by Anne Mather
They all got back in the cars, and drove back to the villa, Dallas in the back of Alexander’s car with Nikos, while Helen rode in front. Once there, she excused herself, and ran across to the chalet. Again she seemed to have made a fool of herself, and she felt utterly depressed.
A week later Alexander Stavros left for Athens again, leaving Nikos behind, this time. Helen had returned to Viryous, and life resumed its normal tenor. Dallas had not seen him alone before he left, Madame Stavros had seen to that by arranging various dinner-parties and the house was always full of guests.
Dallas had tried to avoid him, anyway. Whenever he came to the chalet, as he frequently did, to ask after Jane’s health, she made a point of either being in the bath or the shower, and there had been no more painful episodes. She could only presume that his attraction towards her had petered out, due no doubt to the fact that she had shown how pliable she was in his expert hands. Besides, Helen monopolised his time, and as she treated both girls with amiable condescension there was no question of them becoming involved in the personal affairs at the villa.
It was about three days after Alexander’s departure that Jane announced that she was going sailing with Andrea again. Dallas heaved a huge sigh.
‘Oh, Jane, not again, please!’
Jane gave an angry exclamation. ‘Honestly, Dallas, you’re beginning to annoy me! What do you imagine is going to happen to me? I can look after myself. Besides, Andrea is perfectly capable of taking me sailing without mishap. ’
‘You know very well that Alexan ... Mr. Stavros told Andrea he was never to take you sailing again!’
‘Alexander, eh?’ Jane folded her arms mockingly. ‘My, my,
what slipped out then?’
‘Jane, stop it!’ Dallas turned away. ‘Do you imagine I’m thinking of myself in this?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Jane consideringly. ‘You might be. After all, if Alexander has spoken, who knows what you may have promised!’
‘Jane!’
‘Well, it’s true.’ Jane looked sulky. ‘You seem to be having a great time here on the quiet. Heavens, he can’t wait to see you alone the minute he arrives on the island, even though he’s practically dead on his feet, and then he takes you off for a couple of hours to some place in the hills where goodness knows what happened!’
‘Jane! ’ Dallas felt sick. ‘Stop it!’
‘Well, it’s true. You can’t deny it, can you? What goes on with you two? I’d lay odds that it’s no platonic friendship!’ Dallas turned away, and shook her head violently. ‘You don’t know what you’re saying. ’
‘Don’t I? Maybe not, but I dare bet that after Charles Jennings Alexander Stavros is pretty hot stuff.’ She smiled maliciously. ‘Heavens, I can think of at least half a dozen women who would give their right hand to be in your position here.’
‘Perhaps you can,’ said Dallas evenly, disguising the hurt. she was feeling at Jane’s careless words. ‘Anyway, are you going?’
‘Sailing? Of course I am.’ She stretched lazily. ‘In a month or so Andrea won’t want to be seen dead with me, when I start looking ghastly! But right now, he enjoys my company, and quite frankly I love his. ’
‘Love! ’ Dallas looked sceptical. ‘That word comes too easily to you, Jane. Not everything comes under that heading, you know.’
‘If you’ve found that out, it wasn’t from Charles Jennings,’ remarked Jane insolently. ‘Well, I must get ready, darling,’ imitating Helen’s lazy drawl. ‘See you! ’
Dallas went to her work as usual, feeling depressed and anxious. It seemed obvious that in Alexander’s absence,
Madame Stavros was giving the answers, and naturally she didn’t particularly care what happened to either of them.
It was about eleven-thirty when the telephone call came through. Dallas was in the garden with Eloise and Estelle. They were cataloguing the various flowers, and the twins thought it a marvellous pastime. When Minerva came hurrying out of the villa to speak to her, Dallas still did not attach any significance to her worried face.
‘Dallas!’ Minerva looked at her compassionately. ‘That was a call from Paul’s mother ...’
At last realisation that something was wrong dawned. Dallas stared at her in dismay. ‘Something’s happened to Jane!’ she cried, feeling suddenly very young, and very scared.
Minerva stared at her in her turn. ‘You knew!’
‘No, I guessed. She went sailing with Andrea this morning. What happened? Did the boat capsize?’ She was aware that tears were running down her cheeks now.
