THE THREE FAT WOMEN OF ANTIBES Somerset Maugham One was called Mrs Richman and she was

a widow. The second was called Mrs Sutcliffe; she was American and she had divorced two husbands. The third was called Miss Hickson and she was a spinster. They were all in the comfortable forties and they were all well off. Mrs Sutcliffe had the odd first name of Arrow. hen she was youn! and slender she had liked it well enou!h. "t suited her and the #ests it occasioned thou!h too often repeated were very flatterin!; she was not disinclined to believe that it suited her character too$ it su!!ested directness% speed% and purpose. She liked it less now that her delicate features had !rown mu&&y with fat% that her arms and shoulders were so substantial and her hips so massive. "t was increasin!ly difficult to find dresses to make her look as she liked to look. The #ests her name !ave rise to now were made behind her back and she very well knew that they were far from obli!in!. 'ut she was by no means resi!ned to middle a!e. She still wore blue to brin! out the colour of her eyes and% with the help of art% her fair hair had kept its lustre. hat she liked about 'eatrice Richman and (rances Hickson was that they were both so much fatter than she% it made her look )uite slim; they were both of them older and much inclined to treat her as a little youn! thin!. "t was not disa!reeable. They were !ood*natured women and they chaffed her pleasantly about her beau+; they had both !iven up the thou!ht of that kind of nonsense% indeed Miss Hickson had never !iven it a moment,s consideration% but they were sympathetic to her flirtations. "t was understood that one of these days Arrow would make a third man happy. -Only you mustn,t !et any heavier% darlin!%, said Mrs Richman. -And for !oodness, sake make certain of his brid!e%, said Miss Hickson. They saw for her a man of about fifty% but well*preserved and of distin!uished carria!e% an admiral on the retired list and a !ood !olfer% or a widower without encumbrances% but in any case with a substantial income. Arrow listened to them amiably% and kept to herself the fact that this was not at all her idea. "t was true that she would have liked to marry a!ain% but her fancy turned to a dark slim "talian with flashin! eyes and a sonorous title or to a Spanish don of noble linea!e; and not a day more than thirty. There were times when% lookin! at herself in her mirror% she was certain she did not look any more than that herself. They were !reat friends% Miss Hickson% Mrs Richman% and Arrow Sutcliffe. "t was their fat that had brou!ht them to!ether and brid!e that had cemented their alliance. They had met first at .arlsbad%

where they were stayin! at the same hotel and were treated by the same doctor who used them with the same ruthlessness. 'eatrice Richman was enormous. She was a handsome woman% with fine eyes% rou!ed cheeks% and painted lips. She was very well content to be a widow with a handsome fortune. She adored her food. She liked bread and butter% cream% potatoes% and suet puddin!s% and for eleven months of the year ate pretty well everythin! she had a mind to% and for one month went to .arlsbad to reduce. 'ut every year she !rew fatter. She upbraided the doctor% but !ot no sympathy from him. He pointed out to her various plain and simple facts. -'ut if ",m never to eat a thin! " like% life isn,t worth livin!%, she e+postulated. He shru!!ed his disapprovin! shoulders. Afterwards she told Miss Hickson that she was be!innin! to suspect he wasn,t so clever as she had thou!ht. Miss Hickson !ave a !reat !uffaw. She was that sort of woman. She had a deep bass voice% a lar!e flat sallow face from which twinkled little bri!ht eyes; she walked with a slouch% her hands in her pockets% and when she could do so without e+citin! attention smoked a lon! ci!ar. She dressed as like a man as she could. - hat the deuce should " look like in frills and furbelows/, she said. - hen you,re as fat as " am you may #ust as well be comfortable., She wore tweeds and heavy boots and whenever she could went about bareheaded. 'ut she was as stron! as an o+ and boasted that few men could drive a lon!er ball than she. She was plain of speech% and she could swear more variously than a stevedore. Thou!h her name was (rances she preferred to be called (rank. Masterful% but with tact% it was her #ovial stren!th of character that held the three to!ether. They drank their waters to!ether% had their baths at the same hour% they took their strenuous walks to!ether% pounded about the tennis court with a professional to make them run% and ate at the same table their sparse and re!ulated meals. 