«Thank you,» Ernie said. «I'm here with a gentleman friend. He needs some clothing, and he needs it right now. Which means you're going to have to put him at the head of the alteration line.»
«That may be difficult.»
«But not impossible, right?»
«We do try to take the best possible care of our good customers,» he said.
«By ten minutes to six, we'll need a sport coat and a pair of trousers altered.»
«I think we can handle that.»
«And by noon tomorrow, he will also need two business suits, probably two more jackets, and two or three pair of pants.»
«That may be difficult,» he said.
«We're back to 'difficult but not impossible,' right?»
The manager smiled at her.
Ernestine Sage did not look at all like her father, but she was obviously a chip off the old block.
«We will accommodate the gentleman, Miss Sage,» he said.
«Now we come to payment,» Ernie said. «My gentleman friend has an account here, and will sign for whatever he buys. But I don't want him to pay for what he buys, or to know, right now, that he won't be paying for it. It's sort of a surprise present.»
«I understand. And should I bill Mr. Sage?»
«No. I'm going to pay for this. You can either open an account for me—you can check my credit with Bergdorf Goodman, or the Park Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street branch of First National Bank—or I'll send a check down here by messenger.»
«So far as I am concerned, Miss Sage, you have just opened an account with us. And checking your credit won't be necessary. I happen to know you're employed.»
«How do you know that?» Ernie asked, surprised.
«Your father told me you're the creative director for APP at BBD&O. He's very proud of you.»
«I'll be damned,» Ernie said.
«Shall we go see what we can do for your gentleman friend?» the manager said.
When they arrived at the footwear department, they found Ken dubiously examining the loafers on his feet. The manager could not quite conceal his surprise when he saw how Ken was dressed.
«I'm going to need some real shoes, too, right, Ernie?» McCoy said.
«Oh, I don't think so, sir,» the manager said. «Slip-ons like those are now considered appropriate for wear with just about anything.»
McCoy looked at Ernie, who nodded in agreement.
«Okay,» McCoy said. «I'll take these.»
«One in oxblood,» Ernie said. «And one in black.»
McCoy considered that a moment, then shrugged.
«What the hell,» he said. «Why not?»
note 45
S E C R E T
HQ USMC
1705 09 MAR 43
PRIORITY
COMMANDING OFFICERS
ALL USMC ATR BASES AND STATIONS IN CONTINENTAL US AND TERRITORY OF HAWAII
ALL MAG IN CONTINENTAL US AND TERRITORY OF HAWAII
ALL SEPARATE USMC AVIATION SQUADRONS AND MARINE AVIATION COMPLEMENTS IN CONTINENTAL US AND TERRITORY OF HAWAII
SUBJECT: SOLICITATION OF VOLUNTEERS FOR HAZARDOUS DUTY
1. YOU WILL IMMEDIATELY DETERMINE WHICH MARINE AVIATORS UNDER YOUR COMMAND ARE, OR HAVE BEEN, RATED AS COMMAND PILOTS OF PBY5, PBY3A AND R4-D AIRCRAFT.
2. YOU WILL IMMEDIATELY PERSONALLY INTERVIEW EACH SUCH MARINE AVIATOR AND AFFORD HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOLUNTEER FOR A CLASSIFIED MISSION INVOLVING GREAT PERSONAL RISK IN A COMBAT AREA LASTING APPROXIMATELY NINETY DAYS.
3. THE NAMES OF VOLUNTEERS WILL BE TRANSMITTED WITHIN SEVENTY-TWO (72) HOURS OF RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE BY THE MOST EXPEDITIOUS MEANS AVAILABLE CLASSIFIED SECRET TO HEADQUARTERS USMC, ATTENTION BRIG GEN D.G. MCINERNEY USMC.
4. THE NAMES OF MARINE AVIATORS WHO ARE QUALIFIED AS IN PARA 1 ABOVE, AND REPEAT AND WHO HAVE 1,000 HOURS OR MORE OR WHO HAVE BEEN RATED IN PBY5, PBY-5A AND R4-D AIRCRAFT OR A COMBINATION THEREOF AND WHO DID NOT REPEAT NOT ELECT TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE MISSION DESCRIBED IN PARA 2 ABOVE WILL SIMILARLY BE TRANSMITTED WITHIN SEVENTY-TWO (72) HOURS OF RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE BY MOST EXPEDITIOUS MEANS AVAILABLE
CLASSIFIED SECRET TO HEADQUARTERS USMC ATTENTION BRIG GEN D.G. MCINERNEY USMC.
BY DIRECTION OF THE COMMANDANT:
D.G. MCINERNEY BRIG GEN USMC
S E C R E T
note 46
The 21 Club
21 West Fifty-second Street
New York City, New York
1930 9 March 1943
«There they are,» Mrs. Carolyn Spencer Howell said, pointing across the crowded room, and then asking softly, «What's wrong with the way he's dressed? He looks fine to me.»
Colonel Banning saw that Captain McCoy was now attired in a muted blue-gray herringbone jacket; a white button-down-collar shirt; and a regimentally striped necktie. The legs he had stretched out beside his table were covered with gray flannel trousers. He was wearing oxblood loafers and gray stockings.
Ernie did a good job
—
and damned quickly
, Banning thought.
If it wasn't for that GI haircut, he'd look like he belongs in here
.
«That's not the same guy I rode up here with on the train,» Banning said. «That's Ernie's father with them, probably. Her secretary said she was going to meet him here.»
At that moment, Ernie spotted them and waved them over.
«We'll be joining Miss Sage,» Carolyn said to the headwaiter, who followed the nod of her head, spotted the Sages, and then unfastened the red velvet-covered chain and passed them into the dining room.
From the look on his face when they approached the table, Ernest Sage liked the looks of Carolyn Howell.
Well, why not
? Banning thought.
Carolyn's tall, graceful, willowy, chic, and damned good-looking. Just because you become a father doesn't mean you can no longer appreciate women
.
Ernie gave her cheek to Carolyn to be kissed.
They're two of a kind, really
. Banning thought somewhat unkindly.
Two very nice young women sleeping with Marines they aren't married to and don't give much of a damn who knows it
.
«I hope we're not intruding,» Banning said.
«Not at all,» Ernest Sage said, snapped his fingers to attract a waiter's attention, and signaled for him to bring two chairs to the table.
«Mr. Sage, this is Colonel Banning and Mrs. Howell,» McCoy said.
«How do you do?» Sage said.
He picked up on that «Mrs
. Howell,» Banning thought. Confirmation came when Ernie's father's eyes dropped to Carolyn's hand, looking for a wedding ring. There was none.
Would I put a wedding ring on that finger if there wasn''t already a Mrs. Edward J. Banning? Of course I would. Do I regret marrying Milla? I do not. So what does that make me, a would-be bigamist? Or just a no-good sonofabitch for getting involved with Carolyn, getting her involved with me?