The Awakening of Alice

Winspear, Violet
(2012)
THE AWAKENING OF ALICE
Violet Winspear

When I have finished with you, sweet icy girl,

Stefan said grimly, Damoskinos will have the
anguish of knowing that you have endured the
ultimate at my hands! Alice Sheldon was trapped
on a lonely island in the Aegean, kidnapped by a
man intent on avenging the murder of his fiancee.
Haunted by the ghost of a tragic love, he meant to
make Alice his instrument of revenge. How could
she convince him that Damoskinos didnt even
know of her existence?

CHAPTER ONE TRAVEL was said to broaden the

mind, but throughout the journey to Greece the mind
of Alice Sheldon seemed bent on a wheel that went
round and round in a tormenting circle, She stared
beyond the window at the sky and saw imprinted
there the pretty, frightened face of her young sister.
Hell kill me! Albertas seductive tone of voice
had held a note of panic that made it shrill. No girl
promises to marry his sort and then backs out
apart from which Ive sold the ring he gave me in
order to pay for my airline ticket. Im flying out to
Harry, so dont try and change my mind. Now his
wifes deadyou know she drank and made his
life miserablewere free to be together. I never
cared for Ionides. It was his money that attracted
me, and he must have guessed how I felt. As if any
woman could love someone like him! What do
you mean by that remark? Alice demanded. She
had never met the Greek whom Alberta had met on
holiday in Crete, though she had assumed that he
was a number of years older than her sister.
Youve never talked much about your Greek
tycoon, so youd better tell me what you mean.
Well, he cant walk. Alberta gave Alice an
impatient look. Hes paralysed from the waist
down, which speaks for itself, doesnt it? Nothing
had ever shocked Alice more than to have this
sprung on her, added to which Alberta announced
that she was running out on the man. She and
Alberta werent all that dose and led their own
lives, but it felt like a jet of icy water in the face to
learn that her sister was going to add insult to injury
by jilting a man who had the misfortune to be
disabled. He hardly sounds as if he could kill
you, she said. I suppose youre saying that in
order to ease your conscience.

You dont know Greeks. Alberta gave a toss of

her blonde head and her big china-blue eyes dwelt
rather scornfully on her sisters plain, bespectacled
face. Not his sort! He has bodyguards who are
absolutely devoted to him. If he wanted to have a
girl beaten up, theyd do it for him without batting
an eyelash. Dont be so melodramatic! Alice
exclaimed. Civilised people dont behave like that
- No, Alberta agreed, civilised people dont,
but theres something in Greek men you just
wouldnt understand, never having met one. Ionides
has tons of money, all of which hes made from his
fleet of tankers and cargo boats, and he has only to
snap his fingers and someone does his bidding. I
Im scared, Alice. I love Harry and I just cant live
without him, and Im frightened Ionides might hurt
him in some way. Youre letting your imagination
run away with you, said Alice. How can a man
who cant even walk hurt someone who works
miles away in Ceylon? Do talk sense, Berta. If you
dont want to marry the man, then go and see him
and explain how you feel. Tell him Harry is now
widowed and that, .youve known each other since
you were teenagers. Im sure if he has the brains to
make a fortune, hell understand - He wont,
Alberta insisted, running a distracted hand through
her hair that was as softly fair as a childs. She had
a deceptively innocent appearance, but Alice knew
there was a streak of wilful selfishness in the
angelic-looking Alberta, who had led Harry Melvin
such a dance that he had finally married a much
older woman, to the regret of both of them. Alice
could understand her sisters feelings up to a point,
but she was certain Alberta was being over-
dramatic in her statements about this Greek whom
she no longer wanted now Harry was free to marry
her. It was all too true that Alice had never met a
Greekmost men were inclined to ignore her and
she had grown used to an un

romantic life, even though she was only twenty-

four. Surely Greeks werent that vengeful! To a
Greek, said Alberta, twisting her fingers together,
an engagement is almost as binding as a marriage,
and Ionides only let me return to England so I could
buy my trousseau here. Then Harry wrote to me and
asked me to go, to him, and it seemed such a pity to
waste all those lovely clothes on Ionides when I
could go to Harry looking like a dream, especially
after what hes been through with that woman - I
gather Ionides Damaskinos paid for the clothes?
Alice interjected. Of course. Where would I get
the money? My wage at the dress shop hardly runs
to haute couture, and what Daddy left me has long
gone. Oh, Alice, cant you help me? Youre so
sensible and youve always helped me when Ive
got myself into a jam. And what sensible thing do
you suggest I do? Alice spoke dryly. Go to Crete
and offer myself to the man as a substitute for his
blonde Venus? Alberta, who was rather lacking in
a sense of humour, gazed at her sister in utter
amazement. Offer yourself in my place? She gave
a scornful toss of her head. Men as rich as Ionides
are only interested in women for their looks, and
you havent any, have you, Alice dear? Alice
smiled, too used to this little line of sarcasm to be
hurt by it any moreas their father had always
pointed out, she was the brainy one and Alberta
was the pretty one. You got yourself into this jam,
Berta, now youd better get yourself out of it. My
advice is to be frank with the manIm sure there
are other pocket-sized Jean Harlows for him to
choose from.

,You always were envious of me, Alberta said

sulkily. Now youve got the needle because Ive
got two men wanting me while you havent a soul in
sight who cares two hoots about you. Its exciting,
having two men on a string, but I want Harry and
Ive never stopped wanting him, so Im going to cut
loose from Ionides. Only I cant face him. I shall fly
off to Ceylon right away - Using the money from
that emerald ring which by rights should be
returned to your fiance. Alice wasnt in the least
envious of her pretty sister whom men had always
wanted to spoil, one way or another, but she was
disturbed by such heardess treatment of a disabled
man who had probably wanted Alberta as an
adornment rather than an adoring lover. Love was
probably no real part of the arrangement, but all the
same it would anger and shame him to be let down
in this ungrateful way, especially after paying out
all that money for a trousseau Alberta was going to
use to dazzle another man. From all accounts rich
men didnt mind what they spent on pretty women,
so long as they reaped the pleasure of the womans
company. Ill send Ionides a wire, Alberta said
defiantly. Hell have to accept the fact that Ive
changed my mind about marrying him She
broke off and shivered visibly. The trouble is he
has such a fearful temper and theres a lot of talk
about him on the island which he owns. They say he
took vengeance on the man who made his sister
unhappy, and then there was the mysterious death of
the nursemaid who allowed his sisters little boy to
drown - Good grief! Alice gasped as if a fist had
landed in her stomach. Its like something out of
Eugene ONeill, isnt it? Alberta ran a tremulous
hand over her soft blonde hair. But its all true
his sister Elektra told me, no doubt to try and
frighten me off. She had this little boy from this man
Who was already married, and thats regarded as
rather awful in Greece, but Ionides took to the child

and treated him like a son. Anyway, soon after the

poor kid was drowned his nursemaid was found
dead in the swimming-pool. According to the
verdict they called it suicide while the balance of
her mind was disturbed, but the island abounds
with rumours to the contrary. The whispers are that
Ionides paid someone to do away with her.
Alberta drew a shaky breath and her big blue eyes
were fixed upon Alices face with a kind of
childlike trust in her -ability to straighten out the
tangle she had got into. Now you can understand
why Ionides scares me, cant you? Alice frowned,
for if there was even a few shades of truth in what
Alberta had told her, then Ionides Damaskinos was
a complex and possibly dangerous man. Yes,
youd better go and marry Harry, she said at last.
I shall go to Greece and explain things to the
Greek tycoon. Youll really do that? Alberta
exclaimed. Hell take his temper out on you.
Will he? Alice slid the frame of her spectacles
more firmly on her nose. Well, he cant damage my
looks, can he? Alberta stared at her sister and for
once she seemed shaken out of her self-
complacency into some faint realisation of what it
must be like for a young woman to go through life
being ignored by young men, and being left out of
all the varied excitements associated with romance.
But having accepted long ago that girls in specs
werent attractive to the opposite sex, Alice had
settled for a career and was doing quite well as a
commercial artist whose work was bought by the
womens magazines. Too often had she been hurt at
dances and the swimming club, left to wilt like a
wallflower while Alberta collected more partners
than she could cope with.

No more did Alice venture where she might again

hear a young man say to his companion: I bet
theres no fun in kissing Alice Sheldon. Shes such
an owlish little school-marm compared to that
gorgeous sister of hers, whos a real honeypot, old
boy, who can get stirred up in the most delicious
way! They had laughed in a knowing way, and
Alice had been left in no doubt that Alberta had
experienced the audacious sensuality of being close
to a man, of having his lips on her skin and his
pleading entreaties in her ears. Alberta would love
it all, and laugh at it. Alice, whose heart was
warmer and whose feelings were far more
sensitive, felt sure she would go hungry for the
attentiveness of a man. She wore glasses and had
one of those quiet, reserved faces that concealed
much of her inner self. She couldnt bubble like
champagne and flirt with Bertas assurance it
just didnt show that she had warmer blood in her
veins. She buckled her safety-belt as the jet zoomed
in for a landing at the Hellenikon Airport a few
miles outside Athens, and wondered what would be
the reaction of Ionides Damaskinos when she
confronted him instead of the curvaceous Alberta
with her ready smile and spungold hair. Why, Alice
wondered, was she taking on the task of telling the
Greek that he had been jilted? Was it because she
felt sorry for him? Or was she a romantic fool who
felt some kind of need to scorch her untried wings
in the fury of a scorned lover? Half an hour later the
cab drove her into the glimmering, dusky heart of
Athens, where a few minutes later she was signing
the register at the reception desk of the Hotel
Metropolis where she had booked a suite for a
week. The rooms were bright and comfortable and
Alice had the comfort of knowing that she could
request room service in English and not have

to gargle with her consonants in an attempt to speak

the Greek words contained in her tourist guide-
book. What a language! It looked as intricate as
Arabic, and some of the men she had noticed
looked as dark as Turks. She walked about the
bedroom in her bare feet, a habit when she was
alone, arranging her clothes in the. closet and
drawers provided. Having unpacked she then
wanted to take a shower and have some supper
something Greek, she decided, and picking up the
receiver of the telephone she confidently asked for
room service, holding the phone away from her as a
deep, harshly resonant voice struck against her ear.
I wish to order a meal, she said. You speak
English? I was told at the reception desk - Yes,
madame, I speak English. What do you wish to
order? Alice frowned slightly, for there was
something so brusque about the voice that she was
half inclined to wonder if she was speaking to the
hotel manager instead of a more lowly member of
the hotel staff. II rather fancied moussakaits
a pie of minced meat and aubergine, isnt it? A
very Greek and tasty dish, madame, he replied.
Might I suggest small stuffed marrows and sweet
new potatoes to go with the moussaka? Oh, that
sounds perfect. A melon to start with, madame,
and perhaps a Turkish pastry and coffee to
complete your meal? Perfect, she said again, and
found herself staring at the receiver, the warmth of
a flush in her cheeks. There was something utterly
male

and almost arrogant about that voice, and she

couldnt help wondering what the owner of it
looked like. May I have your name and the number
of your room, madame? I am in Room 120 and my
name is Miss Sheldon. There was a pause, as if he
were making a note of the name and number, and
then his voice struck her ear again. Is that Miss A.
Sheldon? Yes. You are from England, ne? Of
course. Your supper will be brought to you in a
short while. There was a sharp click and Alice
replaced her own receiver with the thought that
Alberta was right about Greeks they were
alarming even over the telephone. Anyway, having
ordered her supper Alice went into the bathroom to
freshen up. with a shower. Having removed her
glasses she peered at herself in the mirror, seeing
what was always concealed from other people
behind those tortoiseshell frames and myopic
lensesthe self-dreaming, rather mysterious depth
to her greeny-blue eyes. When she was a schoolgirl
she had often wished to have china-blue eyes like
Alberta, with a flirtatious sparkle in them that
caught the attention of men. Alice wasnt a frigid,
nun-like girl, but that was the way men had always
regarded her, and even yet it could hurt that a young
man should say disparagingly that she wasnt
kissable. Alice had often wondered what it might
be like to be in love and she didnt look forward to
a lonely life, though she concealed proudly

from other people the fear of unloved loneliness

that lay like a shadow over her heart. Was she
really so unattractive? When she took the pins from
her hair it fell in a soft brown swathe to her waist,
quite straight and without the wave that Alberta
could push into her blonde hair. The planes of her
face were faintly hungry and her skin was like pale
cream in contrast to her hair. You dont make the
most of yourself, Alberta was fond of telling her.
You scrape your hair back in a bun and instead of
highlighting your eyes with mascara and eyeshadow
you leave them to be obscured by those dreary
glasses. Whats the use? Alice replied with a
shrug. Dorothy Parker was right when she said that
men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses.
Somehow men associate specs with a lack of sex.
It wasnt true of Alice and she knew it. She stepped
bare and white under the shower, her hair covered
by a plastic cap, and felt her own sensuous
response to the warm water pounding down over
her body. She was much slimmer than Alberta and
as untanned as her sister was sun-honeyed by the
weekend trips she took to the coast to lie in the sun
with her assortment of friends. They never invited
Alice along, for it had become a habit for everyone
who knew the Sheldon sisters to associate Alberta
with fun and games, and Alice with books and a
sketching-pad. Alice turned about under the water,
the rivulets of bubbles sliding down over her skin,
bringing to her lips a rather mischievous smile. If
only she had the audacity to be more like Alberta,
to cloud herself in scented talcum and wrap her
body in nothing else but the pink chiffon robe she
had bought for this trip. Watermelon-pink, the girl
in the shop had called it, with filmy sleeves that fell
away from her arms and a silk braiding outlining
the bosom.
Dared she be seen in it when the Greek waiter
brought her supper to her room? Her sister
wouldnt bat an eyelash but would relish having his
eyes upon her oh, what did it feel like, Alice
wondered, to see the admiration and longing take
fire in a mans eyes? She was twenty-four, but had
never had that kind of experience. When a man
looked at her it was with polite indifference, as if
she totally lacked what it took to make the blood
race in masculine veins, inducing that state of
breathlessness she had noticed when a man came
near Alberta. The talcum flew as she dusted it on,
smelling fragrantly of Je Reviens, Alice had spent
quite a bit of money on this trip to Greece and she
didnt really know why. She had bought several
new outfits and the kind of lingerie she didnt
usually wear, as if like some foolish spinster she
hoped to meet in Greece a man who might pause
long enough to notice that she was a woman and
worth at least a smile. With a touch of defiance she
drew on the chiffon robe and tied its silkiness over
her cool, bare, scented skin. It gave her a tingling,
rather naughty feeling, and she certainly liked the
effect when she removed her shower cap and her
hair fell in soft disarray around the pale pink of her
robe. She went to put on her glasses and then
decided that as she was only going to eat supper
she might as well leave them off and not spoil her
rather glamorous appearance. She smiled hazily at
her reflection in the mirror. Loose woman, she
murmured. What would that unkind young man say
now if he walked in and saw you looking like this,
Alice in Wonderland? Alice entered her sitting-
room just as there was a knock on the door. She
opened it to admit the waiter with the food trolley.
As she stood watching him she felt acutely aware of
herself in the chiffon robe. As shyness clutched
hold of her, she wished she hadnt given in to the
impulse to try and emulate her self-assured sister.

She felt the man glance briefly at her. Would the

thespoinis like her food on this table? he asked,
and he gestured at a small circular table in the
alcove between the windows, where the curtains
were still open upon the light-studded city. That
voice! Alice shot .a look at the waiter and saw that
he was tall and extremely dark, the white coat he
wore intensifying his darkness of hair and eyes. He
met her glance politely enough, but there was
something about him that set up a vibration of
nerves inside her, maybe because she was clad so
lightly and he might guess that all she had on was
the robe. W-we spoke on the telephone? she said.
When I ordered my meal? Ne. He inclined his
head, then turned to the trolley and began to place
the various dishes on the alcove table. He lifted a
lid and the aroma of the moussaka drifted across to
Alice, stirring in her stomach the realisation that
she was hungry. She had barely eaten on the journey
here, and was now ready to enjoy her supper with
good appetite. Come. He drew forward a chair
for her and Alice hesitated about crossing the room
towards him, intensely aware of her nudity beneath
the chiffon, which though lined with silk had a sort
of clinging effect that must reveal the shape of her
figure. Unlike her eyes, whose shortsightedness
without her glasses made everything slightly misty,
his were probably very sharp, for it wouldnt do
for a waiter to be myopic when he had to be at the
beck and call of people. Feeling a little dry-
mouthed, Alice tried to look as casual as possible
as she moved towards the table . only to catch
the toe of one of her slippers in a rug she hadnt
noticed. She tripped and would have sprawled on
the floor if the waiter hadnt leapt forward and
caught hold erf her. She felt his arms close around
her, so strong that they felt like a steel trap. Her
slim, flimsily clad body was pressed to his
for a shocking instant that seemed to last an eternity
and now she could see his face more clearly, dark,
proud, with the bones thrusting beneath the
sunbitten skin. The mouth was somehow relentless
and black eyebrows were linked above the bold
nose. He returned her look with a searching
intensity and she knew at once that dangerous
thoughts were going on behind his steely dark eyes.
I-Im all right She attempted to pull away
from him and for an instant it seemed as if he would
hold on to her, then to her relief he let her go and
walked towards the door. I shall return later for
the trolley, Miss Sheldon, he said, and though he
spoke politely enough, there was something in his
deep voice which tightened the nerves inside Alice
so that she wished she had the nerve to tell him to
send someone else for the dishes. The door closed
behind his tallness and she was left standing there,
with a hand grasping the folds of her robe to her
shaken body. For the very first time in her life she
had been intimately close to a man, a dark foreigner
with an ominous quality to him that made her
question her wisdom in coming alone to Greece on
a quixotic mission that Alberta would forget the
moment she found herself in the arms of her
teaplanter. As her nerves quietened Alice told
herself not to be an idiot. Alberta had warned her
that Greeks had this forceful, dramatic quality
and also a virility Alice had been very much aware
of when she had tripped straight into the arms of the
one who had just left her room. Oh, she was
lightheaded and needed some food, and taking her
seat at the table she shook out her napkin and
served herself with the tasty-looking moussaka,
layers of aubergine, minced meat, cheese, tomato
and egg. She carried a forkful to her mouth and
found it utterly delicious, as was everything the
waiter had brought for her supper. At the end of the
meal she took her cup of Turkish coffee to the
window and stood there gazing down at the lights
and the passing

traffic. Tomorrow she would get acquainted with

Athens there was time enough to get into touch
with Ionides Damaskinos. Alice sipped her coffee
and found it thick, sweet, and with a curious but not
unpleasant under-tang which she supposed was
some kind of Turkish essence. Suddenly a draught
stole through the window and setting aside her cup
she pulled the long curtains and closed out the night
where lovers walked arm in arm, or sat at a
sidewalk table and drank coffee together, fingers
linked across the table top and a thousand promises
exchanged in a single glance. Alice gave a sigh and
refilled her cup with fresh coffee. She was usually
able to assuage loneliness with, her art work, but
tonight she was alone in the heart of a strange
country, clad as if for a lover, she thought wryly, in
floating pink chiffon that only a Greek waiter was
ever likely to see, and he was probably used to
female tourists wandering about their hotel rooms
in negligees. She sank down on the couch and gave
a yawn. She was growing tired and in a short while
would go to bed and forget all these pathetic
yearnings of a poor unwanted spinster. She at least
had the satisfaction of knowing she was a success
at her work which ironically enough was often
an illustration for a love story, and more than once
she had been told by magazine editors that she
created the type of masculine face most women
readers appreciatedlean, dark, and suggesting a
hint of sensual hunger. She placed her empty cup on
the coffee table and allowed her drowsy head to
relax against a cushion. Her eyes felt heavy, but
somehow after that accidental moment in the arms
of the waiter she didnt want to prepare for bed
until he had returned and removed the food trolley.
There was no knowing what conclusion he might
jump to if this time he found her in her nightdress!

A sleepy smile touched her mouth; he knew she was

staying here alone and even if she didnt have the
kind of looks that Englishmen found exciting, there
was the remote possibility that a Greek might be
intrigued enough to attempt the seduction of an
English spinster. Especially after that moment when
she had tripped and fallen into his arms he had
been instantly aware of how lightly she was clad
and she had felt the instinctive pressure of his hard
maleness against her and every nerve in her body
had been aware of the ease with which he could
have overcome her. With a swing of his fist he
could have knocked her senseless yet was that
what a man wanted, a passive, unresponsive,
unaware body in his arms? Alice somehow doubted
it of that tall, lithe Greek with his wide shoulders.
He probably had a passionate young wife and
several small replicas of himself running about the
rooms of his Greek house, and he would have
forgotten by now that his lean body had imparted to
a lonely woman the first intimate thrill of her life.
Heaven-help her, was she so in need of affection
that she had to relive that brief moment of sensual
contact with a perfect stranger? Was she about to
become one of those pathetic creatures who cried
into her pillow because there was no one to hold
her in the dark and fill her with the inexpressible
joy of being loved, needed, wildly desired? Alice
stifled a groan. She had been an impulsive fool to
come to Greece she should have remembered
that this was the land of the two most potent
symbols in the mythology of love Aphrodite of
the foam, and Apollo of the sun. Apollo, the
audacious god from whom no virgin was safe. She
sleepily told herself that in the morning, in the sane
light of day, she would be her sensible self again,
her hair back in its bun, her glasses back on her
nose, and a sensible suit covering her body. It only
made her feel vulnerable and lonely, letting her hair
down and

trying to behave like Alberta. Armoured in her no-

nonsense suit and shoes, with her true self
concealed behind her spectacle frames, she was
able to look as if it didnt matter that she had no one
to turn to for the comfort of love. Yes, in the
morning she would put out of her mind her brief
encounter with the warm, vital body of the Greek
whose black hair slashed downwards on his
forehead in a black peak, and whose eyes at the
outer corners had a fascinating slant to them. He
might look like Apollo, but she-was no beautiful
Daphne whom men liked to chase. She was chaste
Alice Sheldon, the girl who had overheard a man
say that shed be no fun to kiss. A tired little sigh
escaped her and her head slid lower on the cushion
and she curled into a more comfortable position on
the couch, her long smooth hair half-veiling her
face and falling across the bosom of her robe. Her
heavy eyelids strove against a weight that seemed
to pull on them, pulling her down, deep down into
the velvety depths of slumber on her lips the
sweet lingering essence of Turkish coffee. She slept
profoundly and started to dream in her dream the
tall Apollo came and enfolded her in a big dark
cloak and carried her off to his island in the sun.
She struggled for a moment and gave a little cry, but
he overpowered her and she lay helpless in the
folds of his cloak, dark and yet like a flame around
her.

CHAPTER TWO THE chime of bells woke Alice,

and then came silence and the curious sway of the
couch on which she lay. She stirred and half sat up,
and something red-lined slid from her shoulders.
She glanced about her in total bewilderment, and
then decided that she had to be dreaming. She
touched the folds of what covered her and found it
to be cloak-like, dark on the outside, with an inner
lining of deep scarlet. Oh God! Her dream rushed
back into her mind and she glanced wildly about the
room in which she had awoken to find her dream
had become a reality. The walls around her were
panelled and across the teakwood floor lay shaggy
rugs. There were books lining a shelf and a dock
under a dome. Set within the walls were a pair of
circular windows, and from outside the room her
ears caught the sound of footfalls and the next
moment the door swung open and a tall masculine
figure stood in the aperture, clad in a coat of
sheepskin and holding in his hand a mug that
steamed. Kalimera, he said, and there was an
abrasive quality to his voice that Alice well
remembered. At last you are awake, eh? Alice
stared at him with dilated eyes and vibrating
nerves, taking in his dark face, the lean and agile
body she had last seen wearing the neat white coat
of a waiter at the Hotel Metropolis. W-where am
I? she gasped. This isnt the hotel! Indeed not,
Miss Sheldon. He approached her and whence
reached the couchside he seemed to tower above
her and his eyes held a glint of steel as he regarded
her, crouched there in the cloak as if magnetised by
him. You are aboard my caique and we are bound
for the island of Solitariacome, you had better
drink this before you faint from shock. He offered
the mug, but when Alice saw that it

contained dark coffee she shrank even further away

from him and shook her head. Its probably
drugged, she accused. Like the coffee you gave
me last night! You are quick on the uptake, arent
you? A mocking smile edged his mouth, but his
eyes remained adamant. This cup of coffee isnt
drugged and will help to revive you. You have gone
white and I dont want, you to go into complete
shock. Come, take the coffee! It was a definite
command, and Alice felt so dry-mouthed and
nervous of him that she took the mug without further
argument. She took a sip and found the coffee strong
but of a different flavour from the Turkish variety
which had induced such a drugged sleep that she
had been only vaguely aware of being carried away
from her suite at the hotel. This Greek had
kidnapped her and brought her aboard his boat, and
it made no sense at all that he should do such a
thing. Why have you done this? Her eyes were
fixed wide and hazy upon his face. W-what do you
mean to do with me? Im not worth anything, if
youre thinking of asking ransom for me! He
regarded her in silence, swaying slightly to the
motion of the boat, his hands thrust into the pockets
of his sheepskin coat. Have you ever heard the
word ekthekissis? he asked. The Greek word
sounded as barbaric as he looked, his hair in damp
black strands across his forehead, his mouth
narrowed to a bitter line. It means justice
vengeance, he told her. I have waited a long time
to achieve it, Miss Sheldon, and you arent on
board my caique because I plan to ransom you.

Thenwhy am I here? Her pulse fluttered madly

and she recalled her foolish notion of last night, that
a Greek might be tempted to seduce a lone English
spinster. You are the bespoken of Ionides
Damaskinos, he said deliberately, and that is the
reason you are here with me. Noyoure
wrong! Alice shook her head, a hand reaching up
to sweep the hair out of her eyes. My name is
Alice Sheldonits my sister who was going to
marry him! Your sister, eh? His eyes swept over
her, taking in her pink-clad figure half draped in the
folds of his cloak, her hair a tumbling mass of soft
brown. You are quick to use your wits, but you
dont fool me. The moment I saw your name in the
hotel register I knew you had come to Greece for
just one purpose, and that purpose is a man I hate
and despise with my very soul. He began to pace
the cabin, dark, brooding, and sleekly agile, his
angry pain biting into him. Alice watched him, and
never in her life had she felt so wary of another
human being, or so aware of her inexperience when
it came to placating a male of the species. He
obviously had some grudge against Damaskinos and
thought to have his own back by running off with
Ionides girl except that she wasnt any such
thing, and neither was Alberta any more. Alice
clenched a hand against her heart, which felt as if it
would choke her if it didnt slow down. Please
listen to me, she begged. Ive never even met my
sisters fiance, Dont lie to me. In a single stride
her abductor was standing over her and his eyes
were darkly enraged. Why would you be here in
Greece if you werent the one hes supposed to
marry? Lies wont help you, Miss Sheldon, nor all
the wide-eyed pleading. I daresay Timareta
pleaded with that brute, but she died just the same!

W-what are you saying? Alice crouched away

from him, and the coffee mug shook so much that he
impatiently snatched it from her hand and slammed
it down on a nearby shelf. Dont you know? Has
he never told you what a delightful family youre
marrying into? The Greek gave a brief, bitter
laugh. No, he probably would hide his real self
from you until after the wedding. Oh, but cant
you see, she cried out, a rich man like that
wouldnt want to marry someone like me!
Someone like you? The dark eyes raked over
Alice unsparingly, from her unbound hair to her
skin in the opening of her robe, milky pale except
where a dark little mole lay under her collar-bone.
His hands abruptly reached out and Alice gasped
fearfully as his lean fingers closed on her
shoulders. He jerked her towards him and when the
cloak fell right away from her body she became
unbearably aware of herself beneath the petal-fine
chiffon. She began to struggle, and this seemed to
let loose a frightening savagery in him and with
bruising hands he pulled her up against him and the
world was oblivion, wiped out for Alice by the
force of his mouth taking hers. It was a brutal kiss,
sparing none of her innocence a less infuriated man
might have noticed. He forced upon her a kiss so
hurtful that she reacted like a child being
maltreated; she moaned in his arms and scared tears
sprang from her eyes. At once he flung her back
against the couch cushions and stared at her stricken
face. He gave a soft oath. What are you, eh? A
very good actress, or a child in a womans body?
I-Im Alice Sheldon, she choked. W-why wont
you believe me? I do believe you. He leaned
over her and watched her with narrowed eyes.
You came to Greece to marry a wealthy man
confined to a wheelchair, which is typical of your
typepale and distant as the

moon, and as empty of warm giving as a moon

crater. You came with the intention of getting all
you can out of this man who can make, no physical
demands of a normal sort upon you only it isnt
going to work out that way, little one. You are in
my hands! All of you, from your long smooth hair to
your slim ankles, and when I have finished with
you, sweet icy girl, Damaskinos will have the hell
of knowing that you have endured the ultimate at my
hands! Alice lay flinching from his words, tear
marks on her cheeks and a hand crushed to her
mouth as if to hold back a scream. She swallowed
in order to moisten her throat. Whywhy do you
hate him So much? Does it trouble you? he
mocked. Do you pretend to have some affectionate
feeling for him? I dont even know him, she
protested. No, only his enemies really know him.
A warm, very masculine hand moved across
Alices body and she gave a little jerk that brought
a twisted smile to his mouth. You react to my touch
as if for the first time, yet I have heard it said that
English girls lose their chastity in the school
playground. Are you chaste, eh? Is it possible
Ionides found for himself a virgin he hoped to keep
intact? That would be his way, when he doesnt
have them destroyed! I dont know what youre
implying when you say that Alice moved as if
to sit up, then bit her lip against a deep inward
tremor as his lean hand slid to her hip. Please
please let me go! He deliberately shook his head.
After all the trouble Ive taken to abduct you? I
have waited too long, guzel, to tamely let you go
because you cry so movingly. And if you are
Ionides virgin it will give me all the more
satisfaction to take what he cantit will make up
just a fraction for the way Timareta was drowned
in his

swimming-pool. Suicide, they called it, after

blaming her for the death of a child belonging to
Damaskinos half-crazed sister! Alice listened to
him with a sense of doom, and it all came rushing
back, what Alberta had told her about the tragic
events which had taken place in the Damaskinos
household the drowning of the illegitimate child
and the nursemaid found dead in the pool. Her eyes
dwelt with fear and fascination upon the face of the
man who related these events with such bitterness,
and suddenly the name he had mentioned broke
from her lips: Was Timareta the nursemaid? Ah,
so you are aware of what transpired in that house?
His hand reached out swiftly and this time his
fingers gripped her by the hair, until she gave a cry
of pain. What were you toldthe same story as
everyone else? That Timareta, the girl I was to
marry, took that child swimming and allowed him
to lose his young life? She would never have done
such a thing! I knew her from infancywe grew up
together in the same village and I know that she was
as good as she was lovely. Any child would have
been safe in her keeping! No! It was Elektra
Damaskinos who made away with her love-child,
and then out of fear of her brutal brother she laid
the blame on Timareta and he took revenge on her.
The tormenting fingers tightened as if they wanted
to scalp Alice and tears smarted in her eyes.
Youre as brutal as he is, she gasped. You find it
just as easy to hurt a woman, dont you? I find it
easy to hurt his woman. He jerked her head back
until the agony was such that she gave a scream.
Ah, God help me, but I could rip your lovely hair
out of your head! Abruptly he let go of her, and she
shuddered in a residue of pain and flung her hands
over her face as if to shield herself from a devil.

