by Anne Weale
"No ... no," she said quickly, "I don't mind." And she picked up her bag and rose, anxious to leave with all speed.
"Where are you going? Why aren't we coming?" asked Cathy.
Nicholas moved round the table, and put his hand under her chin, tilting her face up to his.
"You're not very good at keeping secrets, are you?" he said softly.
"W-what do you mean?" Cathy stammered.
"You told Wallace about us ... about Lucia and me."
Her pretty face drained of all colour. She looked guilty and frightened, and then appealing. Clearly, she was terrified that he was going to tell Grant the truth - that she was a liar and a cheat.
Beside them, Lucia held her breath. She felt no pity for Cathy. If he did, it was no less than her sister deserved. But, for his sake, she prayed he would not. If he vented his feelings now, in front of them all, it would intensify his humiliation later on.
To her infinite relief, Nicholas's command of himself was not yet strained to its limit. He released Cathy's chin and stepped back. "It doesn't matter," he said, shrugging. "Are you ready, Lucia ? Shall we go ?"
Her haste to get away made Lucia clumsy. As she walked out of the place ahead of him, she bumped against a chair and dropped her bag. He took a swift stride forward, and bent to retrieve it.
"Thank you," she murmured huskily.
He paid the bill, and had a brief exchange with the proprietor in Greek. Then, at last, they were safely outside in the darkness of the narrow street.
"Are those shoes comfortable? Can you walk a short distance?" he asked, in a level voice.
She nodded and, side by side, they began to walk away from the restaurant. When they had gone a little way, he halted for a moment. In the brief flare of matchlight, she saw that his hand was so unsteady that he had difficulty in touching the flame to the tip of his cigarette.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Her heart contracted with compassion for him. She would have given anything to be able to help him, to offer some comfort. But all she could do was to relieve him of her company as soon as possible.
So she said, in a brisk, flat tone, "I feel rather tired. If you could put me in a taxi, I'll go back to the house, and go to bed early."
Nicholas did not answer. But presently they came to one of the busy thoroughfares where it was not long before he was able to hail an empty cab.
Lucia expected him to say goodnight then and there. When he followed her into the taxi, she said, "Oh, please ... it isn't necessary for you to come with me. If you'd just tell the man the address ..."
"I want to come." He spoke to the driver, then settled back in his corner, and turned his face to the window.
It was some time before she realized that they were not on the way back to the house. She glanced at Nicholas, but he was still staring out of the window, and all she could see of his face was the line of his temple and cheek. She did not understand why he had not seized the chance to be rid of her, but she decided not to say anything.
When the taxi stopped, she saw that they were at the entrance to some public gardens. Nicholas helped her out of the car, and paid the driver. Then, his hand under her elbow, he led her into the park.
There were a number of people strolling about the main avenues, but he followed a path which led to a deserted part of the gardens, and to a fountain pool ringed by a paved walk. There, without speaking, he sat down on a marble bench, and lit another cigarette. This time his hand was steady, but she could tell by the way he smoked that his nerves were still taut.
It took her some minutes to brace herself to break the silence. In a low voice, she said diffidently, "Nicholas ... I'm so sorry."
He was watching the falling water, and she thought he had not heard her, or was deliberately ignoring her.
Then he turned his head, and looked at her. "Are you, Lucia ? I should have thought you would be delighted."
"Oh, no, how can you say that?" she protested distressfully. "I know I opposed you at the beginning, but that was a long time ago. I never would have wished for this to happen."
"I was afraid it wouldn't."
"What?" She could not believe she had heard him correctly.
"I was afraid it wouldn't happen," he repeated calmly. He dropped his cigarette and ground it under his heel. Then he took off his jacket. "Here - you'd better put this on, or you may get chilled." He draped it round her shoulders. "In my opinion, Cathy and young Wallace are very well suited," he went on. "I believe she is genuinely fond of him."
"But you love -you want her."
