by Anne Hampson
'I want to go back to Greece, Mummy!' she whimpered, gripping her skirt but looking up at the woman with the frowsy hair. 'I don't like this house any more.'
'Hush, love.' Laura pushed her away and faced the estate agent. 'You say the contract's already signed, but what is the date of occupation?'
'Well… I haven't any idea—but my manager has. If you'd been in occupation, then there'd have been an agreed date for you to vacate the premises.'
'I see.' She was faintly calmer now. 'Well, Mr. Scott, you can take it that I am in occupation, because if you hadn't been here at this precise moment, I should have moved into my home, shouldn't I?'
'Er… yes, I suppose so,' he had to agree.
'Then I am asking you to take these people away until some date has been agreed for me to hand over the house.' Although pale, and inwardly quivering, she felt that at least she was giving herself a respite. What would be the final outcome she did not know, but for a week at least she and Mandy had somewhere to lay their heads.
'I won't agree to this woman's idea of staying in our property!' said the woman in a harsh and grating tone. 'I demand that you get her away, and those suitcases along with her!'
'Mummy, what's the matter?' Mandy's face was wet with tears. 'Why is that lady telling us to go? It's our house!' she cried, the big brown eyes flashing with temper. 'You go away! We don't want you in our house, so go on, through that door!'
'Mandy, dear, please be quiet. Mummy will sort this out.' She looked at the agent again. 'Please take them away,' she requested quietly. 'I shall call your office in the morning after I have seen my solicitor.' She stood aside but no one moved. 'I am not being driven from my home,' she stated, and the emphasis in her voice was certainly noted by Mr. Scott. 'Possession will be given if, as you say, the contract is binding. But immediate possession certainly will not be given… nor can it be claimed.'
'You weren't here!' began the man but Mr. Scott raised a silencing hand.
'We must leave,' he said. 'This lady has the right of possession until a mutual arrangement is agreed as to the date your son and his wife take over.'
'But—'
'It's the law, Mr. Pemberton, so please don't cause any further unpleasantness. Come along and we'll talk in the office.'
The woman passed Laura first, her eyes bulging more than ever. Her husband glowered at Laura too, while Mr. Scott went past her without even a glance. With a sigh of relief Laura closed the door and slipped the bolt into place as an added security. She sagged against it and shut her eyes.
'Are you crying, Mummy?' Mandy's eyes were brimming with tears, and as she heard the sob in her voice, Laura felt as if her heart would break.
'What have I done?' she whispered convulsively. 'Oh, God, what have I done?'
'I want my daddy!'
'Take your coat off, darling.' Laura's nerves were tight and she hoped again that Mandy was not going to give her trouble.
'I don't want to stay!'
'We have to stay for a little while.'
'And then can we go back to Daddy?' Mandy had stopped crying but tears sparkled on her lashes. On impulse Laura bent down, hugged her to her breast, and kissed her pale cheek.
'It's going to be all right soon,' she promised, marvel-ling that she could produce a smile. 'Just be a good little girl for me and then you will see—we shall be very happy.'
Mandy opened her mouth, then closed it again. It was an hour later when, after having to rush out to buy food and other necessities from the late-closing supermarket, Laura was standing by Mandy's bed, that the little girl said, 'We're never going to see Daddy again, are we?'
'Darling—'
'I know we're not…' Mandy slid down beneath the covers and buried her face in the pillow.
It was almost ten o'clock when, having at last got Mandy to sleep and unpacked the suitcases, Laura sat down to a supper of salad and cheese, for although she had no appetite, she felt she must eat something. Mandy had had a snack earlier but at that time Laura had even less stomach for food than she had now.
