South of Mandraki

by Anne Hampson

  ‘A Greek girl’s chief aim in life is to marry and have children.’

  After a little silence Toni voiced her thoughts as she marvelled at his calm acceptance of the situation.

  ‘You seem so understanding, Daros. Aren’t you angry with Julia?’

  His mouth set grimly.

  ‘I was at first,’ he admitted reflectively. ‘But then that part of me that is English came to the fore. I found to my surprise that I felt tolerant, and I was also realistic. Life for these young girls going out into the world, as they do when they go to university, is so vastly different from the restrictive environment of a normal Greek home. They suddenly find themselves free, free to fall in love, which in ordinary circumstances they would never do -unless they were fortunate enough to do so after marriage. These girls, hitherto protected by their fathers and brothers, have no armour; they’re innocent and inexperienced.’ He spoke softly, his voice warm and compassionate. Toni could only stare, speechless ... and feeling somehow ashamed. Troublesome recollections included his concern for the children’s welfare, his generosity towards Pam, and even his perplexity as to the reason why his wife should be going out of her way to make his life unpleasant. What a lot she was learning about her husband! If only she had met the ‘real’ Daros sooner. She knew now that he had a reason for his denunciation of English women. Perhaps at that time the wound left by his association with Olivia was open, and smarting. Olivia. . . How far had the reunion progressed? Disinclined to dwell on this, Toni cast it from her thoughts.

  ‘You said just now that no other man would marry Julia. But supposing someone fell in love with her and she returned his love?’

  ‘He wouldn’t want to marry her, once he knew the truth. And he would have to know it for it would be disastrous for a girl in Julia’s position to marry without making a full confession. Her husband could divorce her immediately, and probably would.’

  ‘Not if he loved her! ’ exclaimed Toni in a pained sort of voice. ‘This insistence on chastity dies hard, and that’s why Julia is fortunate indeed to have a man with Stephanos’s understanding fall in love with her. I honestly don’t believe it could happen a second time, so she’ll be wise to take what is offered.’ An impatient shake of Toni’s head gave evidence of her feelings. She veered the subject, desiring an answer to the question that was causing Julia so much anxiety.

  ‘Will Stephanos expect a confession from Julia herself?’

  ‘I said he was a good man, and I think you’ll agree with me when I say that, should Julia confess, he’ll forgive her, but should she remain silent he’ll not blame her, nor will she ever know that I have given away her secret.’

  ‘Yes, he does seem to be a good man,’ Toni had to admit. And she added curiously, ‘Why did you never mention it to Julia?’

  ‘I couldn’t see what good it would do. Julia would never have felt comfortable in my presence again. I’m very fond of her, Toni, and strain in our relationship would not be pleasant for either of us.’

  For a long while after he left her Toni dwelt on their conversation, and on her husband’s tolerance and understanding of his sister’s indiscretion. She would never have believed it

  possible. Harsh judgement and condemnation seemed far more in keeping with the man whom Toni had married. The man she had married.... Daros had remarked that she was not the girl he had married, but neither was this new Daros the man she had married.

  Toni’s thoughts reverting to Julia, she felt relieved that, should that vexatious question be put to her again, she could proffer advice to her sister-in-law.

  And the question was put, with the same anguish and accompanied by tears of distress.

  ‘I should tell him, definitely,’ returned Toni without the slightest hesitation. ‘I’m sure he’ll forgive you.’

  ‘You’re—’ The tears ceased as Julia stared at her.

  ‘What makes you say that? You haven’t ever met Stephanos.’

  ‘He wants to marry you, Julia ... and that could be because he loves you.’

  ‘He’s never said he does.’

  ‘Has he had the opportunity?’ she asked, and at that Julia shook her head.

  ‘No, he hasn’t, because we’ve never been alone.’

  Toni smiled.

  ‘Well, why don’t you wait until you are alone, and then you might find out he wants to marry you for love.’ She saw the last of the tears wiped away; saw a timid smile appear on the Greek girl’s lovely face.

  ‘I never thought of that,’ confessed Julia, uncertainty mingled with a new hope in her voice. ‘Do you really believe, Toni, that -if he does love me - he’ll overlook what I’ve done?’

