Chapter 8

Five days later Gina, accompanied by Maria, took a taxi to Leeds City Station. They had packed as many of their clothes and other belongings as they could into two large suitcases and a large handbag apiece, and by half past eleven they were in the train, bound for King's Cross.

An apparently contrite Gina had gone about the job of preparing to leave her husband without giving him any indication of her intentions. Shu had found Maria opposed to the plan at first, but in the end she had managed to persuade her to change her mind by painting a grim and bleak picture of what her life was likely to be like living alone with her drunken father.It was, of course,the fact of having to leave John that had put her against her mother's plan. However as the time drew near for her to make up her mind,she had finally weakened under pressure, realizing that she would at the most see the art master once or twice a month while having to spend the rest of her time either alone, at school, or in her father's company. She knew that she would find it hard if not impossible to live without her mother, and as much as she passionately desired to see John again she made up her mind to try to forget him in the end. She wept bitterly on the last two nights she spent in Leeds, trying to conjure up a picture of him in her mind and recapture something of the joy she had experienced with him on the day she spent at Adel. She. also decided that she would write to him from London, for he had told her that he would be spending some time there in the autumn.

They spent a few days in a cheap hotel near Russell Square, but after visiting perhaps a dozen estate agents they found quite a pleasant flat near to Chalk Farm. With the money she had saved Gina calculated that it would be possible to live for about three months, by which time she anticipated that she would find a job or, if the worst came to the worst, resume her former activities.

Maria wrote to John Hutchings and told him what had happened to her, asking him to write to her as soon as he could. Almost by return she received a letter from him wishing her luck and telling her that he would get in touch with her when he came to London. It was a kind, sympathetic but brief letter. She was disappointed but long into the autumn she rushed to the hall every morning to see if there was a letter from him to say he would be coming to London, or that he had already arrived. No letter came and as the monthswent the memory of him and the wonderful day she had spent with him slowly faded.

There were some compensations.First of all London which fascinated her. She was never tired of walking through Primrose Hill down into Regent's Park and the Zoo, or up Haverstock Hill to Hampstead and Whitestones Ponds. There was a magic about the Heath as she wandered across from Hampstead to Highgate. And farther afield, when her mother gave her money for fares, she would go by bus to places like Trafalgar Square or Hyde Park Corner, enjoying every moment of the scene as she had never done on similar trips in Leeds.

She was also absorbed by her school life which helped her to forget the art master in Leads. She had been accepted at a Girls' High School near Regent's Park,and for the first two or three terms she seemed to be wholly taken up with her work and the many other school activities. When she was not at school or walking across the Park, she was almost always at home -with her mother who had found work in an Oxford Street store which,by dint of economy, gave her sufficient to live on and provide for Maria. The first year was a desperate struggle and more than once she had to call on her savings, but when she was given a two-pounds rise after working in the shop about nine months things became a little easier.

Maria's sexual life appeared .to have gone underground. ]t had been almost traumattic for her to have her life suddenly uprooted immediately after her first affair. It was not only a sexual experience that she had had with John Hutchings, but also a deeply emotional one. When she left him that evening at Adel Church to take the bus back to Leeds she was confident of seeing him again, and in her mind saw a long succession of wonderful days stretching far into the future that she would spend with him in his cottage. She returned hometo find her mother battered and bruised by her father, and to be told in whispers that they were going away in a few days. It was all too much for her, and it took a long time for the wounds to be healed.

But Maria's instinct for life, and her urge for sexual experience could not be repressed for long, and as she settled down to the routine of her school and home life in London she began to feel the stirrings of desire again. It was not, however, until her second summer in London her pent-up sexuality burst forth and overflowed, demanding to be appeased.

3he was invited to the house of a girl friend who lived in Hampstead. She was an attractive fair-haired girl of fifteen called Joan Brooks.Her parents were rich and the house they owned was large, elegant, and lux urious. It was situated in its own grounds on the edge of the Heath.

Joan had become very fond of Maria and was eager to invite her to her home. She introduced her proudly to her mother, a younglooking woman of thirty-five or thirty-six,to her father, a handsome man in his early forties, and to her older sister, Jennifer, who attended a secretarial college, and her fourteen-year-old brother, Colin. The family took to her at once and she soon began to feel at home. They spent most of the day in the large walled garden, reading, talking and sub-bathing, and it was after dark that Maria finally got ready to go home.

"How are you going back?" Joan's father asked her."It'a a bit awkward from here."