0othin! impaired their !ood humour but the scales% and when one or other of them wei!hed as much on one day as she had the day before neither (rank,s coarse #okes% the bonhomie of 'eatrice% nor Arrow,s pretty kittenish ways sufficed to dispel the !loom. Then drastic measures were resorted to% the culprit went to bed for twenty*four hours and nothin! passed her lips but the doctor,s famous ve!etable soup which tasted like hot water in which a cabba!e had been well rinsed. 0ever were three women !reater friends. They would have been independent of anyone else if they had not needed a fourth at brid!e. They were fierce% enthusiastic players and the moment the day,s cure was over% they sat down at the brid!e table. Arrow% feminine as she was% played the best !ame of the three% a hard% brilliant !ame% in which she showed no mercy and never conceded a point or failed to take advanta!e of a mistake. 'eatrice was solid and reliable. (rank was dashin!; she was a !reat theorist% and had all the authorities at the tip of her ton!ue. They had lon! ar!uments over the

rival systems. They bombarded one another with .ulbertson and Sims. "t was obvious that not one of them ever played a card without fifteen !ood reasons% but it was also obvious from the subse)uent conversation that there were fifteen e)ually !ood reasons why she should not have played it. 1ife would have been perfect% even with the prospect of twenty*four hours of that filthy soup when the doctor,s rotten 2'eatrice3 bloody 2(rank3 lousy 2Arrow3 scales pretended one hadn,t lost an ounce in two days% if only there had not been this constant difficulty of findin! someone to play with them who was in their class. "t was for this reason that on the occasion with which this narrative deals (rank invited 1ena (inch to come and stay with them at Antibes. They were spendin! some weeks there on (rank,s su!!estion. "t seemed absurd to her% with her common sense% that immediately the cure was over 'eatrice who always lost twenty pounds should be !ivin! way to her un!overnable appetite put it all on a!ain. 'eatrice was weak. She needed a person of stron! will to watch her diet. She proposed then that on leavin! .arlsbad they should take a house at Antibes% where they could !et plenty of e+ercise*everyone knew that nothin! slimmed you like swimmin!*and as far as possible could !o on with the cure. ith a cook of their own they could at least avoid thin!s that were obviously fattenin!. There was no reason why they should not all lose several pounds more. "t seemed a very !ood idea. 'eatrice knew what was !ood for her% and she could resist temptation well enou!h if temptation was not put ri!ht under her nose. 'esides% she liked !amblin!% and a flutter at the .asino two or three times a week would pass the time very pleasantly. Arrow adored Antibes% and she would be lookin! her best after a month at .arlsbad. She could #ust pick and choose amon! the youn! "talians% the passionate Spaniards% the !allant (renchmen% and the lon!*limbed 4n!lish who sauntered about all day in bathin! trunks and !ay*coloured dressin!*!owns. The plan worked very well. They had a !rand time. Two days a week they ate nothin! but hard*boiled e!!s and raw tomatoes and they mounted the scales every mornin! with li!ht hearts. Arrow !ot down to eleven stone and felt #ust like a !irl; 'eatrice and (rank by standin! in a certain way #ust avoided the thirteen. The machine they had bou!ht re!istered kilo!rammes% and they !ot e+traordinarily clever at translatin! them in the twinklin! of an eye to pounds and ounces. 'ut the fourth at brid!e continued to be the difficulty. This person played like a fool% the other was so slow that it drove you frantic% one was )uarrelsome% another was a bad loser% a third was ne+t door to a crook. "t was stran!e how hard it was to find e+actly the player you wanted. One mornin! when they were sittin! in py#amas on the terrace overlookin! the sea% drinkin! their tea 2without milk or su!ar3 and