None of this has anything to do with me. She was

trembling and couldnt seem to stop. II came to
Greece to tell Damaskinos that my sister wanted to
be released from their engagement - But the tall
Greek wasnt listening to her. He swung on his heel
and made for the door. I have to go on deck to
make sure the caique is on course. On this trip I
have only a boy with meapart from you, Miss
Sheldon.! You cant do this to me, she flung at
him. Im English and this is abductionthere are
laws against such things! I know only one law
with regard to Damaskinos and his kind. He leaned
his back against the door and regarded her with
narrowed eyes, his dark brows linked in a frown
that added to his look of menace. He went
unpunished for what he did to my girl, but he wont
go unpunished for what I do to his English girl.
When we met for the first time last night I realised
just how embittering it will be for Damaskinos to
have ruined goods flung back at him in place of the
shy-eyed, untouched young woman who opened the
door to my knock. Right away I could see why he
would want you you actually have an aura of
modesty and virtue, and he collects unflawed gems,
does he not? I-I dont know what he collects
how many more times must I tell you that Im not
his girl! If you were to see my sister youd soon
realise your mistake. Shes blonde, pretty, and men
have always flocked around her. Do you
imagine, he drawled, that Greek men like the sort
of female who has had other mens hands all over
her? The dark face was sardonic and scornful.
Damaskinos is as Greek as I am and hell roar like
a wounded bull when I return you to him and you no
longer have the look of purity. My eyes, my touch,
my kisses will have been all

over you, Miss Sheldon, by the time I hand you

back to your rich suitor. Alice stared at her Greek
abductor as if through a mist, but his words were
all too clear. Youre out of your mind, she
gasped. Damaskinos doesnt even know me! He
wont want to know you, little one, after I have
flawed his pure English gem. He wont be able to
display you among his other valuables, and that
will hurt his stony pride far more than if I broke
your neck and left your innocence intact. Such
innocence in a young woman from the isle of
liberation and the birth pill! A man can hardly
credit such a rare phenomenon, unless its a very
good act. Im not acting and youll be committing
a crime if you - Alice bit her lip she had
already had a taste of his hurtful strength and she
could feel the throb of the bruises he had inflicted
on her. He hated Damaskinos on account of that
drowned girl and he was out to exact vengeance.
Her appeals were beating against a stone wall, and
that her name was Sheldon was sufficient for him.
He had her at his mercy, and in a lost way she
dragged the red-lined cloak around her as if to hide
herself from eyes that had already seen the silken
white texture of her skin. Even Alberta had less
perfect skin than she, but Alice had never dreamed
that a man would one day see it in such
circumstances as these. Youre a cruel, headstrong
man, she accused. You wont listen to reason
you wont believe that I havent the remotest
connection with the death of your girl. You have to
punish someone, dont you? Punish me, even break
my neck, but it wont affect Damaskinos in the
smallest degree. I shall be the only one to suffer
along with your conscience! You make quite a
picture. His eyes swept over her in the cloak, her
long tousled hair catching some of the sunlight that
was threading its

way through the portholes of the cabin. Tears had

matted her lashes and turned them to dark little
spears, and her eyes unshielded by her glasses
were a hazy green-blue. There will be a certain
pleasure in taking my ekthekissis; a certain
sweetness that might for a while dilute some of the
bitterness of these last few years. I had great regard
for Timareta, but what would you know of love,
Miss Sheldon, a young woman prepared to sell
herself to a rich beast? Indeed, thought Alice, what
would she know of love, a woman whom men had
passed by until this man mistook her for Alberta
and carried her off on his caique. His caique? But
last night he had been working at the Hotel
Metropolis as a waiter! Who are you? she asked.
What are you? Apart from a devil? he mocked.
My name is Stefan Kassandros, and I am not a
waiter at the Metropolis but the owner. I am the
proprietor of several like itwhat else have I had
but hard work to keep my mind and body occupied?
The girl who would have shared my leisure is lost
to me. Hard-driving activity and an existence
almost monklike have been mine for a long time,
Miss Sheldon, but that will change when you and I
reach Solitaria. He paused as if to let his meaning
sink into her mind. Oh yes, I also have an island,
but a very different sort from the one where Ionides
Damaskinos rules like a decadent tyrant. Mine is
wild, solitary, far out in the Aegean Sea, and there
with me you will pay back with every hair of your
head all those hours of loneliness when the stars
have shone and the wild herbs have given off their
incense, and I have walked alone, by the sea. You
will stay with me on Solitaria until I tire of you
you will be mine in everything but my name. Do I
make myself perfectly clear to you?

Clear as a bell, each word striking through Alice

with astounding clarity. This tall, striking Greek
was telling her that she was to be his possession
she, Alice Sheldon, who in her spectacles and neat
blouses had never attracted a man. On a wild Greek
island in the sun she was to live with this man in the
kind of intimacy she had never dared to think about.
Such imaginings werent good for lonely women;
they only intensified loneliness and dear God,
how lonely she had been J Her life had been but
work and a nun-like existence, and now this man
Stefan Kassandros was telling her that she was to
be his in everything but his name! Dont do this to
me! She flung out a hand in mute appeal. Well
both be degraded - Measurably so, he rejoined.
He walked back to where she half-knelt on the
couch and now he was close to her again she saw
the dark Greek beauty of his eyes and the proud
hard bones thrusting beneath his sun-darkened skin.
She shivered as his hand slid across her shoulder to
her nape, enclosing it in lean powerful fingers. I
am taking you with me, so you had better stop
fighting the idea. You had better give in to it, for
you look as if you bruise easily. Y-you have
already bruised me, she said in a shaken voice.
Im not used to being manhandled! Indeed you
are not. His hand travelled over her hair. Like
wild brown silk wrapped around skin more white
then I ever dreamed a womans skin could be. Its
too late for conscience, because I already have you
on board my caique. Its too late for compassion,
because my heart has fed too long on hatred of
Damaskinos.

His fingers wrapped themselves in her hair, but this

time he didnt hurt her. Deny it though you will,
you are his, womanyou feel and look the virgin
that beast would lure into his den with his money. I
dont condemn you for wanting wealth, for it has
many uses and I have worked for it myself, building
my hotels and enticing into them the many tourists
who are lured to Greece by its history and the old
pagan beliefs that haunt its ruins. Land of the quail,
of herb-scented hills, and the dolphin waters. Land
of Psyche, the soul in every man. Alice gazed up at
him and never in her life had she heard a man speak
in such a way, with a kind of uninhibited passion
for the land of his birth a passion that might lurk
in every bone and sinew of him, in everything he
did. He leaned over her and now he spoke with a
soft menace. Now you are mine! You became mine
from the moment I entered your suite last night and
saw that you had just emerged from the shower .;. I
could smell the perfume on your skin and when you
tripped and I caught hold of you, I liked what I
touched. You knew it, didnt you? That I could have
taken you! But the island is betterwe shall be
almost alone on Solitaria, which is inhabited by
only a few farming families and the people I
employ to take care of my house and its gardens.
There you will give me vengeance, and pleasure to
an intense degreeI see it in your sea-coloured
eyes. Caught, trapped by his smouldering eyes,
Alice felt a wild suffusion of colour over her
entire, body. Agitated pulses seemed to throb
everywhere and it was as if she were on the verge
of delirium. All her entreaties had been dashed to
nothing against the adamant resolve of this man, and
each moment that passed, each heartbeat she felt,
meant that the caique was sailing nearer all the time
to his island called Solitaria. Wild, no doubt
picturesque, with the sea winds blowing across its
rocks and turf, where a few Greek peasants tilled
the soil, and a

white-walled house stood waiting for a man and a

woman a house he must have built for himself
and Timareta. Alice fought the magnetism of his
eyes and her lashes made shadows on her cheeks.
I-Im not the person you take me for, she said, and
this time she knew she was fighting not him but
herself. I wear glasses and men consider me a
frump She broke off as Stefan Kassandros laughed
and pulled his fingers free of her hair. You will
tell me next that you wear false teeth, or that your
hair is glued on. Im terribly shortsighted, she
rejoined. I didnt trip over that rug on purpose last
night, if thats what youre thinking. No, I saw the
look of helpless surprise on your face when you felt
yourself falling, and thats why I caught you in my
arms. He smiled down at her and she saw the deep
brilliance of his eyes. You will never know how
long it had been since I held a woman so close to
me. I had almost forgotten how pleasant the
sensation could beit rather sealed your fate, did
it not? What do you mean? Alice gave him a
helpless look, for that was the way he made her
feel, his wide shoulders stretched above her and
that faintly mocking smile on his mouth. I had
already decided that something had to be done
about the little fly which had walked so innocently
into my parlour. I thought to ask an enormous
ransom for you from Damaskinos to be paid to a
charity, but that was before I felt your slim and
scented body in my aims. The moment that
happened, guzel, I knew the gods had arranged a for
more subtle and exciting ekthekissis on behalf of
Timareta.

Youre crazy-criminal, Alice gasped. You

cant really expect to get away with such a thing!
You cant imagine that I shall willingly let you treat
me likelike an object, to be flung aside when
youve had your fill of vengeance. How will you
stop me? he mocked. Im a whole lot stronger
than you, and Im a very determined man when I set
my mind on something. Damaskinos robbed me of
what I loved, so I shall do the same to him. But he
doesnt love me, Alice exclaimed. Im nothing to
him youve got to believe me! Oh, I quite agree
that he couldnt love a woman with any tenderness,
or even respect, Stefan Kassandros agreed. He
only knows how to possess people, and so I shall
possess youonly rather more thoroughly than he
ever could. Hell choke on that like a bone in his
throat. Will it really make you happy to have all
your hatred out on me? Alice asked, a frightened
catch in her throat. It will give me immeasurable
pleasure. He traced with a fingertip the line of her
cheekbone to the corner of her mouth. How
fortunate that the woman of Damaskinos is not a
shallow, insensitive flirt but a woman whose inner
emotional self is very vulnerable. I like that, Alice.
You are the most unguarded woman I have ever
met, with a misty loneliness in your sea-coloured
eyes. Alice couldnt take those eyes from his face;
he was more physically attractive than any man she
had ever seen, and he was equally ruthless. Hours
had already passed since he had entered her suite
and served her with drugged coffee, and there
wasnt a soul to care what became of her. Alberta
had flown off to Ceylon to be with her lover, and
Alice had no close friends to be concerned for her.
Her plight

was quite helpless, and she had a feeling she should

be screaming and tearing her hair wasnt that the
tradition when a woman was calmly informed that
she was going to be ravished? Youre the most
unscrupulous man Ive ever met, she said. Oh no,
he shook his head. Im a saint compared to that
satyr you came to Greece to marry. Im years
younger than Damaskinos and my feelings with
regard to women are normal and not all twisted
up. You call this normalwhat you are doing to
me? I am doing very little at the moment, he
drawled. In fact I am about to leave you for a
while, so dont weep and make a misery of
yourself. Your suitcases are at the foot of the divan,
so dress yourself and come on deck. I shall get the
boy to cook some sausages and bacon. Are you
hungry? No I think you are. This time his
stride towards the door had definite purpose to it.
The sooner you accept the inevitable, Alice, the
better it will be for you. I shall be waiting for you.
The door closed behind him, and Alice crouched
there on the divan and listened to his receding
footfalls. Alberta had warned her that Greek men
could be devils, and instead of taking heed of that
warning she had come on impulse to Greece and
now found herself at the mercy of a handsome devil
who made her shiver in retrospect. Hurt by a tragic
love, he meant to make her suffer for itdeaf to her
cries that Ionides Damaskinos didnt even know of
her existence, or that if he knew it was as a vague
figure in Albertas background. She slid from the
divan and went across to one of the portholes, the
cloak still clutched around her as if to protect her
from a pair of dark

eyes. The sea looked incredibly blue and was

running fast, as if the caique was moving swiftly
across the Aegean, putting many miles between
Alice and the comparative civilisation of Athens.
This was real and those romantic stories for which
she did the art work were far behind in her London
flat. Up there on the deck of the caique stood a tall
Greek bent on vengeance, and down here she
huddled in his cloak like a trembling Victorian
virgin. Only she wasnt about to have the vapours,
and that devil wasnt going to have his way without
one hell of a fight! Alice dropped the cloak, tossed
back her hair and lifted her suitcases on to the
divan. If he thought he had run off with a siren, then
she was about to show him her real self, in neat
skirt and blouse, spectacles and her hair in a bun.

CHAPTER THREE THE caique rode the swells

with effortless grace and below her sails of deep
rusty red the sea gleamed turquoise, its surface
scattered as if with countless fish scales. Alice had
mounted to the deck very quietly and now she stood
partly concealed by some ships tackle watching
Stefan Kassandros at the wheel of the craft, its great
sails belling out in the fresh wind off the sea. He
had removed his sheepskin coat and his wide
shoulders strained the linen of a white shirt as he
steered his piratical caique towards the island he
had called Solitaria because it was far out in the
Aegean and he could take a woman there and do as
he wished with her. Her eyes slid down to his lean
hips in sun-bleached trousers. His body had animal
balance to it combined with a look of power and
innate toughness. His shoulders were imposing but
not heavy, and Alices hand climbed to her throat
as she watched him. She hadnt known that the
silent physical presence of a man could be so
overwhelming; he seemed supremely self-
sufficient, and yet he carried an aura of loneliness
as. he stood there guiding this great bulk of
mahogany and teakwood through the dazzling
waters. A beautifully carved balustrade outlined the
tiller and Alice could see the shape of a figurehead
high above the helm. The Owl and the Pussycat,
she thought. Only this was a tiger with whom she
was sailing away, tawny-skinned from the wind and
the sun that had burned into him. A man who had
admitted to living monklike since the untimely death
of his girl, but who meant to change all that when he
reached his island with the woman he had dared to
abduct like a Greek pirate. All of it was
incredible, like some fantastic dream that held her
spellbound. She breathed the tang of the ocean and
felt the sun

against her skin, and for the first time she saw
Stefan Kassandros with clarity. At first after
glancing through her belongings she had panicked
because she had been unable to find her indoor
glasses, then had realised that he hadnt bundled
them in with her other things. They had been left
unnoticed on the bathroom shelf, but fortunately she
possessed a pair of sunglasses, not too deeply
tinted, and these would have to suffice for everyday
use. She was wearing them right now, along with a
slim dark skirt and sedately collared blue blouse.
Her hair was neatly coiled into a bun at the nape of
her neck and she wore not a trace of make-up. Now
she was Alice Sheldon again, the primlooking
sister of the glamorous Alberta, whom men passed
by without a second glance. She braced her spine,
which was actually as straight as an arrow, giving
to her slenderness a look of balance she was
inclined to be unaware of, so that when she walked
along Kensington High Street she had a rather
snooty air. Her tinted spectacles sat firmly on her
nose and she hoped she was going to give her
kidnapper quite a jolt to his masculine libido.
Here I am, Mr Kassandros, she said, in her
primmest tone of voice. Ive dressed and come on
deck, as you ordered. He glanced down lazily at
her and the first thing his eyes settled on was her
bunned hair. Loosen your hair, Alice, and dont
argue with me, he said, and though she had sworn
to control her nerves, his voice still had the same
alarming effect on her silly female knees and she
felt them tremble the instant he opened his mouth.
Go to the devil, she muttered, hating him for his
male assurance and his attitude of being her master.
Its my hair, and I always wear it this way. II
only ever loosen it when I go to bed.

How provocative, he drawled. But I happen to

like it unbound when you arent about to go to bed,
so take out the pins, or whatever else secures that
bun, and let the sea wind play with your hair.
Another direct order from the captain? she asked,
hands firmly locked together behind her. I thought
you ought to get used to the way I really look.
Again his eyes swept her up and down the
darkest, most disturbing eyes she had ever
encountered, making her aware of the deep
potential for passion in this man, alike to the sea all
around them, fathomless, fearful, hiding secrets and
storms. Struggling free of his gaze, she fixed hers
upon the heavy jade seal that hung against his
brown chest in the deep opening of his shirt.
Overhead came the creaking and rustling of mast
and sail, and his hands were firm on the great span
of the wheel. What in the world is wrong with the
way you look? he wanted to know. Loosen that
soft cloud of hair and youll look more yourself.
This is myself, she said insistently. Im not a
teenager to go about with my hair floating in the
breeze. Then why wear it long at all? he queried,
a glint of mockery in his eyes. Why not have it cut
off? Shall I tell you why you dont, Alice? Because
you know how enticing it looks when you let it
down, but you dont have the nerve to wear it that
way in the street. Youre an inhibited young
woman, arent you? And I suppose youre a
psychologist as well as being a hotel keeper, a
sailor and an abductor? she rejoined. What I am
is my own business. Not any more. He let his
voice sink down meaningly on the words. You are
now my businessmine to control just as I fancy.

Youre acting just like a damned pirate! she

exclaimed. When the authorities catch up with you
I dont think they will, Alice. It was dark
when I carried you away from the Metropolis and
brought you aboard the Phaedra. Your name has
been skilfully removed from the hotel register and
there is no evidence at all to show that you were
there. What about the clerk who booked me in,
and to whom I spoke? she demanded. A cousin of
mine who likes his job. Family relationships in
Greece ate very close and feudal, Alice. Aand
what about the boy you have on this boat? Hell see
me-- Doubtless. The edge of the well-cut
mouth gave a quirk. He is the son of another
cousin, and there will be no questions inside or
outside my family with regard to what I do with the
woman of Damaskinos. Sufficient to say that our
loyalties are iron-bound. Youre made of iron,
she accused, even as she saw the rise and fall of his
chest and the movement of the jade seal against his
skin. His muscles were firm, but there was an alive
quality to his body that Alice couldnt ignore. She
almost wanted to touch turn, and stabbed her palms
with her fingernails in a kind of self-punishment.
This man was little more than a criminal, and here
she was reacting like the traditional spinster
starved of male chemistry. I despise you, she
said. Youre just an arrogant bully! Most men
are, he agreed. From boys they are aware of a
superior strength, so they use their physical power
in order to dominate, but on the reverse of the coin
there is the female who realises that by using charm
she can often subdue the arrogant male. Perhaps you

arent aware of having this charm, Alice. Perhaps

you will have to be taught how to use it. And you,
I suppose, are going to be my tutor? She spoke
crisply, in the way she had learned since
overhearing it said that she wouldnt be fun to kiss.
You may finish up with a very disappointing pupil,
kyrie. We shall see. It amazes me that
Damaskinos had the wit to realise that lurking
inside the prudish Miss Sheldon, with her blouse
buttoned all the way up and flat heels to her shoes,
there is a very different person longing to get out. A
shy, silky, spitting little cat, eh? Tell me, Alice, did
someone say to you when you were little that you
were plain? I know Im plain. So is rice
pudding, until you get the taste of sugar and spice.
Thanks! Its flattering to be told Im a bit of a cat,
with the disposition of a rice pudding. He laughed,
a throaty male sound which Alice had heard so
infrequently in her old-maidish life. He laughed and
said these provocative things, but only because he
believed he had on board his caique the fiancee of
a sworn enemy. He had waited a long time to score
off Ionides Damaskinos and it was seeing her last
night, masquerading as Alberta rather than herself,
which had led to her being with him on this graceful
craft, which rode the swells with sails full- -
stretched in the wind. Never in her wildest dreams
had Alice imagined something so improbableand
improper happening to her, and with some guilty,
deep-down part of herself she almost wanted him to
go on believing that she was Alberta. Even her
popular sister had never been dated by a man who
looked like Stefan Kassandros, with a lithe, strong
grace to his body, and a look of

command in his face. With eyes that vowed

retribution for emotional suffering ! You have
never loved, he had said to her. You were ready
to sell yourself to a rich beast. Alice listened as
the laughter sank down gratingly in his brown
throat. Her protestations had been ignored and
because he wouldnt believe the truth she was in
the position of living a fantastic lie. Short of
leaping over the side of the Phaedra in an attempt to
escape him, she was as much at his mercy as a
woman abducted on the high seas by a corsair of
long ago. An alarming sensation shot through her
when he suddenly reached out a hand and found the
knobbed pin that secured her hair. He plucked out
the pin and her hair tumbled free of its confining
bun, softly burnished by the sun as it tumbled about
the shoulders of her blue silk blouse. A snip of
defiance I will tolerate, he said, but I dont intend
to be denied my pleasures. There, that looks much
more fetching. Youre abominably Sure of
yourself, arent you? Nothing so intimate had ever
happened to Alice and no one had ever called
her fetching! I suppose youre playing games with
me, like aa naughty boy with a fly in a bottle?
A boyeven a naughty one? He smiled
mockingly, and flicked the pin into tie sea. Never
again fold your hair in a bun like a matron. I dont
happen to like my hair in an untidy mess about my
face, she rejoined. Im not a schoolgirl. No, he
agreed, but neither are you on the verge of middle
age and in need of dignity. Now shall we do
something about the blouse? The

colour is charming, but shall I undo some of those

top buttons, or will you do the unbuttoning
yourself? No-- Alice flung up a hand and
covered her sedately buttoned collar. I wont be
turned into some kind ofof wanton to suit you!
You have no right to give me such orders! Youre
mine to do with exactly as I please. His smile had
a wicked edge to it. You have encased yourself in
a tightly laced mental corset, havent you, little
one? Now the time has come to release some of
those reservations that wont permit you to breathe
freely to throw back your hair in the sun and
wind and let the elements caress your skin. You
have the most beautiful skin I have ever seen in my
lifedont you know it? When he said that Alice
felt as if she blushed all over. Oh yes, she had
known that she had good skin, but only in the
privacy of her bathroom. But such privacy was now
at an end, she realised, and there wasnt the
smallest doubt in her mind that if she didnt open
one or two of her blouse buttons, hed yank her
close to him and do it for her and get pleasure
out of doing it. With a mutinous set to her lips Alice
undid the top button, cast a look at his face and
undid the next one. One more, he drawled. Three
is a lucky number. Perish you, she said, but did
as she was told, feeling at once the soft wind
blowing against her throat. His dark eyes were
upon her throat, brooding there as if he were
remembering the way she had looked in the petal-
soft chiffon. At once she looked about her in a
hunted way and took a step towards the side of the
caique. The water looks beautiful, he said, but
there are sharks in it.

Youre only saying that to scare me - Then try it,

pedhaki mou. I suppose Miki and I could always try
and sew you up with sail thread. Alice gave a
shiver. Youre as hard as nails, arent you? W-
what was that you called me in Greek? My little
lover. Im no such thing! You will be. His eyes
brushed her, watching the wind play with her hair.
I rather fancy my shy, silky, spitting little cat, and
its been a long time for meand never for you,
eh? Its life, Alice. Like the sea and the wind and
the tide. Its ethekissis, and I want it! Regardless
of my feelings? she demanded, swaying to the
motion of the caique on legs gone tremulous from
his words. Already she knew that he never said
anything he didnt mean. He wasnt making
conversation and passing the time he was telling
her what lay ahead for her on the island of
Solitaria. Your feelings will be considered, he
drawled. I shant whip you into submission. You
may have to! You dont imagine I shall give in to
you likelike some love-hungry spinster! You
will give in, Alice, one way or another. Ah, here
comes Miki with breakfasta little late, but
nonetheless welcome, eh? She wanted to tell him
to give it to the fishes, but once again was betrayed
by her own body. She was ravenous, and the food
on the tray had an aroma that was out of this world.
The boy Miki gave her a smile, as if it were-: quite
the usual thing for him to assist in the

abduction of an Englishwoman. Or maybe he had

been led to believe that she was an eager passenger
aboard the caique she wouldnt put anything past
Stefan Kassandros! Arrange that box so Miss
Sheldon can sit and eat her breakfast, he said to
Miki in English. Miki is bi-lingual like quite a few
young Greeks, he explained to Alice. His father,
my cousin, spent some years in America and
brought home with him a Greek wife who had been
born there. A lot of my people go to the States for a
while, but they invariably return to Greece. Few
other countries have our history and timelessness,
and even your own country, England, is being
spoiled by so-called progress. Dont you agree?
She did agree and had to admit it, taking her seat on
the box Miki had arranged so she was partially
shaded from the sun and accepting from him a plate
of hot smoky bacon, fat little sausages, tomatoes
and fried bread. As Miki poured the coffee he kept
giving her quick glances from faun-shaped brown
eyes, above which he had a head of curly dark hair.
He was good-looking and Alice couldnt help
smiling back at him. No doubt all the male members
of the Kassandros clan were alarmingly attractive
in a wholly Greek waylean, agile, assured in
their maleness. Take the wheel, Miki, while I eat,
said Stefan, and the - boy sprang to do his bidding.
Were dead on course, so you keep it that way,
eh? Ne, kapetanies. The boy braced himself at
the wheel, and Stefan Kassandros caught Alices
eye as he came to where she was eating and there
was a glint of amusement in his eyes. The sun struck
his dark head and his thick hair also had a glint to
it, and Alice couldnt help noticing that the
widows peak was exactly centred above his
brows.

It was incredible to her beyond belief that she,

plain Alice Sheldon who sat at home while other
girls had fun, could have aroused in this imperious
Greek a desire to make love to her. As he lounged
against a mast and ate his food, forking sausage and
bacon with uninhibited appetite, Alice could only
assume that his desire for her was so rooted in his
hatred of Damaskinos that only by taking
possession of herwhom he believed to be the
would-be bride of the Greek shipping owner
could he assuage the bitterness and heartache stored
up in him for so long. He must, she thought, have
been tremendously in love with Timareta to have
kept away from other women ever since her death,
for this wasnt a man whom women would pass by
without a second glance. Alice lowered her gaze to
her plate and realised how physically aware of him
she was oh lord, was she so love-starved that
she actually felt some kind of pleasure in this
abduction? This man was sailing away with her
like some buccaneer, and here she was eating his
food and actually admiring his wide shoulders
tapering to lean hips, and his legs that were so long
and thrusting in the sailcloth trousers. What are
you thinking? he asked suddenly. Surely I can
have my thoughts to myself, she said resentfully.
You dont intend to demand those, do you? The
fact is, Alice, you intrigue me because you dont
seem to have any of the usual female tricks. Its
almost as if you had led a life of seclusion, which
cant really be possible when you found time to
throw a hook into Damaskinos. Hes going to
struggle like mad when you fail to show up, isnt
he? Hell probably send out his gunboats. Alice
made the retort before weighing its implications,
and her pulses gave a throb as she realised

what she had said. Stefan Kassandross gave a soft,

rather menacing laugh. So you think he might put
two and two together and come after you, eh? Well,
we shall be dropping anchor at Solitaria before the
day is out, and by the time he sends a rescue
mission it will be a case of fait accompli. What
do you mean? she gasped. My dear girl, must I
spell it out? He held a watermelon between his
hands and deliberately broke it apart so the juice
ran over his skin. Alice wasnt sure what he meant
to imply by the gesture, but when he handed her one
of the halves he was smiling to himself. II
believe youre just making threats, she said. Do
you? He bit into his watermelon and his eyes
mocked her. Then its going to come as a shock to
you, Alice, when my threats turn into realities. Eat
your karpouzi. Its deliriously sweet, just like
honey. A seducing sound had come into his voice
and Alice could feel the heat in her cheeks as she
took a bite of the fruit. A reversal of the
procedure, eh? he drawled. This time the man
does the enticing and as the fruit of temptation was
never really specified and all things grew in Eden,
it could well have been karpouzi that Eve shared
with Adam. And you know what happened to
Eden, dont you? she retorted. Your island sounds
a haven of peace, but will it still seem like that
after youve used it to carry out your vendetta? You
may find afterwards that instead of karpouzi you
have the taste of ashes in your mouth.

You have a very modest opinion of your own

charms, Alice, if you really believe that I shant
enjoy my vendetta. He tossed the rind of his
watermelon into the sea, and for a moment he
looked like a Chiparus javelin-thrower Alice had
once seen in bronze in the window of a little
antique shop in Chelsea. She had an immediate
longing to own the figure and had gone in to ask the
price, which had been too much at the time for her
slender purse. Later on when she could have paid
the price, the figure had been sold, and she had felt
an acute sense of loss. Her eyes dwelt bemused on
Stefan Kassandros behind the frames of her tinted
spectacles. It was as if the bronze figure had come
to life, with an agile flexing of concealed strength
and assured menace in the proud face. Arent you
curious about my house on Solitaria? he asked.
After all, youll be living there. That should
cause quite a lot of gossip among the islanders, Mr
Kassandros, or am I to be passed off as another
cousin? The general opinion will be that Ive
wasted time enough living without a woman.
Greeks can be incredibly open-minded about these
matters of a liaison. He carried a flame to the thin
dark cheroot he had placed between his lips.
Added to which its nobodys damn business but
my own. I rather thought I was involved! He had
spoken with such casual arrogance that Alice could
have rushed across to where he stood and struck
him across the jaw. Im not a thing! I have feelings,
a-and Im not accustomed to being pointed out as
some mans scarlet woman! What an outdated
term, my dear. He puffed cheroot .smoke with cool
enjoyment, lounging there .against the mainmast
with the great rust-red sails spread above him. But
in some ways you are an oldfashioned girl, arent
you, as if you keep your emotions under lock and
key. I imagine that was why you were attracted to a
man with only half the use of his body? You could
have his fortune without paying the usual sort of
dues. You think Im like that? Alice gasped. The
facts speak for themselves, dont they? The facts
as you interpret them! Ive said again and again that
Im not the woman you take me for, but such is your
arrogance that you obviously believe you cant
make mistakes. You say Im an oldfashioned type of
person and in some ways I probably am, in which
case is it really likely that a rich sophisticate like
Ionides Damaskinos would consider marrying
someone whom you have called inhibited, shy,
outdated? Alice stood up and swept a disparaging
hand down her own body. I am what I appear to
be, Mr Kassandros. I am inhibited and shy, and I
dont go in for swinging affairs and casual
abortions. I live a quiet life in my London flat and I
work as a commercial artist. I cant keep a real cat
in the old-maid tradition, so I have a china one with
a long neck and big eyes. When I can afford a seat
at the theatre I go alone, but Hack the gall to sit
alone in a restaurant, and our lovely old Lyons
Corner Houses have become gambling halls. I also
lack whatever it is that men like and I have long
since resigned myself to life alonebut if I ever
loved a man, it wouldnt be because he has money,
or because he couldnt make love to me. Im not
frigid! Im just on guard against being hurt! Stefan
Kassandros smoked in silence for. several
moments, and then he slowly shook his head in a
kind of wonderment. Youre good, he said.
Youre really so good you should have made
acting-your profession. Dyou know something
Im really looking forward to uncovering the real
Alice Sheldon.

