And whose death, his father said, left Aunt Beatrice shattered enough to need a psychiatrist's attention.
There was of course no way to get out of going.
"Beatrice will inevitably find out that you are in Buenos Aires," his father told him on the telephone, "and would be deeply hurt if you do not pay your respects."
"I understand."
"Beatrice and your mother were close, Cletus. They were brides together, and young first mothers. She held you as a baby."
And now she'll want to know how come her baby is dead, and I'm alive.
Shit.
"I will try to make it an early evening. May I send a car for you at nine forty-five? They usually sit down to dinner at ten-thirty or eleven."
Anearly dinner?
"Thank you."
He was also having troubling feelings about the events of the previous evening.
After their first couplingwhich took place no more than ninety seconds after they stepped off the elevator and walked into the playroom, and lasted about half that longMonica confided to him that a combination of Pablo's diminishing sexual drive and the attention he was spending on his Mi?a had combined to almost entirely deny her the satisfactions of the connubial couch.
Their initial coupling was followed by three others. The last two shattered the hope that his near-terMi?al chastity was solely responsible for his carnal thoughts about the Virgin Princess, and that once that condition was cured, his shameful thoughts about her would disappear.
That didn't happen. He managed to performalthough he wasn't too sure he could the last time Monica reached for itin a manner that did not bring shame on the reputation of the commissioned officer corps of the United States Marines. But clear images of the pert, yet ample virgin breasts of Se?orita Dorotea Mallin kept flashing into his mind, even as he was somewhat feverishly attending to the business at hand.
Which is what you get, you pervert, for looking down the front of her dress whenever you have the chance.
At least I got out of her house before I made an ass of myself. I think Mallin was looking at me funny toward the end, which means that he caught me looking at her.
On the other hand, there's no denying that I miss her something awful. Just seeing her, hearing her talk and laugh. Just having her look at me. The funny thing is that when I think about her except when I'm banging a thirty-two-year-old mother of three it's not her breasts, or even that absolutely perfect ass, but her eyes. Christ, she has beautiful eyes!
Thank God, I got out of there before I made any kind of a pass at her.
Or am I going to be a fool and call her up when the Buick comes and ask her if she'd like to go for a ride?
In his mind he heard her voice: ' I have never been in a Buick droptop, Cletus. Will you take me for a ride when it arrives?"
Convertible, Princess. Convertible. Sure. Be happy to.
"Se?or Cletus, Se?or Nestor wishes to see you," Se?ora Pellano announced, startling himhe hadn't heard her come up.
"He's here?"
"S?, Se?or. In the reception."
What the hell does he want?
"Ask him to come up, please, Se?ora Pellano," Clete said.
When, a minute or so later, he heard the sound of the elevator door opening, he took his booted feet off the railing and stood up and smiled at Jasper C. Nestor. The Spymaster was wearing a seersucker suit, and he was carrying a soft-brimmed straw hat in one hand and a package in the other.
"I'm glad I caught you at home, Clete," Nestor said, thrusting the package at him. "A little housewarming gift."
The package gurgled. It was booze of some kind.
"Thank you," Clete said. "I'm a little disappointed, though, frankly."
"How's that?"
"From Humphrey Bogart movies, I had the idea that spies met in an alley in the tough part of town at midnight, not at someplace like the Belgrano Athletic Club. And I certainly didn't expect the Spymaster to show up bearing a housewarming gift."
He'd intended to be witty. From the strained smile on Nestor's face, Clete saw he hadn't been taken that way.
I will henceforth go easy on the humor.
"We're not spies, Clete," Nestor said after a moment. "We're gentlemen. The FBI are the spies."
"And not gentlemen?"
"Rarely, Clete, rarely. There is always an exception."
Clete shook the package.
"Would you like a little of whatever this is? Or something else?"
"I would prefer one of those," Nestor replied, indicating Clete's beer. "If that would..."
Clete pushed the call button. They were all over the house. Granduncle Guillermo knew how to live.
Se?ora Pellano appeared immediately.
"Would you bring the Se?or a beer, please? And a glass. Se?or is a gentleman."
"Actually, on a hot day, I rather like to drink from the bottle," Nestor said, smiling, and then turned and gestured off the balcony. "Beautiful view from here."
"It's a beautiful house," Clete said.
"And how kind of your father to make it available to you."
"I thought so."
"There are other advantages as well."
"Such as?"
"It establishes you as the beloved son of el Coronel Jorge Guillermo Frade," Nestor said. "That could prove very valuable."
Clete nodded.
"Have you thought about calling Se?ora Frade? You seemed to be getting along splendidly with her last night. AI almost said 'affair' relationshipwith her might be valuable to us."
"She called me," Clete said. "The phone rang the minute I walked in the door last night."
"And will you see her?" Nestor asked, then caught the look on Clete's face. "Really? Good boy."
"Is that why I was at the dinner? You wanted me to meet her?"
"I wanted you to meet David in a credible situation," Nestor said. "Se?ora Frade, so to speak, was an unexpected bonus. Letting it travel around town that she has added you to her list of admirersher long list of admirerswill paint the sort of picture about you we want."
Herlong list of admirers? Incredible!
"Inasmuch as you elected to ignore your instructions vis-a-vis your cover," Nestor went on, "that may prove quite valuable. More gossip-worthy, so to speak."
"Sir, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
"Your father proudly introduced you to a number of important officers as 'my son, late Teniente of the air service of the U.S. Marine Corps, who served at Guadalcanal.' "
"How did you hear about that?" Clete asked, surprised.
"I have a number of friends in the Argentine military. I presume you had reason to ignore your instructions about your cover?"
"I suppose I could tell you that it just slipped out. But the truth of the matter is, I was a little drunk at the time, and didn't want my father to think I was shirking my duty to God and country."
"From what I hear, the both of you were three sheets to the wind. I'm sure meeting him was emotional for the both of you, but you might consider the ill-wisdom of excessive alcohol."
"Yes, Sir."
Se?ora Pellano came onto the balcony with a bottle of cerveza and a glass on a tray.