"My dear girl, it wouldn't worry me if I never saw her again. Had it not been for the fact that I had to see her to see you, your sister and I would have parted company after a couple of dates."
"What?" she exclaimed, for the second time. "Oh, Nicholas, you don't mean that. You don't have to pretend to me. I know you love her. I heard you say so to Sofia."
"You heard..." he began, frowning at her. "What is all this? What d'you mean?"
She told him, and saw his frown clear. To her amazement, he laughed.
"Great Scott!" he said, grasping her hands. "This has been a tangled web, hasn't it? You little goose - it was you I was talking about. Cathy was 'the fly in the ointment'. Cathy was the maddening stumbling block. But for her, and your stubborn, misguided loyalty to her, I would have asked you to marry me long before this." His fingers tightened. "Don't you understand? - 1 love you, Lucia Gresham."
For an instant, it seemed to Lucia that she might be either mad or dreaming. Perhaps she had drunk too much wine, and the night air had made her intoxicated. Perhaps she was ill, and this was some kind of delirium.
"You do love me, don't you?" asked Nicholas.
And then, without waiting for her answer, he pulled her into his arms, and kissed her.
There web nothing dream-like about his lass. It was even more shattering than that other one, on the day of the picnic on the island. And this time, when it was over, he did not thrust her away, but merely slackened his hold a little.
"Yes, you love me," he said, with a smile in his voice. "It's no use denying now, my darling. You've committed yourself. You can't say you don't like me now - not after that demonstration."
She said, in a small, breathless voice, "I've always liked you - well, almost always. I-I found I couldn't help myself."
"You did a good job of hiding it," said Nicholas dryly. "There were moments when you almost convinced me. I never had any doubts about attracting you - but love is another kettle of fish."
Lucia drew back and stared at him. "You never doubted that you attracted me? Oh, of all the arrogant—"
"Isn't it true ?" he cut in.
"Certainly not," she retorted.
"I was always attracted to you," he replied imperturbably. "I wanted to do this" - kissing her neck - "the second time we met. If you're honest, you felt the same way. Oh, you would have pretended otherwise. I daresay you would have hit me, or kicked my shins. But, deep down, you would have enjoyed it as much as I would."
"In that case, I wonder you didn't try it, instead of only threatening to," said Lucia, recovering her spirit. "You told me often enough that I wanted you to kiss me, but you never actually tested your theory. At least, not until that day on the little island."
"Yes - and what a fiasco that was," he commented wryly. "The moment I touched you, you froze. You were as unresponsive as a statue."
"Well, for one thing, no one had ever kissed me like that, and it was rather overwhelming," she admitted frankly. "The second, more important reason was that I thought you belonged to Cathy. It was bad enough wanting you to kiss me. To ... to enjoy it would have been worse."
"The trouble with you is that you have too many scruples," he told her. "If Cathy and I had been engaged, I could understand your feeling guilty. But Cathy's only interest in me was a mercenary one. You must have known that - I did."
"Yes, I did know that," she admitted. "But how was I to know what you felt? At first
, I thought your intentions were strictly dishonourable. Then, when you invited us here, I concluded you must be serious. You did say, if you remember, that you had a particular reason for wanting us to come to Greece. You also said that you had changed your time, and in future Cathy would be safe with you."
He touched her cheek with his knuckles. "If I had realized how obtuse you could be, I would have been more explicit. My 'particular reason' was that I wanted you to see my house, and the island. I wanted us to get to know each other. When I said that Cathy would be safe with me, I was trying to make it clear that there was no longer any emotional involvement between us."
After a pause, he added, "Not that we ever were as deeply involved as you assumed - or as she may have implied."
"You looked very involved the night we met," she reminded him.
"Yes, I suppose it must have seemed so to you, but actually it was the first and only time I ever kissed her. Do you believe me?"
Lucia slid her arm round his neck. "Darling Nicholas, I don't care how many girls you've kissed - as long as I'm the one you want to marry."
