The Devil's Bride

by Margaret Pargeter

  'Oh no, you don't!' His voice was so harshly determined that she shrank. 'This despicable scheme which you and Alexandra devised between you could only have worked if you were able to type.'

  'I can,' Sandra admitted reluctantly. 'I worked for a writer for a few months, but he was nothing like you. I couldn't work for you!'

  'Why couldn't you?' he asked coldly. 'Since my eyes stopped helping me think, my brain has been forced to work twice as hard. Did you imagine I would let you escape so easily, so that you might share your little joke with your friends? You can consider you've been trapped by your own greed, Sandra Weir, and there's no way you can avoid the consequences of your own folly! You'd better be prepared to start earning that five thousand, for by heavens I'll see that you sweat for every penny— in more ways than one!'

  Sandra, feeling her body go stiff with returning apprehension, protested faintly, 'But I've already told you I'm not taking any money!'

  'That's up to you,' he sneered, 'but whether you do or not, you're coming with me! I'm leaving on Friday. Even if I wished there's no time to find anyone else. Also, you will come as my fiancee. As Alexandra craftily realised, your names being basically the same makes such a proposition almost foolproof. For the few days, during which we'll visit my grandmother, I'll have enough pity to endure without inviting more by turning up without you.'

  'Please,' Sandra begged, the strain in her voice clearly audible, 'I know how ill you must have been, but this doesn't give you the right to talk to me like this. I won't do what you ask, and you can't make me!'

  'I can and I will!' The hardness of his tones betrayed no sign of weakening. 'How old are you, Sandra? You're younger than your cousin, but I want to know by how much.'

  'I'm twenty-one,' she gasped, trying to gather her wits to form some decisive argument against him.

  'Ah!' His hands left her narrow shoulders to cradle her face and, momentarily, his voice seemed softer. 'Already I'd guessed, almost exactly from the slender contours of your body, but I have yet to see your face. I'm sorry, but this is the only way I can do it,' he said mockingly, his fingers lingering over each separate feature. 'A neat nose, slightly tilted, which speaks of some spirit,' he drawled sardonically as his hands traced her. 'Eyes well spaced and brows winged, if I'm not mistaken. Skin like silk' — his hand moved tentatively along the clear, tender line of her jaw, 'and a mouth I'm already sufficiently familiar with to want to know better. There's a warmth about you, my child, that I never found in Alexandra.'

  'Perhaps you didn't search hard enough?' Wildly Sandra jerked away from him, her cheeks scarlet, her heart pounding nervously.

  'Unfortunately it's now too late,' he retorted dryly. 'She's gone to a higher bidder.'

  'How do you know that?' Sandra whispered, horrified. Suddenly, as if she no longer interested him, he let her go. 'Didn't he pay out five thousand for her?' he asked, insultingly. 'Men who part with that kind of money are not usually paupers.'

  Sandra's heart ached as she realised how Stein must be suffering. 'She might come back.'

  'It has been known,' he returned enigmatically, 'but that

  remains to be seen.'

  Did this mean he would welcome her? Mysteriously disconcerted, Sandra turned, groping for her wrap with numb fingers. There seemed nothing more to say.

  'You may go now,' he muttered magnanimously, with his uncanny perception of her every movement, 'but you'd better return in the morning! I must assure myself that you're familiar with all the arrangements for our departure on Friday. There are also several things still to see to.'

  'And if I refuse?' she challenged, while aware with a fatalistic feeling of defeat that she dared not.

  She couldn't tell if he sensed her ultimate surrender, she only heard the implacable ring to his parting words.

  'Whether you do or not is entirely up to you, but if you don't I'll see that you suffer! Not only you but Alexandra, too. You will find, my dear, that a blind man is just as capable of revenge as one who has unimpaired vision.'

  Sandra, who had never been abroad before, found the journey almost unbearably exciting, in spite of the tension still within her regarding her uneasy relationship with Stein. As she sat on the huge plane beside him, before they landed at Athens airport, she found herself nervously twisting the engagement ring she wore until it made a red mark on her finger.

