Man Without Honour

by Anne Hampson

  'Your mother's going out with Demetrius?'

  Her husband nodded. 'You like him, don't you?'

  'Yes. He's charming.' Her mind wandered for a moment as she recalled how friendly the tall, grey-haired Greek had been with her from the very moment they met. He seemed… grateful in some way and yet expectant. Grateful… Kathryn had pondered over this impression and found no explanation for it. 'I do wish he and your mother could marry.' Sincerity in her eyes and in her voice. Leon brought her to him and kissed her passionately on the lips while his hands caressed in the familiar gentle yet possessive way. From the beginning Kathryn had sensed that he would be wildly jealous if ever he thought she was interested in another man. She shuddered on recalling his attitude that day they were talking about Cassandra; Leon had openly admitted that he would want to kill his wife if she was unfaithful.

  'Perhaps it will not be long before Mother and Demetrius can marry,' Leon said slowly, and at the cryptic note in his voice her eyes widened interrogatingly. But if Leon noticed the unspoken question, he chose to ignore it as he said, 'Well, are you ready for a trip to the Plaka?'

  She laughed and put her hand in his. 'You know how much I love the Plaka. It's unique!'

  'So much in my country is unique,' was his proud rejoinder.

  They drove into the city and then Leon parked the car at an hotel from where they walked along to the Plaka. There was an exciting and yet mysterious quality about this ancient part of the great metropolis of Athens: the initial and strong impression that you were in the oldest quarter; the awareness of bustling life; the mob of hawkers crying out their wares; the flower-girls almost tormenting you with the thrust of their perfumed offerings against your nose; the doors agape and vendors beckoning you inside to buy 'antique' vases of bronze and copper authentically spattered with the evidence of age.

  'We leave them in the river for up to two years,' one very honest shopkeeper told Kathryn when she said defiantly that he was trying to pull a trick on her.

  Leon bought a sprig of jasmine and stopped to pin it onto his wife's dress. It was an intimate moment, with his face above hers, and her eyes, limpid and filled with love, staring into his. Ignoring the crowds around them, he bent his head and kissed her softly parted lips.

  The restaurant to which they went was the Donoussa, where they lunched on the flower-bedecked roof and looked over the vast complexity of the city. Leon ordered moussaka, which they ate with a beetroot salad, and they drank fruity Greek wine to wash it down. The dessert was a salad of watermelon, bananas and pineapple slices canopied with lashings of cream, walnuts and cherries. There were six musicians on the dais—two bouzouki players, two violinists and two with tambourines. In the dancing space, four men performed, with their leader twisting and rocking, ecstasy on his face as if he actually experienced the erotic pleasure depicted by the sexual heaving of his groin as he rotated it with the sheer abandonment of those ancient pagans who had first performed the dance according to Dionysian rites. He was perspiring profusely when at last, to a spate of applause, he went off after bowing several times, a sort of rapturous joy on his Arab-brown face.

  Kathryn, used by now to the erotic nature of most Greek dances, felt her colour rise all the same.

  Her husband smiled in some amusement and said, 'How delightfully innocent you are.'

  'Not innocent,' she denied, 'but a trifle embarrassed.'

  'Or just shy?' His eyes fell to the ring she wore above her wedding ring. He had said he would buy her an engagement ring, but for some reason she had wanted to wear the one she had found.

  However, when they were strolling back to where the car was parked, Leon stopped at a jeweller's and said quietly, 'I've had a word with Kostos Stomati about a ring for you—'

  'A ring? Oh, but—'

  'Darling,' he interrupted softly but in firm accents for all that, 'it is my wish that you have an engagement ring. Come, my love…' He took her arm and she was ushered into the shop.

  Kostos came forward and smiled the familiar golden smile.

  'I have brought my wife, Kostos, and we want to choose something very special,' Leon said.

  'Of course.' Kostos' eyes rested on the diamond-and-sapphire ring and he whistled softly. 'Oh, but this is beautiful and… and what you say… uncommon, no?'

  'Unusual,' supplied Kathryn. 'It's very old.'

  'But you want another?'

