Venus in copper

'What was it like?'

'Worth waiting for ...'

We went to bed. The bed there was as horrible as I remembered it, but felt better once Helena was in my arms. It was still the Kalends of September; only this morning I had promised to pay my lady some attention. I was falling asleep. She would wait for me. Tomorrow morning we would wake up together with nothing to do but enjoy ourselves. Now the case was over, I could stay in bed for a week.

I lay there, still thinking about what had happened today. When Helena thought I had fallen asleep, she stroked my hair. Pretending that I was asleep, I began caressing her.

Then both of us decided not to wait until tomorrow after all.