Tanner's Virgin Read Online Free PDF

brother. At nights I often comfort myself with the thought that I could always turn brass if times went bad, but who would have me?”
    â€œI would.”
    â€œOh?” She arched her eyebrows prettily. “You’ll be my first professional client, I promise you.” Her voice turned at once Cockney and sluttish. “Spare a couple of nicker for a short time, guv?” She laughed. “But I digress, don’t I? Mr. Wyndham-Jones has hired me. He seems partial to hyphenated surnames. A low type, I’m afraid. Speaks straight Mayfair, but Whitechapel shines through in spite of all his hard work.”
    â€œAnd he hired you.”
    â€œHe certainly did.” She grinned suddenly. “I wish you could have been there, Evan. I wish Nigel could have been there. Whenever I’m on stage and he’s in the house I’m just dreadful, and this was the performance of my career. I did a Yorkshire accent”—she demonstrated this—“and I told him my old father had just died and I was quite alone in the world and new in London and I did so want to travel. I made myself the wide-eyed trusting sort, just a shade on the stupid side, but I tried to give the impression that I kept my own counsel and wouldn’t be inclined to confide in anyone.” She sighed. “It worked. I shall be leaving the country at the end of the week for a three-month journey through the Middle East. All of my expenses will be paid and I will receive three hundred pounds at the termination of the trip.”
    â€œThe Middle East. Phaedra’s card was from Baghdad.”
    â€œYes. The mission’s a lovely one. Shall I tell you about it? Mr. Wyndham Hyphen Jones will be posing as the leader of an archaeological expedition to Turkey and Iraq. An archaeological tour, really. But in actualpoint of fact, the six or seven girls accompanying him on this trek will not be his passengers but his employees. Or, more precisely, the employees of a we-cannot-mention-the-name mammoth oil company with interests in the area. It will be our vital task to Gather Important Information and Make Necessary Contacts. Isn’t that divine?”
    â€œMore divine than plausible.”
    â€œQuite. I don’t suppose you’ve any idea what his real game is? He knows I’ve no money at all. I read thrillers, so all manner of horrid things have occurred to me, but nothing makes any sense.”
    â€œSix or seven pretty but penniless girls. Maybe he’s a sex fiend.”
    â€œJust a fiend, I think. I can generally tell when a man responds to me that way. For example, you do, don’t you?”
    â€œUh…”
    â€œWhy, you’ve gone tongue-tied! If it’s a comfort, I react the same way to you. But Mr. Hyphen—I watched him study me and decide I was attractive without taking the slightest personal interest in the fact. He might enjoy slitting my throat, but I’m afraid that’s the only way I could give him any pleasure.” She shivered, then grinned quickly. “Theatrical response indicating chills and palpitations. Mr. Hyphen strikes me as evil incarnate. Wait until you see him.”
    â€œI can’t wait.”
    â€œWill tonight do? I’ve a date to meet him at his flat.”
    â€œWhat!”
    â€œColor me resourceful. I’d already told him I waspenniless, so I thought I’d press it a bit. I hit him up for a tenner on account. He allowed that he’d left his billfold in his other pair of trousers. Quite a transparent fellow—I don’t believe he has another pair of trousers, let alone a spare ten quid. I’m to meet him at his flat at half past eight this evening. He’ll have my ten pounds, along with an employment application for me to fill out.”
    â€œYou have the address?”
    â€œOld Compton Street in Soho.”
    â€œYou’re not going, of course.”
    She rose. “Let’s go back to the flat, Evan.