He kissed her again — a long, lingering kiss that neither of them could bear to finish. But when their lips did part, and they stared at each other so close that the pupils of their eyes were dark and unfocused, they knew what would happen next. Collis stood up, went to the door, and turned the brass key in the lock. Then, standing with his back to the lamp, he took off his evening coat and unfastened his cufflinks. In the subdued light, in his spotless white shirt and his white evening vest, he looked more handsome than Hannah could ever remember. Something had changed him since he had been in California — experience, maybe; or the discovery of what he really wanted out of his life. But whatever it was, it had given him far more poise and maturity than before, and she knew she could love him now as a man of character, and not just as a good-looking adventurer. She had recognised this subtle and attractive new quality in him at the store yesterday, and perhaps if Collis had known how much it had tipped the balance against Walter, he would have thought about Hannah more cautiously.

Hannah could scent more than lavender cologne when she came near to Collis. She could scent that he had ambition, and a hunger for success. Unlike poor Walter, who would have walked a hundred yards on hot bricks just to keep her; and yet who had sat in his shop while she told him she had to leave, and wept, unable to say even a single word which might have persuaded her to stay, or even delayed her for five more minutes at the door.

Collis sat on the end of the bed and prised off his glossy black evening pumps. Then, as he stood up to unbutton his shirt, Hannah leaned over to the lamp, turned the wick down, and blew into the glass bowl to extinguish it. The room was crowded with darkness, perfume, and the rustle of clothes.

Naked, Collis climbed on to the bed. The faintest smudge of light penetrated the heavy brown drapes, and he could just distinguish her blonde hair spread across the pillow, and her face, although it was too dark for him to make out her expression.

He lay next to her, and kissed her, and this time she responded to him with an urgency that startled him and aroused him even more.

‘You’re like a dream,’ he breathed. ‘You’re like somebody sent from somewhere mythical to tempt me.’

She said nothing, but kissed and nipped at his lips.