there is not much you can do with a mahogany wardrobe except put your clothes in it . save perhaps to the simple-minded , a dressing-table and a gas-fire do not open up endless vistas of amusement . I saw at a glance that the only possibility of diversion lay in the bed itself , which stood in the middle of the room , hostile and unruffled , as though convinced I would never have the courage to use it . but then a thought struck me : the very fact that the room was so uncompromisingly adjusted to lying down might make this easier to do when the right moment came . but when was it coming ? how would one recognise it ? by dismissing the porter with a florin , I brought that moment a step nearer . for the time being , however , it seemed essential to distract Priscilla &apos;s attention from such matters , though I can n&apos;t think why . I knew that she was not averse in principle to the loss of that closely-guarded ladylike secret which has inspired respect in so many poets , especially those of the old-fashioned type . I speak of her virginity . though not a poet , I had respected it myself . but that does not mean that we were n&apos;t both quite anxious to have it out of the way . it had been playing the part of a fifth parent for far too long , getting between us whenever we began to slip from sofa to hearthrug , raising a finger if we reached the feverish point of asking a favour from it . the time had arrived to get rid of it . just as our parents had faded into slightly ridiculous memories gesturing in the background , so too must virginity give way before the pressures of a legal marriage . but Priscilla , who can be very matter-of-fact at times , was plainly waiting for me to propose some suitable way of spending the evening . why should an item like marriage affect one &apos;s orderly mode of existence ? and she was right . a prompt seduction on my part would land us with the necessity to rise , bathe and dress , chat falsely about this and that , and emerge into the rest of the evening as though nothing had happened . as it was , we had a ready-made climax to look forward to , and it was merely a question of shaping the hours ahead with tact and artistry . so I suggested we dine . but Priscilla was n&apos;t hungry . she had eaten too much of the smoked salmon at the reception . I proposed we visit a few of the places we had known together , have a few drinks , perhaps dance . dancing , she claimed , would exhaust her utterly . did I want that ? no , I did n&apos;t . and as for the drinks , she had no wish to be left tossing restlessly , while I snored my way into a hangover . did I snore by the way ? no , I did n&apos;t . but I realised my invention was beginning to slacken . now that the tensions of courtship were over , was Priscilla always going to be so difficult to entertain ? I next wondered if she would like to bear down on Shaftesbury Avenue and see a play . Priscilla fingered the knob on the bed and looked shocked . she thought there was something immoral about going to the theatre on what was , after all , the only wedding night she was likely to have for some time . it was my turn to look shocked . when , did she suppose , would the subsequent one take place ? if that was her wish , I was prepared to retire at once and leave the way clear for my successor . no doubt he was already skulking in the precincts . Priscilla laughed a little . at this point I must put down , within inverted commas , the words Priscilla next chose to use . luckily I am not introducing her by one of her more stupid remarks . how long will it take you to realise , she said , that the only thing I want to do this evening is what you keep on trying to put off in such a nasty way ? I could have no doubt of what she meant . if we had not been married , this would have qualified as an indecent proposal . I experienced a pang of regret that it was Priscilla and not I who had given voice to the thought . but the regret was quickly overwhelmed by the stunning knowledge that this , suddenly , was just the right room , just the right hour , for what we had in mind . the curtains shivered at the window in a slight breeze . the evening sunlight glowed like skin on the stuccoed houses opposite . the room was already darkening , and Priscilla was standing by the bed , one half of her face in shadow , the other gold with a faint reflection of the sun . a gleam caught the edge of her lip , the corner of her eye . I could not believe I had married this quiet breathing creature . well , I said slowly , all right . I thought afterwards it was an inadequate reply , but I had no time now to see it for what it was . nor , evidently , had Priscilla . she heaved an enormous sigh , and I thought I saw a tear glimmering over her eyelash . her mouth opened slightly to my kiss and moved beneath it . and that kiss grew with a leap into a mammoth sensation of the sort our former love-making had always been obliged to restrain . my hand swam through her hair and pushed her face into the kiss . her eyelids dropped under the weight of it , her arms came up under my shoulders and closed over them , and a low aching cry rose in her throat . I had never heard anything like it . the kiss broke , as kisses do . but this was really the first ever , because it was no longer an end in itself . we no longer had to return to embarrassed reality , smooth down our clothes , wipe off smudged lipstick and suggest putting on another record . it was safe to dance on the edge of the precipice . we were licensed to jump . I have forgotten no detail of the scene that followed : Priscilla behaved unforgettably . with the assurance of that kiss still between us , she drew the curtains so that the fading day was narrowed to a slot of deep amber light , then stood on the opposite side of the bed , her eyes stark and unpretending and fixed on mine , and began unbuttoning her blouse . I am beginning to take off my clothes , she said distinctly . you are not yet used to this sort of thing . I watched her with care . she might have been giving a cool demonstration to a class of novitiates . her movements were precise , practised and unemotional . I fumbled hopelessly with my tie in a blurred imitation of her neat and methodical unclothing . she slipped out of her blouse , unzipped and dropped her skirt , and stepped out of it as though alighting from a bus . school had taught me that this was the sort of thing men were normally privileged to watch only through keyholes . but here I was , my senses involved to the point of suffocation in the rustling magic of a woman &apos;s undressing , and the fact that impressed me most was the purity of it : the simplicity of soft white materials , almost as insubstantial as light , which covered the sweet body in its own shape and slipped off it as quietly as a shadow covering the sun and left the dark skin beneath . with hair flopping over her shoulders , Priscilla squatted like an animal and , thrusting out first one leg and then the other , ran her stockings smoothly down and pulled them over her ankles . with every garment she removed , her body appeared to pass more duskily into the shadows until she stood in the nude , almost negligent in her attitude , not moving any more , as natural as a tree that has shed its leaves , as casual as a secretary waiting to take a letter . that &apos;s what it &apos;s like , said Priscilla . you &apos;d better get rid of any other ideas you might have had . then like a child she climbed clumsily into bed and sat up shivering with the blankets round her shoulders . I put the coins from my pocket on the mantelshelf . do you always do that ? she enquired . yes , I said . otherwise , you see , it pulls the pockets of one &apos;s trousers out of shape . I do see that , said Priscilla . she seemed interested , so I explained a few more masculine habits which she might not have encountered . I informed her about braces : to save trouble in the morning , one should remove them from one &apos;s suit the night before and lay them out ready to be buttoned to another pair of trousers for the new day . as my reason for rejecting suspenders , I said that I had been told by doctors that they were apt to bring up varicose veins on the legs . Priscilla uttered a groan . let me see your legs , she said . I showed her one . she pronounced it satisfactory . then I noticed that she was not looking at my leg at all . I climbed hastily into bed . but I like it , she said . 5 . perhaps we had read too few books . I once knew a man who took a pride in practising on unsuspecting ladies the advice put forward by authors of handbooks in respect of trial blandishments , eccentric positions and so forth . if he did not care for the result , he addressed witty letters of criticism to the publishers . he was a wise fellow , and I had been wrong to question his morals . perhaps , on the other hand , we had expected too much from an activity which is , after all , no more than a convenient method devised by nature for reproducing the species . anyway , whatever lay behind it , it was all a ghastly flop . to begin with , as we lay side by side like effigies , Priscilla seemed to have put the whole business out of her mind . she suddenly began to talk about bicycles , of all ridiculous things . when I was a girl , she said chattily , I used to ride a bicycle . oh , really ? yes , and I was quite a horsewoman in my way too . we had always been very much involved in the present during the old days before the wedding , so this was something I had never suspected about Priscilla . it was quite interesting . on the other hand , I could have wished for a more suitable moment to digest such confidences . my sense of fitness began to tussle with my natural inclination to listen sympathetically to anything Priscilla cared to say . so it would n&apos;t be what you might think , said Priscilla . life never is , I suggested , in a philosophical tone . it would probably be just the strain of gymkhana jumping and cycling madly all over the place . it can happen . are you thinking of taking up riding again ? I asked . no , said Priscilla . I did not reply . there was a decent interval of silence . then , rather in a rush , activity took place . I hardly like to describe it . the bed creaked protestingly . I had visions , not of love , but of waiters dashing into the room with scandalised expressions . my mind wandered . the sweat broke out all over us , so that in a trice we were struggling through sticky intolerable tropics of our own making . my hair itched and I could n&apos;t scratch it . I ricked my back . our bodies jumped nervously away at the slightest touch . wriggling like an eel , Priscilla complained of being tickled and her hand , raised in hysterical defence , caught me painfully in the eye . I pictured a free fight such as one sees in films and thought how much more manly it was than this display of total incompetence . indeed I felt , when for a moment we paused and sank back on the damp pillows , that a fortnight of debauchery could scarcely leave me more drained and feeble . I had put such agonising effort into the achievement of nothing . I could feel the veins bulging in my head and my heart beating in angry frustration . 