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sexually shortly after they were married. He had compensated for this by different affairs throughout the years, and to Linda he had been more than generous materially. She was the perfect wife figure. A lovely hostess and mother.
    No, he certainly didn’t want to leave Linda. He felt no particular guilt about being unfaithful to her. Although if
she
was to him… But no, that was unthinkable. The very idea of Linda being unfaithful was ridiculous.
    Claudia was licking mayonnaise off her fingers in the kitchen. She wore a pink kimono and had tied her hair away from her face.
    ‘You look about fifteen,’ he said.
    ‘And you look about fifty. What
is
on your mind? Are you brooding because I turned down your gallant proposal?’
    ‘I want to talk to you seriously. Bring the sandwiches and come and sit down.’
    She followed him into the living room, and munching a sandwich, sat down on the floor near his feet. ‘What seems to be bothering you, David?’
    ‘Look, darling. I’ve been thinking a lot about you.’
    She laughed. ‘I should hope so.’
    ‘This is serious,’ he continued. ‘I’ve been worried about how you manage financially. This apartment can’t be cheap, and I want to help you out. I mean, frankly, where
do
you get your money?’
    She sat very still. Her eyes glinted dangerously. However, she managed to keep her voice pleasant. ‘Well, baby,’ she said sweetly, ‘what makes you want to know?’
    He didn’t observe the danger signals. ‘Of course I want to know. Do you get an allowance from your father, or what?’
    ‘Come
on.
I haven’t seen my family in five years, and I don’t care if I ever see them again. My old man wouldn’t give me a penny to go to the bathroom with.’ She sat silently then, and David realized that she had no intention of answering him.
    ‘Claudia, I want to know,’ he said sharply.
    She arose. ‘I don’t like being questioned. I’m not asking you for anything. I don’t want anything from you!’ She started to shout. ‘Leave me alone with your questions. What’s on your mind? Where do you think I get my money from? Do you think I’m a whore? Well, if I was, wouldn’t I be asking you for money?’ She was crying now, and he was shocked that he had provoked such anger. ‘It’s
my
business where I get my money from, and if you don’t like the idea of that, then let’s just forget it,’ she yelled.
    He caught her mood of fury. ‘All right,’ he said coldly, ‘we’ll forget it.’ He marched into the bedroom and dressed. She didn’t follow him.
    When he came out, she was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine and didn’t look up.
    He stood there, undecided about whether to walk out or not. ‘Are you going to tell me?’ he demanded.
    She continued reading and didn’t answer him.
    ‘Good-bye,’ he said, and left.
    In the hall outside her front door he immediately regretted this move. He couldn’t go home, and he debated making it up with Claudia, but that was impossible. If he gave way to her now, he would be admitting defeat, and he never admitted defeat to any woman. No, he decided, let her burn a little, and she would soon come running back. They always did.
    He went downstairs to his car, having decided to spend the night in a Turkish bath. He was puzzled about why Claudia was so secretive about the source of her income; it could only mean that there was something he wouldn’t like. Well, in that case, when she told him, he would stop it, whatever it was, and then she would be dependent on him, which was exactly the way he wanted it.
    He drove to the Turkish baths in Jermyn Street, and after going through the hot and cold steam baths and having a massage, he was quite happy to settle down in his small white cubicle, where he promptly fell asleep. Tomorrow he would settle everything.

Chapter Four
    Paul looked younger than Linda remembered him. He was wearing a black sweater and tight black trousers. She had decided to wear a plain dark-blue