“How could you go to bed with those men?”
Dubois blinked and frowned at him.
“They paid you―”
“As they should have!” Dubois sat up. “Those hypocrites! Married, the lot of them. Upstanding citizens they were. And what about me? They very well wanted me in the dark, wanted to be inside me, but out there, in the daylight, they’d soon crossed the street when they saw me.” He took a shaky breath. “So, I took what I could from them. And did so with a clear conscience.”
“How many?” Joe asked, though he realized he didn’t care. He didn’t care anymore. He was tired. Just wanted to hold Dubois in his arms and sleep.
Dubois looked down at his hands. “I thought you’d be happy to see me. I thought you’d be waiting for me with―”
“You pretended to be sick so you could go to the infirmary?”
“Yes, o
