"Good evening, Sir Winston," Thomas said suddenly. "Your table is ready."

Stone and Allison turned to see the minister of justice and his wife standing behind them.

"Good evening, Mrs.Manning," Sir Winston said. "Mr.Barrington."

"Good evening, Sir Winston," they both replied.

"Such a lovely evening," he said. "You wouldn't want to leave us on such a lovely evening, would you, Mrs.Manning?"

"Of course not," Allison said. Then she looked pointedly over his shoulder.

Sir Winston and his wife turned to follow her gaze. They saw the yacht Race back out of her berth and turn toward the entrance to English Harbour. She gave a couple of blasts on her horn.

"Such a beautiful yacht," Sir Winston sail; then he turned to his wife. "Shall we be seated, my dear?" They followed Thomas to their table.

Stone looked at his watch; a quarter to nine. "A little early," he said, "but perfectly timed."

"Look," Allison said, "Colonel Buckler sees her, tOO."

"I believe he does," Stone said with satisfaction.

Thomas returned to the bar. "He asked me if you'd made any phone calls from here since this afternoon."

"I'm glad you were able to tell him the truth," Stone said.

"I try always to tell Sir Winston the truth," Thomas said, "except when I lie to him."

"I hope you haven't had to tell too many lies for us, Thomas," Allison said.

"None that I didn't enjoy telling," Thomas replied with a grin. "Would you like to sit down now?"

"Please," Allison said. "And not too near Sir Winston if you please."

"I have a lovely table for you, one with a fine view English Harbour."

"Perfect," she said.

They followed Thomas to their table, passing that of Buckler on their way. Allison gave him a smile, and Stone nodded pleasantly.

"Did the phone call from Chapman work?" Allison asked when they were seated.

"Maybe," Stone said. "Although Colonel Buckler not offered to change the terms of your confinement."

"I don't mind," Allison said. "I'm as happy, ere as anywhere on the island."

"Just see that you don't get onto any other boats, not even mine," Stone said. "And for God's sake, don't go anywhere near the airport."

"I'll be good," Allison promised.

CHAPTER 41

They took their time over dinner, talking like old friends and lovers. They had champagne with their fish, and, as always, the wine was an exhilarant, making them laugh easily. They emptied the place, outlasting Sir Winston and Colonel Buckler, as well as the rest of the crowd. Thomas brought them cognac at the end of the meal, and they nursed it past midnight.

There was a lull in the conversation, and Stone asked a question. "Allison, what are you going to do with yourself when this is all over?" He regretted it immediately, but to his surprise, she answered him as if she would not be on trial for her life in a short time.

"Gosh, I really haven't looked all that far ahead," she said. "I've sold the house-it's under contract now-so I guess the first thing I'll do is go back to Greenwich and start getting ready to move out."

"Where do you think you'll go?"

"Oh," she murmured, "I was thinking maybe New York. Would you be glad to see me there, conveniently located, as it were?"

He felt a little stab in the chest; after all, Arrington would soon be back from California. "Of course I'd be glad to see you," he said, after perhaps too long a pause.

"Oh, yes, there is the other woman, isn't there? What are your intentions, sir, if I may ask?"

"I don't honestly know," he replied, and it was the truth.

Allison leaned forward on her elbows. "Do you think she's fucking Vance Calder?"

Stone shrugged. "She's had the opportunity before, and she says she never did, never thought of him as anything but a friend."

"I would be," Allison said.

"Would be what?"

"Fucking Vance Calder."

"Oh. Well, if she is, then that would make life easier for me, in a way."

"Oh, Stone, you're the perfect old-fashioned man."

"How's that?"

"You'd leave Arrington for fucking Vance Calder, but you wouldn't want her to leave you for fucking me."

"What I meant was, if she left me for Vance, I wouldn't have to make a decision, she'd have made it for me. Also, I'd have some things to tell her."

"You mean about me?"

Stone nodded. He hadn't allowed himself to think about it until now, but he knew he would tell her.

"For God's sake, why?"

"I guess I'm not as old-fashioned as you think-not your idea of old-fashioned, anyway."

"Why, Stone, I believe you're an honorable man."

He felt his ears turning red, and he wondered why he was embarrassed. "If I were as honorable as you think, why would I be fucking you at all?"

She smiled. "It's not your fault," she said. "I simply made myself irresistible."

"That you did."

"Women can do that, you know-make themselves utterly irresistible."

"Some women."

"Thank you, kind sir. Do you know when I decided to seduce you? I mean, the very moment?"

"When?"

"When I was on the stand at the inquest."

"Nonsense."

She shook her head. "No, really. I was sitting there, and Sir Winston was making me absolutely furious, and I caught a glimpse of you sitting there."

"You never looked at me."

"I did. You were looking at Sir Winston. You see, after Paul's death, I was alone for another two weeks, and I had a lot of time to get used to being a widow. I had a friend once who lost her husband; she was in her forties at the time. It took her months just to accept the idea that he was actually dead. She'd walk into his study, expecting to find him sitting there reading the newspaper. It wasn't like that with me. I wasn't distracted by a funeral, or by friends and relatives coming to call or by all the details of settling the estate. I was all alone, right there, in the place where he had been for so and he was dead. I think that after the first week I accepted that completely. Then I started to get horny."

Stone smiled. "I was angry with Arrington for not being here."

"And that gave you an excuse to crawl into the sack with me."

He nodded. "I guess it did."

"You are the best lover I've ever had," she said. "Not that I've had all that many, but I had the years between puberty and the time I met Paul, and I enjoyed myself. But you are the very best."

"That's high praise," he said, satisfyingly flattered.

"Do you know why?"

He shrugged.

"It's not because you're a beautiful man, though you are, and it's not because you're experienced and inventive, though God knows you are: it's because you're so considerate. I know when we're fucking that you really care that I'm enjoying it as much as you. It makes me want to please you even more."

"And you do, believe me."

"I know I do; I can tell. I think you like me best when I'm wanton, when I do the things a proper Greenwich, Connecticut matron isn't supposed to enjoy, and when I do them well."

He smiled, but said nothing.

"Take me back to the boat," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. They walked past the two policemen on guard and boarded the yacht, and as they started down the companionway, she began undressing. So did he. She led him to the after cabin and threw off the bedcover, then made him lie on his back. She began slowly, kissing him here and there, using her tongue, but staying away from his genitals until he was completely erect, which didn't take long. Then she spent several minutes bringing him to the edge and backing off, playing him as if he were a musical instrument.

Stone then found himself in a condition where he knew he could resist coming for as long as he liked but still remain rigidly erect. Finally she rolled over on her stomach, took him in her hand, and guided him home. Then, after a while, she let him slide out.