They’d arranged to meet on Charter Street
At the point that midnight chimed,
She was to come with a yellow bag,
And he with a book of rhyme,
The ad had run in the Daily Mail
And had said, and here I quote:
‘Wanted: A gentleman for fun
With a high speed motor boat.’

Then he’d replied that he had the boat
Could she bring along the fun,
And she wrote back, ‘Nice to meet you, Jack,
I have fun for everyone.’
He saw her in front of the Gaumont
That had played ‘The Cruel Sea’,
Standing there with a yellow bag
And thought, ‘That’s the one for me!’

He wandered up and he waved the book
With the title ‘Nonsense Rhyme’,
She gave him a cool, appraising look
Like a laid back Valentine.
‘It’s much too late for the boating lake,’
He said, ‘Would you like a drink?’
And she stood there with a vacant stare
But replied, ‘What do you think?’

He led her down to the Castle Club
Where he had a private booth,
Then sat her down till the drinks came round
And remarked upon her youth.
She raised a brow when he asked her how
She had come to advertise,
She said, ‘It’s something I have to do
If I need to meet new guys.’

They drank their drinks and they talked a bit
About nothing much, per se,
And then he asked her about the fun
But she said he’d have to pay.
‘I thought a ride in my motor boat
Would be payment,’ he began,
To which she said, ‘I’m not free to ride,
I’m a working courtesan.’

While back in the heart of Charter Street
Where the leaves blew from the trees,
A girl stood there in a party dress
And the wind blew round her knees,
She’d been in watching ‘The Cruel Sea’
For the time had seemed to lag,
But now stood out on an empty street
Holding her yellow bag.

David Lewis Paget