Free Dusky Rose by Joanna Scott Page B

in a play. She couldn't quite remember what it had been about, but she had enjoyed herself very much, and the director had been a friendly, gray-haired gentleman who had seemed very pleased with her acting ability.
    After that, everything was a complete muddle except for having had some sort of argument with David. As she looked dejectedly at her surroundings and considered her present state of dress, she became all too aware of what the argument must have been about. It was also quite obvious to her who had won the argument. Why had she ever trusted David? He had warned her that he desired her and would attempt to get her into his home, and now it was quite apparent that he had attained his goal.
    Tears welled in Laura's eyes as she lamented her own stupidity for ever having trusted David. Her only thought now was to get out of his house as soon as possible. She hoped he would have the decency to stay out of sight and not gloat over his victory. But, she thought ruefully, it was quite obvious that decency was not one of David's virtues.
    She wrapped the pale silk sheet around her body and swung her feet down to the plush brown carpeting. As she did so, the sole of her foot touched a small, hard, metallic object. She bent down and, combing her fingers through the thick carpet, picked up a large gold ring. She immediately recognized it as the strange ring David always wore. He must have dropped it and forgotten it in his rush to leave. It was very old and worn, with an intricate pattern which Laura studied carefully while she tried to decipher it. The design seemed to be a serpent whose coils formed the ring. Its narrow, slanted eyes were made of emeralds and a small ruby tongue darted from its mouth. Slender strands of onyx had been embedded in its many coils giving it the appearance of striped reptile skin. Several strips of shredded tissue paper had been wound around the inside of the ring, almost as if someone had tried to make the ring smaller or soothe some skin that it might have been rubbing. Laura stared at the ring, hoping it might help fill in some of the missing gaps, but that, she soon realized, was hopeless.
    The current state of the room and her lack of clothing left no doubt in her mind as to what must have taken place last evening. She placed the ring on the nighttable and walked over to the window. Pulling an opening at the side of the drape, she saw that the window overlooked the blue-gray waters of San Francisco Bay. Judging by the traffic on the road between the house and the bay, she decided that she must still be in the city.
Pacific Heights
, she thought,
I must be in Pacific Heights
. Well, at least that meant she could get home without too much difficulty. Picking her clothing off the brown leather easy chair, she walked into the bathroom to get dressed.
    The room was tiled from floor to ceiling in shiny brown and beige; the long counter top was covered with dark brown marble and the tub and sinks were deep chocolate brown porcelain. Several bottles of cologne and after shave lotion stood along the counter top, highlighting the entirely masculine nature of the room. Laura longed to take a shower and remove the spicy scent that clung to her body, but she decided that the most important thing was to get dressed and leave as quickly as possible.
    As soon as she was dressed, she looked around for her purse. She found it on the night table, next to the ring she had picked off the floor. On top of the purse was a note.
     
    Laura,
     
    Was called away unexpectedly on very important business. Will phone as soon as possible. Stay put until your head clears up. Servants are off duty today, so you won't be disturbed. Use this money to buy anything you want if you feel up to indulging in some shopping. Will see you as soon as I can get away.
     
    David
     
    Why
, thought Laura,
the colossal arrogance of the man. Did he actually expect that she would be here, waiting for him when he returned? Was he so insensitive