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to get started. For one long moment Mildred was tempted: by the chance to save her food, by the chance to eat without having to cook, most of all by the chance to go somewhere to sit under soft lights, perhaps even to hear an orchestra, and dance. But her mouth seemed to step out in front of her, and take charge in a somewhat gabby way. ‘Well my goodness, I never even dreamed you’d want to go out on a night like this.’
    ‘Isn’t that what we said?’
    ‘But it’s so awful out. Why can’t I fix you something, and maybe we could go out some other night?’
    ‘Hey, hey, I’m taking
you
out.’
    ‘All right, but at least let’s wait a few minutes, in case this rain’ll let up a little. I just hate to go out when it’s coming down like this.’
    She led him to the den, lit the fire, took his coat, and disappeared with it. When she came back she was shaking an orange blossom in a pitcher, and balancing a tray on which were two glasses.
    ‘Well say!
Say
!’
    ‘Thought it might help to pass the time.’
    ‘You bet it will.’
    He took his glass, waited for her to take hers, said, ‘Mud in your eye,’ and sipped. Mildred was startled at how good it was. As for Wally, he was downright reverent at how good it was. ‘What do you know about that? Real gin! I haven’t tasted it since – God knows when. All they give you in these speaks is smoke, and a guy’s taking his life in his hands, all the time. Say, where did
you
tend bar?’
    ‘Oh, just picked it up.’
    ‘Not from Bert.’
    ‘I didn’t say where.’
    ‘Bert’s hooch was God-awful. He was one of these home-laboratory guys, and the more stuff he put in it to kill the taste, the worse it tasted. But this – say, Bert must be crazy if he walked out on
you
.’
    He looked at her admiringly and she refilled his glass. ‘Thanks, Mildred. I couldn’t say no if I tried. Hey, what about yours?’
    Mildred, not much of a drinker under any circumstances, had decided that tonight might be an excellent time to exercise a certain womanly restraint. She laughed, shook her head. ‘Oh – one’s all I take.’
    ‘Don’t you like it?’
    ‘I like it all right, but I’m really not used to it.’
    ‘You’ve got to get educated.’
    ‘I can see that right now. But we can attend to that part a little bit at a time. Tonight, the rest of it’s yours.’
    He laughed excitedly, strolled over to the window, stood looking out at the rain. ‘You know, I’m thinking about something . . . Maybe you were right about not going out. That look’s wetter than a Chinaman’s wash. Did you really mean it, what you said about knocking something together that we could eat?’
    ‘Of course I meant it.’
    ‘Putting you to one hell of a lot of trouble, though.’
    ‘Don’t be silly, it’s no trouble at all. And I bet you get a better meal here than you would outside. That’s another thing you might have noticed, all the time you’ve been coming here. I don’t know how much of a bartender I am, but I’m an awfully good cook.’
    ‘Quit kidding me. That was the hired girl.’
    ‘That was me. Want to watch?’
    ‘I sure do.’
    She really was a marvellous cook, and he watched delightedly while she popped the chicken into the oven, scraped four potatoes, shelled a little dish of peas. They went back to the den until it should be time to put the vegetables on to boil, and he had another cocktail. By now she was wearing a little blue apron, and he oafishly admitted that he ‘sure would like to give those apron strings a pull’.
    ‘You’d better not.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘I might tie it on you, and put you to work.’
    ‘OK by me.’
    ‘Would you like to eat here? By the fire?’
    ‘I’d love it.’
    She got a bridge table out of the closet and set it up in front of the fireplace. Then she got out silver, glassware, and napkins, and arranged them for two. He followed her around like a puppy, his cocktail glass in his hand. ‘Hey, this looks like a real