  Almost as if he could actually see what she was doing, Stein moved his hand sideways to cover her own. 'We'll soon be down,' he said quietly. 'There's nothing to worry about, although I realise this is your first flight.'

  To hide her nervousness Sandra stared broodingly at their entwined hands. To the casual onlooker they must appear like absorbed lovers, but she knew this was far from the case. Stein, behind the dark glasses which he usually scorned, appeared so strong and. full of masculine vitality that he attracted a great deal of feminine attention, while Sandra, being by contrast slender and fair, had been surveyed contemplatively from several pairs of masculine eyes. None of this really bothered her, but Stein's hand over her own did. Yet she made no obvious effort to remove it, too aware of his terse impatience which seemed ever ready to scorch her most innocent action or remark.

  To avoid this as much as possible she had found herself agreeing to most things he had asked of her during the last few days, but she had rebelled against wearing Alexandra's ring. Pocketing her pride, she almost begged to be allowed to use, instead, a small eternity ring, one which her grandmother had given her on her last birthday. It wasn't expensive, but somehow it seemed much more endearing than Alexandra's huge diamond. 'Besides,' she had told Stein, 'it's far too valuable. 'I'd be worrying continually that I might lose it.'

  He had slipped the diamond ring into his pocket, as if it was of no consequence, and knowing of her cousin's expensive tastes, Sandra had wondered however Alexandra had managed to part with it. No doubt her new fiance must have given her something even more expensive. 'You're probably right,' Stein had shrugged. Then, not so carelessly, 'Though when the day does come that I really want to adorn your slender hand with something more valuable you'd better be prepared to accept it.'

  Sandra hadn't replied, simply because her pulse had been beating too fast and she couldn't visualise such a time coming. Between them, she acknowledged, was a kind of half-hidden, smouldering attraction but little sympathy. They struck too many sparks off each other. It made for the kind of discord which was far from soothing, especially as she was the one who must always give in! He would, she feared, impose his will entirely over hers if she gave him the chance. It was becoming, she suspected, an amusing game with him to taunt her beyond endurance, and this was one of the reasons why she had agreed to make an immediate start on his new book. It distracted him, giving him something to do other than to pander to the sometimes restless turbulence within him. They had, in fact, almost completed the first chapter which, when she read it back to him, had seemed to prove satisfactory.

  'We'll revise it on the island,' he said. 'I think it only needs a few alterations.' His firmly shaped mouth had twisted derisively. 'Do you know I've never worked with anyone like this before. I never really thought I would be able to. I did try

  with Alexandra--' He had broken off abruptly, as if reluctant

  to voice the opinion which hovered on his lips. Even so, Sandra had been unable to subdue a small glow of pleasure. Perhaps, if she could derive some satisfaction from helping him, she might forget the resentment she felt in being virtually blackmailed into going to Greece.

  She still wondered why she had gone back to the flat as he had commanded. It still remained a mystery why she had presented herself to him so humbly next day and allowed him to treat her like an inferior servant ever since. She shivered, her fingers tightening unconsciously within his large hand as she considered his treatment of her. Occasionally he could be almost civil, willing to talk of ordinary things, like the weather and various items of news from the radio, but mostly he only addressed her with orders to see
to this and that. There were jobs, she suspected, which irked him not being able to do himself, yet sometimes she was amazed by the number of things he had obviously taught himself to do. When, now and again, he carried his independence too far she had learnt not to rush immediately to his rescue. For then he would snarl at her or jerk her savagely to him, as if it would give him great pleasure to do her some actual physical injury.

  Later he might apologise, but not always, and as it seemed merely lip service when he did she preferred it when he remained darkly uncommunicative. It was as if he imagined, after Alexandra's defection, he owned Sandra body and soul, and she often felt tempted to remind him that Alexandra had only been engaged to him, nothing more binding.