eatin! a rusk prepared by 5r Hudebert and !uaranteed not to be fattenin!% (rank looked up from her letters. -1ena (inch is comin! down to the Riviera%, she said. - ho,s she/, asked Arrow. -She married a cousin of mine. He died a couple of months a!o and she,s #ust recoverin! from a nervous breakdown. hat about askin! her to come here for a fortni!ht/, -5oes she play brid!e/, asked 'eatrice. -6ou bet your life she does%, boomed (rank in her deep voice. -And a damned !ood !ame too. e should be absolutely independent of outsiders., -How old is she/, asked Arrow. -Same a!e as " am., -That sounds all ri!ht., "t was settled. (rank% with her usual decisiveness% stalked out as soon as she had finished her breakfast to send a wire% and three days later 1ena (inch arrived. (rank met her at the station. She was in deep but not obtrusive mournin! for the recent death of her husband. (rank had not seen her for two years. She kissed her warmly and took a !ood look at her. -6ou,re very thin% darlin!%, she said. 1ena smiled bravely. -",ve been throu!h a !ood deal lately. ",ve lost a lot of wei!ht., (rank si!hed% but whether from sympathy with her cousin,s sad loss% or from envy% was not obvious. 1ena was not% however% depressed% and after a )uick bath was )uite ready to accompany (rank to 4den Roc. (rank introduced the stran!er to her two friends and they sat down in what was known as the Monkey House. "t was an enclosure covered with !lass overlookin! the sea% with a bar at the back% and it was crowded with chatterin! people in bathin! costumes% py#amas% or dressin!*!owns% who were seated at the tables havin! drinks. 'eatrice,s soft heart went out to the lorn window% and Arrow% seein! that she was pale% )uite ordinary to look at% and probably forty*ei!ht% was prepared to like her very much. A waiter approached them. - hat will you have% 1ena dear/, (rank asked. -Oh% " don,t know% what you all have% a dry Martini or a hite 1ady., Arrow and 'eatrice !ave her a )uick look. 4veryone knows how fattenin! cocktails are. -" daresay you,re tired after your #ourney%, said (rank kindly. She ordered a dry Martini for 1ena and a mi+ed lemon and oran!e #uice for herself and her two friends. - e find alcohol isn,t very !ood in all this heat%, she e+plained. -Oh% it never affects me at all%, 1ena answered airily. -" like cocktails.,

Arrow went very sli!htly pale under her rou!e 2neither she nor 'eatrice ever wet their faces when they bathed and they thou!ht it absurd of (rank% a woman of her si&e% to pretend she liked divin!3 but she said nothin!. The conversation was !ay and easy% they all said the obvious thin!s with !usto% and presently they strolled back to the villa for luncheon. "n each napkin were two little antifat rusks. 1ena !ave a bri!ht smile as she put them by the side of her plate. -May " have some bread/, she asked. The !rossest indecency would not have fallen on the ears of those three women with such a shock. 0ot one of them had eaten bread for ten years. 4ven 'eatrice% !reedy as she was% drew the line there. (rank% the !ood hostess% recovered herself first. -Of course% darlin!%, she said and turnin! to the butler asked him to brin! some. -And some butter%, said 1ena in that pleasant easy way of hers. There was a moment,s embarrassed silence. -" don,t know if there,s any in the house%, said (rank% -but ",ll in)uire. There may be some in the kitchen., -" adore bread and butter% don,t you/, said 1ena% turnin! to 'eatrice. 'eatrice !ave a sickly smile and an evasive reply. The butler brou!ht a lon! crisp roll of (rench bread. 1ena slit it in two and plastered it with the butter which was miraculously produced. A !rilled sole was served. - e eat very simply here%, said (rank. -" hope you won,t mind., -Oh% no% " like my food very plain%, said 1ena as she took some butter and spread it over her fish. -As lon! as " can have bread and butter and potatoes and cream ",m )uite happy., The three friends e+chan!ed a !lance. (rank,s !reat sallow face sa!!ed a little and she looked with distaste at the dry% insipid sole on her plate. 'eatrice came to the rescue. -"t,s such a bore% we can,t !et cream here%, she said. -"t,s one of the thin!s one has to do without on the Riviera., - hat a pity%, said 1ena. The rest of the luncheon consisted of lamb cutlets% with the fat carefully removed so that 'eatrice should not be led astray% and spinach boiled in water% with stewed pears to end up with. 1ena tasted her pears and !ave the butler a look of in)uiry. That resourceful man understood her at once and thou!h powdered su!ar had never been served at that table before handed her without a moment,s hesitation a bowl of it. She helped herself liberally. The other three pretended not to notice. .offee was served and 1ena took three lumps of su!ar in hers. -6ou have a very sweet tooth%, said Arrow in a tone which she stru!!led to keep friendly.