You meanyou dont believe me? she

exclaimed. My dear girl, I made it my business to
find out about the fiancee of Damaskinos and I
learned that she was every inch the good-looking
English woman, in her early twenties, with
exceptionally nice hair and a slim figure and that
her name was Alice Sheldon. Alberta - My very
definite information was that the young womans
name was Alice. His voice cut across hers with
the sharpness of a blade. I know your name is
Alice because I took the liberty of examining your
passport while you lay sleeping. I know you were
born in the county of Middlesex, and that your exact
age is twenty-four. You have no scars or marks
just one small mole on your entire body. He
paused there and his eyes dwelt on the open neck of
her blouse, near her collar-bone. Many women
would give their back teeth for your skin, Alice. A
man would never cease wanting to touch it.
Abruptly he tossed his half-smoked cheroot into the
sea. Come here! he ordered. Go to the devil!
Alice retorted. She saw the crispation of his
forearm muscles and the smouldering light of
danger in his eyes. You will do as you are told, if
you know whats good for you. I can be kind to you,
or I can be cruel. Take your choice, and take it
now, for this moment sets the mood between us
this moment when I see your hair blowing in the sea
wind, and your hands are tensed like cat claws that
would like-to rip into me. Come, Alice, I am just a
few steps away from you, so come and try a little
ripping.
All of her was tense, while a question burned in her
mind. Why had Alberta pretended to be called
Alice, for that was obviously what she had done? It
could only be connected with something Alberta
had said years ago, when they were children and
reading the Lewis Carroll books. The pert and
pretty Berta had turned to their father and said that
she was the one who should have been called Alice
because she had fair hair and blue eyes and was the
enquiring child of the family. Their father had
laughed and Alice remembered how he had looked
at her, with a kind of concerned affection as if he
had known that Wonderland would never be easy
for her to find. Suddenly a pair of hands were
gripping her shoulders and she was swung forward
against a hard masculine chest. Her startled eyes
lifted to the savagely resolved face and saw the
dark head coming down to her. As a gasp broke
from her, her lips were crushed in a relentless kiss
from which there was no breaking away and her
slimness was pressed to his lean hardness until he
actively hurt her. So this is the way you want to
play? He spoke roughly against her mouth.
Theres to be no givingI have to take! Oh
what else did you expect? She struggled for
breathing space, but his muscles were unyielding
against her body, locking her to him from her
shoulders to her hips. His left arm was around her
and she felt his fingers searching her spine, finding
sensitive buttons of nerve and bone that made her
catch her breath as his fingertips played over them.
Must youhere? Her voice was tormented. The
boy will see you So you want to hide? He
dragged her roughly behind some piles of boxes
and canvas, and there she was forcibly kissed on
her mouth, her neck, and down in the opening of her
blouse. His lips were warm and urgent against her
skin, so that even in her inexperience she

realised that he was unleashing his hold on his

passions and letting them get out of control. The
powerful length of his body was forcing her to
yield against the folded canvas, and her thrashing,
fear-stricken struggles seemed to destroy his last
link with civilised behaviour. Suddenly he lifted
her bodily and carried her down the steps to his
cabin. He dropped her to the divan and she lay
there dazedly and heard the lock click. No, she
said distractedly. You cant - I can. He removed
her glasses and his face blurred above her even as
she felt the quickening of his breath and knew that
passion was sweeping away the last remnants of his
control. A frightened moan broke from Alice and
she raised a hand to strike at his face. She could
hear herself pleading with him, but her blow went
wild and merely struck his shoulder. Ahno! She
was lost in his arms and her hair was flung across
the cushions. Lips moved across her throat, pausing
at the vein that beat in unison with her racing
heart a swooning feeling came over her and
Alice slumped into a weak, unaware stillness, her
face drained to a whiteness that only a dead faint
could induce.

Her eyes opened languidly and there he was,

seated on the side of the divan looking down at her
and moistening her lips with brandy. He set aside
the glass as her eyes fluttered open, dazed for a
moment, and then gradually filled with recognition
and trepidation. He leaned over her, his shoulders
rampantly strong above her. His hand brushed the
hair from her damp forehead, and she stared up at
him, into eyes whose outer corners had a slant to
them that added to his hateful fascination.

It seems I frightened you, he said dryly. Are you

all right now? II think so. Her eyes still held a
residue of the terror he had inspired in her. Ive
never fainted before in my life. You went out like
a light. He touched her cheek with the back of his
hand, and Alice shrank from his touch, instinctively
aware that he was concerned for her in a
possessive way. I thought only terrified females in
Victorian novels did that sort of thingyou really
are an extraordinary creature, Alice. Its you
you, she said shakily. Ive been drugged and
brought on board this boat for you to maul about-
what did you expect me to do? Throw my arms
around your neck 1-like some gratified old maid
who finds an intruder under her bed? This brought
a brief smile to his lips. Want to finish the brandy?
It might bring a little colour back into your cheeks.
Y-you know what I want. Her eyes clung
pleadingly to his, the pupils widened and their
green-blue colour intensified by her pallor. I want
to be taken back to Athens please! He lounged
above her, his eyes moving over her disordered
hair and down to where his lips had disarranged
her blouse so that it showed her white skin. Very
deliberately he shook his head. We are more than
halfway to the island and I have no intention of
turning back to Athens just because you had an
attack of the vapours. I shall just have to go a little
more slowly with you, Alice. You come into a
different category from those other liberated
Englishwomen who come abroad, titillated by
romantic tales of ruthless Greek ship owners. You
intrigue me more than ever. Damn youdamn
you! she gasped. Her skin took flame from what
had come into his eyes, for potent between them
was the memory of

his kisses and his warm lithe body pressed to hers

in all its power and mystery. She gripped the divan
cushion where she lay and dug her fingernails into
it, as if making of it a substitute for his adamant
face. Words failed her and she could hardly endure
it that he looked at her so possessively, as if the
fact that she fainted at his hands was subtly exciting
to him. Youre as hard as iron, she said bitterly.
You arent, are you? His hand touched her
shoulder, warm through the silk of her blouse. You
are sensitive to the core and I think I do you a
favour in taking you away from Damaskinos. You
are probably too naive to realise the type of man he
is. I hope you arent making yourself out to be
some kind of a saint? Alice gave him a scornful
look. I dont imagine theres much to choose
between you and Ionides Damaskinos. I expect
youve both achieved money and power out of
using other people and not caring who got hurt in
the process. I daresay thats what frightened the
wits out of me I felt the devil in you! Something
flickered across his face when she said that and his
body went dangerously tense. Be careful, he said.
I wont tolerate being compared with an assassin
employer. You do your own dirty work, is that it,
Mr Kassandros? I think you had better start
calling me Stefan. His jaw was like iron, and at
the centres of his eyes tiny cores of anger were
burning. We are on course for Solitaria all the
way, and you can scream, faint, or rip those
cushions to shreds, and all you will achieve is
exhaustion. Relax and rest and stop forcing yourself
to insult me. I assure you I dont have to force
myself, she rejoined. Its the only thing about this
trip Im enjoying!

Then enjoy it in solitary comfort. Abruptly he

stood up and gestured at the glass with brandy in it
Drink that and go to sleep. Go to hell, Mr
Kassandros, she said quietly. I shall never forgive
you for forcing me into going to your island, but
once Im there I shall find some way to get out of
your clutches. By all means dream of doing so.
He gave her a mocking bow and strode to the door,
and in an access of torment Alice leaned to one
side, snatched up the brandy glass and flung it
across the cabin at him. It missed him and broke in
a wet pool on the floor. He stood there quirking an
eyebrow. Now do you feel better? he asked.
Heaps better. She flung round on her elbow and
showed him her back, biting her lip as she heard
him laugh softly to himself before closing the door
behind him. Perish him! she muttered, and she lay
there feeling the motion of the caique and hearing
the creak of its timbers as they sailed on inexorably
towards Solitaria. Sometimes in the loneliness of
her London flat she had dreamed of finding
romance in the arms of a tender, caring man but
instead a perverse fate had thrown her into the
possession of a tall and merciless Greek, driven to
seek vengeance and certain he had found it in the
shape of herself. In her he intended to find release
for all his pent-up hatred, all his restraint since the
girl called Timareta had died. Alice knew that he
cared nothing for her feelings he firmly believed
that her hopes and dreams resided in a man he
despised. She was here, suffering like this, all on
account of her reckless and selfish sister who told
lies and went blithely on her way, reaping not a
crumb of the havoc she had sown.
A little tremor of remembered fear ran through
Alice she hadnt known of the degree of
helplessness that a man could make a woman feel
a helplessness that was probably enjoyable in the
arms of a man in love. Stefan Kassandros didnt
love her, but that wouldnt stop him from eventually
taking his ethekissis. Once again she would feel
those relentless lips and hands, and the next time
she might not escape his intentions by having the
Victorian vapours, as he had called it. Alice lay
there and wondered about herself. She had always
believed that her reserve was a defence against
being hurt, but was it possible that she was
basically afraid of giving herself to any man? There
were women like that, and until her fateful meeting
with Stefan Kassandros she hadnt been given the
opportunity to find out if she was passionate or
cold. Alice clutched a cushion to her and felt
terribly lost and insecure as the Phaedra carried her
across the deep Aegean to the island of a man who
had her completely in his clutches.

CHAPTER FOUR ALICE stood taut by the rail as

the caique was skilfully eased among the rocks that
grew in dark clusters beyond the beach of Solitaria.
Dusk was falling and streaks of flame lay across the
sky; the wind blew her hair across her brow and
her lips were more red than usual against the
paleness of her face. It seemed that the island was
encircled by those dark-ripped rocks deeply
submerged in the blue Aegean, making of it a kind
of stronghold that would appeal to the corsair in
Stefan Kassandros. Beyond the sands were great
sculptured cliffs made brazen, by the sunset, and
even from here she could see the house he called
Fireglow, rooted there on the hulking cliffs, wild,
almost forbidding in its air of loneliness,
dominating the sea from which it arose on bedrock
a deep ocean turbulence must have thrown up aeons
ago. There is the kastellomy sea castle. A deep
note of possession rang in the voice of the man who
owned the island, the house, and the woman to
whom he spoke as he gripped the great wheel,
strong legs braced against the deck as he brought
the Phaedra safely through the reef and into
harbour/The anchor ratded on its chain as it was
lowered, and even though Alice came here under
duress there was still a certain excitement in
finding herself about to be rowed ashore to a Greek
island. The baggage was put aboard the skiff and it
was lowered, and about twenty minutes later Alice
actually set foot on Solitaria, on sands as pale as
the towering cliffs were fire red. As she leaped
ashore she glanced upwards and her eyes were
filled with the incandescent, flamy glow of the sky.
Her spectacles were in the pocket of her jacket, for
waves had splashed across the skiff and so
bedewed the lenses that they had become more of a
hindrance than a help. Now as she looked around
her everything had a kindly haze to it, somehow
lessening her initial sense of apprehension.

Well? Stefan stood there proud and hard-bodied,

his dark head poised in that haughty, defiant way
upon the sun-bronzed column of his neck, moulding
down in a truly Greek way into the wide, strong
shoulders and chest. This is a moment of
miroloyia, eh? I dont know what the word is
supposed to mean. Still she couldnt speak to him
in a normal tone of voice, or look at him without a
feeling of weakness in her. knees, so that she had to
take a grip on herself. It added to her sense of
outrage that he looked so casual, and even had the
gall to show a certain amount of possessiveness. In
his every glance there was a suggestion that she
belonged to him and had better accept the situation.
Miroloyia means destiny, he replied, and he
caught her gaze and held it to the depths of her eyes.
If we are fated for certain things to happen to us,
then inevitably comes the moment when they will
happen. Accept that, Alice, and we might get along
without too much attrition. What an easy get-out
for you, she said scornfully. You carry me off like
some pirate, and then blame it on destiny. Under
normal circumstances a tourist would pay well to
travel oh a craft like the Phaedra, he said dryly.
Im being quite considerate when I remember the
way Timareta was drowned in a rich mans pool.
Ohplease, Alice flung out a hand, dont keep
blaming me for that poor girls death! He caught
hold of her hand, his fingers locking about her
slender ones. He raised her hand and studied it as if
fascinated by the contrast between his tanned skin
and the white texture of hers. You have nice hands,
my dear, the kind that should touch a man with
tenderness. You have a lot to learn, pedhaki mou,
and the next time I hold you in

my arms I shall hope not to be stabbed in the back

by your fingernails. Oh, did I hurt you? she said,
mock innocently. Im so glad. You fought like a
little she-cat. He gave a sardonic laugh. It felt as
if you were digging a trench in my back, and some
men would have slapped you for it. But youre a
gentleman, she retorted. She forcibly dragged her
gaze from his and let it travel up the steep cliffside.
Dont tell me we have to climb up there in order to
reach the kastello? No, we go this way. He
reached into the skiff for her suitcases, then led her
-across the sands that were reddening beneath the
fiery blaze of the sun as it was pulled towards the
sea. Ahead of them was an arch dug from the cliffs,
where an iron-gated elevator had been installed in
a shaft drilled in the iron-hard rock, a feat of
engineering which must have cost a good deal of
money, making Alice realise that Stefan Kassandros
was possessed of some solid, hard-earned wealth.
When they entered the elevator a light went on
automatically and the cage, which was just about
big enough for two people and some luggage,
climbed carefully up the shaft. Had Alice been
alone she would have felt nervous of the lift,
shrinking inwardly at the thought of it stalling in that
long tunnel of rock. This contraption rarely goes
wrong. Stefan was looking at her as if he knew
what she was thinking. Many years ago when
Fireglow was used as a monastery, the monks used
to actually climb up and down the cliffs, and theyd
have their supplies from the mainland hoisted up to
them in big baskets. When I took over the place and
had it put to rights I didnt relish the idea of
climbing up and down like a goat, so I

had this lift put in. You dont suffer from a fear of
being enclosed, do you, Alicia? She stared at him,
realising that he had subtly altered the sound of her
name, as if now they were on his island she was
going to be moulded exacdy to his requirements.
Ive never liked lifts very much, she said. I
would prefer to be called Alice in the English way,
if you dont mind? Im not a Greek woman and I
dont intend to bow down to you. Really? He
quirked a black eyebrow. Havent we already
established that I can bend you to my will any time
Im in the mood to do so? Oh yes, youre good at
using brute force, kyrios. She gave him a cold
look. But it might grow a little tedious for you
never to have someone whos willing, or who
wants .to kiss you because she likes you. I utterly
despise you and you arent always going to enjoy
being despisedmen dont, do they? Their mothers
teach them to need affection, from women, and
thats something you cant force me to give you.
My dear girl, his expression was sardonic, if you
fondly imagine that I require affection from you,
then youre mistaken. My sole purpose in bringing
you here should be perfectly clear to you by now.
It is, kyrie, she assured him. So long as you
understand that I hate your arrogance and everything
about you! Of course I understand. He gave a
softly mocking laugh. Ive ruined all your cosy
plans for the future. I expect you were going to sit at
the stricken tyrants knee and read him Gothic
romances in that charming English voice of yours,
all sweet servitude to look at, but secretly

content to be the wife of a half-man who could

never toss you over his shoulder and teach you to
be a real woman. Is that what you intend to do?
Alice gave him a scornful glare. Youre just a
brazen bully who merits a term in prison. Youll
pay in the end for what youre doingthey call this
abduction! Who will make me pay, my dear? His
eyes were infinitely mocking as they dwelt on her
upraised face. Who will believe that the reputable
owner of hotels gave you drugged coffee so he
could carry you quietly on board his caique? You
are just another foreign woman who came
travelling in search of a rich protectorit happens
every day of the week, women such as yourself
invite the attentions of a wealthy man, and then
demand a reparation that gets laughed out of court.
Youre an unspeakable devil! Alice couldnt help
giving him a shocked look. You know Im not one
of those women! Do I? He looked indolent as he
leaned on the wall. When I entered your suite last
night you were clad very invitingly, and then you
contrived to fall into my arms. What is a man
supposed to think when a woman does that sort of
thingthat shes asking for a cup of warm milk to
help her fall asleep? I tripped and you know it!
Her eyes were alight with indignation. What I
know, little one, and what I would say in a Greek
court if you dared to take me into one are two
different things. Do I make my meaning clear
enough for you? Despicably clear. Her voice
shook with fury. Youd drag me through the mud
when Im the offended party! Youd tell lies and
make me out a wanton who picked you up! If you
are so sure youd

get away with it, then why not try it? It would be a
very cruel ethekissis, wouldnt it? Indeed it
would, Alicia, except that I dont intend to deprive
myself of your company at my kastello. Alice
caught her breath at his meaning, and then she said
desperately: Do you imagine Damaskinos will let
you get away with such outrage? My dear, he had
stroked the hair away from her stricken eyes before
she could prevent him, I wouldnt place too much
reliance on his gallantry. I cant imagine
Damaskinos still wanting you when he finds out that
I have you. Hes far too shrewd not to guess
purpose, and too much a fellow Greek not to realise
that I dont just make threatening noises. Hell
suffer the torments of the impotentand I
understand they are rather acuteand then I regret
to say, Alicia, that hell cast you aside. But dont
look too wounded, little one. I shall ensure that
youre fully compensated before I let you go.
What do you meancompensated? She had
retreated from him as far as the walls of the lift
would allow, but still his height and his width of
shoulder made him seem overpoweringly close to
her, reminding her too vividly of a physical contact
she ached to forget. Money, my dear. He rubbed
his thumb and forefinger together. Isnt that what
you wanted most of all from Damaskinos? It was
what Alberta had wanted, and Alice felt as if she
fell deeper all the time into a trap she had half laid
herself in a jungle she should never have dared to
enter. IIm not mercenary, she said. That
wasnt why I came to Greece Then fate must
have brought you, he drawled. You chose to book
in at one of my hotels and the reception clerk
happened to mention to

me that a young Englishwoman had taken a suite.

His eyes held hers. Ethekissis. And as he said the
word the lift jarred to a halt and he slid open the
gates, motioning Alice to precede him. She stepped
out into a small courtyard and was confronted by a
heavy oval-shaped door which must have given
entrance to the house when it was still a monastery.
She gazed at the door as if it gave entrance to a
prison, which in a sense it did. She shied back from
it and turned as if seeking escape from Stefan
Kassandros and his cliff-top kastello. Instead she
blundered into him as he stood feeling about in his
pockets, presumably for the doorkey. II cant
see a yard in front of me without my glasses -
Alice knew with despair that there was no getting
away from him right now. She dragged her tinted
glasses from her pocket and put them on. Im
terribly shortsighted. Dont be on the defensive
about it, he chided her. Those large frames make
you look vulnerable. People who cant see
properly are vulnerable. She tilted her chin and
looked directly at him. Dont my glasses put you
off, kyrie? Most men seem to regard women who
wear them as female eunuchs. We either get looked
through, as if our entire bodies were made of glass,
or we get spoken to with a curtness men dont use
on other women, no matter how drab and
unattractive. Greeks would appear to be a little
more perceptive, wouldnt you say, Alicia? His
smile was on the edge of being taunting. I dont
think you can say that Ive treated you like a female
eunuchnow what the devil have I done with my
key? It was such a domestic remark, as if they
were a couple who had been out for the day and
had just come home. Colour flooded anew into
Alices cheeks as she watched him digging about in
the pockets of his

sheepskin jacket; her gaze lifted to his dark

frowning face and she relived the warm assault of
his mouth on hers. Had they met in normal
circumstances, and had he not believed that she was
engaged to Damaskinos, then he would have passed
her by as lacking in female seductiveness. I hope
youve lost it in the sea, she said tensely. I dont
want to enter your houseits the last thing I want
to do! Is it? His hand emerged from an inner
pocket with the key and he showed it to her
mockingly. You walk in or I carry you, but one
way or the other you enter Fireglow. Which is it to
be? Have you always been an unmitigated bully?
she asked. Let us say I was much nicer in my
youth. He inserted the key in the lock of the oval
door and it swung open ponderously, revealing a
large inner courtyard set round with thick stone
archways leading into the lower reaches of the
house. Around the sprawling upper storey the
windows were aglow with the sunset and the walls
were a deeper red, dark-shadowed here and there
by thick patches of vinery. They walked across key-
patterned flagstones worn silky smooth by the
passage of years and the sandalled feet of the
monks who had strolled here and meditated beneath
the cloisters, wide oval archways surmounted by
iron tracery in which was twisted the thick stems of
climbing plants. The windows above were set deep
in the walls, looking like emblazoned glass as the
sun gradually faded. Alice glanced about her and
her nostrils tensed as the trees gave off a dusky
incense and she saw spiky flowers growing along
the branches. Monks Pepper, Stefan told her,
catching her glance. The chaste trees said to
quieten the passions of men.

Then you had better sit beneath them, she retorted,

unaware that she was going to say such a thing until
the words were out of her mouth. He gave that brief
laugh that seemed to grate in his throat. With you
here, guzel, I plan to avoid the chaste trees for all
Im worth. Mmm, are you blushing? He reached
out a hand and touched her cheek, laughing again as
she jumped nervously away from him. I thought
blushing had gone out of style in your country. I
told you! She blushed even deeper at her silly
tendency to blush at all. The adage holds true there
the men dont make passes at girls in glasses.
Really? And I was informed by my uncles that the
British sailors who came to these islands during the
last war were intent on chasing anything in a skirt
and some of our shepherd boys wear a type of kilt.
Alice felt a smile forming on her mouth, which she
hastily suppressed. If she allowed herself to
respond to his sardonic sense of humour she might
find herself responding in other ways, and then
heaven help her! You talk about uncles and
cousins, she said. Have you no parents alive? He
shook his head. My mother died when I was born,
and my father, who was a fisherman, went down
with his boat when I was nine. I was brought up by
relations. They were good to me, so now I return
the compliment. Do any of your relatives live
here at Fireglow? she asked. She could feel the
fast beating of her pulse as she waited
apprehensively for his reply this situation was
hard enough for her, and it would be made even
harder if she had to live with him among members
of his family.

To her intense relief he shook his head. Fireglow

is my very private retreat, though I do have
relatives on the island who have small farms.
Will I have to meet them? she asked diffidently.
It will be inevitable, he said, as if careless of her
embarrassment when it became common knowledge
on the island that she was living in his house and
was not a guest in the ordinary sense. Dont you
care at all what people will think? In her
nervousness she took off her glasses and her eyes
met his pleadingly. I know you seem to have the
idea that English women arent as careful of their
good name as Greek women, but we arent all alike
and II dont think I deserve what youre doing to
me. The islanders will soon get used to seeing
you around. His hand closed on her shoulder and
Alice felt the aggression in his grip. Dont try to
appeal to my better nature, because I have none
where the woman of Damaskinos is concerned. You
must accept that you are now my woman and I have
only just begun to enjoy your company. Youre an
unusual type of woman, Alicia, and I have been
celibate far too long. My house might once have
been the abode of monks, but Im not one of them.
No, she agreed, wriggling her shoulder in an
attempt to free herself of his touch, theres nothing
of the monk about you! He smiled, a flicker of
strong white teeth in the dusk. We unleash the
restrained devils in each other, have you realised
that? Its rather exciting even if you refuse to admit
it. And so saying he swung her to him and his arm
held her firmly to his lean hardness, tightening
about her waist in a hold she found impossible to
break. He leaned down to her and she felt his
breath warm and quick against her cheek. Even if I
had no reason for keeping you here, I would still
keep you,

Alicia. Ive been starved of the warm sweet touch

of a woman and I am hungry for more of you you
are so strangely shy and wild in my arms and Im
going to have the satisfaction of taming you before I
lose interest in you. Im going to teach you all the
ways of loving before I am through with you, and I
may even teach you to prefer a whole man to half of
one. His possessive hold and the things he said
made Alice feel weak; she perceived the hard,
vibrant intention of his body and shivers ran down
her spine as he moved his lips against her neck. She
had so little defence against his strength, to which
was added the overwhelming fact that he was
master of the island whose residents were bound to,
him by kinship, or dependence upon his
employment. She had little hope of being able to
persuade one of them to help her get away from
him, and right now she felt as trapped in his arms as
a bird in a cage. His arms tightened and he pulled
her close to him inside the folds of his jacket, and
she sensed from the deliberate way he kissed her
that he was trying to make her feel a sensual
response to him. She strove for the very opposite,
forcing her lips and body to he as tense as possible.
Relax, he murmured. You will never like me
until you allow yourself to accept meand accept
me you are going to. Shyness, frigidity, playing the
statue, none of it will stop ,me. If I had meant to
behave like a gentleman, then I wouldnt have
brought you this far. Stop being a child and get it
into your head that I dont pluck a peach in order to
look at it. I can assure you I dont take you for a
gentleman. she said coldly. But neither do I
regard myself as apeach.

Stop being so damned modest, he jeered, his eyes

sweeping her up and down. You are going to be
taught to put a new valuation upon yourself. Your
kind of valuation, I take it? Yes, mine. Im to be
moulded to your requirements like a lump of clay,
is that it? I wouldnt describe you as a lump of
clay, my dear. I have an image of all that long
brown hair of yours half wrapped about your silky
white bodylet us say a white peach, eh? When
you learn to be less self-conscious you will lose
that prim look you have, and one day you might
gaze in a mirror and see the Greek ocean reflected
in your eyes. In the meantime I shall enjoy the
secret wild thoughts of a man who has a woman of
virtue to look forward to loving. Love! she
exclaimed. I dont believe you know the meaning
of the word! I used to know it, Alicia. Gripping
her suitcases, he walked into the house and Alice
was obliged to follow him, noticing how arrogantly
he carried himself. She was frightened and at the
same time mystified by his attitude towards her
the girl other men had referred to as unexciting.
Alices eyes became a little wistful; her capacity
for excitement had never been put to the test. Young
men had accepted her prim looks as an expression
of her personality Stefan Kassandros was hungry
for revenge and he had flung off the hair-shirt he
had put on following the death of his sweetheart,
the pretty long-haired Greek girl he had been
engaged to marry, and with hunger and anger in his
heart he had

taken Alice to assuage feelings that in the end

would leave him contemptuous. She had to
remember that, every minute of every day, and most
especially at night, when lonely people were at
their most vulnerable. They had entered a room
with a high ceiling and white walls upon which
were hung a few dazzling Greek rugs. There were
tall carved cabinets and spider-black chairs whose
upholstery was in some kind of animal skin.
Wolfskin, Stefan told her. This high in the hills
they roam about in search of sheep. He confirmed
her feeling that the island was comparatively
untamed, like the people who farmed it and the
animals that roamed it. She gave one of those
nervous shivers she couldnt seem to control. This
was a new, strange, unlooked-for world she had to
come to terms with; to touch and feel and somehow
accept. She moved towards a great stone fireplace
where a log burned slowly, rather scentedly, in a
soundless glow. She leaned towards the warmth,
holding forth her hands to it. This room is the
saloni, he said. Do you like it? Alice glanced
around and saw on the cabinets quaint pottery jars
painted with leaping goats. There was a satin-like
gleam to the dark furniture, as if he insisted on the
house being kept spotless even when he was away
from the island. There were oval windows in
which panes of coloured glass were meshed in thin
lacy iron, and the curtains looked hand-
embroidered. Across the floor lay big shaggy
carpets, and her gaze was caught and held by a
jewelled ikon gleaming against a wall on its own.

Ypu appear to have eliminated most of the

monklike atmosphere, she said. In here at least.
You will find it so in most of the rooms, he
assured her. The basic structure of the kastello is
strong and built high like this it has atmosphere, but
I certainly didnt wish the interior to be in any way
austere. We have at the rear a granary where the
grapes are hung on wooden trellises, and upstairs
Ive had several of the roomsor cells as they
were called in the old daysturned into
bathrooms. It seems a big house for a bachelor,
Alice remarked, her gaze upon the fireplace in
which an ox could have been roasted. I suppose it
is, he agreed. But when a man makes some money
his thoughts turn to having a house of his own.
And an island, of course, she said, still with her
gaze turned away from him, Where he can be lord
and master of all he surveys. In a manner of
speaking that is exactly what I am. A drawling note
had come into his voice and he moved into her line
of vision, planting himself against the high stone
mantel of the fireplace with his elbow resting there.
He had removed his sheepskin jacket and the way
he lounged pulled his shirt away from the brown
skin of his chest; the jade seal gleamed darkly there
and Alice was vividly reminded of its pressure
against her own skin when he had held her in his
arms and made her submit to him. His strong hands
had shackled her clawing hands, and she felt the
frightened throb of her pulse at the remembered
power in those long hard legs in the sailcloth
trousers. The sentient nerves tightened inside her
his eyes were agleam behind the half-lowered lids
of his eyes, as if he too were recalling the details of
that near-seduction aboard the Phaedra. The island
and the house will seem strange to you for a while,
he said, but youll get used to them. You told me
you were a

commercial artist and I assure you, Alicia, youll

find plenty to draw and paint on Solitaria. Oh, am
I going to be allowed to do that? she asked, a trifle
sarcastically. I thought I was going to be at your
beck and call every minute of the day. Not every
minute of the day, he mocked. Its only at night
when I shall require your full attention. Her cheeks
went scarlet her entire body seemed to catch fire
from the smouldering aggression in his glance. In a
defensive gesture Alice flung up her hands and
pressed them to her burning face he looked so
big, so dark, so dominating. She felt her cowering
reaction to him and just couldnt control it. Dont
be a little fool, he said curtly. It really is time you
started to enjoy being a woman, and if there
werent enjoyment in it the human race would have
come to an end a long time ago. As if men ever
cared one way or the other, she rejoined. All most
of you care about are sex symbols to gawp at, and
maternal types to see after your comforts. I dont
know into what category I fit, unless its paramour!
My dear, from what daring book did you pick up
that word? he mocked. I dont really believe
youre as coy as you make outyou werent coy
when I walked into your room last night. You were
very charming in that pink garment with the wide
sleeves falling away from the slim whiteness of
your arms, and when I caught hold of you, you felt
heavenly and smelled divine. Dont pretend to me
that you would rather I found you unappealing
quite , frankly, little one, Id like to take you right
here on the rugs, but at any moment my housekeeper
is going to walk in. It might look a little
undignified, eh?

Youre shameless, said Alice, feeling as if she

couldnt take a deep breath. No doubt. He flexed
his shoulders lazily. I look forward to making you
feel the same way. Its a most enjoyable sensation,
like honey in the bones, and if you were a real
woman instead of a repressed little English
spinster, you would delight in your ability to make
a man feelaroused. She backed away from him,
feeling a distracted urge to hide herself away from
him, as she used to when a child and relatives made
a fuss of Alberta because she was much prettier.
Youre making fun of me, she accused. You get a
kick out of it because youre sadistic. I am no
sadist. His face darkened. You will not call me
that! Why, dont you like to be told the truth? He
took a step towards her and his brows were darkly
merged above his angry eyes. You will not confuse
me with Damaskinos, do you hear? I have never
hurt a woman in my life, unlike that brute who is as
twisted in his mind as in his body. How you came
to take up with him can only be explained by your
obvious reluctance to make love. Didnt it ever
occur to you, you little fool, that he would make
other sorts of demands on youor were you
prepared for that? II dont know what you mean
- Alice felt the hot confusion sweep over her at his
reference to lovemaking and the way he looked,
glowering down at her with his black hair
disordered on his forehead, as if despite the
imminent arrival of his housekeeper he might say to
hell with dignity and carry out his threat to throw
her to the shaggy rugs. How old are you, Alicia?
He was actively scowling at her.

