shock this morning,” he said. “The police picked up a man who’s admitted he was having an affair with Helen.”
Betty looked up at him slowly. “Oh?” she said.
“You don’t seem very surprised.”
“Not particularly. Who was it?”
“A man named Taylor — I’d met him a couple of times. I didn’t even recognize him in the line-up. I’m afraid he’s in for rather a bad time.”