The brown arc slithered into the darkness as smoothly as a snake disappearing down an endless hole. Lennie licked juice from his bottom lip and shifted the wad from one cheek to the other with exaggerated care. "Ugh!" Harriet, seated snugly between her mother and Mrs. Blakely, pointed one black-gloved finger at the runner. In the crowded confines of the vehicle it nearly stabbed his nose. "You are a common and disgusting man!" Lennie gave the girl a steady look, but didn't respond."Mother!" Harriet demanded. "Must we sit here and be exposed to such low behavior? Stop the carriage. Have this, this, person ride up top with the driver. We would all be more comfortable.""Yes, we most certainly would," the countess agreed firmly. She lifted both brows at Detective Fielding, as if having made her preferences known she fully expected him to carry out her orders. Fielding rubbed his chin. Lennie was not normally a crude sort. He certainly knew better than to chew and spit tobacco in a moving carriage, particularly one full of carefully dressed ladies.