Twenty-four.
s

And you are trying to pretend to me that you dont

know about the more perverse forms of physical
gratification? Alice stared at him, realised what he
meant and blushed anew. Of course, but you dont
understand - All too well I understand you, he
growled. You wanted the security of marriage but
not the marital duties, but if Damaskinos led you to
believe that all he required of you was your sweet
cool companionship, then you are a naive fool. I
daresay its easy for a man in a wheelchair to put
on a brave, lonely act, and its written all over you
that you live in a world of Wuthering Heights, but
since the death of Timareta I have learned things
about that man I wouldnt repeat to any woman. At
the time of Timaretas employment in his household
he had the outer trappings of a man of wealth and
respectability, but underneath all that, like the
beetle-infested foundations of an outwardly serene
building, there was corruption and actual crime.
Stefan paused, and then reached roughly for Alices
arm, jerking her forward by the wrist until she felt
the hard, angry warmth of his body. At this precise
moment you arent going to believe that you are
better off with me than you are with Damaskinos,
but it happens to be true. I shall treat you like a
woman, but he would have made a thing of you. Do
I make myself understood? Alice gazed up at
Stefan and gave a little shiver. H what he said
about Ionides Damaskinos was true, then Alberta
had had a narrow escape. Alice felt thankful about
it, but that didnt alter the fact that she was in
bondage to another sort of Greek. The grip of his
fingers about her wrist was like a shackle, and
there in his eyes was the adamantine look of a man
in whom had been aroused the powerful force of
vengeance, and the desire for a womans body.

Her body :.. unbelievable though it seemed to her

when she was unable to forget that she had been
called unexciting. The warmth that came from him
swept over her in a wave she must inevitably
share with this aggressive stranger the most
intimate of human relationships. He would force
her into unity with him; it was there in his eyes, on
his lips, carved into the set of his jaw. His pupils
were dilated as he gazed down at her, and there
was a slight flare to his nostrils. Alice sensed that
her very reluctance was like a spur to him, and
because she was at heart a romantic, she found it
unbearable that she must give. herself to him
without love. If I could prove to you that Im not
the Alice Sheldon who was engaged to Ionides
Damaskinos, would you let me go? she asked. Ah,
arc we back to that? he drawled. Are there two
Alice Sheldons in the world, both of them with a
reason for visiting Greece? I have a sister named
Alberta who has now gone to Ceylon to marry a
man she has known since she was in her teens. He
was married to someone else and during that time
my sister met and became engaged to Damaskinos
an engagement she decided to break when the
wife of this other man suddenly died. That was why
I came to Greece. I I thought it wasnt right for
my sister to, run off to someone eke without telling
her Greek fiance that she no longer wished to marry
him - The woman engaged to Damaskinos was
named Alice. Stefans face was iron all over and it
had even crept into his eyes. Alberta lied about
that - A note of desperation was creeping into
Alices voice, for he had to believe her and let her
go. She always preferred my name to her own, and
for some odd reason she used it when she became
entangled with Damaskinos. But I can get in touch

with her in Ceylon. I can prove to you that she

exists. Please, give me a chance to set things right
before we both do things well regret. I think
you are just stalling for time, he said harshly. I
dont doubt that you have a sister in Ceylon, but I
do doubt the tale you have just spun me. Coming
here in the Phaedra you flung at me that Damaskinos
would send his men after me for snatching you
away from him - Yes, because I felt desperate a-
and I hoped you would turn about and take me back
to Athens. Turn tail out of fear of that man? he
jeered. You dont know me, Alicia You
dont know me, she rejoined, if you imagine I
would be in any way attracted to the Damaskinos
you have described to me. Im not like Alberta. She
and I have different outlooks, as well as different
looks. Shes blonde and beautifulI told you that!
And what are you going to do, my dear, to prove
that she was the one who got herself engaged to
Damaskinos? Alice felt the tightening grip of his
fingers, hurting her slightly, and then relaxing as he
controlled his impatience with what he considered
a false story. II wondered if you could arrange
for a cable to be sent to her? Shell now be living
at the plantation house with the man shes going to
marry, and I shall ask her to wire back an
affirmation that she was the fiancee of
Damaskinos. I see. Dark eyes studied Alice for
several tense moments. Are you and your sister
very close? Not reallywe live our own lives.

But all the same, Alicia, if you asked her to lie for
you, then she would do so, eh? What do you mean
lie for me? Affirm something untrue for the
sake of helping you out of what you consider a
contretemps. No, it wouldnt occur to Alberta,
said Alice, with a touch of irony. Shes inclined to
be a person who puts her own self-interests first.
She was engaged to that man and shell admit it
without bothering to wonder if it lets me off the
hook. The hook being my hold on you, eh? He
spoke dryly, but his eyes were hard and unreadable
as they flicked from her face to his grip on her
wrist. May I send the cable? Alice asked. I shall
send it, he said decisively. You will give me your
sisters address in Ceylon and I shall do the
enquiring. In a few simple words I shall ask for the
truth, and that truth, my dear, will settle things
between us without further argument. Agreed? Oh
yes. Alice visibly relaxed. How long do you think
it will take before we receive an answer?
Perhaps a week. He shrugged. Perhaps more.
Ceylon is halfway across the world and the
plantation, I imagine, is somewhat in the wilds.
A-and in the meantime -? Alice couldnt put
into words what was in her mind, and when he
smiled at the edge of his mouth she knew that he
had read her mind.

In the meantime I will allow you to be safe from

those attentions that give you the vapours. He let
go her wrist with a mocking smile. But be warned
that if the cable from Ceylon is a denial of what you
affirm, then I shall want my ethekissis to the last
kiss and the last curve. Understood? She nodded,
and from sheer trembling relief sank down on a big
leather couch while a lighter clicked and cheroot
smoke drifted her way. Tell me just one thing, he
said. Werent you loved as a child? Of course I
was loved - Yes, but never petted as Alberta had
been, made much of and told she was cute and
pretty on the knees of male relatives. Alice had
been the one with her nose buried in a book,
absorbing the print through a pair of steel-rimmed
glasses. They had called her the serious one and
had laughed a little, and she had overheard an aunt
remark that it was a pity about the glasses because
they made her seem .plainer than ever. She and
dear Berta are chalk and cheese, her aunt had said.
Its obvious right now who will be most popular
with the boys. Alice slowly raised her eyes to the
dark, distinctive face of Stefan Kassandros. He
wanted her (even if only to work off a grudge) and
yet she asked him to send a cable whose answer
would be her passport back to a lonely life.
Theres no need to look like that. He was
frowning down at her. I promised to send the cable
and I shall keep my promise. A Greek always
does. Thank you, she said politely. She sat there
slim and rather lost on the big couch of real leather
framed in strong wood, the tangy smoke of his
tobacco in her nostrils. She must try not to
anticipate Albertas reply to the cable, and for her
own peace of mind it might help if she

made believe she was here on this Greek island for

a short holiday. She had a swimsuit in her case and
suntan lotion. She had a sketching block and pencils
and could try and capture some of the untamed
beauty of Solitaria. Her eyelashes flickered and she
studied the Greek face of this man whose danger
hadnt really diminished because he was giving her
the chance to prove she was a total stranger to the
man he hated. Perhaps she might even do a charcoal
drawing of Stefan Kassandros to take back with her
to Kensington. As I told you, it has been a long
time since I enjoyed the exclusive company of a
woman. He said it abruptly and his eyes narrowed
at her nervous reaction. Though it might suit you to
dress so neatly and sedately, I would prefer you to
be a little more relaxed. I am sure you have other
charming garments like the one you were wearing
last night, so please wear them, and allow your hair
to have its freedom from the bun. Are you giving
me orders? she asked. Orders? He raised a black
eyebrow with sardonic deliberation. I am merely a
host requesting my guest to enjoy my hospitality by
relaxing as much as possible. Surely you dont buy
attractive clothes in order to wear them when
youre alone. That strikes me as rather sad. Im
not a frivolous person, Mr Kassandros. Yet I
noticed when I refilled your suitcases last night that
you had garments that could be called frivolous.
He flicked his cheroot stub into the fire. Please to
wear them, and address me by my first name.
What if I choose not to? She had tensed in every
nerve and her fingernails were digging into the
leather.

I am doing you a favour, Alicia, so why not

reciprocate? He drew himself to his full height and
made her aware that she was still very much his
prisoner on the island until Alberta sent a reply to
his cable and he had to release her. I suppose I
have no choice? she said tensely. Not a great
deal, he agreed, and with a slight smile he turned
his attention from Alice to the woman who had just
appeared in the doorway of the saloni. She was like
a figure out of a Victorian album, wearing a lace
cap, a black silk dress with lace at the throat, and
jets in her ears that dragged at the earlobes. Her
eyes pierced Alice for a moment and they were as
jetty as the stones she wore. The thespoinis will be
staying as my guest, Katerina. Stefan glanced
blandly at Alice. This is my housekeeper who will
be helpful to you in any way you require. You have
only to ask. How do you do? Alice said politely
to the Greek woman. Katerina inclined her capped
head. The lady will require the guest apartment,
kyrie? she asked. Of course. His eyes dwelt on
Alices face and mockery glinted in them like tiny
pieces of mica. You might as well take Miss
Sheldon to heir rooms right away, Katerina. She
will wish to unpack and make herself charming for
when she joins me for the late meal. Alice
restrained herself from giving him a glare in front
of the housekeeper, whose eyes were so sharp and
shrewd. Her best defence was to assume an air of
cool politeness, and this she strove for as she rose
to her feet. What time do you dine? she asked him.
At nine oclock, Alicia.

I shall see you thenStefan. He inclined his head

and his eyes dwelt meaningly on her neat blouse
and skirt. The late meal is always a formal affair
a little whim of mine which I feel you will
gratify. If you insist. She forced her tense lips
into a smile, and then was escorted to her apartment
by the housekeeper and a boy who carried her
suitcases, mounting the great half- ,wheel of a
staircase that stretched across the hall and led to the
branching upper regions of Fireglow.

CHAPTER FIVE THE bedroom had a curious

charm to it, in which was a deep arched alcove
where a divan bed was overlaid by a woven cover
in cream, plum and gold. The rugs on the floor were
equally brilliant, as if to offset the dark austerity of
the furniture, the white walls, and the cool sea-blue
of the ceiling. A curious feature was the deep
balcony with several steps leading down into it.
Over its iron rails clambered a passion-fruit
creeper with the tiny fruits attached, and a deep
basket chair was set there, with a woven cane table
beside it. This was a moussandra, Alice was
informed by the housekeepera word whose
English equivalent could be little room. Its
charming, Alice exclaimed, and she leaned over
the railing and saw a courtyard leading off into a
vast garden, lit by wall lanterns that cast a rather
ghostly light over the trees and shrubs. The depths
of the garden were dark and rustling. She followed
Katerina back into the bedroom and was shown the
bathroom leading off from it, where there was a
deep bath-tub and double-u, both of them in
gleaming white porcelain with a mahogany
surround and stainless steel attachments. The
pedestal hand-basin was rather more colourful,
with a marble bowl adorned by leaping dolphins
and shells. Above on the wall was a mirror that
reflected Alice as she gazed around her and had a
feeling of being transported hack into Victorian
days, especially when she looked at the Greek
woman in her long dark dress and jet earrings.
Katerina indicated a big water-boiler on the wall.
The kyrios has installed his own electric
generator, so there is always hot water for the
bathrooms. He has made this house very
comfortable, but once upon a time it was a
sanctuary for an order of monks and in those
days very primitive. The jetty eyes were fixed
upon Alice, and then she said in a lower tone of
voice, The kyri hardly ever brings visitors to his
island, therefore would it offend the thespoinis if I
asked how long you have been acquainted with
him? Not very long, Alice replied, for she could
hardly blurt out to the woman that she had been
abducted by him. It was still hardly believable to
herself that he had carried her away unconscious
from Athens and brought her to Solitaria on his
caique. I should like to show the thespoinis
something, if you would be so good as to come with
me? Katerina was looking at Alice in a very
curious way. I think you would be interested. By
all means. Alice summoned a smile, but she felt a
sense of reluctance as she followed the
housekeeper out of the apartment and along the
gallery that was lit by clusters of wall-lamps, and
one huge brass lantern that hung above the
stairwell. Katerina paused outside a door at the far
end of the gallery and she seemed to hesitate for a
moment as if with nervousness. Then she reached
for the brass handle of the door and turned it,
beckoning Alice to follow her as she switched on
the light. Alice caught her breath as she entered a
white and gold-panelled bedroom, with a set of
ornate furniture and a fourposter bed swathed in
pure white netting. The posts of the bed were
carved with pomegranates and fig-leaves, and the
throwover was one huge chinchilla that glowed
animal-dark against the big silk pillows. The
ceiling overhead was a mosaic of Greek mythology,
with powerful, tawny-skinned gods chasing nymphs
in flimsy draperies and garlands. There were silk-
seated chairs and a toilet-table set with crystal
containers on lace mats, and the floor was entirely
covered in white shag pile.

How beautiful, said Alice, glancing around her in

great curiosity. Who sleeps here, Katerina? A
ghost, the woman replied, and taking Alice by the
wrist she led her across tie room to an alcove,
where she pressed a switch and concealed lighting
revealed a large portrait hung there in a carved
frame. Alice stared at the girl in the painting. She
was standing on a seashore with the rocks and the
waves behind her and her long brown hair was
blowing in the wind, as was the material of her
dress, moulding itself to her slender body. Her feet
were bare, the toes deep in the sand. One arm was
outflung as if she were beckoning to somebody
but it was her face that caught and held Alices
attention. Not exactly beautiful but with something
piquant and arresting about the soft scarlet mouth
and the wide, wild-shy turquoise eyes set within a
frame of soft dark lashes. Who is she? Alice
found herself whispering, as if suddenly struck by a
feeling of trespass. Her name was Timareta. The
housekeeper was looking at Alice rather than at the
portrait. The kyrios had the picture painted from a
snapshot, which I believe was many times enlarged
so the artist could capture the details so vividly.
You will notice the ring on her hand and that it has
stones to match the colour of her eyes. And do you
see the gold bracelet on her wrist, and the little scar
on her leg where her dress blows to one side?
Alice slowly nodded and almost unaware she had
lifted a hand to touch her own face. And you also
see the likeness to yourself, dont you, thespoinis?

No - Alice made the denial involuntarily, as. if

she didnt wish to believe that there really was a
likeness to herself in the face of the girl who had
died in strange, tragic circumstances, leaving as her
legacy a man who still loved her and brooded over
her. Yes, Katerina murmured. It is there in the
eyes, in the shape of the mouth, and look how your
hair matches hers. I saw it at once, and I knew that
was why he had brought you to Solitaria. No.
Alice shook her head. That isnt the reason at all, I
assure you. He loved Timareta, so how can you
imagine oh, its really too absurd! II am
merely here to take a short holiday a-and to make
some sketches of the island. Im a commercial
artist, though not in the same class as the artist who
painted this portrait. Its very good, though I cant
see any real likeness to myself. There is a
likeness, Katerina insisted. But now we must
come away before the kyrios catches us here.
Alice drew away from the portrait as Katerina
darkened it, and once again she glanced around the
lovely room a kind of shrine, she realised, to the
memory of the girl Stefan Kassandros had planned
to make his bride. There was the bed he would
have shared with her. There were the scents and
cosmetics she would have used to make herself
attractive for him. There were the cupboards in
which she would have hung her clothes the
lovely gossamer things he would have bought for
her. Are the cupboards empty? she found herself
asking. And then as if compelled Alice moved
across the deep carpet and opened the double doors
of the closets that rose almost to the ceiling. Her
breath caught in her throat, for a single dress hung
there, long-skirted and entirely of ivory lace that
had obviously been made by hand. She reached out
to finger the lace, woven in leaves and tiny lilies
the kind of design meant for a wedding dress.

Such a tender obsession should have moved her,

but instead it struck her as morbid and she quickly
closed the cupboard doors, hiding away once more
the lovely dress that would never be worn by a
bride. Why wont he accept that shes dead and
that this kind of thing - Alice swept a hand around
the room. It can only keep alive for him the
sadness and shock of losing her. Nothing is going to
bring her back/Nothing on earth. . Who can tell?
Katerina moved her jetty eyes up and down Alices
slim figure. Thereare men who having loved in that
way either become wed to their memories, or they
search for someone who can revive those
memories. The kyrios is still a young man, for he
and Timareta were adolescent sweethearts and he
was only twenty-three when he lost her. Why
should he make do with a memory, no matter how
sweet to him, if he can find someone to take her
place? Are you implying that Im to take her
place? Alice exclaimed. Do you really imagine
thats why Im here? Isnt it, thespoinis? Alice
shook her head and her unbound hair moved against
her blouse, so that as she became aware of it she
had an urgent desire to bind it close against her
nape and dispel the vagrant look of Timareta that it
gave her in its loosened state. She walked quickly
out of the room on to the gallery, and was glad
when Katerina firmly closed the door on Stefans
memories. Im here for only a week, she told
Katerina. At the end of that time I shall be going
back to England. Thats where I belong, and I have
no intention of becoming a fixture on this island just
because you imagine I bear a faint resemblance to
someone Mr Kassandros once lovedstill loves,
from the evidence of that bedroom and the

wedding dress he keeps hanging there. Its obvious

that no other woman could take her place in his
heart. There is more to a man than what he feels
with his heart, Katerina said meaningly, as they
paused outside the door of Alices bedroom. Will
the thespoinis require a maid to assist in any way? I
can send up a girl to help you bathe and dress, and
arrange your hair in one of our charming Greek
styles. Then, before Alice could retreat into her
room, Katerina stretched out a hand and took hold
of her hair. Good hair, thespoinis, thick and
shining like that of a Greek girl. Are you entirely
English? Of course - Then-Alice broke off,
recalling that her mother had been Irish. At least,
on my fathers side. My mother came from Ireland,
but she was much darker than I am, though she had
the same sort of skin. She died when I was six
years old, but I still remember her. She was much
prettier than I am. What is there in being pretty?
Katerina pulled a slightly contemptuous mouth.
There are other things that make a real woman
the inward things that reveal themselves in the eyes
and the mouth. For a Greek it is passion, not
prettiness, that he looks for! Alice jerked her head
away, pulling her hair free of the Greek womans
fingers. I shant need a maid, she said. Im only a
working girl and Ive never been used to that sort of
thing. As the thespoinis wishes. There was a
rustle of stiff silk as the housekeeper moved
towards, the stairs, and Alice quickly entered her
apartment and closed the door behind her. Her
nerves felt churned up by what she had been shown
in that white and gold bedroom, and by the things
Katerina had said.

She moved across to the mirror of the dressing-

table and she pressed the switch of the lamp
standing there and leaned forward to peer at her
own face. Her blue-green eyes looked
apprehensive and there were tremors at the corners
of her mouth. If Katerina had noticed that she had
some haunting resemblance to Timareta, then Stefan
Kassandros had certainly noticed it. When exactly
last night when he had seen her in the pink robe
with her hair let down from the habitual bun? Oh
lord, why had she given in to vanity and tried to
look a little more of a vamp! If she had kept on her
glasses and rolled up her hair after bathing, and put
on her sensible camel-hair robe, then at least he
wouldnt have seen something in Alice Sheldon that
reminded him of the Greek girl who had won his
heart when he was a youth and still held it fast now
he was a man, with an island of his own. whose
wild beauty would surely have appealed to
Timareta, if that portrait was a true expression of
her personality. A deep sigh shook itself free of
Alice and she sank down on the cane stool at the
foot of the bed and stared at one of the bright rugs.
Would Stefan Kassandros keep his promise and let
her go when he got an answer to Albertas cable?
There is more to a man than what he feels with his
heart, Katerina had said, and remembering what
had almost occurred on the Phaedra, there was no
way Alice could deny the truth and wisdom of the
older womans statement. Now the mystery of what
he saw in her was partially solved her hair and
the wild shyness of her eyes, a similar colour to
Timaretas, triggered off long-suppressed impulses
in him. It wasnt really her, or the person that she
was, that awoke his desires. It was a longing to
hold Timareta in his arms again, to kiss her mouth,
to feel her slim body, to possess what death had
taken from him.

The web in which Alice felt trapped had become

more complex in its weaving and already she had
the feeling that she wasnt going to escape from it
as easily as she had believed when he had
promised to send that cable to Ceylon. She glanced
at her wristwatch and saw that the time was getting
on. She had better unpack and try to compose
herself as much as possible. At present there was
little she could do but appear to submit to his
orders; perhaps in a day or so she might find a way
to elude him. There might be someone on the island
who would accept money to take her back to Athens
money was said to speak most languages. She
unlocked her suitcases and shook out the garments
which Stefans masculine hands had bundled into
the cases. He had ordered her to wear something
feminine and attractive, and to leave her hair
unbound. She felt wilfully inclined to do the very
opposite, yet instinct warned her that he would
march her upstairs and make her do what he
wanted, even if she yelled the house down a
Greek household where the staff would proceed
with their duties just as if they heard nothing.
According to Greek philosophy, women liked to be
roared at, and then wooed. Alice realised that she
had to bow to the devil in order to keep him as
tame as possible, and with this in mind she studied
one of the more glamorous dresses she had bought
for her trip to Greece. It was of tiger-striped
chiffon, with a generous back-plunge, and meant to
be worn over skin that was partially bare. It was
sheer Alberta, really, and Alice wondered if she
had the nerve to put it on in order to dine with
Stefan Kassandros. Would she be asking for
another dose of semi-rape if she appeared
downstairs in the chiffon? She stroked a hand down
the soft skirt and somehow had the feeling that it
was the sexual timidity which she displayed which
had an aggressive effect on Stefan. Perhaps if she
approached him with more boldness he might-be
less inclined to treat her as if her innate shyness
was

finespun glass he had to shatter; as if the innocence

in her eyes had to be proved false. Katerina was
wrong in supposing that Stefan liked it that the
woman of Damaskinos, as he called her, bore a
kind of resemblance to the girl he had madly loved.
He hated it but what was his reaction going to be
when Alberta revealed the truth in her cable?
Alices fingers clenched the chiffon nervously
her likeness to Timareta might take on a new
meaning for him when that happened, and Alice felt
a skipped pulse beat as she imagined him looking at
her as he must look at that portrait of a long-haired
ghost who forever beckoned to him with a hand on
which his ring glowed like the turquoise eyes long
closed in drowned sleep. Suddenly Alice didnt
want to look like Timareta. She wanted, if possible,
to look like Alberta and in the tiger-striped dress to
borrow some of her assurance and boldness. Yes,
she would wear the dress and try to make of it her
armour against the man who hated her and yet felt
impelled to have her with him on his island, within
reach of his punishing hand or as a substitute for
a woman who clung with the drained white fingers
of the drowned to his living heart. Alice laid the
dress in readiness across her bed, along with a silk
slip also designed with a plunging back-line. She
unpacked a pair of highheeled evening sandals, and
opened the velvet case in which her few pieces of
jewellery were kept. Her fingers played with the
moresque necklace which had been a lucky buy in
one of those hideaway shops she was fond of
exploring, and then she picked lip a cross fleury,
which seemed appropriate to the evening which lay
ahead of her as if she were about to fight a
demon for possession of her soul. An absurd yet
persistent notion as she took her bath, soaking for a
while in the fragrance of bath-oil and water that
seemed silky, as if it fed the household pipes from a
wild spring in the island hills.

Usually it took Alice only a short while to dress,

but having made up her mind to achieve some
semblance of her sisters glamour she carefully
arranged her hair in one of those chignon styles
Alberta had been keen on, until she had her hair cut
into bouncy bubbles. A bubble style wouldnt have
suited Alice, but the woven knot was
complimentary to her slim white neck. When she
had zipped herself into the tiger-striped chiffon and
added the cross fleury, Alice barely believed that
she was looking at herself in the mirror. Even with
her blurred vision she could see the alteration in
her appearance. The high heels made her seem
willowy, and the. brief lingerie made the chiffon
cling in a softly seductive way to the slimness of
her body, gently outlining the shape of her bosom
and hips. She paraded back and forth across her
room in order to get accustomed to the high heels
and the feel of her bare skin where the dress
plunged to her waist at the back. She had never felt
so daring, but was inclined to wonder if shed lose
her nerve at the last moment and change hurriedly
into a dress that was more sedate. Even as she
debated this, her nerves gave a leap at the sound of
tapping on her bedroom door. Her gaze was fixed
upon the door as it opened to reveal a young
woman wearing a maids uniform of fawn linen
with a crisp little cap. Ah, the thespoinis is
dressed! The maids English was not as good as
the housekeepers, but it was certainly
understandable. She wore small gold rings in her
ears instead of jets, but the sharp dark eyes in the
olive-skinned face were so identical to Katerinas
that Alice guessed at once that the two women were
related. My aunt thought I should come and see if
you needed any assistance, she added, and
perhaps to escort you to the dining zala.

Thats kind of you. Alice stood hesitant and

fingered a fold of her chiffon skirt; she felt a sudden
compulsion to change the dress, but the maid was
standing there with the door open and it might seem
odd if she suddenly blurted out that she wanted to
change. The thespoinis looks very nice, the maid
said, her sharp eyes moving rapidly up and down
Alices figure, You are wearing a Parisian dress,
Mees Sheldon? Why no, I bought this in London.
Colour came into Alices cheeks, for never in her
life had anyone intimated that she looked stylish.
We have some very nice shops there. Of course.
The maid smiled. I have there a brother who runs a
small restaurant and I have thought of joining him. I
speak quite good English, do you not think? Your
English is excellent. Alice smiled rather wistfully.
I only wish I could speak your language so well.
Greek is difficult, unless one learns it from a
child. The dark eyes were now fixed upon Alices
face, as if there might have been some discussion
between niece and aunt regarding the fact that the
English Miss bore a resemblance to the portrait of
the kyrioss dead sweetheart. Is this your first visit
to a Greek island, thespoinis? Yes. Alice turned
to the dressing-table to pick up her chiffon
handkerchief, shielding her eyes in case , they
betrayed her fear of Stefan Kassandros, who
suavely played the host and concealed from
everyone but Alice motivations that were sinister.
Would you know at all if Mr Kassandros has
arranged for someone to take a cablegram to the
mainland? Yes, about an hour ago, Mees Sheldon.
The motor-craft wasnt due to fetch supplies, which
were brought by the hyrios on the caique, but

it set out about eight oclock and my aunt informed

me that Theo, who pilots the launch, had been given
a special message to carry. Oh, good. Alice
smiled her relief. It concerns my return to England
in about a weeks time. You will only be staying
a week, thespoinis? The maid gave Alice a
surprised look. Yes, only a week, Alice said
firmly, as if to convince herself as much as the
maid. What is your name, by the way? I am
called Hesta. The dark eyes scanned the bedroom,
whose neatness Alice had barely disturbed. I once
worked in Athens for an English lady who worked
at the Embassy and she was most untidy and used to
leave her clothes all over the place. You are very
tidy, Mees Sheldon. Im used to looking after
myself and it makes a. lot of extra work if one has
messy habits. Alice knew she sounded prim, but
she was a prim and proper person who had got
involved quite against her will with these
inhabitants of a Greek island. I have work
awaiting me in England and I cant afford to lose
the commission. I draw illustrations for magazine
stories. My aunt informed me that you were an
artist, said Hesta. You must be very clever.
Indeed not. Alice gave a laugh. Its just a knack
that Ive put to use and made a living out of. I only
wish I did have real artistic talent, but its a rare
commodity. Many people can make pictures and
patterns on canvas, but it isnt often that one comes
across real, glowing talent.

Like the picture in the Ivory Room, Hesta

murmured, her dark eyes fixed upon Alices face.
Its very striking, ne? Wonderful. Alice didnt
intend to be drawn on that subject and she moved
out of her room and switched off the light. You had
better show me the way to the zala. I dont want to
keep Mr Kassandros waiting for his dinner. They
made their way down the stairs, the gracious span
of it stretching across the hall and lighted by the
enormous hammered brass lantern which had
probably been here at the time of the monks. When
they reached the foot of the stairs Hesta led Alice
across to a wide oval-shaped door and opened it so
she could enter the room. Thank you. Alice entered
tentatively and glanced about her, but Stefan
Kassandros had not yet appeared. Hesta watched
her a moment, and then departed, leaving the door
slightly ajar. Alice could feel her heart beating fast
beneath the chiffon of her dress, and her nostrils
quivered at the smoky scent of cypress stealing
from the great log that burned in another of those
great open hearth?. She was glad of the warmth, for
she felt a sort of nervous chill in her sleeveless
dress cut to the waist at the back, revealing the pale
nudity erf her skin for those dark slanting eyes of
the man who would soon be joining her. To offset
thoughts of him she studied the zala, in which the
soft radiance of wall-lamps cast a glow on the
panelling. Embroidered drapes had been pulled
across the deep windows, and carved chairs from
another century stood at either side of a circular
table set for dinner with tall candles in silver
sticks, crystal glasses on long stems, and an
arrangement of freesias and fern in a lovely old
bowl at the centre of the table. Set into the corners
of the room were cupboards of inlaid wood, with
small pierced niches in which stood ikons painted
on wood and inlaid

with various colours. Across the floor lay a rich

Greek carpet in a mixture of black, silver and
bronze colours. A fascinating room and entirely
foreign, and with her artistic eye Alice recognised
that like the rest of the house it had been furnished
with taste. Everything harmonised, and there was
only one ornament that seemed a little out of place,
and Alice moved across to where it stood and
examined it more closely. It was a quaint little lamp
with turned up ends made of brass; the kind of lamp
that might have stood in a childs nursery at some
time. She reached out and stroked a finger against
the brasswork. Had it belonged to that tall Greek
when he was a child? A rather lonely childhood,
she supposed, as he had never known his mother
and had lost his father when he was nine years old.
He had probably grown up quickly because of that,
discarding boyhood altogether when he fell in love
with Timareta, a village girl who had to go away
and work, as a nursery maid, carrying dreams in her
eyes that were never to be fulfilled. The eager hand
which had beckoned to him on a beach had become
a hook in his heart, and Alice stood there beside the
little brass lamp and felt a sudden chill run down
her bare spine. She swung round and there in the
doorway stood Stefan Kassandros, who with that
noiseless tread of his had come upon her while she
had been lost in brooding thought, touched to
sympathy by the tragic outcome of his romance, and
yet afraid of the bitterness in him. Right now he
looked powerful and temperamental as he came
into the room, his darkness intensified by a claret
dinner jacket over formfitting dark trousers, a wine-
coloured tie against the speck-less whiteness of his
shirt. Suddenly the atmosphere of the zala was alive
with vibrations, and Alice tensed as he came within
a foot of her and swept her from head to toe with
his dark eyes. That dress is quite shameless, he
murmured. It makes you look like a tiger moth.

A moth trapped in a complicated web, she said,

and caught her breath as he abruptly caught her by
the wrist and swung her around so his eyes could
sweep her bare back. So you decided I wanted to
dine with a demi-mondaine, he drawled. If we
werent dining alone, then I should ask you to
change into something a little less provocative.
You were the one who wanted me to wear
something frivolous, she Said breathlessly.
Youre a very illogical man, arent you? I am a
Greek, he said decisively. That dress plunges
almost to your derriere. , If I had dressed as my
normal self, youd have found something else to
criticise. Alice tried to pull away from him, but his
grip was relentless. One of these days, Mr
Kassandros, you are going to have to accept the fact
that I am plain Alice Sheldon and notnot
someone else. The reply to the cable will put me
wise to you. He swung her to face him. Ive
arranged for it to be sent, and the messenger will
bring back your spectacles from the hotel. You will
need them for your sketching, eh? Thanks, she
said ungraciously. He might at least have reacted to
her dress with a little of the appreciation Alberta
could arouse in men so easily. It would seem that in
a pin-tucked blouse ..or elegant chiffon she lacked
the essential ingredient that brought out the charm in
the male of the species. Look well at me. A hard
finger was placed beneath her chin and her face
was tilted so she had to look full at him. I am a
Greek and I dont accept readily from a woman a
deliberate attempt to be insolent.