- e think saccharine so much more sweetenin!%, said (rank% as she put a tiny tablet of it into her coffee. -5is!ustin! stuff%, said 1ena. 'eatrice,s mouth drooped at the corners% and she !ave the lump su!ar a yearnin! look. -'eatrice%, boomed (rank sternly. 'eatrice stifled a si!h% and reached for the saccharine. (rank was relieved when they could sit down to the brid!e table. "t was plain to her that Arrow and 'eatrice were upset. She wanted them to like 1ena and she was an+ious that 1ena should en#oy her fortni!ht with them. (or the first rubber Arrow cut with the newcomer. -5o you play 7anderbilt or .ulbertson/, she asked her. -" have no conventions%, 1ena answered in a happy*!o*lucky way% -" play by the li!ht of nature., -" play strict .ulbertson%, said Arrow acidly. The three fat women braced themselves to the fray. 0o conventions indeed8 They,d learn her. hen it came to brid!e even (rank,s family feelin! was for!otten and she settled down with the same determination as the others to trim the stran!er in their midst. 'ut the li!ht of nature served 1ena very well. She had a natural !ift for the !ame and !reat e+perience. She played with ima!ination% )uickly% boldly% and with assurance. The other players were in too hi!h a class not to reali&e very soon that 1ena knew what she was about% and since they were all thorou!hly !ood*natured% !enerous women% they were !radually mollified. This was real brid!e. They all en#oyed themselves. Arrow and 'eatrice be!an to feel more kindly towards 1ena% and (rank% noticin! this% heaved a fat si!h of relief. "t was !oin! to be a success. After a couple of hours they parted% (rank and 'eatrice to have a round of !olf% and Arrow to take a brisk walk with a youn! 9rince Roccamare whose ac)uaintance she had lately made. He was very sweet and youn! and !ood*lookin!. 1ena said she would rest. They met a!ain #ust before dinner. -" hope you,ve been all ri!ht% 1ena dear%, said (rank. -" was rather conscience*stricken at leavin! you with nothin! to do all this time., -Oh% don,t apolo!i&e. " had a lovely sleep and then " went down to :uan and had a cocktail. And d,you know what " discovered/ 6ou,ll be so pleased. " found a dear little tea*shop where they,ve !ot the most beautiful thick fresh cream. ",ve ordered half a pint to be sent every day. " thou!ht it would be my little contribution to the household., Her eyes were shinin!. She was evidently e+pectin! them to be deli!hted. -How very kind of you%, said (rank% with a look that sou!ht to )uell the indi!nation that she saw on the faces of her two friends. -'ut we never eat cream. "n this climate it makes one so bilious., -" shall have to eat it all myself then%, said 1ena cheerfully.