Minerva put a comforting arm about her shoulders. ‘No, darling, nothing like that. They ... they crashed, in Andrea’s car, on their way to the village.’
‘Oh no!’ Dallas covered her face with her hands,
‘Yes, my dear. It must have happened some time ago, but there has been so much confusion Madame Stavros couldn’t let us know sooner. ’
Or wouldn’t, thought Dallas, and then stifled the thought. ‘And where is Jane now?’ she asked. ‘Is she badly hurt? Is she dead?’
‘Oh no, Dallas, not dead! She’s hurt, both of them were hurt. They’ve been rushed to hospital in Athens in the plane. Darling, don’t worry! I know that’s easy to say at a time like this, but really, Madame Stavros says she is sure they will both be all right. ’
Dallas wiped her tears with the back of her hand. ‘Oh, God!’ she said, shaking her head. ‘If only there was someone ... someone I could turn to!’ She felt contrite at once as she saw Minerva’s expression. ‘Please understand, Minerva,’ she said softly. ‘We have no father; our mother ran away when we were both children; there’s no one else! ’
‘I know.’ Minerva patted her shoulder gently. ‘Come on. Simeon can take you back to the villa. You’ll want to see Madame Stavros and find out for yourself what has happened. I’m sorry I had to be the bearer of such bad news.’ Dallas managed a smile, and nodding she said goodbye to the twins and climbed into the car. As it sped back towards the Stavros villa she felt utterly weary. If Jane got out of this alive, she would be remarkably lucky considering the narrow escape she had had once before with Paris.
Madame Stavros awaited her in the lounge of the villa. With her were Paula and Natalia, the latter looking less confident than she usually did. She spoke in a low voice to Dallas, and then Madame Stavros said:
‘You’ll have heard from Minerva what happened.’
‘Yes, I heard,’ Dallas nodded, not trusting herself to say more. ‘Where are they?’
‘They are at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Athens,’ replied Madame Stavros heavily; ‘It’s a new building, very modern and up to date, with the best specialists in Greece on hand should they be required. Nikos and Doctor Zantes have gone with them in the plane. We telephoned ahead. An ambulance will be waiting for them at the airport.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Actually, they should be there by now. They left some time ago.’
‘And didn’t you think I should have been first to be informed?’ asked Dallas chokily. ‘I mean, after all, Jane is my sister. ’
Madame Stavros stiffened. ‘I do not think you could have done anything useful,’ she replied coldly. ‘Neither of them were conscious when they left. ’
‘Oh! ’ Dallas pressed a hand to her lips. ‘Were they badly ... I mean... what were their injuries?’
‘It was impossible to tell without X-rays,’ said Paula gently. ‘Andrea had a cut on his head, which bled rather a lot, but otherwise he seemed all right. Jane didn’t appear to have
any superficial injuries apart from cuts and bruises, but ... well ...’ Her voice trailed away. ‘You’ll find out when you go.’
‘And when can I go?’ asked Dallas, looking from one to another of them. ‘Have ... have you let Alexander know?’ This was no time for pretending.
‘Of course.’ Madame Stavros spoke. ‘I telephoned his hotel first of all. He is in Athens. He will be at the hospital when they arrive. They told me to tell you that he would be back here lat
er this afternoon. ’
Dallas breathed a sigh of relief. Just now, Alexander Stavros seemed the only rock she had to cling to, and she badly wanted to see him.
‘Did you speak to him?’ she asked.
Madame Stavros shook her head. ‘I spoke to Stephanos,’ she replied. ‘Naturally, Alexander was busy. But he would get the message, don’t worry.’
Dallas turned away. Just now worry was all she could do.
It was late in the afternoon when Dallas heard the sound of a jet overhead. It seemed to be circling prior to landing, and she came out of the chalet, looking up expectantly. Jets didn’t normally land on Lexandros, in fact Nikos had said the runway wasn’t long enough. But this one was coming down, and she put a hand to her throat nervously. If this was Alexander, she prayed he would get down safely.