But Im not being insolent, she protested. You

demanded that I dress up to dine with you, and
thats exactly what Ive done. You look as if
youve undressed to dine with me. His frown drew
his black brows together. If I took this mode of
dress as an invitation, then what would you do, eh?.
Develop another convenient attack of the vapours?
Ill go and change the dress if it offends you so
much, said Alice, her cheeks flushed. It wont
take me more than a few minutes - Our dinner
will be arriving in a few minutes. His gaze dwelt
upon the cross fleury agleam against her neck. Was
the devil to be enticed and kept at bay at one and
the same time? Alice felt the flush rise to her
forehead, for he had guessed her feelings when she
had decided to wear the dress and the cross. She
had to bite back the impulse to ask if he had
expected to dine with a ghost, for last night at the
hotel, and earlier today on his boat, she had
undoubtedly reminded him of Timareta, but the
tiger-striped dress and the more sophisticated
hairstyle had banished the resemblance and he felt
cheated. Cheated and annoyed, and it showed in the
hard set to his mouth as he drew out one of the high-
backed chairs from the table and held it ready for
her. As she slipped into it a fold of her chiffon
dress clung for a second against his dark trousers,
as if he gave off a kind of magnetism. Im sorry -
Her hand reached for the truant chiffon and the next
instant she had touched him without meaning to. Her
fingers tingled and the feeling swept straight up into
her armpit. Sorry! Dont be. His warm breath
was against her neck as he leaned down to her. I
quite enjoyed it.

Her gaze lifted swiftly to his face before she could

prevent it and she saw that the corner of his mouth
had dented into a sardonic smile. I hope you dont
imagine I touched you on purpose? Alice burned at
the very thought. Often we do things that we arent
aware of doing purposely, he drawled. Theres a
baffling quality to you, Alicia. Deep wells of
impulse and motivation which you; may not be fully
aware of yourself. You make me sound very
involved, she said. But the explanation is really
quite simpleIm a sort of barbed-wire maiden
whom men dont care to get entangled with. I
should have said that we were well entangled.
Only because you think - Alice bit her lip. Ive
often wished I was more like my sister Alberta. I
suppose thats why I bought this dress, thinking it
might make me feel like her even if I could never
look like her. So she is the one who wears
dresses like this? And with a slow deliberation he
ran his fingers down Alices bare spine, so that she
sat bolt upright, as if from the shock of an electrical
charge. He laughed to himself and strolled round
the table to take his own seat, where he regarded
her across the freesias with a quizzical glint in his
eyes. Are you very much younger than your sister?
he asked. Im a couple of years older, she said,
and still she could feel her backbone tingling from
the touch of his fingers, which had travelled right
down to where the dress ceased to plunge. He
raised an eyebrow. Somehow from what you have
said about her I gathered the impression that she
was older and more worldly.

She is younger and more worldly, Alice said

wryly. We arent a bit alike, not in our colouring,
ur looks or ways. IIve always envied her, to
tell you the truth. Shes able to enjoy life without
taking it too seriously. One of the butterflies, eh?
He made a fluttering movement with his hand so the
dark-stoned links gleamed at his white cuff. And
what are you, Alicia? A chameleon who changes its
aspect in some mysterious fashion? Theres
nothing that exotic about me, she rejoined. Ive
always had a kind of seriousness about me that girls
arent supposed to have, not if they want to be
popular. People used to find it amusing to compare
my sister and me to the Owl and the Pussycat. She
could climb on to knees without inhibition, while I
used to perch in quiet corners and no doubt look
like an owl in my glasses. It wasnt that I craved to
sit on male knees, but I did think it would be nice
for once to be given a bangle or a pretty hair-slide
instead of a book or a box of paints. Did the
feathers never fly between the brown owl and the
pussycat? he asked, watching her intently. Alice
shook her head, II didnt care to be thought
jealous, so I pretended not to care when Alberta
showed off her gold bangle at school. It might
have been better for you, child, had you thrown a
tantrum or two and demanded a gold bangle for
yourself. I was never the demanding sort. Almost
unaware, Alice raised a hand and fingered the cross
fleury at her throat. I save up and buy my own
trinkets. You bought that yourself? His gaze was
upon the cross suspended from the enamelled heart.
Yes, I see that it holds some symbolism

for youyour guarded heart, eh? The heart you

protect because otherwise it gets hurthow it must
have ached that day in the school playground. I
survived, she said, glancing away from him
because it was disturbing to have her childhood
winkled out of its shell by his probing questions. It
came as a relief to hear the arrival of the dinner
trolley, which was wheeled into the zala by Hesta,
who was followed by the dignified figure of
Katerina. Ah, that all smells very good, Stefan
told his housekeeper, as she set about uncovering
the dishes and serving the food. The lamb should
be excellent, kyrie, she said. It was brought from
Alekos farm only a couple of hours ago. His son
was telling me that the sheep have been disturbed
again by that wild dog. He reckons it will have to
be caught and killed or they will lose some of the
lambs. I shall call on Aleko and arrange the
matter. Tell me, how go the daughters wedding
arrangements? From all accounts the farmhouse
has become a madhouse, Katerina replied with a
smile, with the women sewing and baking at all
hours. The wedding should be quite an occasion,
though its a pity the couple will be off to Rhodes
so soon after the marriage. As you. know, kyrie, the
young man is employed in the rose gardens there.
And he carries off his new rose to join the others,
eh? Stefans hard fingers drew the cork from the
wine, and Alice felt his glance upon her. I shall
have to ask Alekos daughter if I might bring my
English guest to the wedding. A Greek wedding is
interesting and colourful, isnt that so, Katerina?
Alice felt the three pairs of Greek eyes upon her,
and she also felt a sudden sense of panic. Dont
forget, Mr Kassandros, she said, that

Im only staying at the kastello for a week. Im

returning to England next week. And when does
the wedding take place, Katerina? he asked. Let
me see, Katerina did some mental arithmetic. In
twenty days, kyrie. Ah, what a shame that the
thespoinis reckons to be gone by then. We, he
murmured, rising to his feet to come and pour wine
into the stemmed glass beside Alices plate. She
didnt dare to look at him, for that little silence was
impregnated with meaning she could leave, he
had said, if the reply to his cable satisfied him. We
will eat now, Katerina, he said. Efharisto pol?
Patakalo, she murmured, and beckoned her niece
to follow her from the zala. The door closed behind
them, and Alice became intensely aware of Stefans
tall figure beside her chair. We call this wine
Gold -of Attica, he told her. She sat there tensely,
her eyes fixed upon her dish of small oysters on
their rough shells, which had been set ready with
crusty bread and little balls of butter. Look at me,
he ordered suddenly. She reluctantly did so. What
would those people think if they knew I was here
under duress? She forced herself to look into his
eyes, whose depths were as impenetrable as his
true intentions. Who do you imagine they would
believe? He strolled to his chair and sat down. A
stranger to them, or someone they have known for
several years who gives them employment in a fine
house? Greeks are very loyal to each other, you
know.

He raised his wine glass and studied the deep gold

colour of the wine through the crystal. Anyway,
what are you worrying about? You have assured me
that your sister will back up your story, and it
would go against my sense of philotimo if I then
broke my promise to you. The terms of our
arrangement are quite specific, are they not? Im
never sure with you, she rejoined, and into her
mind stole an image of that portrait in the Ivory
Room. Cant I have it in writing? No, you cant!
Suddenly his brow was dark. Come, let us eat and
drink and forget for a while that we dontlike
each other. Let me give you a toast, Alicia. Never
harvest your figs before their time. And what is
that supposed to mean? Her fingers clenched the
stem of her wine glass, for she didnt trust him and
felt herself surrounded by Greeks who would
support him no matter what he did with her. Do
you need to have everything in black and white?
His eyes mocked her across the table. Figs are a
symbol of fertility and they have to come to their
full ripenesslike love and childbirth. Is that
specific enough for you? Alice felt the hot colour
beating against the skin of her cheeks and in order
to avoid looking at him she bent her head to her
plate and jabbed at an oyster with the slim silver
prong. Have you had them before? he asked. No,
but Im not a complete child. Your reactions to
what I say are curiously childlike. He came round
to her again, took the prong from her fingers and
neatly speared the oyster she had been jabbing at so
it slid around the shell. Come, open your mouth,
child, and let the oyster slide down your throat.
Are you going to insist? She could feel her heart
banging.

They arent medicine, he mocked. Come, tilt

your head and it will go down deliciously.
Obedience seemed the better part of valour and
Alice did as she was told, gulping as oyster and
juke slid against her palate and left a curious but
not unpleasant tang in her mouth. Was that so bad?
he asked. You can tip them straight off the shell if
you prefer the less ladylike way. He resumed his
seat and proceeded to eat his oysters by tipping
them off the shell straight into his mouth,
swallowing fish and juice all in one. Figs and
oysters, she thought, all tied up with pagan beliefs
in love this man had so filled the house with his
personality that it was hard to believe that once
upon a time its corridors had echoed to the chanting
of monks, and that perhaps in this very room they
had broken bread and eaten soup from wooden
bowls. Doesnt it ever bother you that this was
once a house of penance and prayer? she asked
him. Why should it? He took a deep sip of his
wine. Ive worked hard for what I have, so why
should I live like the monks who once resided
here? Its possible for a man to sublimate himself in
work, and youd be amazed at how hard-working
are the people who enter a religious order, but it
isnt a natural way of life. Had it been so, would
the good Theos have created woman? Surely it
might have been less complicated for human beings
to be like the trees and plants that are pollinated by
the winds. Instead he gave them passions, did he
not? His voice deepened on those last few words,
as if he meant to remind her of that scene on the
Phaedra, when she had been scorched for the first
time by the passions of a man.

Im sure you have an opinion on the matter. He

laughed softly. Men and women are complicated
by their extreme differences from each other, are
they not? Some men are more complicated than
others, she said pointedly. Also some women.
You, Alicia, are afraid to be your real self, but a
week on my island might alter that, eh? Something
pagan in its atmosphere might get into you and you
might throw off your shoes, and maybe even your
inhibitions, and run barefoot through the wild
thyme. Like Timareta, she thought at once. Like the
girl in the painting with her unbound hair and bare
limbs? You saw the real Alice Sheldon on your
caique, Mr Kassandros. A neat, bespectacled
career woman who will be only too glad to get
back to work in the calm atmosphere of my London
flat. She halfrose as she said this, as if she meant
to try and get away from him this instant. Sit
down, he ordered. You arent going anywhere
without my permission.

CHAPTER SIX ALICE obeyed him involuntarily,

her eyes blazing across the table at him as he
fingered the stem of his wine glass. I refuse to
believe that you mean a single word of what you
have just said. You are deluding yourself, Alicia
or me. Im stating the plain facts. He so
infuriated her in that moment that she could have
flung her wine straight in his masterful face. I
choose to believe that you are twisting them -
Damn you, she exclaimed. Youre a male
chauvinist! Most Greeks are, in their infinite
wisdom. Now shall we eat our adjem pilaje before
it gets cold? He served up the roast lamb, adding
potatoes and eggplant stuffed with rice. Is that
sufficient? Heaps, thank you. She gave him a
glare as she picked up her knife and attacked her
lamb. A Greek likes to see his hospitality
appreciated, he drawled. Hospitality? She
almost choked on the word. Youre the one whos
deluding yourselfI didnt exactly come here of
my own free will, did I? We shall forget about
that for the time being. And before she could
protest he had refilled her wine glass. I shall
behave like the perfect host and you will react like
the perfect guest. The lamb is good, eh? The lamb
is certainly good, she said meaningly, and she
found herself tucking into her dinner without too
much effort. If only she could believe him when he
offered to behave like the perfect host, for it really
would be something to remember if she could relax
enough to enjoy for a week this Aegean island in
the sun.

Are you .often resident on your island? she asked

him suddenly. A few times each year, when I can
manage to get away from the hotel business. The
trouble with success is that it becomes your own
taskmaster, and the more you are taxed the more
money you have to make in order to pay the tax.
Sometimes I tell myself I will sell out to a combine
and retire to Solitaria to become a grower of
apricots and lemons, and that I might even cultivate
again the fig and olive groves that flourished when
the monks were here. However, for such a way of
life a man needs to feel settled. He shrugged his
shoulders in a cynical way. Content with his life.
And you arent content, she said, and found it
impossible to associate the word with a man so
restlessly vital. Are you? He raised an eyebrow
at her. Do you consider that you have found the
answer to all your dreams? She knew what he was
getting at but wasnt going to get involved in that
argument again. He would learn soon enough from
Albertas reply to his cable that she had never been
engaged to anyone, least of all a ruthless shipping
tycoon. No wonder Berta had lost her nerve about
marrying the man and had been only too ready to let
someone else break the news of her defection to
him. In retrospect it had been pure folly on her part
to have taken on the task, especially when Berta
had warned her that Greeks werent the easiest of
men to deal with. Tell me about your island, Mr
Kassandros, she said. It must satisfy you to own a
chunk of land in the Aegean? So for the remainder
of the meal he talked of Solitaria and what it
offered in the way of amusement for a guest. The
swimming was good, so long as one kept a sharp
lookout for the questing fin of the shark. There were
cliffs to climb and explore, and the beach for

sunbathing. He also talked about the cultivation of

the island, and the remains of pagan worship to be
found on it. He made it sound fascinating, and Alice
felt sure it was an idyllic place for a holiday if
only she were resident of her own free will and
could look upon Stefan as a genuine host instead of
a man who played a waiting game with her. When
he poured coffee from a swan-necked copper pot
she was reminded by the aroma of the Turkish
coffee he had drugged, and as her nostrils tensed
she felt the flick of his eyes across her face and
knew that he was reading her thoughts. This wont
send you to sleep, he drawled. How can I be sure
of thatafter last night? Then watch me drink
mineah, delicious! His eyelids half-closed as he
sipped his coffee. This is the way Greeks like it,
hot and sweet as a virgins kiss. Come, you must
learn to trust me if we are going to be living
together. Id hardly call it living together. She
couldnt keep a shocked note out of her voice.
Wouldnt you? His eyes for a moment were
brazen as they met hers. I shall be sleeping under
the roof of Fireglow, just in case you imagined that
I was going to sleep aboard the Phaedra. Im not
one of those gallant gentlemen who puts himself out
for a woman. I never supposed you were, Mr
Kassandros, but Im merely staying in your house,
Im not living in it. Ah, perhaps there is a subtle
English distinction in the wording, is that so?

You know very well there is, so dont pretend its

Greek to you. Your grasp of the English language is
remarkable and you know it. I trained for hotel
management in England, he said, taking her by
surprise. Most things can be learned in your
country, Alicia, and a number of my countrymen go
there for that purpose. Accountancy, banking,
soldiering, or tailoring, it can all be learned to the
last detail on that island of yours which you are
wishing you had never left, eh? Can you blame
me? Are you so disappointed in Greece? he
mocked her. We offer a history as colourful as
Englands, a culture 1 older than that of the
Romans, and certainly more sunshine. More
coffee? She glanced at her empty cup in surprise,
and he gave that soft, ironic laugh of his as he
refilled her cup. Come, let us go and sit in the
saloni. We dont want to converse over the dinner
plates and the chairs in there are a little more
comfortable for a lightly clad woman. Alice felt
like saying that shed prefer to go to bed, and yet
she felt so awake and was fascinated by this hard,
self-made, rather wilful Greek. From being an
orphan he had become a rich hotel owner, and that
must have taken a lot of enterprise the kind he
had used to kidnap a woman without caring a damn
that he broke the law. Never in her life before had
Alice known a lawless man, and she followed him
into the more comfortable room across the hall,
where she sat down in a deep chair near the
glowing wood fire and breathed again that tang of
cypress smoke. On a little table of slotted pieces of
deep-coloured glass there was a container of
Turkish delight stuffed with nuts, and slices of
candied fruit.

Are you entirely Greek? she found herself asking

him. Why do you ask? He stood tall by the
fireplace, the coffee cup fragile in his lean dark
hand, I dont knowmany Greeks have Turkish
blood in them, so Ive heard. My mother came
from the Macedonian mountains, he said. A tough
and rather pagan race of people. Does that answer
your question? Entirely. Her glance ran swiftly
up his long body to his wide shoulders in the claret
material of his jacket. The clothes were really the
most civilised thing about him, and it showed in his
strongly defined bones and intensely black hair that
he had a strong pagan streak in him which money
and power had intensified. Perhaps had Timareta
lived she might have tamed him, and yet somehow
he didnt look the type of man any woman could
ever really hope to tame or really want to. That
last thought sent a jolt through Alice, and she drank
her coffee and stared into the flames of the fire;
blue-edged flames that shot from the burning log
that lay gripped by iron fire-dogs. She heard the
click of a lighter and then came the drift of strong
cheroot smoke. Have some Turkish delight, he
said. Its homemade, and from the way you ate
your dinner I dont imagine youre a woman who
goes in for dieting and such nonsense. You have a
naturally good body. She felt a second jolt and this
one was enough to set her tingling. She didnt want
him to think about her body, let alone talk about it,
but at the same time it was curiously gratifying to
be told such a thing. She leaned towards the table
and took a chunk of the nut-stuffed candy, which as
she ate it had a tang of roses.

I believe its made from an old Turkish harem

recipe, Stefan drawled. The beys used to stuff
their ladies with sweets, until some of them grew
so enormous they had to be carried to the masters
bed on a silk litter. When I bought this house and
began to furnish it, I acquired a small library of
books at an auction and some of them were leather-
bound copies of books by an Englishman named
Burton. If you like to read, Alicia, and I suspect that
you do, then you might find them intriguing. It seems
he spent some time in collecting facts about Eastern
harems and its truly fascinating what went on in
those places. What makes you imagine Im
interested in Turkish harems? Alice gave him a
cool look. I imagine it must have been pretty awful
being shut up in some scented prison to languish
away in idleness if you didnt happen to appeal to
the bey? Are you thinking that would have been
your fate? Smoke edged its way from the corner of
his amused mouth. Some of those ladies were quite
ingenious and found ways to attract the bey when he
came to call on them, and if they were very clever
they often won a permanent place in his affections.
Of course, even that had its dangers. Intense
jealousies flourished in the harems and the eunuchs
could be bribed to get hold of poisons that were
insinuated into the sweets and sherbets, so that the
life of a particular favourite was in constant
jeopardy unless she persuaded her lover to give her
a private apartment. Stefan glanced lazily about the
saloni, which fine furnishings and handwoven
drapes had made extremely comfortable. Do you
find my house the kind of place a woman would
like, Alicia? She followed his glance from the
carpets and drapes to the oval windows filled with
panes of glass meshed in thin lacy iron. What was
going through his mind, she wondered, that he had a
woman as
much at his mercy as those women locked up long
ago to amuse a man? He casually inclined his head
as if agreeing with her thoughts. Yes, its an
intriguing situation, guzel. No matter how tastefully
furnished a room might be, it somehow takes the
presence of a woman to bring it alive. That couch
where you sit, that carpet your foot brushes as you
lean forward to take a sweet from that dish. Its as
if there is in a woman a kind of radiance that makes
everything more living, and warm an inborn fire
that never really goes out even when it smoulders
very low. Men have energy, but its women who
possess the beckoning flame. Alice tensed where
she sat and realised how quiet the house was, as if
his servants had gone to bed and left her very much
alone with their master. Its getting late, she said.
I really think - You want to go to bed, is that it?
His tone of voice was insinuating and it took a lot
of control for Alice to remain seated when she
wanted to make a dash for the door. Such an action
would be folly if she fled him then he would
give chase and what had happened on the Phaedra
might be repeated if he caught her in his arms.
Alice didnt really believe that he was a cruel or
harmful man, but there was a lot of loneliness
stored up in him. The touch of her, and that vagrant
look of Timareta, .could release it, touching a spark
to all the loneliness she had lived on for so long.
She had fainted on the caique from sheer nerves,
but tonight she was a woman who had been dined
and wined and warmed at a log fire, and Stefans
wide shoulders made her feel weak in a different
way.

Yes, I feel very tired, she said, making her voice

cool and formal. Would you mind if I left you and
went to my room, otherwise that lovely fire is going
to send me right off to sleep. He gazed down at her
and a gradual glint of sardonic humour came into
his fine dark eyes. And then I should have to carry
you up to bed like a sleepy child, eh? His mouth
quirked. Are you scared, girl, that I shant keep my
promise to you? Can you wonder if Im scared?
she asked. Im stranded on your island and you
wont let me go until you have it in writing that Ive
told you only the truth. It had better be the truth,
little one. His eyes hardened and his gaze moved
up and down her body. I dont like a woman to lie
to me, and I believe you may be stalling in the hope
that a rescue might be launched. Its very unlikely,
Alicia. No one saw me carry you down in the
service elevator at the hotel, or put you in my car. I
drove swiftly to the dock and all was quiet and
dark when I carried you aboard. Its amazing how
well a quickly made plan can work. Youyou
will let me go when you receive my sisters answer
to your cable? Her eyes were raised to his face,
wide and shadowed by the mixed feelings he
aroused in her. It will prove Ive not been lying to
you. It had better prove it. He tossed his cheroot
stub into the fire. Come, Ill take you up to your
room - Oh, I can find it on my own. She jumped
to her feet. Please, you dont have to bother to
come with me. Afraid I might want to come in
with you? he jeered. I said I would behave like
the perfect host and it wouldnt be polite of me to
let my

guest go alone to her apartment. You might feel

nervous going up those stairs where the soft-footed
monks used to walk. Alice shivered uncontrollably
as his fingers closed on her elbow and he led her to
the door. They walked across the hall to that wide
stretch of stairs and Alice noticed that the
hammered lamp had been extinguished and only
wall-lights cast illumination on the staircase as they
mounted it towards the gallery. There were
shadows in the angles of the stairs, and tiny creaks
and movements from the treads. Yes, she might
well have imagined that a hooded figure walked at
her heels if Stefan hadnt come with her, tall and
strong at her side, a man made lonely and hard by a
lost love. They walked along the gallery to her
door, and when they paused he suddenly moved his
hand up her arm to her shoulder, his fingers hard
and warm against her skin. Ill bid you kalinikta,
he said. You will find that your bed has bees
warmed by a pan filled with hot charcoal and
spices. I hope, little one, that you wont feel
lonely. Their eyes met and held, and Alice was
intensely aware that he wanted to come into her
room and that it would take only the barest nod
from her to have him follow her. Her pulses
hammered and an image of what would ensue was
there in his dark eyes his fingers would unbind
her hair and he would look into her blue-green eyes
and make believe that he held Timareta in his
hungry arms. No she backed away and sought
wildly for the door handle. It turned and she pushed
open the door. Goodnight ! She rushed inside and
closed the door on him and leaned there, feeling as
if all the strength had left her legs. She pressed her
ear to the door and felt him standing out there. Go
away, she prayed. Please go away! She knew that
eventually he went, as silently as the ghost of a girl
with brown, water-tangled hair.

A shaky Sigh escaped her and she moved across to

her bed and sank down weakly on the side of it.
The lonely, loveless life she had led for so long
hadnt prepared her for this land of thing. Had she
been Alberta she would have known exactly how to
behave with a man, but instead she had panicked
and she knew why she had panicked. There had
been a disturbing loneliness in Stefans eyes and
for an instant she had felt like putting her arms
around him in a gesture of consolation, forgetful
that he was her kidnapper who had not considered
her feelings but was merely intent on assuaging his
own. Oh God, what was happening to her? Alice
dragged hear fingers through her hair and loosened
her chignon, and her hands travelled down over the
contours of her body. Was she becoming attracted
to this man was there something sensual in her
that was reacting to him despite the indignity of
being brought to his house against her will? Her
eyes brooded as she thought of the look of him in
his tailored dinner suit, his shirt so white in
contrast to his swarthy skin. He was the kind of man
who would be noticeable in a roomful of people,
and Alice couldnt pretend that she hadnt noticed
his look of sensual power. It was in his features, in
the way he carried himself he was every inch a
man, and never in her life before had Alice been
thrown into contact with anyone like him. Out there
on the gallery she had felt a compulsion to touch
him, and suddenly she was afraid of female
instincts over which she might have no control. She
wasnt cold or frigid, but for too long she had
repressed her natural feelings because there had
been no one with whom they could be released.
Now there was Stefan Kassandros, a man who had
ruthlessly abducted her, who made a prisoner of her
on his island, surrounded by all the luxury he had
created for someone dead and gone. It was like the
fantasy of a lonely woman, and yet all of it was

real. The rich comfort of this room, and out there in

the night the dark glimmer of the ocean that lapped
the shores of Solitaria. When she took a breath the
strangeness of it all was in her senses, her bed
warmed by charcoal and spices, the faint flicker of
the lamps, the jewelled gleam of the ikon on the
wall facing the bed. She wouldnt wake up and find
it all part of a dream she was living the dream
with its aspects of fear and fascination. He had
known, with devilish instinct Stefan had known that
she didnt really want to. return just yet to the
uneventful routine of her life in London. You are
deluding yourself, he had said. And then almost
with menace, You had better be telling me the
truth. The truth that would release her from his
custody and set her free to return to her self-
contained flat where she worked, read her favourite
books, and watched the occasional television
programme. Neat, ordered, where the only man
who intruded was the plumber or the meter-reader.
Alice stared across at the door she had almost
slammed in Stefans face. What did it really
indicate, that she was trying to slam a door on her
secret desires? Trying to put some kind of a shield
between her and this man who had erupted into her
life with such dark force? Had she so fed herself on
romantic dreams that she couldnt face up to. reality
that a man and a woman might arouse in each
other a need which had nothing to do with the
moonlight and roses of the magazine fiction which
she illustrated with her lean-faced men and starry-
eyed girls?

Oh, but she couldnt sit here all night tormenting

herself with such thoughts. She was probably strung
up and ready to imagine all sorts of things in this
house that stood on sea-rock, whose balconies
overhung the Water, whose chimneys jutted against
a sky where the sunrise would Same with a
vehement fire, as if to express all that was pagan
and untamed on this island. She began to undress,
walking about on bare feet while she put away the
dress Stefan had found provocative and slipped out
of the brief filmy lingerie she had never dreamed of
wearing until she came on her sentimental mission
to Greece believing that a man in a wheelchair
deserved to be told to his face that his engagement
was broken. Alice had slipped into silk, sleeveless
pyjamas and was brushing her teeth in her bathroom
when she caught the sound of her bedroom door
being opened. She grabbed a towel and wiped her
mouth, and again the panic was showing in her eyes
when she stepped into her bedroom and saw a tall
figure beside the bed. She stood watching him as if
powerless to move and the apprehension spread
through Her and gripped her throat muscles. Go
away! she wanted to cry out, but the words
wouldnt come, and then as if he sensed her
standing there he turned to face her, his eyes
probing her slim body in the thin apricot tunic and
trousers. A nervous quiver went through Alice and
the muscles of her throat unlocked. What do you
want? Her words were unnaturally high, flung
from the peak of her rising panic. What are you
doing in here? I did knock on the door, he
drawled, but you were running water in the
bathroom and didnt hear me. Im merely bringing
you a nightcapa fruit and spice drink which will
soothe your nerves, which do appear to be highly
strung at the moment.

Alice stared at the container in his hand as if it held

a drug, and at once he smiled and she trusted him
even less. I dont want it, she said. My nerves
are perfectly all right when youre not around.
What a provocative remarkso I disturb you,
Alicia. The goldshaded lamplight glimmered in his
eyes, and he had removed his jacket and tie and the
upper part of his white shirt was open against his
throat. He could not have been more disturbing to
Alice if he had been a tiger in her room, and
suddenly she backed away from him as if making
for the protection of the ikon with its Virgin in
Repose. She hit her lightly clad body against the
corner of a panelled chest and winced, and at once
he said to her: Dont be foolish. This drink is quite
endaxi and isnt some kind of love potion to make
you lose your head. I would prefer a woman to do
that without the aid of an aphrodisiac. Come, why
does a kind gesture from me have to seem to you so
sinister? Could you trust someone who had
carried you off to a benighted island, Mr
Kassandros? Very well, let me prove to you that
the drink is quite harmless. He raised it to his lips
and drank from the silver rim of the container. This
drinking-cup is what is called a ciboriumrather
lovely, isnt it? He showed it to her, shaped rather
like a water-lily, with a chasing of flowers in the
silver. I Shall put it here on the table beside your
bed. He did so, and Alice saw him glance at the
neat bed with its folded-back bedcovers ready for
her to slip between them. She felt as if her pulse
was pounding little drums inside her, and when he
glanced at her with his eyelids drooping a little she
saw in his eyes the gleam of male arrogance that

was instinctive in the gaze of a man looking at a

woman in her nightwear. The lamps burned softly,
giving the room and the bed a look of intimacy, and
Alice felt her nerves quivering as Stefan slid his
gaze over her tumbled hair and silk pyjamas that
left her arms bare to the shoulder. She felt an
instinctive urge to shield herself and again she
moved towards the ikon until she stood beneath its
panels of blue and gold. She saw his mouth move in
a half-smile. Do you think that would stop me? he
asked mockingly. II never supposed you were
anything but a pagan, she said, but I think you
probably draw the line at rape. Would it be rape,
Alicia? If its true that you have led a lonely
existence, then you might be more hungry for love
than you realise. Such white skin, such sweet
curves dont you really tremble to have them
caressed by a man? I wouldnt hurt you, my sweet
fool. I might make you cry out with the pleasure a
man and a woman can make together. Go away,
she said tensely. L-leave me alone and stop
insulting me! Is that what Im doing? He raised
an eyebrow and a touch of hard insolence came into
his face. I thought I was flattering you, and
according to what you have told me few men have
dared to push their way past your defences in order
to get a real look at you. What did you call
yourself? The neat, bun-haired, bespectacled career
girl, altogether too prim and proper to excite the
blood in a mans veins. His eyes moved over her
so deliberately that it was as if he was touching her
inch by inch. Its true you arent as obviously
pretty as other English girls I have seen, but you
have a concealed and

pervasive charm which reminds me of those

flowers only the most persistent bees dare to
explore, in which they sometimes get trapped so
you can hear them angrily buzzing. I once saw a bee
emerge from such a flower with pollen clinging to
him from head to tail. And what is that supposed
to signify? she demanded. My dear Alicia, do I
really have to explain the facts of nature to you, a
young woman of twenty-four? I really cant make
up my mind about you, whether you are naive,
overwhelmingly modest, or the actress playing me
along behind a mask. Im sure you are aware that
the players in Greek drama wear a mask. Isnt it a
fact of life that we all wear masks? she retaliated.
How many people are there to whom we could
trust our true selves? Too true, and you have hit
upon the basic reason why Greek drama is played
that way. He glanced around him, taking in the
bedroom to which she had added one or two
intimacies such as her lingerie dropped on to a
chair along with the sheer nylon stripped from her
legs and dangling there towards the shag of a rug,
where one of her highheeled shoes lay overturned.
His gaze drifted to the vanitytable where her few
cosmetics were grouped, along with her
turtlebacked hairbrush with the initial A outlined in
tiny pearls. He strolled across and picked up her
hairbrush and ran the ball of his thumb over the
raised initial. I remember another girl who used to
brush her brown hair until it crackled and shone
and then lay like a silk cape around her slender
shoulders. He glanced up deliberately and stared
at Alice as she stood there and watched him with
eyes widened with the strain of trying to read his
intentions in his face. In some ways you remind me
of her, except that she was more open, more
spontaneous in her reactions more honest.

