Raglan's voice bidding him to enter. She was lying an the chaise - longue dressed in a loose silk robe of faintly Japanese appearance.

William kept a firm grasp on the cold door knob. 'All the lights are out and I've locked the front door, Mrs. Raglan. Good night.'

She swung her legs on to the ground, a pale flash of thigh appearing momentarily from under the draped silk.

Tou're always in such a hurry, William. You can~t wait for your life to start, can you?' She walked over to a side table. 'Why don't you stay and have some hot chocolate? Silly me, I made enough for two, I quite forgot that Mister Raglan won't be back until Saturday!

There was a definite emphasis on the word 'Saturday. She carried a steaming cup over to William and looked up at him to see whether the significance of her remarks had registered on him. Satisfied, she passed him the cup, letting her hand touch his. He stirred the - hot chocolate assiduously.

'Gerald has gone to a conference,' she continued explaining. It was the first time he had ever heard Grumpy Raglan's first name. 'Do shut the door, William, and come and sit down! - William hesitated; he shut the door, but he did not want to take Grumpy's chair nor did he want to sit next to Mrs. Raglan. He decided Grumpy's chair was the lesser of two evils and moved towards it.

'No, no,' she said, as she patted the seat next to her, William shuffled over and sat down nervously by her side, staring into his cup for inspiration. Finding none, he gulped the contents down, burning his tongue. He was relieved to see Mrs. Raglan getting up. She refilled his cup, ignoring his murmured refusal, and then moved silently across the room, wound up the Victrola and placed the needle on the record.

'Nice and easy doesiewere the first words that William heard. He was still looking at the floor, when she returned.

'You wouldn't let a lady dance by herself, would you, William?'

He looked up. Mrs. Raglan was swaying slightly in time to the music. 'We're on the road to romance, that's clear to say,' crooned Rudy Vallee. William stood up and put his arm formally round MYS. Raglan. Grumpy could have fitted in between them without any trouble. After a few bars she moved closer to William, and he stared over her right shoulder fixedly to indicate to her that he had not noticed that her left hand had slipped from his shoulder to the small of his back. When the record stopped, William thought it would give him a chance to return to the safety of his hot chocolate, but she turned the record over and was back in his arms before he could move.

'Mrs. Raglan, I think I ought to...'

14

'Relax a little, William!

At last he found the courage to look her in the eyes, He tried to reply, but he couldn't speak. Her hand was now exploring his back, and he felt her thigh move gently into his groin. He tightened his hold around her waisL 'That's better,' she said.

They circled slowly around the room, closely entwined, slower and slower, keeping time with the music as the record gently ran down. When she slipped away and turned out the light, William wanted her to return quickly. He stood there in the dark, not moving, hearing the rustle of silk - , and able only to see a silhouette discarding clothes.

The crooner had completed his song, and the needle was scratching at the end of the record by the time she had helped William out of all his clothes and led him back to the chaise - longue. He groped for her in the dark, and his shy novice's fingers encounted sever - al parts of her body that did not feel at all as he had imagined they would. He withdrew them hastily to the comparatively familiar territory of her breast. Her fingers exhibited no such reticence, and he began to feel sensations he would never have dreamed possible. He wanted to moan out loud, but stopped himself, fearing it would sound stupid. Her hands were on his back, pulling hiro gently on top of her.

William moved around wondering how he would ever enter her without showing his total Lack of experience. It was not as easy as he had expected, and he began to get more desperate by the second. Then, once again, her fingers moved across his stomach and guided him expertly. With her help he entered her easily and had an immediate orgasm - 'I'm sorry,' said William, not sure what to do next. He lay silently on top of her for some time before she spokei 'It will be, better tomorrow!

Ile sound of the scratching record returned to his ears.

Mrs. Raglan remained in Williazn's mind all that endless Tuesday. That night, she sighed. On Wednesday, she panted. On Thursday, she moaned. On Friday she cried out.

On Saturday Gnunpy Raglan returned from his conference, by which time WiUia&s education was complete.

During the Easter holidays, on Ascension Day to be "act, Abby Blount finally succumbed to William's charms. It cost Matthew five dollars and Abby her virginity. She was, after Mrs. Raglan, something of an anti - clirnax. It was the only event of note that happened during the entire holiday, because Abby went off to Palm Beach with her parents, and Wffliam spent most of his time shut away indoors with his books, at home to no one other than the grandmothers and Alan Lloyd. His final examinations were now only a matter of weeks away, and as Grumpy Raglan went to no further conferences, William had no other outside activities.