  'Kathryn needs an engagement ring,' from Leon almost curtly. There was a strange glint in his eyes and his mouth was tight. It was plain that he was not pleased that Kostos should be so interested in Kathryn's ring. He turned to her. 'I never asked your preference. Do you want another ring with sapphires and diamonds—or something different?'

  She wanted only to wear the one she had found, but naturally she refrained from saying so. Leon wanted her to wear his ring, which was only natural, she thought understandingly. But her smile was forced and an unwanted heaviness lay upon her, detracting from the enthusiasm she should have been feeling at a time like this, when she was to choose her engagement ring.

  She could not have chosen sapphires, so she said she would like a ring of diamonds and rubies. A tray was brought and it was then that Kathryn came to realise that she would not always be feeling like this— apathetic and faintly resentful. One day she would treasure her engagement ring and, therefore, she applied herself to making the kind of choice she would not regret.

  'This one…' It was a heart-shaped ruby surrounded by diamonds. 'It's too large, though.'

  She was twisting it on her finger, and Leon said, nodding as he agreed fully with her choice, 'That's no problem.'

  'None at all,' from Kostos. 'It will be ready in one or two weeks.'

  'You're quite happy with it?' Leon asked the question as they were driving back to the villa in the car.

  'Yes, of course.' She wanted to thank him, but somehow the words would not come. Her throat was tight and it burned. She wanted to cry and chided herself for the way she was feeling.

  Silence enfolded them after that as they became absorbed by their own private thoughts. Kathryn's mind went briefly to the charming flat she had left, to the incredulity of her friend Carole when she had related all that had happened on the holiday.

  'And now you're getting married!' Carole had exclaimed, shaking her head. 'I can hardly believe it!'

  Nor can I, Kathryn had thought, wondering if she would wake to discover it had all been a dream.

  'You haven't known him long,' Carole had murmured later, doubt edging her voice. 'Marriage is so risky, Kathryn.'

  Kathryn had laughed lightly, and her voice was confident when she replied. 'For others, yes, but not for me. Leon's a wonderful person and I love him with all my heart.'

  Carole had shrugged and wisely said nothing. Kathryn had had the impression that she would have liked to proffer advice but knew it would fall on deaf ears.

  'You're very quiet.' Her husband's voice recalled her from the past, and Kathryn turned to look at him.

  'I was thinking about Carole and her surprise when I told her I was getting married.'

  'Your friend from the flat below,' he said, but without much interest. His eyes had rested momentarily on her hand, which was flat on her knee. The ring again. She said, voicing something she had wanted to say for the past two weeks, ever since her wedding day, 'Your collection of jewellery, Leon—I'd love to see it.'

  He seemed to stiffen, but the impression was soon dismissed. 'Of course, dear. At present it's in the bank, but one day I'll get it out so that you can see it.'

  'In the bank?' with some surprise. 'But you have a huge safe at home. Marina was telling me that all her jewellery is in there.'

  'So it is.' Leon became fully absorbed in his driving for a few silent moments; and then, 'Talking of Marina —it's her birthday in a couple of weeks' time.'

  'It is? Oh, then I must buy her something.'

  Another silence, strange and disturbing in some indefinable way. 'She was saying just how much sh
e admired your ring.' Slow the words, and soft. Kathryn felt a quiver pass along her spine.

  'You're suggesting I give it to her?' she said repressively. 'I have said many times that I cannot part with it, Leon.'

  'You'd not really be parting with it. I mean, it would still be in the family.'

  She leant back in her seat, her expression thoughtful. 'I am not giving my ring to anyone!' she said at last, anger bringing colour to her cheeks. 'First you wanted it for yourself, and now you want me to give it to your sister! I'm keeping it, so please do not mention it ever again!' She was almost in tears, regretting her anger and sharp words and yet at the same time feeling she had been forced to utter them.

  'I see,' with an icy inflection.

  'Then it's more than I do. There's some mystery about your obsession to obtain this ring.' She paused, and then, curiosity mingling with her anger, said, 'Is that why you wanted me to have an engagement ring?'