-5on,t you ever think of your fi!ure/, Arrow asked with icy deliberation. -The doctor said " must eat., -5id he say you must eat bread and butter and potatoes and cream/, -6es. That,s what " thou!ht you meant when you said you had simple food., -6ou,ll !et simply enormous%, said 'eatrice. 1ena lau!hed !aily. -0o% " shan,t. 6ou see% nothin! ever makes me fat. ",ve always eaten everythin! " wanted to and it,s never had the sli!htest effect on me., The stony silence that followed this speech was only broken by the entrance of the butler. -Mademoiselle est servie%, he announced. They talked the matter over late that ni!ht% after 1ena had !one to bed% in (rank,s room. 5urin! the evenin! they had been furiously cheerful% and they had chaffed one another with a friendliness that would have taken in the keenest observer. 'ut now they dropped the mask. 'eatrice was sullen% Arrow was spiteful and (rank was unmanned. -"t,s not very nice for me to sit there and see her eat all the thin!s " particularly like%, said 'eatrice plaintively. -"t,s not very nice for any of us%, (rank snapped back. -6ou should never have asked her here%, said Arrow. -How was " to know/, cried (rank. -" can,t help thinkin! that if she really cared for her husband she would hardly eat so much., said 'eatrice. -He,s only been buried two months. " mean% " think you ou!ht to show some resect for the dead., - hy can,t she eat the same as we do/, asked Arrow viciously. -She,s a !uest., - ell% you heard what she said. The doctor told her she must eat., -Then she ou!ht to !o to a sanatorium., -"t,s more than flesh and blood can stand% (rank%, moaned 'eatrice. -"f " can stand it you can stand it., -She,s your cousin% she,s not our cousin%, said Arrow. -",m not !oin! to sit there for fourteen days and watch that woman make a ho! of herself., -"t,s so vul!ar to attach all this importance to food%, (rank boomed% and her voice was deeper than ever. -After all the only thin! that counts really is spirit., -Are you callin! me vul!ar% (rank/, asked Arrow with flashin! eyes. -0o% of course she isn,t%, interrupted 'eatrice. -" wouldn,t put it past you to !o down in the kitchen when we,re all in bed and have a !ood s)uare meal on the sly., (rank spran! to her feet.

-How dare you say that% Arrow8 ",d never ask anybody to do what ",m not prepared to do myself. Have you known me all these years and do you think me capable of such a mean thin!/, -How is it you never take off any wei!ht then/, (rank !ave a !asp and burst into a flood of tears. - hat a cruel thin! to say8 ",ve lost pounds and pounds., She wept like a child. Her vast body shook and !reat tears splashed on her mountainous bosom. -5arlin!% " didn,t mean it%, cried Arrow. She threw herself on her knees and enveloped what she could of (rank in her own plump arms. She wept and the mascara ran down her cheeks. -5,you mean to say " don,t look thinner/, (rank sobbed. -After all ",ve !one throu!h., -6es% dear% of course you do%, cried Arrow throu!h her tears. -4verybody,s noticed it., 'eatrice% thou!h naturally of a placid disposition% be!an to cry !ently. "t was very pathetic. "ndeed% it would have been a hard heart that failed to be moved by the si!ht of (rank% that lion*hearted woman% cryin! her eyes out. 9resently% however% they dried their tears and had a little brandy and water% which every doctor had told them was the least fattenin! thin! they could drink% and then they felt much better. They decided that 1ena should have the nourishin! food that had been ordered her and they made a solemn resolution not to let it disturb their e)uanimity. She was certainly a first*rate brid!e player and after all it was only for a fortni!ht. They would do whatever they could to make her stay en#oyable. They kissed one another warmly and separated for the ni!ht feelin! stran!ely uplifted. 0othin! should interfere with the wonderful friendship that had brou!ht so much happiness into their three lives. 'ut human nature is weak. 6ou must not ask too much of it. They ate !rilled fish while 1ena ate macaroni si&&lin! with cheese and butter; they ate !rilled cutlets and boiled spinach while 1ena ate pt de foie gras; twice a week they ate hard*boiled e!!s and raw tomatoes% while 1ena ate peas swimmin! in cream and potatoes cooked in all sorts of delicious ways. The chef was a !ood chef and he leapt at the opportunity afforded him to send up one dish more rich% tasty and succulent than the other. -9oor :im%, si!hed 1ena% thinkin! of her husband% -he loved (rench cookin!., The butler disclosed the fact that he could make half a do&en kinds of cocktail and 1ena informed them that the doctor had recommended her to drink bur!undy at luncheon and champa!ne at dinner. The three fat women persevered. They were !ay% chatty and even hilarious 2such is the natural !ift that women have for deception3 but 'eatrice !rew limp and forlorn% and Arrow,s tender blue eyes ac)uired a steely !lint.

