Pagan Lover (23 page)

‘I’m glad there isn’t a case!’ she snapped.

‘Are you in love with the rogue?’ he asked befligerently. ‘If you are then what are you doing here?’

‘I don’t know....’ She looked at him, still angry but aware that tears were pressing against her eyes.

‘You don’t know?’ His manner changed dramatically. ‘You must know! You
are
in love with him!’

Ignoring that, Tara brushed a hand across her eyes and said, ‘You keep on about losing a case, but I’ll tell you— this, Mr Stewart: there never could have been a case simply because I’d have saved my husband from prosecution by saying I went with him willingly, that I was not kidnapped at all!’

‘You—!’ He stared at her. ‘Do you suppose anyone would have believed you? You were on your way to a wedding, remember—your own wedding!’ She had no comment to make and after a while he went on wrath-fully, ‘Women! Perverse creatures, all of them. They don’t know their own minds for five minutes at a time! You say you want to get back to
England, but it strikes me it’s your abductor you want to get back to!’

She looked down at her plate, avoiding that strange expression that had settled on his face. He could almost have been planning something, she thought. And how right he was when he stated that she wanted to go back to her husband. She admitted it to herself freely now, and yet she said

‘We fly home tomorrow? You’re sure you have the seats booked?’

‘I’ve a good mind to let you make your own way.’ Fury in his tone and yet another edge to it which she failed to comprehend. And he was still staring strangely at her when at last she glanced up.

‘You wouldn’t do that,’ she returned confidently. ‘You wouldn’t leave me here, on my own.’

‘No,’ he murmured, his voice surprisingly mellowed. ‘No, I wouldn’t leave you here alone....’

 

The following morning
Tara went out into the city streets, wandering along from place to place and ending up in

Constitution Square

where she had a cup of coffee at an outdoor
cafeneion
. After that she decided to go to the Acropolis again, where she knew she could find peace, if only for a little while. She wandered about the ruins, trying to visualise what the site was like in those ancient days when all the marble buildings were in pristine condition, and the crowds would congregate her to pay homage to the pagan goddess Athena.

The time wore on, and it was hunger that made her suddenly realise that the sun was going down and that soon the city of
Athens would be ‘violet-crowned’.

She had scarcely entered the lobby of the hotel when she heard her name spoken and she spun around to come face to face with Nico.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, and although there was an odd inflection in his tone it did not register with her. ‘Is—is
Leon with you?’

She shook her head.

‘I’ve escaped, Nico,’ she said, and her voice was very flat.

Escaped? You managed it—but how?’ He seemed to be taking it too calmly, she thought, but before she had time to answer his question he was suggesting they go to the lounge and talk over a drink. Once there, Tara wasted no time in explaining everything to him, and after that he was doing some explaining himself, telling her how he had had to race away from that ladder because he knew that if
Leon had seen him he would most certainly have caught him.

‘He can run faster than I,’ he ended ruefully.

‘I don’t blame you for running away, but, why didn’t you get in touch with me later?’

‘I thought I’d better disappear for a while, just in case it should occur to
Leon that it was I who was helping you.’

It
had
occurred to
Leon, but to
Tara’s surprise he had not pursued the matter. It now occurred to her that he must have tried to find Nico, but Nico had prudently gone off, putting himself out of his reach.

And why are you here now?’ she wanted to know.

There was a slight hesitation before Nico answered, and when he did answer he seemed to be deliberately avoiding her eyes.

‘I have my boat at
Piraeus.’

‘And are you returning to Hydra soon?’

‘Yes, quite soon.’ He looked at her questioningly. ‘You’d like to come back to Hydra?’

She shook her head, but did wonder if it was convincing.

‘Are you in love with Leon,
Tara?’ The question came after a long silence, and it seemed that Nico had some difficulty in asking it.

She looked at him through misty eyes, swallowing hard and wishing their drinks would come so that she could ease this dryness in her throat.

