He was faithful in friendship once formed, obstinately so, for better or for worse; but he was shrewd enough to ignore opportunities for friendships which he foresaw could do him no good on his plodding pilgrimage toward the temple of his inexorable desire.
Lifting, now, his Delft-coloured eyes furtively, he studied the silk-and-lace swathed figure of the young matron opposite, flung back into the depths of her great chair, profile turned from him, her chin imprisoned in her ringed fingers.

The brooding abandon of the attitude contrasted sharply with the grooming of the woman, making both the more effective.
"Turn in, if you want to," she said, her voice indistinct, smothered by her pink palm.

"You're to dress in Leroy's quarters." "I don't want to turn in just yet." "You said you needed sleep." "I do.

But it's not eleven yet." She slipped into another posture, reaching for a cigarette, and, setting it afire from the match he offered, exhaled a cloud of smoke and looked dreamily through it at him.
"Who is she ?" she asked in a colourless voice.

"Tell me, for I don't know.