As a result of this statement, it was some time before either of them spoke again.
Eventually, he said huskily, "I think we had better not stay here, or I may forget that we aren't even formally engaged yet. You don't want a long engagement, do you? Can't we; get married right away?"
Lucia came down to earth. "Oh, Nicholas, not right away. I must give at least one term's notice."
"That need not stop us getting married. There's no rule against it, is there? It would mean postponing a proper honeymoon, but I wouldn't mind that, would you? We've no problem about where to live. My flat will do for the time being. With a special licence, we could be married next weekend."
"Darling, that would be heavenly - but you must see it isn't possible. What about Cathy? I can't leave her alone at our house. She wouldn't be able to cope on her own."
"Confound Cathy!" he said impatiently. "She's caused enough trouble already. Why can't she move to a hostel for a few months?"
"Yes . . . that would be a solution," she agreed. "But even so it would take time to find somewhere suitable. Then there's the question of what to do with the house and - oh, any number of things."
He held her face between his hands. "Do you want to wait?" he asked quietly. "Are there still some doubts in your mind? Do you want more time to be sure?"
The night was so bright that she could see his expression as if it were day. His eyes were narrowed and intent. The moonlight accentuated the strong bone structure of his face, and the lines of humour and experience engraved on his Greek-dark skin. In some ways, he was still a stranger. There were many things she had to learn about him. Yet of one thing - the most important - she had no doubt. She loved him with the same passionate certainty that Maria had felt about Raoul.
"I'll marry you tomorrow, if you like," she said, in a whisper.
He gave her a quick, hard kiss, and drew her to her feet. "No, you're right. We'll wait until the summer. I'll arrange my affairs so that we can have the whole of August alone together. Not at Marina - the islands are too hot for most people in August. Come on, let's go and tell our news to Maria."
They walked back to the house and, although it was a considerable distance, it seemed only a short way to Lucia. With her hand in his, she could have walked the streets till daybreak.
As they were passing the windows of a jeweller's shop, he stopped to look at some rings. This reminded her of the blue medallion.
"Nicholas, I'm sorry I was so hateful to you that morning at your cousin's shop," she said contritely.
He grinned, and squeezed her hand. "You were hateful on several occasions. Fortunately, I have a magnanimous nature. Providing you promise to be a docile, submissive wife, I can overlook your past shrewishness. Do you want to choose your engagement ring, or would you like to be surprised?"
"I think we had better choose one together, or you may buy something wildly extravagant which I shall be terrified of losing. Anyway, my hands aren't elegant enough to show off anything too grand."
"Nonsense - your hands are charming," he said, raising the one he held, and kissing the back of it. "You know, your humility is almost as irritating as Cathy's vanity. She is not as irresistible as she imagines, and you are far too modest about yourself."
She said, with an innocent face, "I suppose I must have something special about me to have attracted your attention."
His mouth twitched. "Precisely."
"Oh - and you call Cathy vain!" she remonstrated, trying to sound shocked, but spoiling the effect by laughing.
How lovely is was to laugh with him, she thought, as they strolled on. How strange that, at the beginning, she should have disapproved of the wicked glint of amusement which seemed always to lurk in his dark eyes. She had thought him flippant, a man who mocked anything and everything. Yet now his teasing delighted her, and made her feel that it was she who had always taken life too seriously. How stiff and censorious she had been, judging him before she really knew him.
When they reached the house, they found Maria had gone to bed. But a light was still on in her room, and when Nicholas tapped on the door, she answered, "Embros."
They found her sitting up in bed, reading. She took one look at their faces, and exclaimed, "Ah ... thavma! At last all is well between you. I am very glad. Bravo, Nico!"
"You know?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"One has only to look at you." She held out both hands to Lucia. "So! You took my advice? I was right, was I not? He needed very little encouragement?"
