The following, in an area of hexagonal flags, an outdated crimson Turkish rug used to be laid down and at the rug used to be a wheel chair, and within the wheel chair an previous and clearly demise guy watched us include black eyes from which all fireplace had died in the past, yet which nonetheless had the coal black directness of the eyes within the portrait that hung above the mantel within the corridor. the remainder of his face was once a leaden masks, with the cold lips and the pointy nostril and the sunken temples and the outward-turning earlobes of coming near near dissolution. His lengthy slim physique used to be wrapped—in that heat—in a touring rug and a pale pink bathrobe. His skinny claw-like arms have been folded loosely at the rug, purple-nailed. a couple of locks of dry white hair clung to his scalp, like wild flora battling for all times on a naked rock. The butler stood in entrance of him and stated: "This is Mr. Marlowe, common. " The outdated guy did not movement or converse, or maybe nod. He simply checked out me lifelessly. The butler driven a humid wicker chair opposed to the backs of my legs and that i sat down. He took my hat with a deft scoop. Then the outdated guy dragged his voice up from the ground of a good and stated: "Brandy, Norris. How do you love your brandy, sir? " "Any manner at all," I acknowledged. The butler went away one of the abominable crops. the overall spoke back, slowly, utilizing his power as rigorously as an out-of-work showgirl makes use of her final reliable pair of stockings. "I used to love mine with champagne. The champagne as chilly as Valley Forge and a couple of 3rd of a tumbler of brandy underneath it. you could take your coat off, sir. it truly is too scorching in the following for a guy with blood in his veins. " I stood up and peeled off my coat and acquired a handkerchief out and mopped my face and neck and the backs of my wrists. St. Louis in August had not anything on that position. I sat down back and that i felt immediately for a cigarette after which stopped. The previous guy stuck the gesture and smiled faintly. "You may possibly smoke, sir. i admire the scent of tobacco. " I lit the cigarette and blew a lungful at him and he sniffed at it like a terrier at a rat-hole. The faint smile pulled on the shadowed corners of his mouth. "A great situation whilst a guy has to indulge his vices through proxy," he acknowledged dryly. "You are taking a look at a really boring survival of a slightly gaudy existence, a cripple paralyzed in either legs and with basically half his decrease stomach. there is little or no that i will be able to consume and my sleep is so with regards to waking that it's hardly well worth the identify. I appear to exist principally on warmth, like a child spider, and the orchids are an excuse for the warmth. Do you love orchids? " "Not particularly," I acknowledged. the final half-closed his eyes. "They are nasty issues. Their flesh is just too very similar to the flesh of fellows. And their fragrance has the rotten sweetness of a prostitute. " I stared at him with my mouth open. The gentle rainy warmth used to be like a pall round us. The previous guy nodded, as though his neck was once scared of the load of his head. Then the butler got here pushing again during the jungle with a tea-wagon, combined me a brandy and soda, swathed the copper ice bucket with a humid serviette, and went away softly one of the orchids.