MORNING SERIAL
CYNLAIS just stood there with a dropped jaw and I had to give him a nudge to remind him that if he did not want Gomer and Milton Nicholas and the other fanciers to be closing in on him and applying violence, the best thing he could do was to deliver some simple message to Moira and marshal his thoughts for a bit of foot-racing. Cynlais pulled his jaw back into position and a beauty of longing settled on his face. In that mood he could have come out with a splurge of words that would have struck a new top note in bedroom rhetoric. But all he said was:
‘Hullo, Moira. Oh, it’s good to see you again after so long.’
‘Don’t talk to me, Cynlais Coleman,’ said Moira. Her voice was sharply impatient, but even Moira’s wrath had an edge of lubricious softness. ‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself. First of all jumping about like a madman at the head of that band, half naked and putting the preachers on edge, then sending those two jokers to my front door to get around my mother, indeed. What kind of serpent are you developing into, Cynlais?’
‘They didn’t tell me they were going, honest. Gomer and Edwin were working off their own bats, and you know what a pair of terrors they are for being deep and unexpected. Can I see you tonight, Moira?’
‘Not tonight or ever. I’m meeting Moelwyn Cox in front of the Gaiety at seven. Plush seats, back row, one and three, made to measure. Have you ever seen Moelwyn in his bullfighter’s uniform? After that you’ll always look very colourless to me, Cynlais. Has your heart ever been in the orange groves of Seville?’
‘Never. You know that, Moira. The furthest I’ve been is that bus trip to Tintern Abbey with the Buffs.’ The last word came out like a sort of groaning gasp, as if someone had knocked all the wind out of Cynlais from behind. I thought this a very poor augury for the race and I was on the point of giving Cynlais a monitory kick on the shin when Moira let out a laugh that was so loud, contemptuous and yet passionately stimulant it put her instantly under the same shawl as Carmen.