  ‘I’m sure he will,’ and she immediately added, ‘But, Julia, you must make up your mind never to see Costas again.’

  Vigorously Julia shook her head, contrition in her eyes.

  ‘Never! Oh, Toni, I wonder if you’re right! It would be such a relief if Stephanos did still want to marry me after - after he knows?’ She looked up, her eyes once more becoming bright. ‘You see, I should hate Daros to learn of my wickedness. He’s kind, as I’ve already said, but that is something he would not forgive. He’d be finished with me for ever.’

  So even Julia did not really know her brother....

  ‘Could you fall in love with Stephanos?’ she inquired curiously, and a small silence ensued before Julia spoke.

  ‘Perhaps - after I’ve forgotten Costas.’ She nodded thoughtfully. ‘Yes, I think I could fall in love with Stephanos.’ Julia managed a smile. ‘I’ll try - because he’s a good man, as my brother says.’

  Then there might be a happy ending after all. Toni fervently hoped so. But what of herself? she wondered dismally. Her yearning for perfect harmony in her relationship with her husband could only be the product of love, and on the wake of this admission came fear. Would Daros ever love her? Toni could not visualize such a possibility and she saw her future only as a bleak and lonely path of unfulfilled desire.

  CHAPTER NINE

  WITH his customary efficiency Daros soon had the arrangements for the transfer of the house under way; but in the meantime Pam had the key and often she and Toni would take the narrow path up the hillside and spend an hour discussing colour schemes or measuring up for curtains and carpets. Fully recovered, Pam was soon to go to England and attend to the packing and shipping of her furniture. The children were all models of politeness and good behaviour and yet there was no sign of their spirits having been broken, as Toni had so pettishly declared they would be. George Tarsouli, the handsome photographer friend of Daros, had returned to Lindos and Pam’s post was assured - at a salary that made her eyes open wide.

  ‘My luck’s changed at last. I still can’t believe all this is happening to me!’ It was evening, and Daros had walked up the hill with them, mainly to survey the garden, which was large and sheltered, and very much overgrown, the house having been unoccupied for more than a year. They were all seated on the patio, which was the only part of the house that was furnished, the pretty set of wicker chairs and the matching table being a housewarming present from Julia who, having seen the set in Rhodes, decided it was just what Pam would need for her patio. The carpets were to be a present from Daros, and there were other items to come from Margharita and her mother, to say nothing of

  Toni’s present, an inlaid antique bureau which Pam had admired when in Rhodes with Toni and Daros. She must have it, Daros had said later. He would help Toni to pay for it. And although Pam had protested strongly to all this present-buying she had been told not to argue. It was the custom, her brother-in-law said, for the whole family to buy presents for the one moving into a new home. ‘I don’t know whether I’m on my head or my heels,’ Pam went on, gazing down to the view below. White houses gleaming on the hillside as they caught the slanting rays of a swiftly-dying sun; the temple on the headland, the limpid waters of the Bay of St Paul, and in the fading light a lonely fishing-boat beyond the silent water’s edge. ‘I feel I must wake up
shortly,’ breathed Pam, looking a little self-consciously from Daros to her sister.

  Toni was happy for her. The struggles were all over, thanks to Daros - to his generosity and the subtle way he had conducted all these proceedings so that Pam had no idea of the extent of that generosity. He was a wonderful person, Toni thought with a certain pride, but although he was kind to everyone else, his manner towards his wife remained cool and polite, and although no violent scene ever took place between them now there were no demonstrations of affection either.

  ‘Let’s hope the reality will be just as pleasant as the dream,’ remarked Daros with a smile as he watched Toni pouring coffee from a flask she had brought with her. ‘You’ll feel better still when all your things are in and you’ve got the house just as you want it.’

  ‘And the garden straightened up,’ supplemented Toni, passing him his cup.

  ‘I’ve been taking a good look at it. You’ll not be able to manage it. I’ll get one of our gardeners to come up once or twice a week.’

  Our gardeners.... Toni looked swiftly at him. He had not said anything like that before.

  ‘No, Daros, I can’t let you pay for my gardening to be done,’ protested Pam. ‘In any case, I’ll enjoy doing it myself because I’ve never had a garden before.’