Youve no right to call me dishonest, and Im

Im sure I dont look anything like the girl you were
in love with. Alice wasnt going to tell him she
had seen the portrait of Timareta, or the room
which he kept as a kind of shrine to her memory.
Seeing them had been a kind of intrusion, and
somehow they had lit a little flame of resentment in
Alice. She didnt want to look like someone he
found impossible to forget. Im sure your fiancee
looked every inch a Greek girl, she added. Im a
typical English spinster - No, he shook his dark
head as he came towards her, so that instinctively
she retreated from his advance. In a simple
Grecian blouse and embroidered skirt, your hair
loosely worn-: No, Im not Timareta. Alice
heard the rising inflection ift her voice and couldnt
stop it. Leave me aloneIm me, and I cant bring
your ghost alive. Let her restand let me alone or
Ill scream! She cried out, in fact, stumbling
backwards over an oblong stool and losing her
balance before she could save herself. She fell with
a thud and lay breathless, and the next instant Stefan
had dropped to his knees and was lifting her up
against him, resting her across his arm so she was
looking at him, the hurting on her face, her pupils
widened so her eyes were strange and lovely and a
little dazed. Have you hurt yourself, little fool? he
asked, and his voice was resonant, with husky
depths to it. Y-you frightened me, she said
shakily. It was as if you were reaching out for her
for Timareta. Please, I cant resurrect her for you
I know it must hurt to lose what you love, but you
seem as if you want to blame me and yet make me
into her. II cant be anyone but myself.

Alice Sheldon, eh? His hand massaged her

shoulder, which she had struck as she fell. His
touch was firm and very warm against her bare
skin. She shivered and little tremors of sensitivity
ran down towards her breast as the silk of her tunic
tautened, making her aware of her body as a
separate unit whose feelings could be in conflict
with the fears of her mind. She seemed to go a little
dizzy and tried not to believe that she had wanted
his fingers to stroke downwards and touch her as
men had been touching her sister Alberta since she
was sixteen. Alice knew about those petting
sessions because Berta had bragged about them,
and about those times when she sometimes went to
a party wearing only a thin silk slip beneath her
dress. There are men who love it, Berta had
giggled. Knowing youre there among all those
peoplelike that. Is it Harry who likes you to go
out with him like that? Alice had asked, shocked
because her sister was only seventeen at the time
and it could have led to trouble. But Berta had
shaken her head. Harry, she had replied, was a bit
straitlaced when it came to anything too daring. Im
straitlaced, Alice told herself, but was suddenly
unsure of what she believed about her own nature,
feeling only a sense of helplessness as Stefan
carried her to the bed. He laid her down and his
hand rested in her hair as he leaned over and
studied her face. She gazed up at him, seeing above
her his wide shoulders rampant with masculine
force, and a strong protectiveness that made her
want to reach for them. Oh God, it was wanton to
feel this way like Alberta who had never been
able to tell the difference between gratification and
love. As Alice shrank from her own thoughts, she
seemed to shrink from him and he stood up abruptly
to his full height.

What sort of a woman are you? His eyes flicked

her up and down, with a kind of arrogant curiosity.
Are you holding out for a wedding ring, eh? His
words plunged through Alice like a knife, and then
he swung away from her and made for the door as if
he no longer trusted himself alone with her. He
pulled open the door impatiently, hesitated a
second, and then left her without saying goodnight.
When the door closed behind his tallness the room
felt suddenly cold to Alice. She lay as he had left
her, her left arm bent limply on the pillows, the
tunic of her pyjamas moving rapidly up and down
with her breathing. Was she to believe that his
words had held the incredible hint of a proposal
that his loneliness was growing so hard to bear that
he contemplated a marriage of convenience with
her? Marriage to Stefan Kassandros! As the idea
slowly infiltrated through her mind and body Alice
sat up, pushing the hair back behind her shoulders
as she reached for the fruit drink in the silver cup
he had called a ciborium. Her throat felt suddenly
dry and she drank the sweet, spicy contents
thirstily, and thought of the arrogant, speculative
sweep of his eyes over her body a Greek who
decided he had need of a wife and wasnt too
concerned that he wasnt in love with her. By
means of her colouring she bore a certain
resemblance to a girl he had loved, and it had to be
remembered that Greeks didnt always marry for
romantic reasons. Her hands fondled the ciborium
and she noticed there were tiny demon faces among
the chased flowers, and she wondered what demon
drove Stefan to hint at marriage. As she set the cup
aside Alice noticed a book on the bedside table,
and banking the pillows

behind her shoulders she reached for the volume

and casually opened it at the title page. It was
called The Harem and had been translated from
French, with original illustrations and the
announcement in italics that it was unabridged.
Alice turned the pages and caught her breath
audibly at the range of drawings that caught her
gaze. Her cheeks grew warm, for even as she
admired with an artistic eye the detail of the
drawings she couldnt help seeing how explicit they
were. She felt her toes curling, and felt a sudden
conviction that the book had been placed at her
bedside on purpose as if Stefan were indicating
that in his arms she would look like the girl in the
pictures, her head flung back on her long hair, eyes
dreamily half-closed as he made love to her with
his strong tawny body. Alice closed the book with a
snap and as she replaced it on the bed-table she
supposed it was one of the volumes Stefan had
bought at auction in order to help furnish his home.
She lay, back against her pillows and a reluctant
smile caught at her lips. It would be like him to
poke that kind of fun at her, especially after the way
she had taken fright in his arms on the Phaedra. She
turned off the lamp and slid down in the bed. Was it
her shyness and the hint of repression in her that
provoked him? Was he out to prove that he could
make her respond to him like the girl in the book?
Alice burrowed her warm face into her cool pillow
and though she tried to blot from her mind those
explicit embraces, their imagery was persistent.
She felt the quick beating of her pulse and
wondered if real lovemaking was as rapturously
ruthless as depicted by those drawings. Oh dear,
how pathetic in a way to be so innocent at the age
of twenty-four! No wonder she had always seemed
such a joke to Alberta and no wonder Stefan had
to have fun with her by leaving her a bedtime book
that would provoke her naive curiosity.

She gave a quivering sigh as sleep began to

overtake her, and started to dream that strong,
tawny arms were sliding around her languid body
arms she no longer resisted but welcomed. She
pressed into them, and then stirred, half awake to
the reality of being alone after all.

CHAPTER SEVEN To awake in a strange bed was

always startling, and Alice sat up with a little cry,
her gaze caught by the ikon that glittered from the
sunlight that was flooding into the room. Her grip
relaxed on the bedcovers as she remembered where
she was, and as some of the initial alarm petered
out of her, it was with a certain pleasure that she
took in the details of the room. So very Greek, and
so different from her neatly-papered English
bedroom, with its plain suite of furniture and beige
carpeting. She slipped out of bed and after going to
the bathroom, swung a robe about her shoulders and
stepped down into the balcony called a moussandra
by Katerina, the woman who kept house for Stefan
Kassandros. Alice touched the fruits on the
passion-vine that draped her balcony rail and
leaned over to get a glimpse of the courtyard
below. A man was down there with a towel flung
over his shoulder, talking to an elderly man who
leaned on a long pair of garden clippers. Alice
caught the grating resonance of the Greek speech,
and there was no mistaking that dark head and the
width of Stefans shoulders as with a final word to
his gardener he sauntered away through an arch and
was presumably on his way to take a morning
swim. As he carried only a towel Alice supposed
that he was clad in his bathing briefs beneath his
trousers or was he entirely pagan and swam in
the nude? Her fingers clenched on the rail and she
found herself wishing that he had asked her to go
with him. It was a wonderful morning, the air filled
with sunlight and birds and the scent of pine trees,
and through those towering pines and cypresses
Alice could glimpse the ocean, glittering blue-
green, with an inviting swell to it.

Why not? Her eyes lit up. She had been told to
behave like a guest, and swimming was one of the
skills at which she had always been better than
Alberta, who preferred to model a bikini rather
than to get it wet. But it wasnt a bikini that Alice
Wore down to the beach, going by way of the
cliffside steps because the lift in its shaft of rock
was something that unnerved her. She carried a
bright towel over the shoulder of a white one-piece
swimsuit, and wore a pair of multicoloured
sandals. The suit showed off the firm curves of her
body and the tapering slimness of her legs, whose
pallor she hoped would soon be tanned by the
strong Greek sun. From here as she paused on one
of the rough ledges she could see that the beach was
shaped like the curving blade of a dagger.
Overhead flew the seabirds and out there the ocean
had a breathless beauty and invitation, with giant
rocks profiled against the turquoise swell of the
water. Alice gazed down at the unfathomable
depths of the sea at the bottom of the cliffs where
the spray leapt. She hadnt forgotten what Stefan
had said about the danger of sharks off-shore; that a
wary eye had to be kept alert for the steely-blue
killers with their white underbelly. But she wanted
to swim and she had seen Stefan making for the
water, and with a little toss of her head in its white
bathing cap she continued on her way down the
steps. Wasnt it Oscar Wilde who had said that the
basis of optimism was pure terror, and wasnt that
why life was more exciting when a hint of terror
was in the air? Ocean sharks and a tall, dark Greek
combined to quicken the blood in Alices veins and
when she reached the sands she flung her towel
over the henna-hued branches of a tamarisk and ran
among the rocks to the tideless Greek sea, tossing
her sandals back over her shoulder so they fell
somewhere in the vicinity of the tree. , The sea
ripples curled around her toes as she waded into
the water until it was breast high and she could
strike out, a good swimmer

who was unafraid of the buoyant swell as it lifted

her and flung her forward. With firm strokes of her
arms she swam out towards the graceful, sail-furled
shape of the Phaedra, at anchor two miles beyond
the bay. She had an idea Stefan had made for his
caique and it seemed to her not unwise to swim in
the vicinity of the boat just in case there was a
shark about. Ah, but what a morning! Alice couldnt
recall enjoying herself like this in a long time if
ever. She turned on her spine and backstroked and
there was no denying the realisation that her life
until now had been a very bland mixture; mostly
work and very little play. And then out of the blue
the fates had swept her into the path of a marauding
Greek, and here she was a virtual prisoner on his
island that was aptly named Solitaria, for right now
she might have been aeons of miles from the
conventional life of a single woman who had to
work continuously in order to support herself in
reasonable comfort and security. Ah, but she didnt
have to think about any of that for at least a week
and neither must she allow her thoughts to drift in
the dangerous direction they had taken last night.
Nightfall had a way of intensifying emotions and
reactions, and Stefan had only meant to be sardonic
when he had asked if she was holding out for a
wedding ring. Now it was daylight and she could
view that scene in her bedroom with more sobriety.
He was a man who filled his days with activity, but
found his nights lonely and empty, and it wasnt
unreasonable that a man so vital should be aware of
the woman under his roof. A woman he connected
With the tragedy in his life. A woman whose hair
and eyes seemed to hold similar tints to those he
had admired and lost in Timareta. Lost in her
thoughts, Alice had backstroked closer to the
Ptiaedra than she realised and the shadow of its
hull and rigging was above her before she had time
to reverse and swim back to the shore.

Ahoy there! . She flung the water from her eyes

and glanced up the side of the caique Stefan was
there looking down at her. So you swam out to join
me, eh? She shook her head, but he only laughed,
and the next moment a rope ladder was flung down
and the invitation was all too apparent. When she
hesitated, swimming in a small circle, he ordered
her to grab hold and come aboard. Come along! A
hovering object is always more inviting to a shark.
Alice grabbed at the ladder when he said that and
hauled herself upwards to the deck, where he was
waiting to swing her to the teakwood boards. At his
touch she went as tense as if electricity had struck
her wetness, and his eyes mocked that tension as he
gripped her around the waist and swung her
towards his sea-bleached slacks and dark-blue shirt
that swung open against his brown flesh, hardened
by sea and sun. We could have swum out together,
he said, his teeth glinting hard and white as he
gazed down at her, but I thought you might want to
lie in after your late night. How did you sleep?
Very well, thank you, she said, her polite tone of
voice in contrast to her inner tumult at the feel of
his strong body against hers in the swimsuit which
clung wetly to every line and curve of her. Did you
fall asleep straight away? he asked. Sometimes
its difficult in a strange bed, in a house where the
nighttime noises are not familiar. I wouldnt want to
think that you lay awake, tossing and turning.

I didnt, she assured him, and she knew very well

from the amused gleam in his eyes that he was only
playing at being the concerned host. I was tired
and I fell asleep almost as soon as my head touched
the pillow. Did you really? He quirked an
eyebrow and his hands tightened on her hips. I
would have taken you for one of those people who
needs to relax with a book before falling off into
dreamland. Not when Im tired, she informed
him coolly, and wild horses wouldnt have dragged
from her an admission that she had glanced into that
pillow book he had left at her bedside. If I ever
feel restless at night I read crime fiction. You find
that less disturbing, eh? I thought women liked to
read about love and its attendant joys and
tribulations. Spinsters become cynical about
romance, kyrie. Crime offers them more escape
than reading about the sweet swindles of love.
People in love are like gamblers, they seem unable
to stay away from what never really satisfies them.
Ah, that is indeed a cynical statement, Alicia. He
caught her so suddenly close to him that he hurt her,
perhaps unaware that his body might feel that extra
bit hard to a girl who hadnt learned how to
accommodate her softness to a mans muscularity.
It provokes me into wanting to prove you wrong
so you like to swim, eh? Very much - Colour lay
high on her cheekbones, for she could feel the
warmth and maleness of Stefan right through her
swimsuit, which seemed like a skin he might break
through, right into her secret inner self which for
such a long time had lain quiescent, unawakened,
and certainly unexplored.

It makes you feel alive, eh, to use every fibre and

cell of the body in the attainment of a pleasure. He
looked down into her eyes, holding them with his
own. You swear you dont tell lies, then tell me
you didnt glance into that book. I - She clamped
her lip with her. teeth and bit back her denial. You
had no right to leave such a book lying about!
There are no children in my housenot as yet,
Alicia. There is only a man and his staff, and a
young woman of twenty-four. It really is time you
outgrew the foolish notion that it will cause you
some damage if you relax in a mans arms. You are
able to let go of your tensions in the sea, so why not
surrender to your feelings when I hold you? Theres
no shame in it, child. The body holds no terrors for
a Greek, and the words he has used down the ages
in connection with it are incorporated into your
own language, so that when you learn to speak mine
some of the words will strike you as familiar. I
Ive no intention of learning Greek. She attempted
to pull away from him, but there seemed to be iron
in his dark-haired arms. Youre playing some kind
of game with me and II wont endure it! Then
why did you swim out here to the Phaedra if you
didnt want to be alone with me? Admit thats why
you came! His voice had become as insistent as
the pressure of his hands, clasped around her body
so his fingers were locked to her hip bones so that
in struggling with him a contact was induced that
flooded her skin with confused warmth. It isnt
true that I swam out hereto you! What was your
idea, then? His eyes narrowed as they held hers.
Did you think you could bribe the lad into taking
you to the mainland? What were you going to entice
him withthis slim body that tenses itself as if on a
bed of nails when I touch it?

How dare you? An expression of deep shock

came into Alices eyes that he could say such a
thing to her, that she might have thought of giving
herself to his deck boy in order to get away from
him to Athens. What a low mind you have, kyrie!
Ill admit it was more elevated before I met you,
he gritted. Are you impulsive, or a devious little
schemer who has set her sights on a rich husband
regardless of who he is? Do you imagine I want
you for a husband? she gasped, straining away
from him with her upper body, yet locked
unrelentingly to him from her hips. II find you
insulting and insolent, and if you dont let me go -
Yes, I had better let go of you. He did so abruptly
and swung to grip the deck rail, legs braced as the
Phaedra - rode on her anchor to the undulations of
the sea. Alice gave him a veiled look, aware deep
in her nervous system of him standing only inches
away from her, tensed and unpredictable. So you
would regard it as an insult if I wished to marry
you, he said, with a quietness which seemed to her
like the lull preceding a storm. His shoulders had
about them a hard look of tension, and his knuckles
showed white under the tanned skin of his hands
clenched over the sunlit rail, below him the glitter
of the sea into which he was glowering. There
seems to me no reason why you should make such a
 statement, she rejoined. Im oldfashioned. I
happen to believe that people should be in love
or at the very least compatible and fond of each
otherbefore taking such a step. A step in the
dark, eh?

In lots of ways. Alice swallowed the dryness

from her throat, the tang of salt on her lips. I dont
pretend to know much about it - Oh, come, his
voice was edged with irony, Im not yet convinced
of that, my dear. It has yet to be proved that you
arent playing a game with me, but the single
positive fact is that you arouse in me the hungry
needs I had sublimated in my work, and if you are a
woman with no meaningful life in England, then
why not consider remaining here with me? I dont
ask that you adore me, though I would expect your
loyalty, and you would need to understand that a
Greek marriage is binding. As he bit out the words
Alice gazed at him in a stricken way the cold-
hearted proposal had been made as she had
suspected it would be, in a voice totally devoid of
tenderness and real concern for her feelings. It
seemed as if his ability to care with his heart had
been buried long ago with the Greek girl he could
no longer hold in his arms. All he wanted, Alice
realised, was the shape and feel of her, and the
vagrant look of Timareta which she had. She
suddenly felt a desperate need to get away from him
she mustnt allow him to touch her and so
persuade her that sensual passion could replace the
flame that should smoulder between a couple,
constant in joy and trouble; there to keep at bay the
fears of the night, and the loneliness of the Unloved.
Alice was a lonely girl and she had never denied it
to herself, but she wasnt going to leap desperately
at what Stefan Kassandros offered her it seemed
that he offered heartache along with the passion,
and Alice leapt without hesitancy from the side of
the caique into the sea and began to swim away
from him. Only seconds later there was a splash
and she knew he had dived in after her.

Alice was a very proficient swimmer, but Stefan

was a powerful man and soon he had caught up
with her. Dont try and stop me! she cried out. I
wasnt going to. For an instant their eyes met
across the water, dominance and defiance clashing
like silent blades. Then they swam in unison until
they were about a quarter of a mile from the beach
of Solitaria when he suddenly fell back until he was
swimming at her heels. Go very fast now, he
ordered. Dont panic, but swim as if you are
determined to get a gold medal for Britain. She
flung him a questioning look over her shoulder, and
then had no need to ask why she had to quicken her
pace. The jutting fin tad broken water a short
distance from them, and sharks were notoriously
swift and instinctive when it came to tracking any
kind of prey. Alice felt as if her heart dropped into
her stomach and her first reaction was to panic, and
sensing this Stefan dived suddenly beneath her and
caught her around the body, as if holding her heart
in place. Swim like the devil and try to do it
smoothly, he urged. I am right behind you. And
once again she was aware of him at the rear of her,
offering his own long legs to those voracious jaws
should the shark decide to attack them. No one had
ever done anything so selfless for Alice, not in all
her life, and she was sobbing a little as she swam
with every inch of stamina she could muster, aware
that the faster she could swim the better it would be
for Stefan, trailing her all the way to the shore if
they could make it without that awful snout rising
from the depths to snap and grind and fill the blue-
green ocean with bright threads of life-blood.
Good girl, Stefan urged. Not far to go now and
well be on land.
Alice was gasping and shivering by the time they
trod water and waded among the rocks to the sand.
When they reached it she sank to her knees and
fought to get the breath back into her lungs, and then
at last she looked at Stefan, who stood above her
thrusting the wet black hair out of his eyes, water
streaming down his body. All sound seemed burned
out of the warm air and the sun flickered in his eyes
and across his bare wet shoulders. He had flung off
his slacks and shirt before diving from the Phaedra
and he balanced on bare feet like a sculpture of
tawny lights and shades. Lets thank the gods for
having fed that brute before we swam into his
vicinitythat was quite a race, eh? Stefan shifted
his gaze from the water and caught Alices eyes
with his own. She was intensely aware of his naked
vigour, of his tawny skin shadowed by dark hair.
Then he abruptly reached for her and swung her up
against him. He held her and bent his head so he
could crush her lips with his own, salty and savage.
Her toes gripped the hot velvety sand and the
moment brewed a quick response in her and she let
herself be kissed, until he suddenly pushed her
away from him and gave a curt laugh. Danger can
always do it, he drawled. Let loose in women
like you what you keep locked up at other times.
Keep your virtue, little one, though I know I could
take it right here on the sands. She gazed at him
with eyes still dilated from their close brush with
danger and the terror of torn limbs. If the shark had
attacked, Stefan would have shielded and protected
her as best he could, at the probable loss of his
strong legs, rising like brown columns to support
his fine body. Alice turned away from him on
tremulous legs, aware of a need to shield what
might be showing in her eyes. Youre a powerful
swimmer, she said shakily. You could have said
to hell with me and who would have blamed you?

No one on Solitaria, he agreed carelessly. Now

let us go to the house so you can take a shower and
have some food. Come! She walked a little ahead
of him, confusedly aware of him sauntering at her
heels as naked as Apollo. When they reached the
tamarisk tree where she had left her beach towel
Alice reached for it and silently handed it to him so
he could drape it around his hips. Evharisto. he
said dryly. Is this concern for me, or to protect
your own modesty? You know what it is, so
theres no need to be sardonic. Her eyes flickered
to his face and she was aware of him folding the
colourful towel around his lower body. Im not
that much of a prude, I hope. I hope it as well,
Alicia. There was no mistaking the meaning in his
voice as he stood for her to enter the cavern where
the elevator was situated. A momentary gloom
descended as they were cut off from lie sun and
Alice tensed as he suddenly ran his fingers down
her spine. You have backbone, girl, and a straight
and supple spine which knows how to express your
moods. You mustnt underrate yourself just because
your sister has the prettier face and callow young
men sought her attentions. Beauty in a real woman
is the capacity to feel things very deeply, and to be
hurt to the same intense degree. As he spoke Alice
could feel his fingertips roaming her shoulders and
all that separated her from his hard brown body
was the beach towel. He was certainly no callow
youth but had a dangerous streak of droit du
seigneur in him. I know it isnt just prettiness that
men admire, she said, and she recalled the
provocation of Albertas mouth and the invitation in
her eyes when men were around. At other times her
mouth could look petulant and her eyes as coldly
blue as Delft china. Her awareness of the male sex
had seemed to flick a switch inside her which lit
her up
 that switch had never lit a glow in Alice when a
man walked into the room, and then as if
overcharged it had flared and fused at the entrance
of Stefan Kassandros. What it is that men want
from women? His fingers pressed into her collar-
bone, and she felt again that electrical tingle
through her body that set her on edge, and even
made her ache in a diffused way. Men like
exciting, receptive women, and they have antennae
that lets them know when their signals are being
received. He laughed quietly. You have given it
some thought, I see. Not exclusively, Mr
Kassandros. Had you not had a reason for wanting
to meet Alice Sheldon, then you wouldnt have
given a second glance to the plain English spinster
who booked into your hotel. By the Virgin!
Suddenly his brown arm was locked about her
waist and he gave her body a shake. A woman is
plain only when she keeps her feelings locked up as
if they were the Crown Jewels! Why when you
came to my hotel did you let down your hair and
leave off your glasses? To test the reaction of the
Greek waiter when he came to your room? No -
Little liar. You bathed and scented yourself and
draped your body in chiffon I could almost see
throughthe reaction you received was more than
you bargained for, eh? You were on foreign soil
and out to vamp a man That really isnt true,
she protested. I had brought with me a few nice
clothes and I felt like wearing them.

In order to excite my waiters, eh? In the privacy of

your hotel room? The typical stunt of a woman who
behaves in public as if she has an electrified fence
all around her. Alice stared up at him, seeing the
rather cruel look on his face as he said these things
to her she wanted to resent them but instead was
hurt by them. She couldnt fathom why lie was
hurting her when out there in the sea he had offered
his protection so unstintingly. Was it something he
would have done for anyone in those
circumstances? The thought was strangely
depressing and she gave way to a little shiver of
coldness. At once he released her and opened the
gates of the elevator and they rode up in silence to
the kastello. As they crossed the courtyard lizards
with brown and black markings darted across the
sunstruck tiles and Alice noticed that they had the
menacing faces of small demons. Katerina was in
the hall when they entered and Alice noticed, with
heightened colour, the veiled look she gave Stefan,
taking in the beach towel that was fixed about his
bare loins. We have been swimming, he said
casually. Miss Sheldon will have breakfast in her
room, and do make sure its a substantial one and
that the coffee is good and hot. For the second time
in her life she has encountered a shark, but
fortunately this one wasnt in the mood for a tender
leg of lamb. Alice caught her breath and shot him a
look which he returned by elevating his left
eyebrow in a mocking way. Go upstairs and take a
warm shower, he ordered. Later we shall meet
and Ill show you over the kastello. Very well,
and thank you -

He knew to what she referred and gave a slightly

ironic bow. Knighterrantry isnt quite out of style,
but neither is piracy in Greek waters. You are more
impulsive than yon realise, Alicia, and if I had
decided to stay aboard the Phaedra you might have
swum into the direct path of the sharkwith your
lack of clear vision. That his remark held a double
meaning she didnt doubt, but right now she felt too
fatigued to argue the point and began to climb the
stairs on rather unsteady legs. She was glad when
she reached her apartment and was able to shut
herself in, though there was no escape from the
tumult and questioning of her thoughts. Why was it
that being near him had diffused into something
more painful than fearful and Alice was under
the shower when the shattering answer exploded in
her mind. She was a twenty-four-year-old virgin
who hadnt experienced until now the very personal
ache of being awakened to the potency of a man.
That was why she had leapt into the sea away from
him, because she could no longer trust herself to
resist him when he touched her. He stirred her
blood, which circumstances had kept at a cool
temperature until she came to Greece. He made
Albertas string of young men seem callow and
dull, for not one of them would have dared to carry
off a woman regardless of the consequences. He
wouldnt even be repentant when the moment of
truth came with Bertas reply to his cable; he would
merely shrug his strong shoulders and blame the
fates for allowing the wrong woman to cross his
path. The penultimate question Alice asked herself
as she slipped into a cool peppermint-striped
dress did he mean to let her go when he learned
that she had never been engaged to Ionides
Damaskinos? He might believe at the present time
that he was justified in keeping her a prisoner on
his island, but once he learned the truth he couldnt
force her to stay or could he?
She pinned up her hair for coolness and then
stepped down into her tnoussandra to await her
breakfast. Hesta brought it on a tray and there was
uriconcealed curiosity in her eyes as she arranged
the dishes on the cane table and regarded Alice. No
doubt she had been informed of the way the kyrios
had returned from his swim, naked as some sea god
apart from Alices beach towel, and such intimacy
between a man and woman must indicate that they
were personally involved. I hope the shark didnt
frighten you too much, thespoinis? Hesta stood
ready with the coffee pot as Alice sat down at the
table, in front of a delicious-looking herb omelette
and hot rolls. I was glad I wasnt swimming alone
when he arrived on the scene. Alice hoped she
smiled casually as she broke a roll and buttered the
crusty, smoking bread straight from the oven
bread such as she hadnt tasted in her life before. I
daresay Id have panicked and attracted the brutes
attention, but as it was I bad to keep my nerve or
receive a clip on the jaw from the kyrios. So
already you begin to understand about Greek men,
Hesta murmured as she poured the rich dark coffee
and added cream to the cup. Meaning, I suppose,
that women have to bow to their wishes or be made
to do so? Women like it, thespoinis, in their heart
of hearts. Why not let the man be the master when
he has stronger muscles and a broad back there
are enough aches and pains for a woman Without
getting hurt in a battle of wills. Nature knows best.
When she means a girl to be born, a girl duly
arrives. When a boy is on the way, hey presto, there
he is, complete with all that makes a boy become a
man.

Alice couldnt help smiling she had certainly

learned today what made a man! Greek women
certainly have a wisdom the women of my own
country seem to be losing sight of, she said.
Although I dont agree that a woman should
entirely subordinate her will to that of a man she
is surely his partner and not his slave. Let us say,
thespoinis, his lover and friend who lets him know
that he makes life easier to bear. The woman who
never tells a man he is essential to her is asking to
be neglected while he goes in search of someone
who will enjoy leaning on him. Ive never leaned
on a man in my life, Alice said wonderingly.
Have you a young man, Hesta? Yes, I am
betrothed. Hestas eyes lit up. I was fifteen when
our hands were joined, but Elias is working in the
city and we shant marry until we have enough
money between us to buy a house. You must miss
him? I do, thespoinis. Hesta clasped her hands
together and a quiver of emotion ran over her face.
It is hard not to be with him, but harder to start our
life together under any roof but our own. There is
nothing better than being private together in your
very own house, with the door closed and
everything nice and cosy for just the two of you. We
love each other, but we shall wait for the figs to fall
when they are ripe they will be all the sweeter
for the waiting. A sentiment that echoed in Alices
mind when a little later she sat alone on her
balcony, made secluded by the draping of passion-
vine. She ate dark-skinned grapes and felt almost
relaxed in the deep basket chair; it was almost
possible to pretend that she was a carefree
holidaymaker, that frantic feeling of unrest held in
abeyance so she

could enjoy the bees humming in the air, scenting

out the flowers that would yield the most pollen
which they carried from one shrub to another, doing
natures work even as they sucked the nectar for the
honeycomb. Nature knows best, Hesta had said. But
nature was mysterious and subtle, and Alice was
very aware of the seducing beauty of Solitaria as
she enjoyed the sweet grapes which had ripened in
the sun and the sea breezes. She was an artistic,
vulnerable person and she couldnt ignore her-own
reaction to this island house and what lay at the root
of its resurrection from half-ruin to tasteful beauty.
A man had loved a girl and the abiding memory of
her had driven him to create the kind of home she
would have loved sharing with him their door
closed on the outside world as they explored their
own private domain. The figs had not fallen ripe for
Stefan they had died, but he had not lost his very
natural urge for a woman to share his future. He
didnt expect to love or be loved, but he did want
everything else that went with marriage, and being
a Greek he would certainly want a few children.
Alice leaned her head against the cushion of the
chair, her eyes concealed behind the tinted lenses
of her glasses . her thoughts unconcealed as she
let them roam over the events of the morning and
the way Stefan had mentioned marriage as if he
were proposing a business merger. Did he really
hope to persuade her into such a marriage, and did
she imagine she could resist him and cling to misty,
romantic dreams in place of reality? A house such
as this one to live in a man such as Stefan for a
husband? What if he didnt love her? It certainly
wouldnt stop him from giving full rein to the
desires of his strong vital body, and Alice felt a
convulsion of her pelvic nerves as she relived her
physical contact with him on the beach of Solitaria.
He had awakened the dormant woman in her, but
could she live at Fireglow and be able

to bear it that he visited the ivory and gold bedroom

where Timareta beckoned to him from the vivid
portrait on the wall? A shudder of revulsion ran
through Aliceno, it was too much to ask of her!
She wasnt invulnerable enough, or the mercenary
type who could put creature comfort before the
contentment of loving a man who loved her. Stefan
was an exciting, dynamic, ruthless man, but his
heart was given to the memory of someone else,
and Alice knew herself well enough to know that
she couldnt live happily with a man who merely
wanted her body. Desire, unlike love, was a fickle
emotion, and what would her life be when he
eventually tired of her? Alice couldnt face the
awful picture her imagination painted for her, of a
man and a woman bound to a marriage with no real
meaning to it. She jumped to her feet and began to
pace back and forth across the balcony tiles. A
week of Stefans company lay in front of her and
she must fight his physical attraction for all she was
worth. A lonely life might be awaiting her in
London, but what Stefan offered could lead to an
insupportable type of misery being always the
substitute for a dead girl. She was Alice Sheldon,
and if he couldnt love her for herself, then she
certainly couldnt dream of marrying him. She
would return to England and he would eventually
console himself with another Greek girl. A pretty
girl with a simple outlook on life, who would be
content to have his children and wouldnt think it
essential that he love her with all his power. Alice
paused by the balcony rail and her fingers closed
on one of the passion-fruits. She stood there with
her neck and face flung back to the sun passion
was like the sun stroking your skin. It was part of
your marrow, and it ran in your veins through the
very chambers of your heart.

