The Summer of Sir Lancelot

added, producing his key as the lift stopped, ‘they may be a little delayed too. After all,‘ he laughed, ‘Collins, McKnight, and Wade are a busy agency. They make even my outfit seem feed for pretty small chickens.‘
    Mr Quest nevertheless confessed himself pained that none of the other four gentlemen had yet shown up.
    ‘What a pity!‘ Euphemia looked disappointed. ‘But I expect they won‘t be long.‘
    Mr Quest answered with a pleasant little laugh.
    ‘What a nice flat,‘ she told him politely.
    ‘You like it? I‘m so glad. Try the sofa, Nursie darling. It‘s most comfortable. And we might as well have a little drink?‘
    ‘Yes, I‘ll have a screwdriver,‘ returned Euphemia, remembering the sophistication.
    ‘Anything you say,‘ agreed Mr Quest warmly. ‘Cigarette?‘
    ‘I‘m corpsing for one.‘
    ‘The sun‘s rather bright in here,‘ he continued, returning from his kitchen with the drinks. ‘Do you think I might draw the curtains a little?‘
    ‘Yes, sun is utterly vulgar, isn‘t it?‘
    She sipped her screwdriver, which she was sorry to find turned out something nasty in orange juice.
    ‘Perhaps a little soft music?‘ suggested Mr Quest, anxious to give his guest every comfort.
    ‘That would be dreamy.‘
    ‘Ellington, do you think? Or the darling Ella? No, something with lots of strings,‘ he decided, starting the record-player. ‘Like it? Rather romantic. In fact, quite sexy. I suppose like all nurses you have very broadminded views on sex?‘
    ‘Of course,‘ said Euphemia.
    ‘I think I‘ll slip off this heavy jacket,‘ he announced. ‘It‘s getting rather warm in here.‘
    Mr Quest reappeared from the bedroom in a polka-dot dressing gown and slippers. He picked up his drink and sat on the sofa beside her.
    ‘Well, well,‘ he said brightly.
    Euphemia smiled.
    ‘You know,‘ he went on, switching his voice into the lower gears, ‘you are the most ravishing girl I have ever set eyes on.‘
    ‘Oh — thank you,‘ she told him courteously.
    ‘You have an effect on me which I find utterly overpowering.‘
    ‘Really?‘ asked Euphemia.
    ‘My darling! You can‘t imagine how I‘ve panted for days at the thought you might soon let me see you alone.‘
    ‘But we‘re not alone,‘ Euphemia pointed out. ‘I mean, the others are coming.‘
    Mr Quest gave a grin. ‘Yes, it is rather stupid, isn‘t it, how we cling to these little conventions? I knew we‘d be just together, and you, my angel, knew we‘d be just together, and I knew that's how you knew that I knew — ‘
    Euphemia spilt her screwdriver. ‘But I didn‘t know!‘
    ‘Oh, come, darling,‘ laughed Mr Quest. ‘You‘re a big girl now. Still, what‘s the difference? We love each other.‘
    ‘But we don‘t love each other!‘ Euphemia jumped up. ‘At least, I don‘t.‘
    ‘You don‘t love me?‘ Mr Quest looked slightly shocked. ‘Then why did you agree to come up to my flat?‘
    ‘But I didn‘t — I mean, I wasn‘t — oh dear! I want to go home!‘ cried Euphemia.
    ‘You angel cake!‘ laughed Mr Quest, moving into the tackle. ‘You‘re a terrible little tease.‘
    ‘Let me go! Take your hands off me! Mind my dress!‘
    ‘You luscious little love apple,‘ declared Mr Quest, getting all excited. ‘Go away, you beast!‘ Euphemia leapt over the sofa. ‘No, I tell you! It‘s all a terrible mis — oh, my dress, my dress!‘
    ‘What a romp!‘ cried Mr Quest leaping after her joyfully. ‘How I love it! But now let‘s be friends and both go quietly into the — ‘
    He may, of course, have been meaning to finish with ‘rights and wrongs of the matter‘, but Euphemia never found out because she hit him over the head with the standard lamp.
    ‘Oh!‘ she gasped, ‘I‘ve killed him!‘ She stared in horror at the victim. ‘What on earth will LJncle Lancelot say now?‘ was the first thing she asked herself.
    Uncle Lancelot was at that moment being tucked in by the redheaded nurse.
    ‘And here are your sleeping pills, Sir Lancelot,‘ she was telling him brightly. ‘You‘re first on the list tomorrow morning,‘ she added gaily. ‘And now I‘m going off duty for a lovely cold swim in the baths. Night night!‘
    Sir Lancelot grunted. He placed the two shiny bright blue capsules on his locker. The Professor hadn‘t yet done his round, and he wanted to keep a clear head.
    He reached for a magazine brought him by the redheaded nurse. He was becoming quite interested in the