  ‘The gardeners haven’t enough to do—’ He broke off as Pam shook her head, in an apologetic and pleading gesture. He saw that her pride was involved and did not pursue the matter beyond a firm statement that initially the garden must be put in order by his men, after which it would not be too difficult to manage.

  A silence came over them then as they sat drinking their coffee, on the patio of the empty house. The air around them was also hushed, with only the occasional noise of a cicada in the silver-grey foliage of the olive tree, or the tinkling of sheep-bells on the hillside. Gradually the crimson flame of the sunset merged into a deep bronze as the last small arc of the sun faltered on the brink of a rolling earth. A purple veil dropped over the bronze and in that balmy fleeting twilight the little house seemed to fall into a magic slumber, while the people on the patio stirred and murmured and suddenly came awake.

  ‘It’s time we were locking up and going home.’ Daros eased his tall body out of the chair and stood waiting for the girls to take the cups and saucers into the house. Then he secured the windows and shutters and finally locked the door. A gentle breeze came up, giving a timid swell to the sea and stirring the palm fronds against the velvet of a nocturnal sky. Exotic perfumes drifted into an atmosphere of oriental mystery as the overshadowed moon came into its own and sprayed the heat-exhaling earth with silvered luminescence.

  ‘I love the evenings and nights here,’ breathed Pam, stepping in front as the path became too narrow for the three of them to walk abreast.

  ‘So do I,’ murmured Toni. ‘They’re so warm and soft and ... romantic.’ Involuntarily she glanced up; dark eyes looked down into hers and she blushed. Her husband’s expression changed from sardonic amusement to puzzlement. With a wholly unexpected gesture he dropped a hand on to her shoulder and she quivered under his touch. A little cluster of palms fringing the path blanked out the moon and in the sudden moment of shade he bent and kissed her lips.

  For days she remembered that kiss, one moment attaching tremendous importance to it and the next chiding herself for her foolishness. ‘But that kiss was different,'' she would whisper. ‘It’s not like those others, when he makes me feel I’m no more than a possession.’

  But as if to settle her uncertainty she herself saw Daros out with Olivia. She had gone with Pam into Rhodes, Pam desiring to buy a few small presents to take home to her parents and brother. Toni had already bought hers and they were wrapped and ready for Pam to take.

  ‘I think that’s all,’ decided Pam as she watched the embroidery she had bought being parcelled up by a smiling Greek assistant. ‘Mum will be delighted with these cloths.’

  ‘Might as well have lunch here,’ suggested Toni. ‘How about the harbour cafe? We can eat outside.’

  And it was while they were sitting there, watching the passers-by while waiting for their lunch to be served, that Pam uttered the stifled little gasp which brought Toni’s head up with a jerk. Following the direction of her sister’s unbelieving gaze Toni saw her husband and Olivia enter the splendid new restaurant that looked out on to the prettiest view of the harbour.

  Turning, Pam noticed Toni’s flushed face, and the almost childish quiver of her lips.

  ‘Is that Olivia?’ Pam’s voice was husky with disappointment. ‘I can’t believe it - not of your husband!’ Her eyes shaded; she glanced across at the restaurant again. ‘There can’t be anything in it, Toni,’ she added in a soothing tone that carried little weight.

  ‘I expect it’s Olivia. I’ve never met her.’

  ‘You said she was an old flame of his,’ ventured Pam hesitantly. And, as Toni made no response she added, ‘You hinted once at some mystery connected with your meeting with Daros, and said you’d tell me about it some other time.’

  A small hesitation, and then,

  ‘He rescued me from a murderer.’

  Slowly Pam came forward in her chair.

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘It’s true— But you must never mention it to Mum and Dad, and certainly not to Hugh. Promise?’

  ‘You’re serious?’ Pam could only frown and stare, disbelief in her eyes.

  ‘Quite serious.’ Toni’s gaze wandered to the restaurant across the way. Were they in some secluded and intimate corner? - happy at being together, and all their differences forgotten? With a grim determination Toni shifted her gaze and looked at Pam, as if by so doing she could forget her husband was so near, preferring another woman’s company to hers. ‘I’ll tell you all about it,’ she offered, ‘but only when you’ve promised not to mention it to anyone else in the family.’