She was just finishing the salad when the loud ringing of the doorbell made her jump. Frowning, she got up, dismissing the idea that it could be Paul, because there was no flight he could have taken that would bring him here that quickly. That he would eventually come she had no doubt, but she had her answer ready. She would not come back to him because she did not love him and never could. She was still in love with Phil and would marry him just as soon as Paul agreed to divorce her. Perhaps he would not believe her; perhaps he would cause a scene. But Laura would cross those bridges when she came to them. One thing was for sure: nothing would induce her to return to Crete and put her husband in danger.
'You!' she was exclaiming when, having opened the door, she saw Phil standing there on the step. 'But how—what—?' She broke off, floundering.
'I saw the light and wondered if there'd been a break-in. I had taken a short cut—' It was Phil's turn to stop. 'What are you doing here, anyway? You and your husband over on a visit?'
She shook her head, and opened the door wider. 'Won't you come in, Phil? I'm quite alone… except for Mandy.'
'Alone?' He stared at her bewilderedly.
'Come in and I'll explain.' She had not imagined that she could be this glad to see the man who had let her down so badly. But his very presence was a balm; she wanted to talk to someone, for the silence had been driving her mad, the silence and the merciless intrusion of one anxious thought after another until her head seemed to be filled with hammers and she could almost have screamed.
'Sit down,' she invited when he was in the living room. 'Sorry I haven't anything to offer you—not even a glass of sherry.'
'I'll have a cup of coffee if you're making one, but no hurry.' His eyes were on her, fixing her gaze. She asked him again to sit down, which he did. 'What's gone wrong?' he wanted to know. 'Why are you here with Mandy? Where's Paul?'
'I've left him.' She moved towards the kitchen. 'I'll make the coffee,' she said. 'I've just had a snack and could do with a drink after it.' She disappeared and he rose and followed, to stand in the doorway leaning on the jamb, one hand thrust into his jacket pocket.
'Left?' he echoed incredulously. 'Are you serious?'
'I'd not joke about a thing like that.' Turning, she picked up the kettle to fill it. It had been left behind, luckily.
'When did this happen?'
'We arrived about three hours ago.'
'I thought this place was up for sale.'
'It was. It's now been sold.' She switched on the kettle and reached for the coffee. 'The people who've bought it wanted to take over at once—when they saw me, that was.' She dropped two coffee bags in the pot, which had also been left behind.
'I don't understand? If this place is sold—'
'Sit down, Phil. I'll explain everything over a cup of coffee.' She hadn't meant to be impatient but nervous tension was causing her to act out of character.
'I'm almost out of my mind,' she was saying finally, after she had spent ten minutes or so explaining all that had happened.
Phil drained his coffee cup and leant forward to put it on the table. 'Are you telling me you left your husband for a reason like that?' he queried at last.
'It's serious, Phil. I should have thought I'd put that over to you.'
'The only thing you've put over to me is that you're not right in the head. Never have I known you to act irrationally but this—' He broke off and spread his hands. 'The whole thing's so crazy it's unbelievable.'
'My husband would have been in danger—maimed, perhaps, and you say I've acted irrationally? Why, it was the only sensible way to deal with the situation!' Her eyes flashed indignantly and colour had fused her cheeks. 'The only sensible way!' she repeated with emphasis.
'The only sensible way was to go to your husband, tell him the whole, and let him decide what to do.' Phil looked at her as he had never looked at her before. 'If I were your husband I'd tan your backside for doing a thing
like this!' Sternness tightened his mouth and lent a forbidding aspect to his eyes. 'Do you suppose he's going to read that note, tell himself that it's all over, toss the note into the wastepaper basket, and forget he was ever married to you?' Phil shook his head in a gesture of asperity. 'What in heaven's name got into you, Laura?'
She frowned, frustrated that she could not convince him of the seriousness of the situation. 'It so happens that I now love my husband,' she began.
He interrupted her to say laconically, 'I have already gathered that. If it were otherwise you'd not have put yourself into such a panic, allowed yourself to be motivated by fear and the threats of some jealousy-crazed woman into running from your husband and your home. What exactly were your plans once you'd come here, bringing Mandy with you?'