  If she had thought the days before their departure to Greece would drag, she need not have worried. Stein kept her extremely busy. While she had impressed on him that she was not a properly trained secretary, he appeared to think she should be capable of almost anything, should she apply herself.

  'You're learning,' he had said grimly, as she escorted him halfway across London to see his publisher.

  'I think, under the circumstances, he could have come to you,' she had dared point out, her arm conscious of the hard pressure of his fingers. Stein refused to use a white stick, just as he usually declined to wear his dark glasses and, apart from his reliance on her long-suffering arm, managed very well.

  'You've nothing else to do,' he had replied curtly. 'And I pay you to help me. As we're supposed to be lovers people don't think anything of us walking arm in arm. It never occurs to them that I have anything wrong with me.'

  He hadn't seemed to remember that she was an absolute stranger to London and had no idea where to find many of the places he would suddenly demand to be taken to. Eventually she had given up trying and learnt to rely on the help of kindly taxi drivers. It was when Stein decided they should walk part of the way that she grew confused and had to bear the brunt of his sarcastic comments. Fortunately he could always manage to put her on the right path again, but she resented that he could make her feel so stupid.

  The telephone had proved almost more of an ordeal than these somewhat hazardous journeys. Stein, it would seem, had other interests besides writing, and people rang him continually. Sometimes she felt at her wits' end — not knowing what to say to those who wanted to speak to him urgently and whom, Stein assured her, he had no intention of bothering with until he returned from Greece.

  'I'll be back soon enough!' Arrogantly he waved aside her indignant reproaches. 'I'll be better able to deal with them then. There's nothing urgent. Don't push me, Sandra.'

  As if anyone could do that!' But they are colleagues,' she had protested, trying to recall even a few of the well- known names she had painstakingly written down.

  'Let them wait,' he had grunted indifferently. 'All in good time.'

  So she had grown quite clever at devising tactful little excuses, while Stein sat and listened, a sardonic smile on his face. Occasionally it felt more like a year than a week that she had worked for him.

  He rarely mentioned Alexandra, although sometimes, when Sandra objected weakly that he treated her like a slave, he would remind her that she was only compensating for her cousin's sins. That she must agree it was poetic justice that she should suffer along with him, and it was only by concentrating on pleasing him that she could hope to redeem herself. All of which proved cold comfort to Sandra, who despaired of his hard words, being already more than a little in love with him.

  Athens airport bewildered Sandra by its size and what seemed to her a great deal of noise and confusion.

  'Airports are much the same wherever you go,' Stein spoke in her ear cynically. 'The larger they are the worse they seem. You'd better get used to it.'

  Again she resented that he made her feel like a child and seemed to enjoy doing so. He made it sound as if she was earmarked for future journeys in his company, and reacting nervously she tugged away from his restraining hand.

  'Be still,' he said curtly. 'I'm forced to rely on you, damn you. You can't walk out on me here.'

  Shocked by his harsh exclamation, she went rigid, her face white.

  Immediately he felt it and must have guessed the reason for her cold tension. 'Forgive me,' he muttered formally, 'but you know I can't manage without you!'

  It might have been nice, she thought bitterly, glancing up at his closed face, if that had been uttered with even one twinge of pleading. The way Stein spoke it contained no warmth whatsoever. 'I don't intend you should have to,' she retorted with spirit, 'but sometimes I could discard you happily!'

  'Just be thankful we aren't alone,' he sneered, leaving her in little doubt as to his meaning. 'But I have a good memory.'

  Wondering miserably what to make of that, she dragged alongside him. He had their passports and, almost as if he could see, he had them quickly through Customs and was speaking to the porter with their luggage. Being able to travel first class had a lot going for it, Sandra decided dryly, as they were bowed into a taxi like royalty.