"Not really," she said. "I just walk up to Rosslyn Hill and walk straight down."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that at this time of night, young lady. I think I'd better see you on your way."

She didn't like to object. It was very kind of him to think about her, she thought, and to drag himself from the easy-chair where he was sitting smoking a pipe. She didn't say anything because she felt rather like an outsider, ignorant of their customs and way of life. She supposed it was the usual thing for a young girl to be accompanied by an ad ult when it was after dark. She .gave no further thought to it.

Mr Brooks was waiting for her in the hall when she came down from the upstairs room she had been invited to use for her things. She said "Good-night" again to Joan and her mother, and they were on their way, turning into East Heath Road.

They came to the end of the houses where the Heath extends as far as Willow Road overlooked by a group of charming Georgian houses. He lightly touched her on her shoulder, indicating that they should turn right along the path taking them to Willow Road.

As they walked along the path, out of sight of the road and the houses, he put an arm round her, pulled her up sharply, and looked into her face. "Maria," he said, "I suppose you know how beautiful you are."

She lowered her eye-lids and stood there, her body trembling at the touch of his fingers on her shoulder. He lifted her chin in the air and she was forced to look at him. She was surprised to see the excitement in his eyes, the open admiration in his expresion. Even more surprised when he said "May I kiss you?"

It was all very strange to find the father of her girl friend asking her if he could kiss her. She felt nothing about him either way, neither attraction nor repulsion. She wouldn't really mind him kissing her, but what about his wife and Joan. What would they think about her if she allowed him to? Oh,well she supposed they would never know about it, and no harm would be done.

5he locked into his eyes and, smiling slightly, she said, "Well, if you want to, I suppose you can."

She felt the hot wet lips on hers, almost devouring her as he pulled her close to him. Then his tongue parted her lips and pressed against her own, moving about from side to side. She stood stiffly, unfeelingly for a moment, and then expecting him to take his mouth from hers any moment, she relaxed, hoping that it would end soon. She was thinking that it would be rather embarrassing to look at him next time she went to their home.

He removed his mouth from hers, but keeping his face against her he began to brush his lips against her hair and ears. As he did so his hands moved down to the small of her back, his fingers delicately kneading the muscles of her haunches. Then his mouth moved to her forehead, brushing his lips across it before implanting a kiss on each of her eyelids in turn. She felt a tremor of excitement run down her spine, almost hoping that he would go on if only for a moment or two longer. It was nice to be kissed and a nd held in this way: it was so long since i t had happened to her.

His hands now moved down the back of her skirt, caressing the upper part of her buttocks, then back to her flanks, and down again this time taking her soft, fleshy bottom cheeks in his palms, as almost at the same time he brought his lips to hers again and urged his tongue into her mouth. She felt a thrill of excitement run down her back,communicating itself to her womb; she relaxed her lips to allow his tongue the complete freedom of her mouth and leaned closer to him so that the tips of his fingers slid to the very base of her buttocks and into the depression between them.

He felt fairly sure that he was going to get his way with her. He had begun with the intention of kissing her, really expecting no more of her, but now he found her beginning to respond to his advances. He began to breathe audibly as his desire for her took hold of him, as his heart beat faster with excitement and anticipation, his lust stirred up in a way he; was finding it more and more difficult to control She felt that he was getting out of control, wondered if the time had not come to push him away from her. Yet he must have know what he was doing, she decided, and he would not do anything to harm her in any way. She liked the way his tongue was exploring her mouth, the the waves of sensation his fingers, now deep in the crease between her buttocks, were sending through her body. She did not want it to end.

Despite his lust he began to ask himself whether he was" right to be making love to the young fourteen-year-old. She was his daughter's best friend, she was probably a virgin, and she had been entrusted to his care. Now he was seriously thinking of seducing her! In any case he had already been away from the house longer than he Ought to have been and his wife would begin to wonder what he was doing. He was torn between his sense of responsibility, fear of the consequences, and an overwhelming urge to possess the girl. But the debate did not last long in his mind, his lust triumphed and if she would let him he would take her and damn the consequences. As far as his wife was concerned he would tell her that he had called in at a pub and met somebody he knew.

He withdrew his mouth and, looking at her lovely face and searching her dark, puzzling eyes, he said: "Maria, you are the loveliest thing I have ever known. You must think I am terrible to try to make love to you, and I'll stop now if you want me to. But I want you desperately if you'll let me have you. It sounds awful, I suppose that you're virgin. I know I shouldn't even think about it but I can't help myself. Will you let me?," he ended almost pleading with her.

