Chapter 17

When Brenton and I are dressed and look respectable once more, we return down the corridor and move through the red and gold room, which is now only partially full. There are people kissing and fondling each other, and in a far corner, barely hidden by a palm, I see two sailors fucking. I’m glad I was taken to the back room, for while I was brave enough to be fucked in public, in the shadows, I wouldn’t have had the courage to do it in such brightly lit surroundings.

We have to walk to Rue Houdon and then down to Boulevard de Clichy where Brenton finally manages to hail a horse-drawn cab that eventually delivers us to the door of the Hotel Regina. The man on the reception desk looks surprised at our arrival and I realise it must be later than I thought. We thank the man after he gives us our keys and we walk to the lift.

“Thank God for lifts,” I say, barely able to place one foot in front of the other.

“Don’t worry, handsome. Not far to go now.”

“Thank God for that, too.”