The sound was deafening in the still heat of the afternoon air, and Dallas went inside again, and lit a cigarette with trembling fingers. Then she looked at her reflection in the mirror above the sideboard. Apart from vaguely dark lines below her eyes, due to the fact that she was not sleeping too well just now, she looked much the same as usual. She sighed, smoothing a hand over her hair which hung loosely to her shoulders. She had not had the patience to reset it after her shower. She had put on a royal blue skirt with a deeply inverted pleat at the front, and a knitted nylon sweater, with short sleeves and a low V-neckline. She wore no make-up, but now lifted her lipstick and applied some to her trembling lips.
Then she walked back to the door, and out on to the patio.
Heat shimmered over everything; it was a perfect day. A perfect day for sailing, in fact. She sighed deeply. The car crash had been something she had never even imagined. Her earlier forebodings had been justified, but quite differently from her expectations.
Realising she was smoking too much, she lit yet another cigarette, and paced about the tiled floor area restlessly. Soon she heard the sound of a car’s powerful engine, and she stamped out her cigarette and walked through the trees to the road, lower than the villa, along the drive. The white Mercedes turned into the drive, throwing up a fine dusty spray, as the tyres squealed slightly in protest. Dallas stepped back, but the Mercedes swished to a halt only a couple of feet away from her, and almost before it had stopped, the door opened and Alexander slid out. She had a fleeting yet comprehensive appraisal of his dark masculinity, enhanced by a biscuit-coloured lounge suit and cream shirt, then he had gripped her arms and said:
‘Hello, honey. Are you all right?’
Dallas gazed at him mutely, then buried her face in his chest, allowing the tears which she had been bottling up to flow unrestrainedly. Alexander let her cry for a few moments, turning his head and indicating that the chauffeur should take the car up to the villa and inform his mother that he had arrived. Then he gently but firmly held her away from him, and said: ‘Come on, Dallas, things aren’t as black as all that. Look, let’s go up to the house. I’ve got to tell my mother what’s happened, and then we’re leaving. Right?’
Dallas nodded, wiping her eyes with the handkerchief he held out to her, and then walking with him up the drive, his arm casually across her slim shoulders, his head bent to hers.
‘We certainly seem to be causing you a lot of trouble,’ she said tightly, twisting the handkerchief in her fingers.
‘I’ll go along with that,’ he murmured, half mockingly. ‘Never mind. I guess I’ll survive!’
Madame Stavros, together with her two daughters, waited at the top of the steps, and watched Alexander and Dallas walk up the drive together. Madame Stavros’s face was drawn and anxious, and her expression darkened when she saw her son
with Dallas.
‘Well?’ she said. ‘Have you seen Andrea?’
Alexander removed his arm from Dallas, and walked easily up the steps to his mother’s side. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’ve seen Jane and Andrea.’
‘How are they?’ It was Natalia.
‘They’ll live,’ he said noncommittally. ‘Andrea is only concussed, with a broken bone in his elbow. Jane has multiple cuts and bruises, and is also slightly concussed.’
Dallas mounted the steps unsteadily. ‘The ... the ... baby....’ Alexander’s eyes darkened. ‘There’s not going to be any baby,’ he said softly. ‘I’m sorry.’
Dallas stood motionless, and then she shivered violently. She had known, of course, before she asked the question. Jane could not possibly have two accidents without causing harm to the unborn child.
She ran a tongue over her lips. ‘Does ... does Jane know?’ Alexander nodded. ‘ She came round in the plane. She knew then.’
Dallas nodded, and turned away. She wanted to be sick, but she was empty inside. Alexander shook his head as Paula would have gone to her. Instead, he took her arm and led her across the hall into a small study, where he poured her a glass of brandy, only slightly laced with soda, and instructed her to drink it.
Dallas did as she was bidden. The raw spirit warmed her inside, and dispelled momentarily the utter despair she seemed to be experiencing. She was handed a cigarette, already lit, and she saw him light himself a thick cigar. Then he flung himself into the swivel chair behind the desk which dominated the room, and swung it silently backwards and forwards, watching her intently.
After she had managed to swallow most of it, he stood up.
‘I’ll tell my mother we are leaving,’ he said. ‘Wait here.’ Dallas felt like one sleep-walking. She was glad she had Alexander there to think for her; her mind felt completely muzzy.