'I haven't any plans as to a home now, but I feel I might get my job back. It was a blow to find that this place has been sold. I'll have to try to rent something.'
'Make some more coffee,' he recommended, his voice curt with impatience. 'Black—we both need it!'
She rose, but on reaching the kitchen door she turned. 'What makes you so troubled anyway? It's my affair entirely.'
'Yes, it's your affair,' he agreed, 'but, Laura, you and I have been very good friends, and although I was mad at you for not falling in with my way of thinking about marriage, I'm not the fellow to bear a grudge and say gloatingly that all this was coming to you, that it serves you right. No, I still admire you—' He stopped and drew an impatient breath. 'No, I'm damned if I admire you at this moment, because you're a fool! However, I'm still your friend and I feel I have a duty to help you.'
'In what way, Phil? Can you think of any possible way out of this sale—of my house, I mean?' Laura moved into the kitchen.
'Forget the house!' he exploded. 'Your place is with your husband, and I'm going to take you right back—'
'Never! If that is your idea of help, of friendship, then I don't think much of it! I shall never go back and put Paul in danger!'
'If he was in danger, then he's in danger now, you idiot! He's still Irene's relative.'
In the act of filling the kettle again she put it down with a little bang. 'I never thought of that,' she whispered fearfully.
'You never thought of anything from what I can gather,' he said disparagingly. 'Do you know, Laura, I'm beginning to think I had a very narrow escape. You haven't a brain in your head!'
'If you can do nothing but insult me,' she seethed, 'then you can—'
'I haven't any intention of going, so you can hold your tongue! If I have to stay here all night, I intend to make you see sense.' He had come to the door again and was standing as before. 'Do you realise you haven't one thread of proof that these Greek brothers intend to do anyone any harm other than Irene? She's the one meriting punishment—according to their doctrine. And do you suppose they would hurt a little child?'
'Marilyn convinced me, and she should know because she herself is a believer in the vendetta.'
'Rubbish! It's all too farfetched for anything but treating with the derision it deserves.' Impatiently he moved into the other room again.
'You forget, Phil, that Paul was troubled about what might happen to Irene.'
'To Irene, yes! I've heard of the vendetta and at one time these rules this old flame of Paul's mentions probably existed, but I won't believe that in this day and age such barbarian practises exist. What about the police?'
'It's said they try to stamp it out but they have to proceed cautiously.'
'Well, according to you they might not proceed at all!'
Laura sighed and made another pot of coffee. 'We don't seem to be getting anywhere,' she said plaintively. 'I had hoped you'd be able to conjure up some practical way of helping me.' Picking up the coffeepot, she carried it into the other room. Phil was by the window; he had pulled back the curtain and was looking down into the attractive thoroughfare of South Berkeley Mews.
'The only way, which also happens to be the most practical, is for you to return to your husband. You have no right to rob Mandy of a father.'
Laura's glance was swift and accusing. 'You've changed your tune! It's not so long since you'd have robbed her of both parents!'
'Let's not stir up mud that's settled.' He swung around impatiently. 'Laura, you must go back! Do you hear me?'
'Never,' she returned briefly.
'Then tell me, what are you intending to do?'
'Try for my old job, and if that should fail, I feel sure I can get a similar one, having worked for David Hendrick. As for somewhere to live…' Her voice trailed and Phil recognised the signs. She had been holding up, putting on an act which was all bravado, and now she was almost at breaking point, just as she had been on his arrival.
'You have somewhere to live. You have a home.'
'For a couple of weeks at most,' she said.
'Don't play games,' he snapped. 'You know damned well what I mean!'
'This is the only home I have.' Angrily she brushed a hand over her eye, and Phil looked at her perceptively.
'Crying won't help you much,' he said brusquely. 'It's action you want, my girl!'
'Your coffee's getting cold,' she said and he sank into the low armchair beside which was a small occasional table on which Laura had placed his coffee.
