The Stars My Destination ( Tiger! Tiger! )   ::   Bester Alfred

«What? Are you still here, Fourmyle?»

«I couldn't believe I'd been dismissed, Lady Olivia.»

«Hardly that, but I'm afraid you are in the way of my friends.»

«I'm not used to being dismissed. (No. No. All wrong!) At least by someone I'd like to count as a friend.»

«Don't be tedious, Fourmyle. Do step down.»

«How have I offended you?»

«Offended me? Now you're being ridiculous.»

«Lady Olivia. . . (Can't I say anything right? Where's Robin?) Can we start again, please?»

«If you're trying to be gauche, Fourmyle, you're succeeding admirably.»

«Your hand again, please. Thank you. I'm Fourmyle of Ceres.»

«All right.» She laughed. «I'll concede you're a clown. Now do step down. I'm sure you can find someone to amuse.»

«What's happened this time?»

«Really, sir, are you trying to make me angry?»

«No. (Yes, I am. Trying to touch you somehow. . . cut through the ice.) The first time our handclasp was . . . violent. Now it's nothing. What happened?»

«Fourmyle,» Olivia said wearily, «I'll concede that you're amusing, original, witty, fascinating . . . anything, if you will only go away.»

He stumbled off the dais. «Bitch. Bitch. Bitch. No. She's the dream just as I dreamed her. The icy pinnacle to be stormed and taken. To lay siege…invade…ravish…force to her knees…» He came face to face with Saul Dagenham.

He stood paralyzed, coercing blood and bowels.

«Ah, Fourmyle,» Presteign said. «This is Saul Dagenham. He can only give us thirty minutes and he insists on spending one of them with you.»

«Does he know? Did he send for Dagenham to make sure? Attack. Toujours de l'audace. What happened to your face, Dagenham?» Fourmyle asked with detached curiosity.

The death's head smiled. «And I thought I was famous. Radiation poisoning. I'm hot. Time was when they said 'Hotter than an pistol.' Now they say 'Hotter than Dagenham.'» The deadly eyes raked Foyle. «What's behind that circus of yours?»

«A passion for notoriety.»

«I'm an old hand at camouflage myself. I recognize the signs. What's your larceny?»

«Did Dillinger tell Capone?» Foyle smiled back, beginning to relax, restraining his triumph. «I've outfaced them both. You look happier, Dagenham.» Instantly he realized the slip.

Dagenham picked it up in a flash. «Happier than when? Where did we meet before?»

«Not happier than when; happier than me.» Foyle turned to Presteign. «I've fallen desperately in love with Lady Olivia.