Later, in the car going down to the airstrip, she roused herself sufficiently to ask: ‘Was that your plane? The jet?’
Alexander turned round to look at her. He was sitting in front with Simeon, the chauffeur, while Dallas had the back to herself.
‘Yes, that was mine,’ he nodded. ‘It’s the company jet.’
‘The company? ... oh, you mean the Stavros shipping company.’
‘That’s right’ Alexander swung round again, and Dallas stared out of the window rather blindly.
‘Nikos said a jet couldn’t land here,’ she murmured thoughtfully.
Alexander gave a short laugh. ‘He’s almost right. But I have the best pilot in the world at the controls. He could put a plane down on an ice-floe.’ He glanced at Simeon. ‘You didn’t think he’d make it.’
Simeon shook his head, and said something in Greek. The company jet was a twin-engined aeroplane, and inside it was laid out like a luxurious office-cum-bar. There was a desk, a telephone, plenty of armchairs, and a cocktail bar. After takeoff, which was nerve-racking for Dallas because she knew that the strip was not long enough, and that it took the utmost skill to get the powerful aircraft into the air, she managed to relax a little. They were on their way, and there was nothing she could do now but wait.
She accepted a drink and a cigarette, and studied Alexander as he lay back in the chair by the desk studying some technical charts and papers. He ignored her the whole of the trip, and she could only assume that they had interrupted his working schedule. She read a couple of magazines disinterestedly, and thought a lot. There was nothing else to do. It was fantastic really to imagine they were thousands of feet up in the clouds in a pressurised cabin, when this looked nothing more than an office.
As they neared Athens Dallas realised that now there was to be no baby, once Jane had recovered there would be nothing to keep them in Greece. Her cheeks paled at the thought, and Alexander, glancing at her then, said:
‘What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?’
Dallas shook her head. ‘No, I’m all right, thank you.’
He frowned, but shrugging, he returned to his papers. When the plane landed another sleek chauffeur-driven limousine awaited them, this time with the circled monogram of the Stavros Shipping Line clearly marked on the forward doors. Dallas supposed this was executive treatment, the kind of treatment Alexander Stavros was used to. An executive jet, and an executive limousine. She glanced at him as they walked across the t
armac to the waiting car. Stephanos Karantinos had come to meet them, and he and Alexander talked together as they walked to the car. Watching Alexander, she thought that this was a side of him she really knew little about. In the relaxed atmosphere of the island she was wont to forget the position he held, but here, among his subordinates, no one could have mistaken him for anything else. He was well-groomed, assured, and conscious of the power he wielded with such success.
Dallas had her first sightseeing tour of Athens in the executive car. This time she sat in front, while Stephanos and Alexander sat together in the back. Despite her depression and anxiety she could not fail to appreciate the symmetrical moulding of modern buildings with ancient monuments. Choked with traffic, Dallas thought she had never seen so many buses in her life, it nevertheless maintained its individuality and magnificence, the soaring skyscrapers of hotels and shops and apartment buildings detracting little from the purely classical sense of history, and majesty.
She stared through the windows wide-eyed, the sights and sounds flooding her eyes and ears to the exclusion of all else. It was a pity, she thought, that she would not have a chance to explore Athens more fully. There was so much to see, and she was her father’s daughter; archaeology had always excited her.
They skirted the centre of the city, and came upon the newly built hospital of the Sisters of Mercy in a street just off the Leoforos Amalias. It had a small car-park, and the chauffeur stopped the car and they all got out.
Alexander spoke to Stephanos in an undertone, and he nodded, and smiled encouragingly at Dallas. Alexander took Dallas’s arm, and in no time at all they were walking through the marble-tiled entrance hall and being directed to the private
rooms where Andrea and Jane were resting.
A lift transported them to the fourth floor, and the nurse who had accompanied them led them down the corridor to the far end where another nurse, obviously a ward Sister or something, Dallas assumed, took them first to see Jane.
Jane was lying, looking pale and listless in the narrow hospital bed, her hair, which had been long like Dallas’s, now cut short to enable the doctors to deal with two head wounds. She seemed to be a mass of bandages, and Dallas had to force herself not to show anxiety.