  'Certainly not! It's a natural thing for a man to buy his fiancée a ring. You decided you didn't want one and I let you have your own way, but now I have changed my mind. I want you to wear my ring.' Cold the tone, and imperious. It was very plain that her attitude infuriated him. Was there some mystery? she asked herself. If so, what could it be? She shook her head, dismissing the idea as fanciful.

  That evening at dinner Leon was silent for most of the time, but Marina was rather more talkative than usual, and so was her mother.

  'Did you have a nice time this afternoon?' Mrs. Coletis inquired in her deeply accented voice.

  'Yes, it was lovely. We had lunch in the Plaka.'

  'I used to spend hours in the Plaka,' reflected Marina. 'It has a sort of mystic attraction and yet there's a self-evidence about everything—the shops and their vociferous owners; the clever guys who are out to con you; the flower sellers who won't take no for an answer; the slow-walking priests of the Orthodox Church whose beady eyes are stripping you—'

  'Darling!' gasped her mother, horrified. 'That is enough!'

  'All Greek men strip you,' continued Marina undaunted. 'I was in England once and the men there treat their women with respect.'

  'It's probably all a pose, dear.'

  'Not at all. I would like to marry an Englishman…' Marina stopped suddenly, and several puzzling things caught Kathryn's attention. First was the abrupt halt of Marina's sentence, just as if for a moment prior to it she had been carried away totally by the probability of getting married despite the fact that she was ill; second, there was the almost startled glance her mother gave her, a glance which was transferred to Leon. His eyes had fixed themselves on Kathryn's left hand, where the ring glittered in flawless beauty in the light from the candles on the table.

  Silence fell, became intense—electric almost—then was sharply broken by Leon's voice, which was accompanied by the clapping of his hands to call Davos, the manservant who was serving them their dinner. 'Pour the wine,' he ordered curtly, and then shifted his gaze, deliberately avoiding his wife's bewildered eyes.

  She glanced around, saw that Marina was busy cutting her meat, while her mother was absently crumbling a bread roll. Nerves quivered along Kathryn's spine, and she frowned heavily because she could not explain anything—why she was feeling tense like this, why the other women seemed uncomfortable, why Leon's forehead was creased in a frown.

  Much later Kathryn questioned him, but he simply looked askance at her, and she knew he was in no mood for giving explanations.

  The following morning Kathryn said to her sister-in-law, 'Marina, I was puzzled last evening when you spoke of the possibility of your getting married. Has there been some improvement in your condition lately?'

  It was a long time before the Greek girl spoke, for she seemed to be considering carefully, as if trying to make a decision. But then she merely said quietly, 'No, not anything… er… noticeable, Kathryn.'

  Kathryn's eyes narrowed slightly as she examined the other girl's expression. That she had lied was certain… but why? 'Leon said you have a birthday coming up soon,' said Kathryn, deciding to change the subject. 'Is there anything special you would like—or do you prefer a surprise?' Strangely, until this moment Kathryn had forgotten all about Leon's telling her that his sister would like to have the ring, but now it flashed back into her memory as Marina's eyes went instantly to her finger.

  'That ring… It's awful to ask for something someone else owns and treasures, Kathryn, but… but I would love to own it…' She shook her head, and a heavy frown creased her brow. 'No… no, I must not ask such a favour!'

  It was Kathryn's turn to frown as she said slowly, 'Why do you want it so much?' she inquired, her eyes focused on the other girl's face because she had no intention of missing one change, one flicker of an eyelid. 'Your brother wanted it very badly and asked me several times to sell it to him. And now you want it. What I want is to know why both you and Leon are so anxious to get it from me.'

  There was another long pause before Marina spoke, and when she did eventually break the silence, there was a solemn note of resignation and despair in her voice. 'It is just that I like your ring, Kathryn, and would love to own it. But I can understand that you do not want to part with it, and I should not have asked. As for my birthday—well, I think I would like a surprise.' A lovely smile spread over her face, but Kathryn was frowning heavily as, ignoring this last sentence, she persisted.

  'Your brother badly wanted to buy this ring from me, and it's plain that there is some important reason why both he and you have this desire to get it from me.'