Before Lucia could answer, he said, "What advice? What are you talking about, woman?"
Maria told him, looking pleased with her part in the satisfactory conclusion of the affair. Then, smiling, Lucia explained to her that her well-meant intervention had actually made matters worse.
"You thought Nico loved your sister?" the Greek woman said incredulously. "Oh, how could you be so foolish? It was plain from the moment you arrived that his eyes were only for you."
"Plain to everyone but Lucia," said Nicholas dryly. "You should have been more direct, Maria." He looked at Lucia with a blend of tenderness and mockery. "Unfortunately, my betrothed is rather dense. It is no use giving her subtle hints. She has to be told in so many words. However, I think I have managed to convince her now."
Lucia blushed, and laughed. Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror on Maria's dressing-table, she was startled by the change in her appearance. A few hours ago, when she had been getting ready to go out, she had looked tired and strained. Now her eyes were shining, and her face glowed with the best cosmetic of all - happiness.
Nevertheless, she could not help tensing when, some minutes later, they heard a car drawing up in the street below, and she guessed that it was a taxi bringing Cathy home.
It was some time before the taxi departed, and her sister came slowly upstairs. Nicholas went to the door, and called her into his cousin's bedroom. Only then, as she saw the apprehensive look on the younger girl's face, did Lucia realize that Cathy, not knowing the consequence of Grant's blunder, was expecting Nicholas to upbraid her for her subterfuge.
"Come and join the party," he invited, as she hovered nervously on the threshold.
"The party?" she echoed.
"It will be a party when I've fetched a bottle and some food." He smiled across the room at Lucia. "I don't know about you, but I didn't enjoy my dinner much."
It was Maria who announced the reason for the celebration. "Nico and Lucia are to be married."
"What?" Cathy looked dumbfounded. "Oh . . . y-you can't be serious?"
"Never more so," said Nicholas, taking Lucia's hand in his.
The gesture seemed to convince Cathy that they were not playing an elaborate joke on her. "W-when did this happen?" she stuttered.
"It began a long time ago," he said.
For an instant Lucia was afraid that, when she realized he was lost to her, Cathy
might want him back. But as her sister recovered from the first shock, her second reaction was a look of unmistakable relief. It was typical of Cathy to think first of herself, and to see at once that this astounding development absolved her from the recriminations she had been expecting.
During the weeks that followed their return to England Lucia sometimes thought how wretched the summer would have been for her if things had turned out differently. One day, perhaps, she would be able to take happiness for granted, but, for the present, it was still new and wonderful.
Several times a week, Nicholas took her out. They went to theatres, smart restaurants and dinner parties, and led such a gay life that, one night, she protested at his extravagance, and asked if he would not rather spend a quiet evening at his flat, listening to records and talking.
"I thought you did not approve of girls going to bachelors' flats?" he said quizzically, evidently recalling something her sister had told him.
"It's different when they are engaged."
"Yes - much more unwise," he said, kissing her. "When we're alone, I don't want to listen to records. I want to make love to you. It's better for us to spend most of our time in public places. Besides, you have never had a gay time before, and it won't last long. I warn you - once we are married, all this gadding about will end. I shall spend my evenings relaxing at home, and you will be busy knitting for the first of our many children. You'll be lucky if I take you out a couple of times a year."
"I shan't mind," she said cheerfully.
If Nicholas had mooted a plan to live in South America it would not have perturbed her. Anywhere with him would be home.
It was only now, when already he had relieved her of most of her cares, that she realized how heavily they had weighed on her, and how deeply lonely she had been.
During June, they spent several weekends looking at houses in the country.
"I think Cathy really has changed," said Lucia, one hot Sunday afternoon, when they were driving out of London on one of these expeditions. "I asked her if she would like to come with us today, but she wants to answer a letter from Grant. She hasn't had a date since we came home, and he writes reams every week. So it looks as if they will get engaged when the Wallaces come to England in September."