London, 1943
And the dark thickened the fog. No street lights lit the road, no lights brightened the houses that we pass. But she drove fast. She knew the way; her old house just a few miles up the road. In the back seat, he shivered, the wet cold needled through the wool of my uniform. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes, he crumpled the empty pack after stealing the last one out. He lit it, drew in the smoke and realized it was broken. He tried to laugh, coughed instead. She kept glancing at him thru the rear view mirror. She knew that he did not want to talk. I sat next to him, quiet, sucking my pipe. Some awful Turkish or Syrian blend, harsh but flavorless.
When we reached our headquarters, she parked and opened the door for him. He slipped out. I started to say good night. He asked me to join him for a drink. I followed him, she did too. Tall and thin, hair bobbed short, I noticed she wore real stockings. I wanted to ask her if they were pre war silk or American nylon but was too shy. He has a kind of sitting room or library off of his office. He pulled a bottle of scotch out with two glasses; just some common blend. She asked if I wanted ice. I smiled and said no. He opened another pack of cigarettes and lit another one.
Then he asked when I was going back to Washington. I knew he knew my flight left the next morning. I told him any way. He stood up and walked over to his desk, opened one of his drawers and pulled out a sealed letter and a box. He turned to me and opened it to show me the green and pink snuff box inside. He asked me to visit his wife when I got back and give her the letter and box as a present. Of course, I agreed.
As I left them, a few minutes later, I turned back at the door, to ask about his son- he was at West Point. She had already started to reach towards him, he looked at her then sharply looked back at me. She stepped back and I closed the door.
His wife invited me to lunch when I called and seemed quite pleased with the snuff box and the letter. She didn't ask too many questions.
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