It had all come as a surprise to her but she was now roused in a way she had not know"since the day-with the art master. 5he knew that it was all wrong, but she didn't really care. Unless she had a baby no one would ever know -and she didn't have a baby last time she had a man just after her period. He was too old for her; it was wrong of him to try to take advantage of her like he was doing and give way to his appetites; on the other hand he was handsome and he knew how to excite her.

She kept looking at him as she stood in his arms making up her mind, and then she let her head go forward and rest on his chest, whispering as she did so:."Yes,I want you to. I'm not a virgin, a man had me once, so that does not matter. And I don't think I'll get pregnant." She reached up now, saw the look of satisfaction on his face, then clasped her arms round his neck.

"Oh, my darling," he murmured,"Maria, my darling." And then caution taking control for a moment he said, "And we'11 keep it to ourselves, won't we7"

"Of course," she said simply. "What else?"

It was dark and they could see lights in Willow Road and then, far away, the red glow of London. Where they stood it was dark enough for them not to be seen, though it was hardly a safe spot for a forty-year-old man to make love to a teenager. Cyril Brooks had had a very successful career on the Stock Exchange and he was prudent enough not to throw it away lightly when there was no need.As it was he was taking a big enough risk, having to trust the girl; there was no need to act foolishly and be caught fucking her on the Heath, risking ignominous dismissal from his firm as well as a prison sentence.

"Look, my love," he said to her. "It's not very safe here. I think I'll just ring my home and then we can go off to a place I know. How late can you stay out?"

"What's the time now?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nearly ten, it's getting on'.'

"Oh, I could ring my mummy and say that I'm staying late at your house and that you are going to see me home safely," her voice breaking into a laugh as she finished the sentence.

"Then, come on." He took her by the arm and walked quickly along the path to the road. A few moments later they were both in a phone box at the bottom of the road, and he was explaining to his wife that he was in a public house in Haverstock Hill having drinks with some people he had run into. Then Maria dialled her mother, pressed the button before she answered, and then, when she did speak, she told her she would be coming home late, but as Mr Brooks was bringing her home she would be quite safe. Her mother did not seem perturbed in any way, telling her not to wake her when she arrived home as she wanted to get a good night's sleep.

"Is it all right?" he asked her,almost anxiously, but also tense with the thought that he would probably be having the girl before long.

"Yes, it's O.K. She won't worry unless she wakes up and finds I'm not there at one or two in the morning. Where are we going?"

"We'll go to a friend of mine in South Hill Park. He's a bachelor and I've known him for years. He's my most dependable friend. He won't mind my waking him. Come on."

Ten minutes later they were climbing the steps to a large flat overlooking the ponds, and when Cyril rang the bell the door opened almost at once on a balding man with kindly eyes who looked about fifty. "Oh,hello what brings you here?" And then, noticing Maria,who was standing slightly to the side of the door, he added: "Oh, you've got somebody with you. Oh, how nice, do come in."

He walked back into the flat, opening a door into a room furnished in the severest contemporary style, with books at one end and a massive record-player with twin-speakers at the other. There was a half circle of low, easy-chairs, a table in the middle, and on two of the walls a number of modern paintings, some of them by well-known artists. Without asking any questions he went over to an elegant cocktail cupboard and brought out a bottle of wine and three glasses. "Here, I've got some exceptional claret here that I'd like you to try. I know it's a bit late to start on a good wine like this, but anyway try it. And what s your name?" he went on, looking with his kindly eyes at Maria.

"Oh, this is Maria," said Cyril."She's my new girl friend."

"Lucky man, lucky man. She's beautiful really beautiful," said Cyril's friend. And then he held out his hand to the girl whose face was flushed with embarrassment, and said, "My name's Oscar, Oscar Levy. Don't forget me, come to me if you're in trouble." He poured out the wine having pulled thecork with the care and delicacy of a man who knew ana cared about wines. "There now, let me have your opinion."

They sat for ten or fifteen minutes, tasting and discussing the wine and then the man got up and said, "Well, I think I'll be turning in. Make yourselves at home and there is the spare room if you want it. Good-night, Maria, nice to have met you. Good-night, Cyril. See you soon, I hope."

They said "Good night" and he left the room.

"I think we'll go to the spare room right away," said Cyril. "0JK.7"

"O.K!"

They went quietly along the short corridor to the spare room, and a moment or two later they stood on either side of the bed undressing.