Passion alone could never satisfy Alices dreams

anything less than love would be like water
when she longed for wine. Right at this moment she
was convinced of it, and nothing was going to
change her mind or her heart.

CHAPTER EIGHT IT was a breathless evening,

with a flame in the sky. The stunning scent of pine
trees drifted in through the open windows, and out
beyond them the sea had a phosphorescent glitter
that mirrored the stretched wings of birds flying
inland to the fire-coloured cliffs. A landscape so
dramatic it gave rise to emotional thoughtseven a
poetry of the senses, and as each day passed at the
kastello Alice felt herself awakening to its wild and
beautiful surroundings the breath of lemons in
their secretive grove, the heady wine-scent of
hillside maquis, the fragile yellow-flowered iode
trees haunted by butterflies of lacy red and black,
almost sinister in their beauty. Nothing was more
intoxicating than the scent of the lemons in their
vaulted, shadowy grove, having grown so closely
together they formed a green canopy in which
cicadas persistently grated. Alice had explored
most Of the kastello in the week she had been here
and had found it oddly fascinating, with rooms
tucked away behind sudden corners and steps
leading to sunlit roof levels from which the entire
island could be seen. The kitchen was enormous,
with a big fire-oven where all the food was so
deliciously cooked. There were deep cupboards, a
dark red-tiled floor and scrubbed tables. In the
pantries arranged on wide .shelves were bottles
and jars of pickled fruits, jams, preserves, honey
and wine, all of them made from the produce of the
gardens and groves. She never grew tired of
wandering in the gardens, where masses of bright
rambling flowers grew over the walls, some of
them pomegranates with scarlet blossom, the fabled
fruit of the Greek goddesses. In the orchards grew
pink pistachio fruits, almonds and apricots. Golden
oaks and myrtles mingled their leaves, and among
the angelic trumpets of the thorn-apple grew the
venomous little

fruits. There were rockeries rampant with tiny rock

plants, royal blue, dazzling orange, deep purple and
palest shell pink. Here on such an island Alice
could believe in some of the ancient legends of
Greece. Daphne might well have changed into a
laurel tree when Apollo chased her, and Helen
might have cured a plain child by stroking her head.
And at midday, when the sun struck the island to
stillness, the maenads might have come floating
from the caves in their diaphanous veils to dance in
the heat haze. Alice stepped down into the
moussandra and gazed at the sky, which looked as
scarlet as if the heavens had burst into flames,
tinting with a touch of red the apple-green silk of
her dress whose styling was almost Gothic with its
laced bodice and flowing skirt. Her nostrils tensed
to a smokiness in the air, mingling with the
spiciness of pine and cypress and the tang of
seaweeds that grew like a matting around the rocks
and the base of the cliffs. She felt a nervous tension,
almost a sense of fear as she gazed at the awesome
sky. It was as if something was brewing above the
sea, or was her feeling of apprehension linked to
the fact that Miklos the boatman had been to the
mainland and could have brought back the cable
Stefan was expecting any day? It would tell him
who had been involved with Damaskinbs, and then
he would be honour bound to let her go. Suddenly
Alice seemed to feel a sort of rumbling in the air
and it struck her that a storm might be on the way.
Sky and sea were filling with that dramatic red
glow and the sinking sun was quite lost in it, like a
burning ball that would surely send up clouds of
smoke when it hit the water. Again it felt as if the
ground quivered slightly beneath the soles of
Alices silver-kid shoes or were her knees
trembling in expectation of being told by Stefan
when they met for dinner that he had finally
received Albertas reply to his cable?
Alice stood with her hands clasped over the iron
railing and the flamy incandescence of the sunset
had a barbaric quality that held her rigid, until all at
once she started backwards as a bright streak of
lightning forked down towards her, seeming to
strike sparks from the railing she had only just
released. She darted into her bedroom and quickly
closed the long windows and pulled the curtains
together. A storm was coming, and that was why
she felt so on edge. Alice wasnt normally afraid of
storms, but she had never faced one on an island
that was open on all sides to the elements. She
didnt like to think of its trees and flowers and
wildlife being unmercifully pounded by the rain and
struck at by the lightning. With a nervous shiver she
decided to go downstairs, where a log fire would
be lit in the saloni, for though the island was so
warm during the day the atmosphere rapidly cooled
when the sun went down, a combination Alice
rather liked. It meant that the enormous stone
fireplaces were kept in use and there was always a
scent of blazing cypress logs in the evenings.
Trying to look composed even if she didnt really
feel it, Alice made her way down the widely
curving stairs, aware that she walked in the treads
worn into the wood by the hard-soled sandals of the
monks. It seemed strange to walk in their footmarks,
for in those days a woman would never have
entered this house, for women were still believed
to be the gateway of the devil so Stefan had told
her when he had showed her some Greek words
scrawled in the stonework of an arch leading into
the olive grove. There a young monk had probably
worked among the olive trees and had been
pestered by unholy thoughts of women. One day in
revolt against his thoughts he had taken the time to
inscribe with a sharp piece of stone or iron the
words, Woman is the devils gateway and hell is
paved with her bones. She is the profane angel and
the divine transgressor, and men do ungodly things
because of her.

They do indeed, Stefan had murmured, his

fingertip tracing the words which time and weather
had not yet worn away. Its the mystery of the ages,
isnt it, when all she represents is a hank of hair
and a nice piece of engineering. Just for the sake of
that the battle of Troy raged and men were
slaughtered so one man could hold Helen in his
arms. What would you have done? Alice had
asked him. Cut her up in small pieces and given
her to the soldiers to roast on the points of their
swords? Why not? Those elusive glints of
laughter had played in his eyes. She would
probably have made a very tasty souvlaki, with
rings of onion and tomato. You have no romance
in you, Alice accused him, and he had bowed his
head in mocking agreement. You have enough for
both of us, he had said. Alice paused on the stairs,
her thoughts cut dead as her gaze fixed itself upon
the swaying brass lantern that hung in the
stairwell back and forth it swung like some huge
bell that made no sound and yet pealed a warning
that made her gather her skirts and go racing down
the rest of the stairs as if pursued by something
wild. She reached the hall in a breathless rush,
where the silence was suddenly broken by a laugh
and the deep timbre of male voices as Stefan and
another man emerged from an arched doorway.
This was Alex Kassandros, a cousin of similar age
to Stefan who had arrived by amphibia aircraft a
few days ago. He was in charge of the accountancy
side of Stefans hotel business, and with a tolerant
air of amusement had chosen to accept the
explanation that Miss Sheldon was a guest at
Fireglow.

The two men came to an abrupt halt as Alice ran

breathlessly into their path. Somethings wrong,
she gasped. Look up there! She pointed upstairs at
the great lantern which only seconds before had
been swaying like a big brass bell. Alice couldnt
believe her eyes, for now it was rock-steady, as if
she had had some kind of hallucination: What are
we supposed to be looking at? Stefan wanted to
know. The lantern was swayingquite wildly.
Alice gave him a bewildered look. II thought
there was going to be a tremor. Alex stepped to the
foot of the stairs and peered up intently at the
lantern, but still it was quite motionless. He turned
to smile at her, his dark eyes crinkling. You must
have imagined that it moved, he said. I have
always said to Stefan that this house of his has a
strange atmosphere when night begins to fall, and
once I could have sworn that I saw the shadow of a
monk on the gallery wall. Alice bit her lip. She felt
convinced that the huge lantern had swung on its
chains, but when she glanced at Stefan there was
something about his demeanour that made her
decide not to insist. There was a hard set to his jaw
and something flinty in his eyes. There is going to
be a storm, isnt there? she said. Im not wrong in
imagining thatthe sky was spectacular as the sun
went down, and I saw a flash of lightning. Yes, I
noticed how red the sky was, Alex agreed. Red
sky at night, shepherds delight, Stefan drawled,
and still his gaze was fixed upon Alice and there
wasnt a fraction of his cousins amiability to be
seen in his features. It might be that tomorrow we
shall have a day to remember.

Alices senses were intuned this evening to pick up

discord and she saw and felt it in Stefan. Her heart
gave a heavy beat and she felt convinced that
Miklos had returned from the mainland bringing
Albertas reply to the question which had been
cabled to Ceylon seven days ago. It could only
affirm what Alice had told Stefan, and yet the look
he was giving her was so stern it could mean only
one thing. He was disappointed he couldnt hold on
to her and use her as a whip against Ionides
Damaskinos. He had to .release her or break his
word of honour, and it there was one thing a true
Greek couldnt endure it was to be dishonourable.
Let us go and have an aperitif before dinner.
Stefan swung towards the saloni and there at the
door he waited for Alice and his cousin to precede
him. As Alice passed him she felt his eyes flick her
hair, which to suit her dress she had braided into a
coronet style. His eyes continued their scrutiny all
the way down her dress, and she didnt imagine that
his face was as hard-set as if cast in bronze. You
are looking exceptionally charming this evening,
Alicia, he remarked, as he moved over to the
cabinet on which stood the decanters and various
shaped glasses. One would assume you were
dressed up for a very special occasionare you
celebrating something, eh? Alice glanced at him
and realised that she was beginning to feel rather
afraid of his mood. In his smoothly tailored dinner-
suit he had a lean, pantherish look which intensified
her feeling that tonight he was a man to beware of.
Come, smiled Alex at his cousin, a woman
doesnt have to find an excuse to make herself
charming. I shudder to think what life would be like
for men if women didnt have a streak of Narcissus
in them. It pleasures them to look glamorous, and it
most certainly pleasures us, unless, Stefan, you are
allowing the monks who once lived here to cast
their celibate shadows over you.

I can assure you, Alex, that such a thing isnt

happening to me. Ouzo for you as usual, cousin, or
will you try a dry sherry? Sherry is for the
ladies. Alex had seated himself on the arm of the
big leather couch and was looking directly at Alice,
as if really wondering if she dressed up in order to
make an impression on Stefan. It just hadnt
occurred to her that the apple-green dress might
strike an exotic note ,.. or had she unknowingly
worn it as a sign of farewell to Solitaria? If Stefan
was in possession of that cabled reply, then this
would be her last night on the island and she might
be flown to Athens in the amphibian with Alex. She
sat down with an air of composure and accepted a
fluted glass of sherry from Stefan. After handing
ouzo to his cousin, he then went and stood in his
usual place by the fireplace, his own drink a
whisky sour. You have certainly made this house
remarkably comfortable, Alex remarked. Though
speaking for myself I wouldnt care to live in a
one-time abbey. For such an undertaking one has to
be of a rather romantic disposition, and I prefer my
modern apartment in the heart of the big city. You
were always the pragmatist, Alex. Stefan took a
deep swallow of his drink. But I doubt if Miss
Sheldon would agree with you that I am a romantic
shes inclined to take the view that I am
something of a pirate, isnt that correct, Alicia?
Alice fingered her sherry flute and didnt quite meet
his eyes. I would say that it takes a dash of the
pirate to be successful in a cut-throat business, she
replied With tourism so much on the increase,
being in the hotel business must be very
competitive. You can bet on that. Alex gave a
slight laugh. Stefan has the hard head of a Greek
tycoon, but his soul is something else and I would

have thought youd have found some affinity with

the romantic in him. You are an artist, and you
certainly arent like some of the frantic, sun-seeking
Europeans who come to Greece. Some of those
women! They are quite shameless in their
advances. Somehow I cant imagine you make
advances to a manand may I call you Alicia? Its
rather an attractive name. Im really Alice, she
told him. Your cousin has chosen to make my name
sound rather Greek, but as I keep telling him Im
entirely English, with a dash of Irish from my
mother. Ah, that would account for the eyes.
Suddenly Alex was gazing at Alice with his own
eyes narrowed, then he shot a look at Stefan,
seemed about to say something and caught back the
words. But Alice knew what had struck him about
her that hint of a resemblance to the girl Stefan
had loved and whose memory wouldnt stop
haunting him. They are nice coloured eyes, Alex
smiled. Almost the colour of your dress. What do
you think (rf this house, perched on the cliffs like
the eyrie of an eagle, and so curiously built with its
odd little rooms and passages? I find it
interesting, she admitted. Ive been doing some
sketches of Fireglow to take back to England with
me. She felt Stefan looking at her as she spoke, and
then he said in his most sardonic voice, Has your
visit to my house been so memorable, Alicia? I am
flattered that you should want a reminder of it
may I dare to hope that you have also sketched the
master? You arent an easy subject to capture,
she said, and this was true, and disconcerting, for
each time she had tried to make a sketch of Stefan
her hand had developed a tremor and she had been
unable to make the bold strokes needed to delineate
him. This hadnt happened when

she sketched the house and the people about the

estate, but sheer nerves took over when she tried to
capture his likeness and it annoyed her that he
should affect her artistic skill in this way. It was a
face she wanted to draw, with its commanding
features, shades of irony around the mouth, and that
brooding intensity deep in his eyes. But it seemed
that she only had a talent for inventing the faces of
magazine heroes. Yet Stefan has a very definite
face, said Alex. I -wonder why you find him hard
to portray? He seems to be there looking over my
shoulder when I try. She gave a laugh which she
hoped had a careless ring to it. So you prefer city
life to living on an island, kyrie? I live in London
myself. And do you like city life, Alicia? Alex
gave her a shrewd look, as if he doubted it. To
succeed as a city dweller one must have a good
social life so that one doesnt develop a feeling of
being boxed in. Are you a gregarious person? I
somehow should have doubted it ah, I am not
saying you are unfriendly, but I think that like Stefan
you dont like lots of company. I am right, eh?
You make me sound unsociable, kyrie. Its just that
I always have plenty of work on hand and I dont
find the time to go to parties. Ah, that is
invariably Stefans excuse. A gleam had come into
Alexs eyes and he shot a glance at his cousin, who
merely raised an eyebrow at the intimation that he
and Alice had something in common. All work and
no play is like subsisting on bread and water. On
the other hand, Stefan rejoined, champagne and
cream cake could become unbearable after a while.
Its finding a way to strike the happy medium thats
the difficulty. Of getting from life a fulfilment, that
wont dull the senses or the mind. Bread and wine,
perhaps.

Perhaps. Alex frowned slightly, as if the

conversation had become a little complex for his
liking. So long as you arent going to keep your
nose to the grindstone all your lifeyou havent the
disposition of a monk, Stefan, though houses are
inclined to pick up and transmit the aura of those
who have occupied the premises. Would I bring a
woman to a house whose atmosphere might be
opposed to her? Stefan looked directly at Alice.
Have you felt a sinister influence while you have
been here. Alicia? Something which has disturbed
your sleep, perhaps? I cant say that anything
supernatural has disturbed me, she replied,
meeting his eyes and letting him know the true
source of whatever unrest she had felt. Im not
really a person who believes in the occult, and if
there are mysteries beyond our reasoning I dont
think theyd make a screaming idiot of me. It
would take reality to do that, eh? A man of flesh
and bone rather than a shadow on a wall? Yes.
She said it firmly. Despite all the jokes about
spinsters looking under the bed in the hope of
finding a man there, it is a fact that women alone,
single women, do develop a fear of being attacked.
When they travel by train they invariably make for a
compartment in which other women are seated.
Men dont really understand because theyre
physically strong, but women have an intense fear
of being overcome by a strangerby someone
unknown to them. They find the idea petrifying,
believe it or not. Oh, I do believe you, he said.
A woman in that situation might actually faint, eh?
Oh yes, she said fervently, and for a moment the
walls of Fireglow seemed to disintegrate and she
felt as if she were gripped again by his

violence, his desire to make her suffer for

something she hadnt done. Only by fainting had she
been able to escape his intention to humiliate her,
and now if he had Albertas reply to his cable he
must know that he had treated her outrageously and
owed her an apology, at least. Alice searched for
some sign of repentance in his gaze, but all she saw
were the unreadable depths of those Greek, eyes,
fathomless and darkly lashed, revealing no hint of
his feelings as he suggested they go in to dinner. As
always the meal was excellent, and for dessert they
had honey flan from an old Turkish recipe. This led
Stefan to talk about the seraglios and the Turkish
system of veiling women and keeping them
subjugated, a way of life no longer in existence
(there was even a law forbidding women - to wear
a veil) and yet he had a friend named Khalid Bey
who had told him that many of the women chose to
wear the flimsy yashmak when dining with their
husbands. It is an attractive mode of dress, Alex
smiled thoughtfully. A lovely pair of eyes looking
at a man across a veiled face. Enticing, would you
not agree, Stefan? Imagine Alicia in a yashmak.
Suddenly she would not look English, but with her
brown hair and turquoise eyes she could easily
pass for a girl of the East. Ah yes, seen above a
veil those eyes would glow like jewels, eh? Alice
felt the colour rise to her cheeks and. she expected
Stefan to scoff at the notion, but instead he gave her
an intent look. Yes! It was as if he chopped the
word with a blade. It isnt often that one sees eyes
of that particular shade of blue-green. Blue eyes
can be cold or shallow and sometimes disdainful.
The girl has nice eyes. I would be the last to deny
it. Doesnt she remind you -? Alex broke off and
Alice saw his fingers tighten about the stem of his
wine glass.

More wine? Stefan abruptly pushed the carafe

towards his cousin, and it was at precisely that
moment that the glasses tinkled and the curtains at
the windows billowed as if something was trying to
gain entrance to the room. Smoke gushed from the
fireplace and the next instant a heavy peal of
thunder shook the house. The storm has arrived,
Stefan said, and Alice noticed that he was watching
the sway of the red wine in his glass, which stood
beside his dessert plate. She remembered how the
big lantern had swayed above the stairs what
was he thinking, that the thunder might be the
prelude to something more destructive? He reached
for the wine glass and the black sapphires
glimmered at his white cuffs. Are you nervous of
storms? He shot a look at Alice, but she returned
his glance quite composedly. Not unduly so, kyrie.
Ive never felt an earth tremor, of course. We dont
have very violent ones in England. What makes
you mention an earth tremor?- he asked, sipping
casually at his wine. Because I really did see the
lantern sway and I wondered - There is always
the possibility, he agreed. We have strong stone
cellars beneath the house where the-monks kept
their store of homemade wines. If I feel there is a
chance of danger, then we shall go to the cellars.
Beneath the ground one at least escapes falling
masonry, though such tremors are always
unpredictable and if the ground should open
Oh, dont I She gave a shiver. Please dont
outline the horrors. I read about that Turkish
earthquake in the newspapers and saw some of the
newsreel on television. They must be ghastly
things!

Yes, nature can be a cruel enemy, just as she is

often our kindest friend. Perhaps she is fickle
because she is female. I wonder why we always
assume that nature is of the feminine gender? Alex
remarked. Because she gives birth. Trees, plants,
oil-wells and volcanoes, they all have their roots
and springs in her. And where does that leave the
male of the species? Alex laughed. Hes the wind
that carries the seed, the rain that waters the earth,
the sun that quickens everything into growth. The
pagan philosophy of the ancient Greeks, eh? That
the wind, the rain and the sun took shape as godly
men and walked the earth. Alex swung his gaze to
Alice. Didnt I tell you that Stefan was a romantic
at heart? In our village when he was a youth he
could have posed for Apollo, except that he wasnt
a promiscuous chaser of. girls. Girls were your
hobby, Stefan drawled. The more the merrier.
Its wise when young to play the field, cousin.
Less of a folly to make a game of love. Meaning?
Stefans eyebrows quirked in that characteristic
habit, but Alice noticed the way his eyes narrowed.
You know what I mean, Stefan. When one is
young, girls are for laughter and flirtation and the
real business of loving comes later, when the mind
has matured with the body. Like wine? Stefan
interposed, mockingly.

Yes. Alex spoke firmly, but suddenly his gaze

seemed to shift about as if he wanted to say
something and was nervously uncertain of Stefans
reaction. I mean, to put a girl on a pedestal
What do you mean by thata pedestal? Stefans
voice held a cutting edge, and Alice tensed, in her
chair, her nerves jolting as thunder cracked above
the rooftops of the house. Thats what you did.
Alex took a gulp of wine. After all this time I will
tell you something. Your little angel didnt spend
all her time in that elevated position. Like the
others she liked to defy her parents and flirtwith
me. Stefan was gazing hard at Alex, a deadly
glitter at the centres of his dark eyes. Youre a liar
a barefaced liar! he pronounced. I am not,
Stefan. Alex ran the tip of his tongue around his
lips. It strains my patience that you wont face the
truth that she was just an ordinary, playful girl
behind that demure mask she wore for your benefit.
She was flattered that you should think so much of
her and she wanted to marry the best-looking, most
ambitious youth in the village, but in the meantime
she found me a little less earnest. If all this is
true, damn you, Stefan leaned towards his cousin,
then why have you kept it to yourself all this time?
I saw no reason to speak of it - What reason now
presents itself? Stefan looked savage. I have Miss
Sheldon here and yon imagine there is something in
it? Romance, perhaps? It isnt beyond reason,
Alex argued. Alicia is a young woman and you are
a man in the prime of life.

So automatically she and I must be attracted, like

needle and magnet? It would be interesting if you
asked Alicia for her reaction to your deduction. She
will tell you that I am the last man on earth she
would dream of being in love with. Alex glanced
at Alice as if he might have the audacity to ask such
a question, but she had decided it was time to
change the subject before the Greek cousins came
to blows. May I see your cellars, kyrie, where the
monks stored their wine? Alice rose to her feet
and slanted a smile at Stefan, hoping it didnt show
in her eyes or voice that she was shaken by what
Alex had revealed to him about Timareta. He had
so loved the girl and thought of her as having all the
virtues, and now he had to accept that she had been
a fallible and sometimes foolish creature who had
probably been less in love with him than he
imagined. Yes, why not? He pushed back his
chair. Are you coming, Alex? If three wont be a
crowd, Alex jested. Stefan glanced at him with a
scowl. I would be obliged if you stay off that
subject, and count yourself fortunate you havent
had my fist in your face. For telling the truth?
Alex dared to ask. Whats the matter, Stefan, are
you getting cynical and no longer trust anyone to tell
the truth? That is the trouble with tycoons, you
begin to believe that people only want you for your
money and will say anything to get in with you. Its
a bad habit, kyrie. Some of us like and admire you
for yourself. You always had a rare integrity and
its one of the things about you Ive always envied.
Im capable of guarding your money to the last cent,
but I cant promise to do the same where your
women are concerned.

Alex strolled towards Alice and proffered his arm.

May I be your escort on this exploration of the
monks wine cellars? Do you think they used to
imbibe when the abbots back was turned?
Youre a rather wicked man, she told him. A
streak of it runs in the family, thespoinis. Stefan
isnt quite a saint, though he lives in a house of
celibacy. Oh, Im quite aware that my host isnt a
saint, she said, and laid her fingers in the crook of
Alexs arm. He laid his own fingers over them and
she saw that the nails were manicured and that he
wore a diamond ring on his little finger. He was an
attractive, worldly man, but a trifle flashy
compared to Stefan. He would always have been
fonder of a good time than his more ambitious
cousin he wouldnt have had much conscience
about flirting with the brown-haired Timareta
behind Stefans back. All at once, coming as a
shock to her inmost feelings, Alice was wishing it
was Stefan whose arm was linked with hers; whose
strong, brown, ringless fingers were holding her
hand. The cellars turned out to be well-lit and
vaulted, with the long-necked bottles of wine
stacked in a honeycomb of racks. Wines made from
all kinds of fruit and herbs and even vegetables.
Stefan found some fluted glasses and poured a pale
gold wine into them. Try this, he said. Its almost
like champagne and could have come from one of
the finest French vineyards. There in the cellar
they stood Sipping the wine, which was incredibly
delicious, and rather potent, for Alice felt it rising a
little to her head. These wines, he said, studying
the racks that in the far corners were swathed in
spider webs, hold secrets that are hundreds of
years old. The monks only pass on their wine
blending secrets to each other, and who knows
what this particular wine is composed of.

Sheer ambrosia, said Alex. I cant believe they

made such wines without enjoying them. I mean,
its a refinement of torture to go without the love of
women, but I refuse to believe they lived on bread
and water. Such a life wouldnt suit you, eh?
Stefan leaned his shoulder against one of the racks
and he was standing in such a way that one half of
his face was in shadow, so that he looked rather
menacing. Being down here, Alex, reminds me of
the story of the vengeful husband who drugged the
vintage wine he gave to his wifes lover, who when
he came to his senses found himself bricked alive
in a wall of the wifes bedroom. What a refinement
of torment that must have been! Alex stared across
at his cousin, and Alice saw the amusement ebb
from his eyes. Dont let us fall out, Stefan, over
something that happened years ago. I thought you
had at last put your memories to rest, otherwise Id
have kept my mouth shut. Always the wisest
course, Alex. I think you inflict self-punishment
on yourself, Stefan, because you werent rich at the
time and the girl had to go away and earn her
living! You are a psychoanalyst as well as an
accountant? Stefan asked sardonically. You know
what village parents are like. Her father said I must
put a roof over her head before he would give his
permission for our marriage. I went to England to
learn hotel management, and then I received the
news of her death and came hurrying home yes,
perhaps I do blame myself in part for what
happened! Had I been less Greek in my own
attitude I would have carried her off with me - He
broke off and caught Alice by the wrist, his grip
more tight and painful than he probably realised.
Come, it feels rather chilly down here and a
moment ago I saw Alicia shiver. We shall go and
finish

off this bottle of wine in the saloni and play those

bouzoukia records you brought from Athens. And
this they did, an adamant set to Stefans jaw that
warned Alex to stay off the subject of Timareta. Yet
as Alice sat in a deep chair and listened to the
music, with its pagan pulse-beat that seemed to say
that joy and pain could never be separated, she was
aware of the tension in that tall figure in-the
shadows beyond the lamps. He leaned there against
a column of the window arcade as if lost in the
Greek music, but Alice knew with all her senses
that he was thinking of the sweet-faced girl he had
idealised. He had treated her as someone special,
and then behind his back she had played kissing
games with his less gallant cousin. A girl, Alice
realised with-a jolt, who had been rather like her
own sister Alberta. Born to play with fire, only in
Bertas case she had gone too far and her boy-
friend Harry had found out and married someone
else. It was only by a stroke of fate that Berta was
now back with Harry, and Alice could only hope
that she had the sense to stay faithful to him. From
the corner of her eye Alice saw Stefan clench a
hand in his jacket pocket and she felt a quivering of
nerves in her stomach. She felt sure he had
Albertas reply to his cable in his pocket, and yet
he was keeping her in suspense and refusing her the
right to see it. Or was he waiting for the right
moment, when Alex went off to bed and they were
alone? That had to be the explanation, for he
wouldnt want his cousin to know the real reason
why she was here on the island. Alex was of a
different type from Stefan; his feelings were more
on the surface and he would never understand the
kind of passion that induced a man to abduct a
woman. Least of all a passion whose motivation
was revenge.

The strong but pleasant smoke of cedar-wrapped

cigars drifted about the room, the sounds of the
storm were still intermittent, coming in over the sea
quite noisily, and then giving way to the music
again. Each time Alice caught the angry growl of
thunder, she couldnt help wondering what would
happen to this house if a bad tremor struck the
island. Would its thick walls crack open and its
roof of ovalshaped tiles fall plunging to the sea?
The thought wasnt just frightening, it was actively
painful, for there was something about Fireglow
which she found strangely appealing. Its thick,
crusted walls from which the balconies hung like
iron-wrought cages. The roofs that overlapped at
various levels and the way it dominated -the cliffs,
its Babylonianlike gardens hung with lemons and
leaves, and soft green cascades of adders tongue
and moonwort, deep crimson rock roses and bushy
yellow pines. A myriad plants clinging to the stone
walls with a kind of loving much as a woman
might cling to a man who was outwardly hard and
dominating. The music died away and the steady
ticking of the clock filled the room. Stefan remained
where he was, his dark head swathed in cigar
smoke, but with a yawn Alex rose to his feet. Your
country air makes me drowsy, he said. I am off to
my bed may I escort you to your room, Alicia?
As she hesitated, Stefan said quietly: I wish to
have a few words with Miss Sheldon, so well bid
you kalinikta., Kalinikta. There was a slightly
droll note in Alexs voice as he glanced from his
cousin to Alice. He gave her a slight bow and
strolled to the door. Let us hope the storm isnt
saving up its fury for the middle of the nightsleep
well, you two. He was gone with these rather
insinuating words, and Alice was left staring at
Stefan with wide, apprehensive eyes.