  Marina moved awkwardly, and painfully, judging by the sudden tightening of her lips, in her chair, but there was nothing to denote pain in her accents as she said, adopting an attitude of lightness designed to deceive but which quite naturally failed because by now Kathryn was wholly intrigued by this interest in her ring, 'I expect Leon, knowing my taste in jewellery, thought he would buy your ring to give me pleasure…' She broke off and smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. 'It isn't important, Kathryn. Let us talk of something else.'

  'Leon said he wanted the ring to add to a collection of antique jewellery he had,' supplied Kathryn, again ignoring Marina's last sentence. 'He never mentioned anything about pleasing his sister.' Her voice had taken on a hard, determined edge, but Marina seemed not to notice, for her eyes had become vacant and a deep sigh left her lips. 'I want to know more about this desire to have my ring, Marina.'

  The other girl, looking up from her chair, gave another sigh and shook her head. Kathryn's attention was keenly arrested by the dark, intense face, the resignation settled in eyes that were anxious, too. It was very plain that Marina regretted the mention of the ring.

  'Please, Kathryn,' she pleaded as Kathryn's manner remained coldly deliberate and determined. 'Please let the matter drop.' And with that Marina began to wheel herself away towards the open window of the lovely salon where they had been talking. Kathryn's eyes narrowed as she watched her, moving quietly in the chair. Undoubtedly there was some mystery. But it was only two days later, when she overheard a conversation between Marina and her mother, that Kathryn wondered why she had been so stupid as not to have guessed the reason that Leon wanted the ring. But how was she to have known that he had the rest—or rather that Marina had the rest—of the jewellery? This was Greece, and the jewellery had been made in England for a family who lived there…

  Kathryn was strolling in the gardens of the villa when, from behind a thick, high yew hedge, she heard voices. She would have proceeded, but on hearing her name, she naturally slowed her steps and then halted abruptly, the fine gold hairs on her arms rising as if in sympathy with the increasing rate of her heart beat.

  '… Leon was very wrong to marry Kathryn in order to get the ring, Mother. She is too nice to be treated like that.'

  'But, dearest, he was thinking only of you.'

  'And not worrying that he was marrying Kathryn without loving her. She's English, Motherland English girls want love in their marriages. Kathryn love
s my brother dearly, and it makes me cry to know that he does not love her.'

  'He treats her well, dear—'

  'But loves another!' broke in Marina fiercely. 'He loves Eugenia; you know that!'

  'His affair with Eugenia is finished, my dear.'

  'Is it?'

  There was a pause, and Kathryn, her legs like jelly and a searing pain spreading through her head, moved slowly towards a little rustic seat and sank down into it.

  'Christos told me that they met when Leon went to Glifadha the other day. He saw them together—'

  'You have been talking to Christos?'

  The older woman's voice had sharpened, but that of her daughter was calm as she said, 'He telephoned me, Mother. You would not have me give him up when he still loves me?'

  'You know very well he has someone else. Marina, dearest, you only hurt yourself by clinging to the hope that one day you and Christos will marry. He is half-English, remember, and one day might decide to leave Greece and settle in his mother's country.'

  Kathryn felt she had heard enough, and yet she could not rise, for not only was her body weak, but her mind too was in a state of torpor. She found it impossible to think at all, much less think clearly. But at least this place where she was sitting was peaceful, with birds twittering in the trees and cicadas murmuring in the distant olives which formed a copse close to the orchard where the citrus fruits grew—the juicy oranges and shiny green lemons. If only these two would move on… But they were speaking again, and Kathryn learned that Marina's illness had come about only after she had been told of the curse by an antique dealer she had met when she was on a visit to London. She had been wearing the necklace and earrings at a party she had been invited to. The man had come to her, asking about the jewellery. Marina had said that her father had bought it from Christie's several years ago, and it was then that the antique dealer revealed the story of the curse. From that day Marina had brooded, then after a month or so had turned in on herself. Another month, and she said she felt ill, and then her legs became weak. After a while she took to the chair. Doctors were baffled; they could do nothing for her.