But he did not take it up; he sat staring at her in thoughtful silence, noticing the dark smudges beneath those pure sapphire eyes, eyes which themselves seemed faintly darker because of the anxiety and distress that lay within their depths. He sighed heavily, wondering if there was any way he could get her husband's telephone number out of her. Then something made him say, 'Does Paul know you love him?'
'He might have guessed.'
'You've not told him?'
She shook her head. 'I believed I was still in love with you,' was her candid rejoinder.
'And I suppose you were the honest little wife and told him so?'
'Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.'
'You're a bigger fool than I thought.'
She moved restlessly. 'Can we keep to the important things?' she begged. 'Phil, there must be some way of my being able to hold on to my home.' She paused but he seemed too impatient to pass comment. 'Have you any ideas?' she persisted.
'Just one.' Paul's voice was brusque.
'I can't go back,' she began. 'I'm not taking any risks with my husband's safety.'
'Do you suppose he's going to take this lying down?'
'Oh, I expect he'll come—'
'He's probably on his way now,' interrupted Phil in a warning voice, but Laura was shaking her head.
'There isn't a plane he can get.'
'There's no difficulty in chartering a private plane.'
'He'll not do that,' stated Laura with conviction, 'not after the note I left.'
He fixed her gaze curiously. 'You mentioned the note, but you didn't say what was in it.'
She told him, heard the low-toned expletive which was followed by a long silence.
'Tell me,' he said at last, 'did you assume, when you left that note, that Paul would believe what it contained?'
'I hoped he would.'
'But you are not convinced,' was his immediate and sceptical observation. 'Mark my words, he'll be over here in quick time.'
'I've just admitted that I'm expecting him to come.'
Phil looked at her curiously. 'Aren't you afraid?'
'No, of course not.' But she went a trifle pale. 'He can't kill me.'
'Greeks are unpredictable, my dear, especially the Cretans… even those who don't believe in the vendetta. Paul will most likely half kill you, and I must say I wouldn't blame him.'
'Kindly don't be personal!' she flashed.
'And you don't be trite,' he chided. 'When Paul does come,' he continued after a moment of thought, 'what are you going to say to him?'
'I have an answer ready…' Her voice trailed away to silence. She decided not to tell Phil of her plan for putting her husband off. However, Phil was certain
ly not to be put off, and his manner was surprisingly domineering as he asked her to go on with what she had begun to say. She frowned and shook her head, saw him ease himself from the depth of the armchair and advance slowly towards her. His voice was unexpectedly low and threatening when he spoke, and she was confronted with the humiliating knowledge that he was treating her like a naughty child who needed chastisement.
'Laura, I've been exceptionally patient with you up till now, but if you don't finish what you were saying, I'll shake you until you do. You've made more than enough mistakes already, and if I'm to help you, then I must know everything.'
She coloured and paused, but presently gave a shrug of resignation and began, 'I shall tell him that what I put in the note was true. I shall say I still love you and want a divorce so that we can be married. I might even own to using him so that I could adopt Mandy…' Her blush deepened at his astounded and disgusted expression, and she hastily averted her face. 'That should convince him, and make him agree to a divorce. No man with any pride at all would hold on to a woman who had freely confessed that she was in love with another man and wanted her freedom so she could marry him, would he, Phil?' Tears were stinging her eyes at the thought of what she intended doing to the man she loved. He would hate her, not ever knowing that she was making a sacrifice that was crucifying her.
'What will help'—she quivered, rising from the chair without knowing why—'is that, all along, I've been telling him I can never love him.' She swayed beneath the impact of her own heartbreaking emotions, and Phil, thinking she was about to faint, went to her in a couple of swift strides and caught her by the arms. On impulse she buried her face in his coat and gave herself up to an abandonment of tears. But she soon recovered. 'Oh, Phil, I…' Slowly her voice failed.