Ice in the Bedroom Read Online Free

much mental distress she had cast this man out of her life because prudence told her he was irresponsible and not to be trusted, and it was monstrous that he should come sneaking back into it like this, reminding her that she still loved him and reviving all the old emotions which she had hoped she had killed long ago.
    She fortified herself for the coming encounter by the simple process of thinking of that fatal cocktail party when the scales had fallen from her eyes and she had seen him for what he was.
    She had been warned. There was a group of young men near the door at that cocktail party, and as she was passing them she heard one of them utter these frightful words:
    ‘I suppose if all the girls Freddie Widgeon has been in love with were placed end to end - not that one could do it, of course - they would reach from Piccadilly Circus to Hyde Park Corner. Further than that, probably, because some of them were pretty tall.'
    And it was as she passed through the door, not wishing to sully her ears any longer, that she had come upon the Widgeon-Bunting combination linked in a close embrace on the top landing.
    The recollection made her strong again. She looked at him as he stood beaming by the penny-in-the-slot machine, and an imperious desire swept over her to wipe that silly smile off his face.
    'Freddie,' she said, speaking from between clenched teeth, 'go home!'
    'Eh?'
    'I told you I never wanted to see you again. Didn't you understand?'
    'Well, yes, I more or less grasped that.'
    'Then why have you followed me here?'
    Freddie stiffened. He ceased to beam. It pained him to find that he had overestimated the potentialities of Time, the great healer, and that the platform of Loose Chippings station was not to be the scene of a tender reconciliation, but righteous wrath overcame pain. He was deeply offended at being accused for once in his life of something of which he was not guilty. The apologetic lover became the man of ice, and he, too, spoke from between clenched teeth.
    'Who's followed who where?' he said haughtily. 'I'm here on business.'
    ‘You?’
    'Yes, me. I've come to see Miss Leila Yorke. I understand she hangs out at a joint called Claines Hall. Perhaps you would be good enough to direct me there.'
    'I'll take you there.'
    'You won't object to being seen in public with one of our leading underworld characters?'
    'There's no need to be so pompous.'
    'Yes, there is. Every need. I feel pompous. Followed you here, forsooth! You could have knocked me down with a banana skin when I saw you on that train. What were you doing in London, anyway?'
    'I had to see Miss Yorke's agent about something.'
    "Oh, was that it? Do you often get up to London?'
    'Very seldom.'
    'You're lucky. Lousy place. Ruddy sink of a place. No good to man or beast. Not a soul in it except blighters with briefcases and blisters in bowler hats.'
    'What's happened to the girls? Have they all emigrated?'
    'Girls! They mean nothing in my life.'
    'Says you!'
    'Yes, says me. Don't you believe me?' 'No, I don't. You're like the leopard.'
     'I'm not in the least like a leopard. What particular leopard had you in mind?'
    'The one that couldn't change its spots.'
    'I call that a most distasteful crack.'
    'I'm sorry. Shall we be starting for the Hall?'
    'Just as you like.'
    They came out into the High Street of Loose Chippings. The town's Pop, as the guide book curtly terms it, is four thousand nine hundred and sixteen, and at perhaps two hundred and four of these Freddie glared bleakly as they passed on their way. He would have glared with equal bleakness at the other four thousand seven hundred and twelve, had they been there, for he was in sullen mood. Here he was, with Sally at his side, and for all the good it was doing him she might have been miles away. Aloof, that was the word he was groping for. She was distant and aloof. Not a trace of the old Sally who in happier days had been such a stupendously good egg. For all the kick she appeared to be