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it?” she asked.
    “Natch,” said Cosmo. “I’m already getting some
idées
. I think we need a theme.”
    “Like the Caribbean?” asked Eddie. “Pirates maybe?”
    Cosmo looked at him and smiled. “Not quite. Nice idea, of course, but that’s a bit on the
demotic
side, wouldn’t you say? I’m thinking of something much more refined.”
    “That’s what we want,” said Merle. “Refinement. Remember what we agreed, Eddie? No rubbish.”
    “Something literary,” suggested Cosmo Bartonette. “Something literary, but Caribbean. Have you been to Raffles in Singapore?”
    Merle and Eddie both shook their head.
    “Raffles plays on the connection with Somerset Maugham,” said Cosmo. “Reasonably enough, because he did float around that part of the world. You should read him if you haven’t already. God, he can write! And you can just
feel
the wickerwork chairs and
taste
the gin slings. Anyway, Raffles has got a Writers’ Bar. People love it. How about something like that for your place?”
    “Sounds good,” said Eddie. “Maybe Wilbur Smith. Did you read the one he wrote about the Egyptian princess and this guy who was an elephant hunter in East Africa? You read that?”
    Cosmo Bartonette flicked a strand of hair from his brow. “Not exactly. I must try him. Such bright covers—clearly a lot of action within.”
    “Yeah. Great stories. And that other guy who writes those books about codes and—”
    “Not exactly what I had in mind,” said Cosmo. “Thrilling books, no doubt, but not quite what I was thinking of for your place. I was thinking more of Hemingway. He used to go deep-sea fishing in the Caribbean, didn’t he? Bull-fighting in Spain and fishing in the Caribbean. We could have a Hemingway Bar perhaps … serving twenty types of rum. Can’t you see it? A slow-moving fan above the bar …”
    “Could work,” said Eddie.
    “Of course it’ll work!” Cosmo enthused. “And there’ll be a Hemingway Suite, where he stayed for a few months while writing
The Old Man and the Sea
or maybe it was
Islands in the Stream
. Doesn’t matter—one of them will do.”
    “But it belonged to my uncle,” said Merle. “He bought it from a man called Edwards … Hemingway didn’t go there, I think.”
    Cosmo Bartonette made a dismissive gesture. “My dear!
Quels
scruples! One doesn’t have to be too
literal
about these things. I thought we might also have a Graham Greene Suite—the rooms he occupied while he was writing
The Comedians
, you know, the one set in Haiti—at that hotel, as chance would have it. And Papa Doc and those
frightful
Tontons Macoutes. Remember them? Those thugs that Duvalier used to frighten everybody out of their skins.
Très
voodoo! Perhaps we could dress the waiters up as Tontons,with dark glasses, just to give the guests a
frisson
. What do you think?”
    “I really like what you’re coming up with,” said Eddie. “What do you think, doll?”
    “Pretty good,” said Merle. “I think we should leave it up to you, Cosmo.”
    Cosmo smiled broadly. “I shall give it further thought and come up with some sketches,” he said. “I’ve got a really good feeling about this one, you know.” He paused. “The Graham Greene Suite will have to be a little seedy, you know. Run down. Slightly lumpy bed and a tatty mosquito net, of course. But we can manage that, can’t we? We can
distress
things, although perhaps when it comes to Graham Greene we should think about
depressing
them. And putting a bit of
guilt
into the decoration. The walls could be painted
guilty white
. You know what, my dears? I believe I’ve just invented a colour.”

10. More About Boys
    C AROLINE J ARVIS LIVED immediately below William in Corduroy Mansions, in a flat shared with a number of other young women—“the downstairs girls” as William called them. Caroline had completed her master’s degree in fine art at the Sotheby’s Institute and was now working as an assistant to Tim Something, the