(rank,s deep voice !rew more raucous. "t was when they played brid!e that the strain showed itself. They had always been fond of talkin! over their hands% but their discussion had been friendly. 0ow a distinct bitterness crept in and sometimes one pointed out a mistake to another with )uite unnecessary frankness. 5iscussion turned to ar!ument and ar!ument to altercation. Sometimes the session ended in an!ry silence. Once (rank accused Arrow of deliberately lettin! her down. Two or three times 'eatrice% the softest of the three% was reduced to tears. On another occasion Arrow flun! down her cards and swept out of the room in a pet. Their tempers were !ettin! frayed. 1ena was the peacemaker. -" think it,s such a pity to )uarrel over brid!e%, she said. -After all% it,s only a !ame., "t was all very well for her. She had had a s)uare meal and half a bottle of champa!ne. 'esides% she had phenomenal luck. She was winnin! all their money. The score was put down in a book after each session% and hers mounted up day after day with unfailin! re!ularity. as there no #ustice in the world/ They be!an to hate one another. And thou!h they hated her too they could not resist confidin! in her. 4ach of them went to her separately and told her how detestable the others were. Arrow said she was sure it was bad for her to see so much of women so much older than herself. She had a !ood mind to sacrifice her share of the lease and !o to 7enice for the rest of the summer. (rank told 1ena that with her masculine mind it was too much to e+pect that she could be satisfied with anyone so frivolous as Arrow and so frankly stupid as 'eatrice. -" must have intellectual conversation%, she boomed. - hen you have a brain like mine you,ve !ot to consort with your intellectual e)uals., 'eatrice only wanted peace and )uiet. -Really " hate women%, she said. -They,re so unreliable; they,re so malicious., 'y the time 1ena,s fortni!ht drew to its close the three fat women were barely on speakin! terms. They kept up appearances before 1ena% but when she was not there made no pretences. They had !ot past )uarrellin!. They i!nored one another% and when this was not possible treated each other with icy politeness. 1ena was !oin! to stay with friends on the "talian Riviera and (rank saw her off by the same train as that by which she had arrived. She was takin! away with her a lot of their money. -" don,t know how to thank you%, she said% as she !ot into the carria!e. -",ve had a wonderful visit., "f there was one thin! that (rank Hickson prided herself on more than on bein! a match for any man it was that she was a !entlewoman% and her reply was perfect in its combination of ma#esty and !raciousness.

- e,ve all en#oyed havin! you here% 1ena%, she said. -"t,s been a real treat., 'ut when she turned away from the departin! train she heaved such a vast si!h of relief that the platform shook beneath her. She flun! back her massive shoulders and strode home to the villa. -Ouf8, she roared at intervals. -Ouf8, She chan!ed into her one*piece bathin!*suit% put on her espadrilles and a man,s dressin!*!own 2no nonsense about it3% and went to 4den Roc. There was still time for a bathe before luncheon. She passed throu!h the Monkey House% lookin! about her to say !ood mornin! to anyone she knew% for she felt on a sudden at peace with mankind% and then stopped dead still. She could not believe her eyes. 'eatrice was sittin! at one of the tables% by herself; she wore the py#amas she had bou!ht at Molyneu+,s a day or two before% she had a strin! of pearls round her neck% and (rank,s )uick eyes saw that she had #ust had her hair waved; her cheeks% her eyes% her lips were made up. (at% nay vast% as she was% none could deny that she was an e+tremely handsome woman. 'ut what was she doin!/ ith the slouchin! !ait of the 0eanderthal man which was (rank,s characteristic walk she went up to 'eatrice. "n her black bathin!*dress (rank looked like the hu!e cetacean which the :apanese catch in the Torres Straits and which the vul!ar call a sea*cow. -'eatrice% what are you doin!/, she cried in her deep voice. "t was like the roll of thunder in the distant mountains. 'eatrice looked at her coolly. -4atin!%, she answered. -5amn it% " can see you,re eatin!., "n front of 'eatrice was a plate of croissants and a plate of butter% a pot of strawberry #am% coffee% and a #u! of cream. 