`It can't be true!' Manon burst out. `It can't! This filthy old rogue is just being malicious. He is trying to frighten you because he believes we brought the rain that spoilt his ceremony.'
As she had spoken in French, Enrico remained unaware of her insult to his father. But Gregory abruptly waved her to silence and asked the young 'man, `Does your father often have these visions, and do they afterwards always come about?'
Enrico shrugged. `I regrets. I's mos' unhappy for yo'! His visions do not come frequent, but when he has them it is as seeing true.'
Gregory turned to Manon. `Then things don't look too good. You remember what a shock he appeared to get when he looked at me on first coming into this room? Unless he did see something unusual about me there's no accounting for that.'
`But it must not happen,' she protested vigorously. `And it can't if you take care. From midday onwards you must not leave your hotel.'
He smiled at her. `The Arabs have a saying, “The fate of every man is bound about his brow”, and there is no escaping Fate. I've been mighty lucky. They say a cat has nine lives, but I've had at least a score of narrow escapes from death. And I'm not afraid to die. In fact… Anyhow, please don't upset your charming self about me.'
Silence fell again; then, after a moment, Enrico said, `The rain, he has stopped. There will be much water still, but yo' wish it and I make try to get yo' home.'
Gregory thanked him and he went out to fetch his car. When he had brought it round to the door the visitors made formal adieux to the old man and the three Negresses, then went down the steps.
Water was still rushing ankle deep down the sloping road, but the little car slushed steadily through it. Then, as they entered the tunnel on the outskirts of the city, Enrico asked, 'Where l drop yo'?'
`I stay at ze ' Otel Copacabana Palace,' said Manon. Gregory turned to smile at her. `Why, so do I. How very convenient:
A quarter of an hour later Enrico set them down outside the hotel. Gregory had palmed twenty thousand cruzeiros. As he shook hands with the young man, he said in a whisper, `.just for the petrol,' then added louder, `Good night; we cannot thank you enough.'
With a happy grin, Enrico shook hands with Manon and drove off. It was by then after two o'clock in the morning, but Latin American cities are said never to sleep. There were still a number of people about and the bar was open. Their clothes were still damp but causing them no inconvenience so they went in. It was a long dimly lit room, with white moulds of seahorses and starfish decorating the dark green walls. When they had settled in a corner, Gregory ordered foie gras sandwiches and brandies and soda for them both. Then he said
`It's been quite a night, hasn't it?'
She nodded. 'Yes, but it is tomorrow night I am worried about.'
`Please don't be,' he urged her. 'Never meet trouble halfway. Tonight is far from over yet. Much better think about that. By the by, what is the number of your room?'
She hesitated, then fobbed him off by asking, `Why do you wish to know?
'So that I can tell the waiter to send a magnum of champagne up there.'
'No! No!' She gave a nervous little laugh. `I hadn't even met you five hours ago. I'll admit that I have had a few lovers, but I'm not the sort of girl who is willing to jump into bed with every attractive man she meets. I require to be courted and get to know a man really well before I am prepared to play that sort of game.'
Gregory gave a heavy sigh. `I'd be delighted to spend months escorting you about as your chevalier sans pear et sans reproche, given the prospect of eventually becoming your lover, but, unfortunately, it seems that in my case time does not permit such a prolonged wooing.'
`I cannot believe it. I simply cannot.'
He shrugged. `I, too, find it difficult to resign myself to the thought that I'll be a lifeless body by this time tomorrow night. But the old man seemed pretty positive that I would be, so it is only sensible to regard this as my last night on earth.'
Turning his head, he gazed straight into her big eyes and went on, `Try to look at it from my point of view. If you thought the odds were that in twenty four hours you would be dead, would you be content to spend them alone, sleepless, sweating with fear at the thought of the unknown into which, within a few hours, you were to be precipitated; or, if you had the remotest chance, spend them in bed with a delightful companion who could make you temporarily forget?'
'Of course I'd hate to be left on my own. And I'm desperately sorry for you. But, really, you are taking an unfair advantage of your situation!
'No,' he insisted, `this is not blackmail. You are not a young, unmarried girl. You have admitted to me that you have had several lovers, so evidently your conscience is not troubled by that sort of thing. I am, too, somewhat of a judge of physical characteristics, and I would bet my last farthing that you love being made love to. So why not enjoy yourself and at the same time do me a great kindness? You like me, don't you?
'Yes, yes; you must know that.'
`Then all I am asking is that you should skip the usual preliminaries and be generous. Take me as your lover tonight. Then, if I die tomorrow, you'll be able to chalk it up as one of the good deeds you have done:
As she looked at his lean face, her full lips parted in a sudden smile and she murmured, `I have never met such a persuasive man, and the circumstances being so unusual, my pride is salvaged for such a swift surrender. Very well. The number of my room is 406.'
Gregory took her hand and kissed it. `That adds up to ten,, which reduces to one my lucky number. And I think you are adorable.'
When the waiter arrived with the drinks and sandwiches, Gregory gave him the number of Manon's room and ordered a magnum of Krug '59 to be sent up there. Suddenly they found that they were both hungry, and within ten minutes the plate of sandwiches was empty. They finished their brandies and soda, then he escorted her to the lift and whispered, `How long?'
Her eyes narrowed but held a hint of laughter as she whispered back, `Twenty minutes, and if you are a moment later you will find my door locked.'
Up in his own room, Gregory undressed, gave himself a swift shave, put on a dressing gown, then with long practised silence made his way like a shadow up two flights of stairs and along the now deserted corridors until he reached the door of her room. Soundlessly he opened it and slipped inside. Only seventeen minutes had elapsed since they had parted, but she was sitting up in bed naked, her hands clasped round her knees.
As they smiled at one another, he said, `Come, jump out of bed so that I can enjoy the sight of all your beauties.' Without a second's hesitation she slid from between the sheets and clasped her hands behind her neck, so that her round, firm breasts stood out in full perfection.
His glance ran over her,, noting the full hips, the triangle of thick dark curls that covered her lower abdomen, the flared nostrils, through which she was already breathing deeply, and her big eyes that had taken on an almost slumberous expression. He knew then what he was in for; but as this boded to be the last woman he could ever have, he could have wished for nothing better.
Throwing off his dressing gown, he slid his hands down the satin soft skin of her sides, hips and buttocks. She quivered as he did so and lifted her face to his. Her thick lips seemed to engulf his and she sucked avidly at his tongue. When he pushed her gently back on to the bed she was already gasping with uncontrollable passion.
It was close on seven o'clock in the morning when he left her. They had agreed to meet downstairs for drinks at midday, then lunch together. Back in his own room he hardly gave a thought to the prophecy that his life was drawing swiftly to a close. He had been faced with probable sudden