‘Yes,’ she owned simply, ‘I am in love with
Leon. But I can’t stay, Nico,’ she went on sadly, ‘because I’m English and I want my husband to love me. In
Greece it’s almost always a loveless marriage—or it can be one-sided, I suppose, simply because women the world over seem to fall in love—’ Bitterness edged her voice as she thought again of the vagaries of nature in creating conflicting emotions in men and women. ‘I’m English,’she said again, ‘and I must have love in my marriage, love from my husband.’

‘You sound very sad about it all,’ he said, a distinct catch in his voice.

‘Of course I’m sad.’ She looked into his dark face, into his eyes, aware of their odd expression but naturally attaching no significance to it. ‘What woman wouldn’t be sad at having to desert the husband she loves? My life would be bliss if
Leon loved me. Yes, of course I’m sad,’ she repeated, and it was with the greatest difficulty that she held back the tears that had gathered behind her eyes.

‘I could have liked you a lot myself, but there was never any chance for me. I see that now.’

‘It was kind of you to offer to help me to escape, Nico’

‘I didn’t do much good. Was
Leon mad?’

‘Don’t ask me about it,’ she shuddered. ‘I thought he’d murder me!’

‘He always did have a temper.’ He looked at her and a thin smile touched his lips. ‘He always attracted the women, too. Nice gentle men like me are not greatly in demand.’

‘One day, Nico, you’ll find the right one.’

He shrugged and changed the subject.

‘Elene’s leaving Hydra and living permanently in
Athens.’

‘She is?’
Tara’s heart fluttered. ‘So the affair between Leon and her won’t be resumed?’

Nico shook his head.

‘It’s over.
Leon’s married now, remember.’ Strange his tone and puzzling. ‘Greek people consider that marriage is for ever.’

‘I’m intending to divorce him,’ she said, and once again her voice was very flat.

The drinks arrived and she took a larger gulp than ever before. People often drowned their sorrows in drink, she thought, and almost wished she could do the same. Unfortunately there was always the awakening.

‘He won’t be happy about a divorce—’ Nico stopped abruptly and frowned. ‘Let’s have a change of subject—’ He took a quick glance at his watch as if an idea had just come to him. ‘You’re not flying until midnight, you said?’

‘That’s right—if that policeman takes me, which I hope he does.’

‘Look, would you care to have a couple of hours on my boat?’

I’ve to be at the airport at a quarter to eleven,’ she said doubtfully. ‘I wouldn’t have time. I must be here, waiting, when Mr Stewart is ready to leave.’ She shook her head decisively. ‘It would have been nice, Nico, but I haven’t eaten yet—’

‘We could have something on the boat. I had intended having my dinner here, but we could knock up something on the boat. My crew are rather good at that sort of thing.’ He was eager, waiting for her answer. She would rather not take any risks, just in case something happened and she missed the plane. However, it would obviously be a disappointment to Nico if she refused his offer, and she found herself accepting it with a smile.

They took a taxi to the port, and soon
Tara was boarding the luxury yacht. It reminded her
Leon’s graceful vessel . . . and of the fear she had known when being forced aboard.

‘Carry on into the saloon,’ Nico was saying. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ She turned and he was gone. Where was the saloon? At least he could have taken her there before going off like that. Why was it so dark ... this boat—

‘Good evening,
Tara.’ The suave half-mocking voice slashed at her thoughts and she spun round, every vestige of colour draining from her face. ‘So I kidnap you for the second time—with the assistance of my good friend Nico.’ He was standing there, in a doorway, so casual, so confident. ‘I must say that it becomes a little boring, having to repeat this performance. Put me to the trouble a third time and I shan’t be responsible for my actions. Come here!’

Instead she turned, with the intention of either getting off the boat or jumping into the water, as it would be easy to swim to safety. But she was caught by the hand and prevented from doing anything except look up into her husband’s dark face ... and gasp at what she saw there.