'eatrice was spreadin! butter thick on the delicious hot bread% coverin! this with #am% and then pourin! the thick cream over all. -6ou,ll kill yourself%, said (rank. -" don,t care%, mumbled 'eatrice with her mouth full. -6ou,ll put on pounds and pounds., -;o to hell8, She actually lau!hed in (rank,s face. My ;od% how !ood those croissants smelt8 -",m disappointed in you% 'eatrice. " thou!ht you had more character., -"t,s your fault. That blasted woman. 6ou would have her down. (or a fortni!ht ",ve watched her !or!e like a ho!. "t,s more than flesh and blood can stand. ",m !oin! to have one s)uare meal if " bust., The tears welled up to (rank,s eyes. Suddenly she felt very weak and womanly. She would have liked a stron! man to take her on his knee and pet her and cuddle her and call her little baby names. Speechless she sank down on a chair by 'eatrice,s side. A waiter came

up. ith a pathetic !esture she waved towards the coffee and croissants. -",ll have the same%, she si!hed. She listlessly reached out her hand to take a roll% but 'eatrice snatched away the plate. -0o% you don,t%, she said. -6ou wait till you !et your own., (rank called her a name which ladies seldom apply to one another in affection. "n a moment the waiter brou!ht her croissants% butter% #am% and coffee. - here,s the cream% you fool/, she roared like a lioness at bay. She be!an to eat. She ate !luttonously. The place was be!innin! to fill up with bathers comin! to en#oy a cocktail or two after havin! done their duty by the sun and the sea. 9resently Arrow strolled alon! with 9rince Roccamare. She had on a beautiful silk wrap which she held ti!htly round her with one hand in order to look as slim as possible and she bore her head hi!h so that he should not see her double chin. She was lau!hin! !aily. She felt like a !irl. He had #ust told her 2in "talian3 that her eyes made the blue of the Mediterranean look like pea*soup. He left her to !o into the men,s room to brush his sleek black hair and they arran!ed to meet in five minutes for a drink. Arrow walked on to the women,s room to put a little more rou!e on her cheeks and a little more red on her lips. On her way she cau!ht si!ht of (rank and 'eatrice. She stopped. She could hardly believe her eyes. -My ;od8, she cried. -6ou beasts. 6ou ho!s., She sei&ed a chair. - aiter., Her appointment went clean out of her head. "n the twinklin! of an eye the waiter was at her side. -'rin! me what these ladies are havin!%, she ordered. (rank lifted her !reat heavy head from her plate. -'rin! me some pt de foie gras% she boomed. -(rank8, cried 'eatrice. -Shut up., -All ri!ht. ",ll have some too., The coffee was brou!ht and the hot rolls and cream and the pt de foie gras and they set to. They spread the cream on the pt and they ate it. They devoured !reat spoonfuls of #am. They crunched the delicious crisp bread voluptuously. hat was love to Arrow then/ 1et the 9rince keep his palace in Rome and his castle in the Apennines. They did not speak. hat they were about was much too serious. They ate with solemn% ecstatic fervour. -" haven,t eaten potatoes for twenty*five years%, said (rank in a far* off broodin! tone. - aiter%, cried 'eatrice% -brin! fried potatoes for three., -Trs bien, Madame., The potatoes were brou!ht. 0ot all the perfumes of Arabia smelt so sweet.

They ate them with their fin!ers. -'rin! me a dry Martini%, said Arrow. -6ou can,t have a dry Martini in the middle of a meal% Arrow%, said (rank. -.an,t "/ 6ou wait and see., -All ri!ht then. 'rin! me a double dry Martini%, said (rank. -'rin! three double dry Martinis%, said 'eatrice. They were brou!ht and drunk at a !ulp. The women looked at one another and si!hed. The misunderstandin!s of the last fortni!ht dissolved and the sincere affection each had for the others welled up a!ain in their hearts. They could hardly believe that they had ever contemplated the possibility of severin! a friendship that had brou!ht them so much solid satisfaction. They finished the potatoes. -" wonder if they,ve !ot any chocolate <clairs%, said 'eatrice. -Of course they have., And of course they had. (rank thrust one whole into her hu!e mouth% swallowed it and sei&ed another% but before she ate it she looked at the other two and plun!ed a vindictive da!!er into the heart of the monstrous 1ena. -6ou can say what you like% but the truth is she played a damned rotten !ame of brid!e% really., -1ousy%, a!reed Arrow. 'ut 'eatrice suddenly thou!ht she would like a merin!ue.