  Stein had said they could have flown straight to Corfu, where his grandmother lived, but he wanted to see a man in Athens, so they drove straight to Syntagma Square where some of the best hotels were to be found. On the way Sandra only had brief glimpses of the city, being relatively surprised when they reached their destination in one piece. The Greeks drove at an amazing and, to her, dangerous speed and didn't seem to know what it was to brake gently. Many times she wasliterally thrown against Stein, who patiently bore the weight of her startled body twice before advising her that she would be wiser to stay where she was if she wanted to escape undamaged. But to be held close to

  him like this seemed almost as dangerous, especially when his arm seemed to tighten more than necessary.

  The hotel was huge with marble floors, spacious rooms and a restful atmosphere and the manager greeted Stein personally, with an enthusiasm Sandra was beginning to recognise as typically Greek. On their way upstairs Stein mentioned casually that he stayed here quite often, though he just as often stayed with friends.

  They were led into a large, self-contained suite of two bedrooms and a lounge, the manager still hovering. Sandra had been surprised by the amount of discussion that had taken place at the desk when they had arrived, but as it had been in Greek, she hadn't understood a word of it.

  It was not until the manager was bowing his way out that she was enlightened. 'If this suite is not to your satisfaction, Mr. Freeman, you can still have the rooms you initially reserved, or another suite.'

  Her cheeks flushing, Sandra waited until the man was finally gone before speaking. 'Why did you change the reservations, Stein? Surely two rooms, side by side, would have been better?'

  He simply glanced at her and shrugged, his smile cruel as if he could see her embarrassed face. 'You should be able to dodge a blind man quite easily, thespinis,' he used the Greek word for Miss, mockingly. 'I decided this would be more convenient, that's all. Would you have me forever running next door, like a small child, perhaps losing my way?'

  She took no notice of his deliberate pathos. 'You know you wouldn't have done that. It seems so ridiculous when you'd already booked.'

  'Forget it,' he snapped, as if suddenly impatient and no longer willing to tolerate her complaints. 'That was when I expected your cousin would be with me.'

  'Do I not warrant the same — respect?' Sandra asked wildly.

  'No,' he replied, then, without further explanation, he turned from her to walk into his own room, adding distinctly before closing the door, 'I will need such assistance as befits a man in my condition, girl, and you'd better be prepared to give it without prattling on about your improbable humiliation.'

  Staring at his closed door, Sandra wondered despairingly if there was anything she could do about it. How would he expect her to help him other than in the way she was already doing? While she didn't mind so much running his errands, answering the telephone, doing his typing, anything more personal ca
used her to tremble. The thought of having to drape a shirt around those broad shoulders, of having to fasten it up against Stein's wide expanse of chest, was more than she dared think about. In how many ways, during the course of such ministrations, might she not betray herself? She could only derive a little comfort from the knowledge that while he often seemed to enjoy deliberately taunting her, he rarely carried out his threats to the letter.

  Her bedroom, she found, was comfortable and well furnished, but this scarcely registered as her resentment against Stein refused to be completely mollified. How dared he put her in such a position? Did he expect to come wandering in here while she undressed and bathed, pleading that he couldn't see? Hadn't he told her, on the plane, that his senses were now so acute that they transmitted almost as clear a picture as his eyes had once done. No, she would refuse to have him in here, refuse to do anything more for him at all than she was doing already.

  Yet, ten minutes later, she found herself hurrying automatically on hearing him call her name. To her surprise she found him showered and changed in a fresh shirt and light slacks, his thick hair brushed neatly against the strong lines of his well-shaped head. 'How did you manage?' she gasped, aware suddenly that apart from discarding her jacket she had done no more than sit on the edge of her bed.

  'I've told you, I've stayed here before,' he replied impatiently, 'and solving the mysteries of one suitcase was comparatively easy. You might have to find a few things for me later, though.

  Remember I didn't bring my valet.' 'Valet?'

  Stein laughed softly. 'You didn't know I had one in London, did you? Actually he just came for an hour, morning and

  evening, so you never met him.'

  'Alexandra never said ------ '

  'Because she never knew about him either,' Stein's voice deepened derisively. "I don't care that my women should know how helpless I really am.'