Minty Alley

It was a very simple affair after all. When Haynes thought of all his longings and doubts and hesitations, he was amazed that possessing Maisie was so easy a business. ‘Hold her and kiss her,’ Benoit had said. So he held her and kissed her, and then to his astonishment did what he liked with her. He could not look her in the eye the next morning, but gradually that awkwardness wore off. Maisie was the soul of discretion. ‘Mrs. Rouse must never, never know,’ she said, and as Haynes would also have been ashamed for Mrs. Rouse to know, they kept their secret. Maisie’s manner scarcely changed. She told him risqué jokes which formerly she had declined to do. They never made love except when they were about to go to bed together. The affair was not altogether what he had expected it would be, but as he wanted no more than Maisie gave, he missed nothing.