  ‘I promise - but—’

  ‘It was the vendetta,'' began Toni, and proceeded to relate the whole story to her sister, feeling a certain release of tension once her narrative was under way.

  ‘It sounds like something out of one of these farfetched murder films!’ gasped Pam when the story came to an end. ‘How very terrible for you ... and us at home all oblivious of your danger. They must be barbarians on that island!’

  ‘No, they’re not,’ Toni denied quickly. ‘This custom is strong only in a few remote villages, and the people genuinely feel they are doing a duty. They don’t consider these killings as murder. It’s most extraordinary.’

  ‘It certainly is.’ Pam leant back in her chair again as the waiter appeared with their food. ‘So it’s one of those marriages,’ she murmured in accents of perception.

  ‘It was at first, but it isn’t now.’

  ‘But—’ Pam broke off, bewildered. ‘You’ve fallen in love with one another?’ A vague sort of question; and a blank expression before Pam’s eyes flickered automatically to the restaurant across the way.

  ‘Nothing so romantic,’ replied Toni with bitterness. ‘Daros doesn’t love me at all.’

  ‘But, Toni, he wouldn’t - wouldn’t. ...’ She tailed off, embarrassed, and Toni said with a twist of her lips,

  ‘He would, Pam. You don’t know that side of him—’ She stopped, ashamed and contrite. That monster jealousy would have put misleading words into her mouth. ‘I suppose I must tell you all,’ she said after only the slightest hesitation.

  ‘You mean there’s more?’

  ‘Much more.’ Toni complemented what she had already revealed, and when at last she stopped Pam just stared at her incredulously.

  ‘Toni, you must have been quite mad to have surmised that Daros would be as easy as that to handle.’

  ‘Why?’ Toni eyed her curiously.

  ‘You’ve only to take one look at him. A man with a chin and jaw like that won’t be told what to do!’

  ‘I suppose I was so furious at what I’d heard that I never gave a thought to the possibility of resistance from Da
ros.’

  ‘You must have been crazy - or blind. I’d never even have been crazy - or blind. I’d never even have attempted to cross a man like Daros. I’d have known at once he wouldn’t ever stand for it.’ Toni fell silent, brooding on her numerous mistakes, and Pam asked a little doubtfully if Daros had really said all those detestable things about English girls.

  ‘He did,’ replied Toni in accents of grim denunciation.

  ‘He couldn’t have meant them,’ returned Pam emphatically. ‘Otherwise I wouldn’t be here, would I? Just think what he’s done for me —’ She gestured with her hands. ‘No, he didn’t mean them. Perhaps some English girl has let him down at one time or another ...’ She threw a swift, comprehending glance in Toni’s direction. ‘Olivia?’

  Toni nodded, and repeated all she had overheard in the conversation between Evyania and Daros at the dinner party, adding that she knew nothing about the actual offence, as this was not mentioned.

  ‘I think Olivia somehow managed to get her hands on money of his,’ she added, ‘and he would naturally be furious at being duped. However, he seems to have forgiven her now.’ Which is more than he has done in my case, thought Toni, a little clot of misery gathering in her throat. But then he’d been in love With Olivia — the girl who left Toni far behind both in beauty and in sex-appeal. ‘Being sorry certainly worked in her case,’ Toni ended on a note of despair.

  ‘Are you sorry for all you’ve done?’

  ‘Of course I’m sorry.’

  ‘You could tell him that,’ suggested Pam.

  ‘Not now. It’s too late, you must see that.’

  ‘Didn’t you ever think of it before?’

  ‘Yes - and I also toyed with the idea of telling him the whole, but by that time Olivia was ringing him up and I didn’t think he’d be interested. I wasn’t going to make a fool of myself.’ She picked up her knife and fork. ‘Let’s eat and forget it.’ Bouzouki music blared forth from inside the cafe, coming from the radio; tourists in bright attire strolled along the waterfront, gazing seawards to the two graceful cruise ships laying at anchor some way out. They had poured their voyagers into the town of Rhodes for a few hours’ sightseeing before taking them on to other islands.