‘This boat’s yours,’ was all she could find to say before his lips came down to meet hers, and his kiss was infinitely tender.

‘Darling, I couldn’t help teasing you just now, but it wasn’t worth it after all; you looked so frightened. Don’t ever be afraid of me again, my dear, dear love....’ His voice trailed to a husky silence and it seemed that words failed him for a while because he just held her close to his heart so that she heard its wild beating high above her own. Dazedly she thought: the miracle’s happened. And how it had happened was by no means important, she knew, but such were her emotions that she found herself gripping the lapels of his coat with frenzied fingers and saying wildly,

‘I’m so confused— Oh,
Leon, how did it happen! I can’t believe it’s true—tell me it’s true,’ she cried, the tears actually starting to her eyes. ‘You—love m-me?’

‘I adore you!’ He caught her to him again and for the next few moments
Tara found herself being carried on the tide of his ardour as she had on so many occasions before. But this time it was different ... because he loved her.

‘How did it happen? she asked again when at last he released her.

He led her into the saloon and put on a few shaded lights. It was a romantic setting for his explanation, with the dimmed lights and flowers and the gentle sway of the boat. And as if that were not enough there drifted from somewhere along the waterfront the haunting strains of music being played by a
bouzouki
band.

 
Tara and Leon sat side by side on a couch, fingers entwined, and he began to talk. She learned many things as she listened, her head on his shoulder—learned of his sheer terror when she sat on that windowsill, learned that his subsequent fury was the result of that fear. He then told her of his determination to tackle Nico on his return from
Chios, of how he had forced the truth from him, telling him he would have done him, Leon, a bad turn if his help had proved successful, because he loved, his wife.

 
Leon then went on to give her the surprising news that Oscar Stewart had thought fit to telephone him with the information that Tara would have lied rather than have a case brought against her husband.

‘When he said that you’d have insisted that you came with me willingly I knew that you loved me—the fact that you would lie to save me proved it.’ He took her tenderly to his breast, kissing her quivering lips. ‘My darling, I’d hoped that you would come to love me, but I’d treated you so badly—’ He stopped, and a sigh of deep regret escaped him. ‘I never wanted to fall in love,’ he admitted frankly, ‘and I secretly derided your sentiments about loving and caring being so important that there could be no happiness in marriage without them. But in the end, my love, I came to accept your wisdom without question. And if there were any doubts left in my mind they were gone that night when you nearly fell.’ He seemed to shudder and it was with a sort of joyous wonderment that
Tara saw how deeply he was affected by what had happened. ‘As I said, I wanted your love, but I was always conscious of what I’d done to you in the beginning—’

‘But you said it was for the best, and it was,’ she broke in, snuggling close against his breast.

‘Perhaps it was wishful thinking,’ he admitted unexpectedly. ‘To be honest, darling, I was afraid—dreadfully afraid, once I began to realise that I loved you.’ He paused, but she said nothing and he proceeded to tell her how he had asked Nico to accompany him td
Piraeus, and they had planned for Nico to stay in the hotel until he came across
Tara.

‘But why didn’t you come yourself,
Leon?’ she asked, puzzled.

‘Because,’ he answered wryly, ‘I feared that if you only so much as set eyes on me you’d turn and run and never stop until you were exhausted. Then I’d have had to go to a lot of trouble to find you again. No, it was easier———’

‘You’d have found me?’ she said, and instantly his brows lifted and in his voice when he answered she recognised all the old familiar mastery.

‘I should have found you all right. Haven’t I said that I shall never let you go—that you are mine, for ever!’

‘Yes,
Leon,’ she returned in a low tone, ‘you have’

‘As I was saying, it was easier to do it the way we have, with Nico inviting you on to my boat.’

‘He was very convincing; he didn’t give a thing away.’

‘I told him to be careful. It would have been frustrating if you’d refused to come aboard the boat.’