CHAPTER NINE STEFAN came slowly to the

fireplace and tossed his cigar stub among the
glowing remnants of the cypress log, then he turned
to look at Alice and his face was set in determined
lines. I suppose youve guessed why I wanted to
speak with you alone? His tone of voice matched
the firmness of his mouth. Miklos brought you a
cablegram, didnt he? Her voice shook slightly.
Stefan produced it from his pocket and handed it to
her. Alice could feel the. tremor in her fingers as
she opened it and read the printed words. She
stared at them and was appalled by her sisters
deceit. There in black and white was the statement:
Man by name of Damaskinos unknown to me or my
husband. Best wishes. Alberta. What have you to
say to that? Stefan demanded. Alice gave him a
shocked look. Berta isnt telling you the truth, she
exclaimed. Its because shes afraid of how Harry,
her husband, would react. She once told me that
hes straitlaced, and when they were first
acquainted she led him such a dance that she lost
him. She doesnt want it to happen again, so she
denies knowing Damaskinos. Youve got to believe
me! Berta was always inclined to be unscrupulous
when it came to protecting herself. I dont believe it
would occur to her that I could be hurt by her lies.
Her lies? Stefan stood there with his hands locked
behind him, as if he didnt trust their impulses.
Really, my dear, why should your sister steal your
name, and why if shes an adventuress would she
run out on a millionaire in order to marry a
teaplanter? Because she obviously realised in
time that she loves Harry -

Love? Stefan regarded Alice through dark,

lowered lashes. Is this how you love your own
sister, by trying to use her in order to get away from
me? Well, your little scheme isnt going to work,
my dear. I said Id release you from the island if
you were telling me the truth, but the cablegram
confirms that you are the woman who came to
Greece to marry a man for his money. He paused
and let his eyes stray over Alice, then he reached
out, took the cablegram and flung it on the fire. I
have money as well, Alicia, more than enough to
satisfy a little mercenary like you. Mercenary?
Alice stared at him and felt the gathering forces of
an emotional storm right here in this room. You
have no right to say thatI have never - That is
always your cry, he said scornfully. You have
never done anything and would have me believe
youve led the life of a veritable nun! I might in my
salad days have been fooled by the demure airs and
graces of a girl, but Im no longer quite so green.
As he spoke he began to approach Alice, who
instinctively backed away from him on legs so
nervous they threatened to give way beneath her.
His entire manner was like that of a panther stalking
its prey, and she gave a cry of fright as she backed
against the couch and he closed in on her. He
grasped hold of her and when she tried to pull free
of him there was a ripping sound and her dress tore
away from the shoulder. Oh, look what youve
done! she gasped. Youre insufferable - Ill buy
you a hundred dresses to make up for it. He jerked
her into the hard circle of his arms and she saw the
blaze of emotion in his eyes. I really began to think
I had misjudged you, Alice. Watching you all this
week, down on the beach with your sketching fools,
or diving slim as a knife into the sea. Wandering
about this house just

like Alice in Wonderland, or coming in from the

coolness of the lemon groves with their scent in
your brown hair. You had to be genuine and
innocent, I told myself; you couldnt really be the
type who would sell yourself to a beast. Stefan
gathered a handful of her hair as he looked directly
down into her eyes, uncaring that his grip made her
scalp tingle. Yes, you almost misled me into
thinking you as sweet as your deceptive little face
can look when you sit demurely at my table, sipping
your wine as if afraid it might go to your head and
release your inhibitions. I ought to say to the devil
with you, but I never became successful by being
prudent all the time, and so Im going to marry you
someone has to, for Damaskinos wont want you.
Hell conclude like everyone else that Ive been
your lover. But you havent - Alice tried
desperately to twist herself out of his arms. Oh,
how can you speak of marriage when youyou
despise me? I desire you, and that cancels out
whatever else I might feel. He gazed down at her
and his eyes seemed veiled in a hundred secret
thoughts behind those thick Greek lashes. Alice
gazed up at him and saw the taut yet sensuous lines
of his mouth, and though she longed for the strength
to wrench free of him, her bones seemed to be
melting and she could feel herself drawn to him as
if magnetised. She saw smouldering in his eyes the
passion that made her feel weak all over, but this
was no moment to feel such weakness when she
needed the strength of will to oppose his loveless
proposal of marriage. He didnt love her love
was being able to trust someone implicitly, and he
chose to believe Albertas story. He felt himself
confirmed in his belief that she was a woman for
sale, and there was an arrogant little light in his
eyes which told her he meant to have his way with
her.
Dont fight me, Alicia, he warned, as if glimpsing
the resistance in her eyes. We are two people who
are tired of living alone, and so we might as well
combine our lives and live together. I know you
have taken to my house, and a house needs a woman
to add those touches that turn it into a home. You
have a housekeeper, and an excellent one, Alice
broke in. At once his arm tightened about her and
the fingers of his left hand buried themselves
deeper in her hair, as if he were gathering himself
to possess her. Ive never met a woman who tries
my patience as you do, he said gratingly. I
sometimes think the only way to deal with you is in
the way of the Spartan warrior, who silently and
savagely took his woman and didnt care a damn if
she screamed or fainted. Shall it be that way, my
dear? Here in this room, on the rug at our feet?
Alice felt the vibration of his words against her
skin, and the hard thrust of his forearm muscles
binding her to his strong body. When she looked at
him with wide, uncertain ~ eyes, he abruptly bent
his head and locked their lips together, allowing
violence to slacken into a slow, sensual movement
of his mouth upon hers. There would be infinite
pleasure in taking you, he whispered. And Ill do
it if you go on defying me like a dainty little cat
who puts out her claws when shes stroked. Oh,
Stefan She felt as if her resistance was quite
broken. Youre a man of iron whose heart is
sealed with nuts and bolts. Youre so ruthless and I
Im so tired of fighting you. I just havent the
weapons and you make me feel so defeated -
Good. His fingers slid through her hair to the nape
of her neck and clasping the slim column he kissed
her mouth with total possession, softening her lips
with his until she was alive to nothing but the
waves of sheer sensation, rippling through the
deeps of her body like

some strong, dangerous, irresistible undertow. She

had to give in to it, and when she came to the
surface of consciousness again her arms had
clasped themselves about his neck and her body
was admitting its hunger even as her mind sent out
warnings to her lips, her hands, her yielding senses
that what she gave and what he would take would
never balance on the scales of love. Stefan kissed
her to the point of madness, but Alice could feel
him withholding the tenderness of his love, until
suddenly she could take no more and with a
shuddering little cry buried her fare in his shoulder.
At least you didnt faint, he murmured. When you
forget yourself, little one, you are quite a woman. I
dont think we shall bother with a lengthy
engagement, but I want to put my seal on you and I
have just the thing in my office safe. Come along!
He gripped her by the wrist, but she hung back until
she saw the look of determination in his eyes.
There isnt any need, Stefan. Of course there is.
He fingered the rent in her dress. I am sorry about
this, but youll have dresses galore and rings on
every finger before Im finished with you. II
dont want things-- She gave him an appealing
look. I just want you to believe in mecant you?
Forget all that. He drew her to the door and out
into the hall, where javelin points of lightning
struck silently across the far walls. Stefan opened
the door of his office and ushered Alice inside,
where there was a large desk, leather chairs,, a
splendid Turkish carpet that stretched from wall to
wall, and a bronze inkstand of fauns and satyrs

that threw shadows across the green blotter when

he turned on the desk lamp. He went to the safe that
was situated behind a painting of a Venetian castle
with rambling walls pierced by Gothic windows
and topped by battlements, with a fat round tower.
Alice stood by the desk as Stefan delved about in
his safe, and this moment seemed more unreal than
any other she had known since being brought to
Solitaria. From this moment onwards she belonged
here and was never going back to her London flat,
where she had passed so many solitary hours at her
drawing-board, sometimes working well into the
night in an effort to forget that she had no one with
whom to share those hours. It seemed almost too
unbelievable that the powerfully attractive man
who came towards her with a flat leather case in
his hand was, as he had put it, about to put his seal
on her. She stood against the desk in almost a
defensive attitude, unable to relax with him and to
truly accept that they were going to be man and
wife. His eyes as he drew near to her swept her
slim, tense figure and his mouth was edged by a
faintly sardonic smile. Women usually hold out
greedy hands for jewellery, he said. Are you
pretending that you dont like receiving such
presents? I wouldnt know the procedure, she
rejoined quietly. No man ever gave me any
jewellery. His eyes narrowed as he stood tall in
front of her and snapped open the leather jewel-
case, dazzling her gaze with a necklace, matching
bracelets and a ring set with aquamarine-coloured
gems bonded into deep gold. Alice caught her
breath, for never in her life had she seen such pure,
shining stones, as if the sea had solidified and
trapped the sun inside.

Emeralds, my dear. Dont they make your eyes

shine? Stefan drew the necklace from its bed and
held it aloft in his fingers so the light of the desk
lamp played over the facets of the stones. Theyre
a beautiful colour, arent they? Much clearer and
prettier than green emeralds, and they should match
your eyes. Alice gazed at the necklace sparkling
against the tanned skin of his hand, and all at once a
cold little shiver ran over her own skin. You mean
Timaretas eyes, she said. They belong to her!
Timareta is dead. Each word seemed to fall as if
from the edge of a blade. The emeralds are yours,
Alicia, to wear against that white skin. Come, take
your present and dont pretend you arent thrilled
by emeraldsshall I put them on for you? The
jewels might move your heart a little more than I
do. Alice gazed at him speechlessly, holding back
a protest that he had no effect on her feelings. That
was the trouble he had a very disturbing effect
on her, and all she meant to him was someone who
looked sufficiently like his lost dead love to help
him rebuild a dream. But a broken dream could no
more be assembled than a mirror fallen from a
wall, or a lovely vase from its pedestal. Take the
necklace, he ordered. Dont be shy about it, my
dear. I shall make you earn it. Warm colour played
across her cheeks and her fingers felt clumsy as she
accepted the necklace and stood as if mesmerised
by the scintillating centre of each perfect gem, deep
wells of mystery and motion. II cant, she
breathed. It isnt fair of you to expect me to step
into a dead girls shoesI wont! She gave him a
frantic look, and then dropped the necklace in a
glowing pool on the desk blotter and ran

from the room, catching hold of her long skirt as she

fled across the hall to the staircase. It was as she
reached it that the floor suddenly heaved beneath
her feet like the deck of a ship, pitching her forward
so she would have fallen had she not clutched at the
pilaster of the stairs, holding on tightly as shock
waves of motion passed and re-passed beneath the
soles of her silver shoes. Earthquake! The dreadful
word cried through her mind and its echo was taken
up by every nerve in her body. She experienced the
threat of a violence beyond human control, and
even as her hands gripped the firm wooden pilaster
her ears caught the sound of roof tiles crashing, and
something far more immediate as the ceiling above
the stairs cracked open and the great brass lantern
swung .crazily on its chains before they wrenched
loose from their moorings and the lantern began to
hurtle downwards. It came with all the deadly
accuracy of a giant hammer aimed at Alice, who
stood chained to the pilaster by fear-locked fingers.
She felt utterly powerless to move a limb and knew
she was going to be crushed by the great bell of
brass which had tolled a silent warning at the start
of this stormy evening. There was a roaring in her
head which drowned her cry of pain as she was
dragged free of the pilaster and lifted bodily to one
side as the lantern fell with a deafening crash on the
bottom half of the stairs, its chains whipping and
snarling with, exposed live wires, the pilaster a
broken heap of wood and splinters where Alice had
stood petrified. Those rough but effective hands had
dropped her into the shadow of an archway, where
she lay aching in Stefans grip as the house rocked
and the flooring came loose, spouting water and
dirt into the hall.

Great clumps of bricks and plaster fell around them

and items of furniture toppled on the heaving floor
and fell with a sound of shattering glass and china
as cupboard doors broke and shelves spilled their
valuable contents. Alice could feel her nails
digging into Stefan, but she had to hold on to him or
be swept into the chaos of noise and destruction.
He was the only solid reality in her world right
now, and she burrowed close to his powerful body
and was thankful for him. It was like being on a
ship that had foundered and could no longer hold
steady, and she cried out as the floor opened beside
her like a great yawn and half an antique chest fell
through the hole. Cursing in Greek and exerting a
pull on her that felt as if it would crush her ribs,
Stefan dragged her against the thick wall within the
archway and then lay close to her like a shield. He
grunted as something struck his body, and she felt
the heat of his breath against her neck. They clung
desperately together and it seemed to her as if his
ruthless Greek gods were hurling stones at them and
forcing her to realise how much she really wanted
to stay with him, even if he couldnt love her as he
had loved Timareta. Hold on! He pressed his
hard cheek to hers as a cloud of brick dust
enveloped them. These convulsions will end in a
while and so will the noise. Its like the end of the
world, eh? Shaking like a leaf, and yet unafraid at
heart because he held her, Alice clung to him as the
final earthwaves shook Fireglow, lancing upwards
through the bedrock to cause a resounding
disturbance within the house, a rumbling, shattering
noise of falling masonry, as if one of the gables
must have collapsed and fallen inwards. The noise
was shot through by a womans scream, and Stefan
tensed as if about to leap to his feet.

Dont! Alice clutched at him. Stay here, Stefan!

Let it endoh, let it end before you go up there!
The pitching and the tumult died gradually away
and was followed by a startling stillness that made
over-loud the sound of falling brickwork, slate and
tile from damaged walls and roofs. The floor
stopped heaving, but water-gushed in the hall from
broken pipes and over everything hung a pall of
dust and smoke. Stefan leapt to his feet and raced
towards the saloni, from which the smoke was
coming. When Alice ran in through the door he was
beating at the flames with a heavy velvet curtain
dragged down from the window she saw a
trickle of flame running towards the door and began
to stamp on the sharp bright tongues. Mind your
dress! Stefan roared at her. It. will catch alight!
Alice caught hold of her long skirt, tugged the dress
over her head and flung it to one side. She ran in
her slip to the heavy sideboard that remained
upright and took hold of the carafe of water, which
she flung on the flames that were trying to lick their
way into the hall. Take this! Stefan flung her the
curtain so she could beat at the flames, his long
arms tearing down the other one to expose the
cracked windows. Panting from the effort, her eyes
smarting from the smoke, Alice kept on beating the
flames with the curtain until they were out. Less
than an hour ago this room had been charming, now
it was a wreck, and she sagged against the door
with the charred curtain hanging from her fingers.
Oh, God! A teardrop channelled her grimy face.
What a mess! Dont worry. Hard fingers
gripped her bare shoulders. This can be put to
rights, but something happened above stairs that has
me very

worried. You heard the crashing noiseand

someone screamed! Here, take my jacket and put it
on. She wearily obeyed him, buttoning the jacket
that was several sizes too large but warm from his
body. She followed him across the hall to the
shattered staircase above on the gallery his
cousin was leaning on the balustrade with blood
trickling down the side of his face. Are you all
right? Stefan bellowed up the stairs. Some flying
glass cut my face. Alex came halfway down the
stairs and then stood staring at the great lantern that
sprawled over the lower half of the staircase. That
will take some shiftinga good thing no one was
standing underneath when that fell. Alice said she
saw it swinging on its chains. Yes. Stefan shot a
look at Alice and she met his eyes instantlybut
for his agility in reaching her in time she would be
lying crushed and dead beneath that enormous
weight of brass. What exactly happened up there?
Stefan demanded of Alex. We heard one of the
women screamhas someone been hurt? No,
badly frightened. Alex glanced back up the stairs,
where the housekeeper appeared, her arm about
Hesta, who was crying. They were both in their
night clothes and their hair and faces were cloudy
with plaster dust. It is all right now, kyrie.,
Katerina tried to speak calmly. Hesta and I were
beneath her bed when it happened, but she would
go and run into the corridor. The noise was so
alarmingas if the world was coming to an end.

An enure corner of the upper structure appears to

have caved in, Alex told Stefan. It has completely
wrecked one of the bedrooms most fortunately a
room that was not in use when the earthquake
struck. I think the women and I must try and get
down into the hall in case there is another bad
tremor. We shall have to try and climb over the
rubble, eh? This hazardous procedure was only
made possible after Stefan, with Alice assisting
him, had draped beautiful Turkey carpets over the
debris, so the women wouldnt cut and bruise
themselves as they scrambled down that heap of
brass, shattered wood, and heavy chains whose
ends were sharp and torn, and still very much alive.
The electric generator that fed the estate was
housed in a small stone building at the rear of
Fireglow and luckily it hadnt been damaged, so at
least they had light, even as they had puddles of
water to slosh about in. Others members of the staff
began to appear from their hiding places and there
was a great deal of chattering and embracing
because everyone in the house had survived what
Katerina called the wrath of the earth-gods, which
when Alice glanced around her seemed a more than
appropriate way of expressing it. We must get
organised. Stefan silenced everyone with an
upraised hand, standing in their midst with his
authority unimpaired by a dirty face, a scorched
shirt, and black hair plastered to his sweaty brow.
His eyes swept the group and Alice felt certain she
saw amusement glint in them as they rested a
moment on her comic figure in his jacket. The first
necessity, he added, is hot strong coffee, and then
the water must be mopped from the floor. Miklos,
you will find a large torch and come with me to the
cellar where the water-main is located; it must be
turned off before the house is flooded.

As he gave further orders that would keep them all

occupied, Hesta stood clicking a. chain of shining
worry-beads through her fingers. Her dark eyes still
held a dazed look and when Stefan told her to assist
Alice in finding as many unbroken cups as she
could, she didnt seem to hear him. That beautiful
room, she exclaimed. Everything smashed to
piecesruined! Katerina took hold of her niece
and gave her a slight shake. Come, Hesta, it is
over for now and we are alive. fie careful with
her. Stefan came and took an intent look at Hesta.
She is still rather shocked and should lie down for
a while. IIm all right. Hesta gave a shiver and
stopped clicking the beads. She gazed upwards into
Stefans eyes and said sombrely: There is nothing
left of her room, kyrie, so let her rest in peace.
Katerina gave a sharp exclamation and flung a hand
over the mouth of her niece. Be quiet, you dont
know what you are saying, girl! I think she does.
Alex Was leaning against an archway column
lighting a cheroot. As the smoke wreathed about his
face, on which the blood had congealed, his eyes
found Stefan. Hesta is talking about the room with
the portrait the room in which a ghost used to
sleep, cousin. The earthquake has wrecked it from
wall to ceiling. If anyone living had been using it
tonight, they would have been instantly killed. It
must have been on the cards, Stefan, that you would
choose to give that room to a ghost. As Alex spoke
everyone in the hall seemed to be looking at Stefan
as if he might reveal his feelings, but Alice knew
that he wouldnt. Whatever he felt with regard to
the destruction of the ivory and gold bedroom
where Timaretas portrait had smiled from the
wall, he would keep to himself. His eyes were
unfathomable and his mouth seemed to take a
sterner set as he looked at his cousin.

We must be thankful the damage isnt greater and

that we are all unhurt, though you must have your
face attended to as soon as possible, Alex. In the
meantime perhaps you would set to rights some of
the furniture, while you, Alice, will see to it that
Hesta has a lie down. A drop of brandy might help
settle her nerves, eh? Alice nodded and taking
Hesta by the arm led her into the saloni, where she
dusted off the big leather couch and made Hesta lie
down on it. She went to the sideboard, passing the
blackened panelling where Stefan had beat out the
fire, and her own hands were tremulous as she
poured brandy into a glass and took it to Hesta. The
glass gave little nervous jerks as Hesta drank from
it, and her ebony eyes were fixed upon Alice. The
kyrios is so kind, she said. Always good to
everyone, and since you came to the island,
thespoinis, all of us have hoped that you might stay
with him. A man like that he shouldnt have to
live with a memory. Dont you think it is like a
judgment that her room should be damaged like
that? Everything crushed and torn and of no more
use the bed, the pretty things on the dressing-
table, the portrait. It will be awful for him when he
sees it for himself. But as the kyrios said, no one
has been badly hurt, Hesta, and that is more
important to him. The rooms and furniture can be
restored to how they were- - Yet would he restore
the ivory and gold room to its former shrine-like
beauty? Alice dug her hands into the pockets of his
jacket, her fingers clenching on his lighter and
cigar-case, items he had handled so often that it
was like touching part of him. No one knew that he
had asked her to marry him, and if she really
wanted to leave the island he couldnt stop her from
going with Alex in the amphibian to Athens. Her
fingers fondled the cigar-case and she recalled
every tense moment of the earthquake in his arms
it had been a primitive awakening to the forces
of nature and in the midst of the tumult she

had discovered in herself a deep need to feel the

strength and closeness of Stefans body. Not only
his body, but the dreams and despairs of his entire
personality. The earthquake had not only rocked the
island, but it had revealed Alice to herself. She
couldnt take her love away from Stefan, she had to
stay and give it to him, even though she knew that
all he asked of her was the slim shape and the long,
brown hair that could delude him into believing he
made love to Timareta.

All that day, and for the next few days, everyone
was busy at the house putting things in order. As
much of the masonry as possible was cleared from
the more severely damaged rooms, and tarpaulin
was placed over the great gap left by the collapsed
gable. A builder and his team would have to come
from Athens to start the work of restoration, and in
the meantime the once lovely bedroom was like a
gaping wound halfway along the gallery. Stefan
didnt choose to speak about it, and Alice kept busy
along with the staff, immensely glad of something to
occupy her body and her mind. Several of the
farmhouses had also suffered damage, and some of
the livestock had been killed, but the only human
casualties had been a couple of children and their
mother who at Stefans orders had been flown in
the amphibian to a hospital in Athens. Alex had
gone with them, and Alice felt no sense of regret
when she had watched the seaplane lift into the air
and leave her once more alone with Stefan. Her
choice had been made the night of the earthquake
and he seemed to realise it, though they didnt
speak of it. One evening she found his emeralds on
her dressing-table and knew that he was asking for
a visual sign that she commit herself to him.

That evening she wore the bracelets, and after

dinner they walked in the lemon groves and there in
the shade and scent of citrus he took her in his arms
and kissed her possessively. Alice didnt resist
him, but closed her mind to everything but the
physical need he had of her. Now you learn, he
murmured, stroking his fingers through her long
hair, that Ill have no noble, silently suffering wife.
We attend a village wedding on Saturday and you
will see how it will be for us a Greek marriage
is binding, you realise. I take, my dear, and you
will give me everything. Thats only fair, I
suppose, she said, the emeralds glowing on her
arms upraised about his neck, when you give me
expensive jewels to wear. Katerina was telling me
that its a Greek custom for a bride to bring a
dowry to her husband, but you do realise, Stefan,
that I have very little money and no embroidered
sheets and pillows to contribute to your household.
The bits and pieces of furniture I have in my
London flat would hardly suit your house; theyd
look out of place. Virginity is the dowry of the
girl who brings no goods and chattels, he rejoined.
Why are you so certain I shall be bringing that?
she asked. You have disbelieved everything else
about me, so why believe that an Englishwoman of
twenty-four is still innocent? That particular
.innocence is in your eyes, and in the .way you
receive my kisses. He tilted her head back against
his arm and all at once his eyes were demanding.
Touch me, kiss me without reserve, the way I kiss
you! Let me have that at least, Alicia. His mouth
found hers and in that moment the will to struggle
was finally overcome by the will to submit, yet
even as her lips responded to his, and her hands
caressed the nape of his neck, she was tensed

for what he might whisper as his lips explored her

neck and pressed urgently into the soft hollow of
her throat. She dreaded the name that was not hers
that he might altogether forget that she wasnt the
girl who haunted him. His name broke from Alices
lips as his kissing aroused her to a sweet
shuddering she couldnt control, but Stefan took it
for rejection and thrust her away from him. She felt
stunned, like the big white moths who stunned their
wings against the wall lamps, and her widened
pupils filled with the image of Stefan as he stood
there thrusting at his black hair, a tinge of whiteness
about his flared nostrils. She knew there and then
that she would perish before this strange love of
him ever died born so reluctantly, and now so
alive. He gave her a look of almost savage
intensity. You are mine because I want it so. He
reached out and touched her arm through the dark
blue chiffon of her sleeve. Skin like gleaming
white ice, but I shall melt you, guzel, I promise
you! That he had already melted her heart he didnt
realise, and there was still too much shy pride in
Alice to permit her to tell him, so she faced him
with an air of cool reserve, the night sky above
ghostly with stars and all around them the grating
throb of cicadas. They went indoors and parted at
the foot of the stairs, roughly mended for now by a
local carpenter but awaiting from Athens a
craftsman who would restore them to their former
grace. Halfway up the stairs Alice turned as if
compelled and Stefan was still standing below in
the hall, watching her with narrowed eyes. Her
hand clutched the staircase rail and she wanted to
run down to him, to throw off all inhibition and beg
him to love her because she was alive and not a
memory who could give him nothing but a sense of
regret.

Alex had said that Stefans torment was self-

inflicted, rooted in regret because he had not
opposed Timaretas parents and. taken her with him
when he went to England. If he had done so, then
she would still be alive. Alice hovered on the stairs
and was on the verge of running down to Stefan
when he swung on his heel and moved away into
the shadows, carrying himself with that proud
certainty that she would marry him for money alone.
She continued On her way to the gallery and she felt
a very personal pain right inside her. Why had
Alberta denied her association with Damaskinos?
Was she so uncertain of her new husbands love
were the Sheldon sisters doomed to live with men
who couldnt trust them? Shadows lay along the far
end of the gallery where the wreckage of that lovely
room was still uncleared. No one had touched it,
unwilling to do so unless Stefan gave specific
orders. It was as if a thunderbolt had hit it, crushing
the fourposter bed, breaking open the cupboards,
ripping into rags the ivory wedding dress, burying
beneath the rubble the portrait of a girl who had
beckoned Stefan to join her on a beach of long-lost
memories. Yet they werent memories of a young
girls heartfelt love and devotion to whom had
Timareta really been beckoning on that sunlit beach
? To Alex of. the carefree eyes, whose sights had
not been fixed on success as Stefans had been.
Orphaned Stefan, who had longed for a home of his
own, and had one at last on an island of his own.
Alice fingered the bracelets on her wrists, and
suddenly she stretched out her arms as if to show
the emeralds to a ghost. I have him now, the
gesture seemed to say. I mean to make him forget
you, Timareta!

CHAPTER TEN A HOLLOW, mocking whisper

seemed to float along the gallery, though Alice
knew it was really the wind blowing through the
cracks in the broken walls of the ruined bedroom.
Try! The echo followed her into her own room and
lingered in her mind as she stood at the dressing-
table and removed the bracelets that glimmered
richly in the lamplight. She ran the gems through her
fingers, tokens not of love but of Stefans
unshakeable belief that it was material security
which she wanted. She laid the bracelets in the
leather case and paced her room in a restless
torment she had never expected to feel not Alice
Sheldon, who had seemed to other men too prim
and reserved to be worth their attention. She hadnt
known herself that she could feel this depth of
emotion, but there it was, running warm and tingling
through her veins when she thought of Stefan, along
with a sense of injury that he should want to marry
her though he thought her a mercenary person. She
had worn some of the jewellery because he had
wanted her to do so, but she would prefer to see his
eyes sparkling with love of her. Alice pressed her
face into her hands and couldnt forget the
speculative way he had watched her tonight had
he been thinking that in the near future he would
mount the stairs beside her and they would enter his
apartment as man and wife? The thought made her
knees buckle and she sank down on the side of her
bed. It would be exciting in his arms but hardly
tender, not when he only wanted to fulfil the
masculine hungers he had for a long time
sublimated in his work. Alice rested her cheek on
the chiffoned arm he had touched with hard,
possessive fingers. it was something, wasnt it,
to be desired by such a man; so tall and dark, and
with a muscular grace she had noticed from the
moment he had entered her room at the Hotel
Metropolis?

He really was a tremendous catch for spinsterish

Alice Sheldon, but even as the cynical thought
entered her head she flinched from it. Whatever his
reason for wanting her, the Greeks took very
seriously the state of matrimony, though they
celebrated it with a great deal of gaiety. The local
Greek wedding they would attend together would
be like a rehearsal for them. She lay in the soft
darkness and wondered what to wear for such an
occasion. She would have to ask Katerina and
perhaps arrange to buy or borrow a local costume.
Alice smiled to herself. Yes, she would enjoy
dressing up as a Greek girl and then her heart
seemed to turn over in her breast, for to dress up
like that would be bound to intensify her
resemblance to Timareta. Was that at the root of her
impulse to wear a Greek costume to pretend for
a day that she was the girl to whom Stefan had
given the core of his heart? Alice pressed her face
into her pillow in a tormented way she knew she
was going to have his body, but how she yearned
for his heart as well. Stefan had already proved
how devoted he could be to someone he truly
loved, and Alice longed to be the recipient of his
ardent, exclusive, zealous love. What more could
she ask of life if she could be all in all to Stefan
Kassandros? Next day she spoke to Katerina about
acquiring a Greek dress, and the solution turned out
to be so simple that Alice found herself committed
to her impulse. Katerina had such a dress in her
own wardrobe, which she had kept in a linen bag
so the moths wouldnt get at the material. The
thespoinis was welcome to wear it, and she added,
significantly, that it would make Alice look almost
like a Greek girl. You dont think people will
laugh -? Alice looked uncertain and suddenly
wanted to drop the idea.

Indeed they will be pleaded that the English guest

of the kyrios wishes to be one of them, Katerina
assured her, though Alice noticed there was a
speculative gleam in her dark eyes. I shall go now
and fetch the dress, thespoinis, and we can see if
any alterations are needed. In my youth I was as
slim as yourself and I believe it will fit you very
well. Do you think the kyrios will mind if I wear
it? Alice couldnt keep the anxiety out of her eyes,
for the one thing she didnt want was to upset
Stefan in any way. What real man ever minded that
a woman made herself pretty? Now if-the
thespoinis had the tinted blonde hair, or the painted
lips and eyes, then a real Greek woilld be annoyed
to see her wearing a national costume. But you are
different from that sort, thespoinis. You look and
behave like a lady, and I would like to tell you that
you made Hesta feel so very much better when you
sat with her the night of the earthquake. She told me
you were so calm, and yet you cannot be used to
such happenings. I imagine its being English,
Alice smiled. We have this sort of built-in control
switch, which is all very well in a crisis, but it can
lock up other feelings we would sometimes like to
release. Feelings of emotion, eh? Katerina
looked wise and just a little amused. You mustnt
think that Greek people never have this problem,
thespoinis. The deeper felt the emotion the more
difficult it is for people to let it have its way. We
are like the earth, I think. The pressures build up
until they must give way and naturally this can
cause quite a shock. Like the earthquake the other
night, Alice murmured, and hoped she wouldnt set
a spark to tinder if she accepted Katerinas kind
offer and wore the Greek dress to the wedding on
Saturday. There was a brooding, unpredictable side
to Stefan which Alice knew she went in

fear of. It would be different if he loved her love

could smooth the most troubled emotions and turn
the fiercest anger to piercing sweet forgiveness.
For lovers to quarrel and make up was probably
one of the most exciting facets of their, relationship,
and Alice sighed and wished it were a facet of her
relationship with the man who invited her into his
life but refused her the key to his heart. I will fetch
the dress for the thespoinis to try on. Katerina
turned towards the door, and it was that nagging,
fear-edged uncertainty which drove Alice to say:
No, Ive changed my mind! I think I shall go to the
wedding in a blue suit which I have - Katerina
paused by the door. It is for the thespoinis to
decide, of course, but try on the dress, my lady.
You might like yourself in it. But will he? The
words escaped Alice before she could prevent
them from revealing the cause of her uncertainty. If
women thought about the pain that loving a man
might bring them, then they would flee into
nunneries, Katerina replied. But it can also be a
pleasure to love One of these self-willed, often
thoughtless, but warm-natured creatures. They need
care and affection as the earth needs rain and
sunshine, and it suffices for many things. Does it,
Katerina? Alice tinkered with her spectacles and a
frown knit her slender eyebrows together. Even if
a woman has to face up to sharing a man with a
memory? A memory cannot respond to his
affection, thespoinis. Is thateverything?
Discover for yourself if it is, my lady.

Then why do you remain widowed, Katerina? Why

have you not found another man to give you
affection? Because I am a Greek woman. No,
its because your husband loved you and you still
belong to him. He loved you, didnt he? Ne.
Katerina had to admit it. We were everything to
each other, it is true, and I would be unlikely to find
another like him. Ah yes, that is the pity of a deep,
abiding love. It is hard to accept anything less.
Alices fingers clenched on her spectacles; if she
married, Stefan then she was going to have to
accept less than she hungered for. She was going to
have to take second place in his life and hadnt
realised until now that she could feel so
possessive, so ardently greedy for all of him as a
passionate Greek woman. Was it the atmosphere of
this Aegean island that made her feel this way, or
had the potential for deep-felt passion lain
unaroused in her until she found herself with a man
like Stefan? Now that she admitted to loving him,
Alice couldnt help but realise how physically
exciting and mentally stimulating she found his
power, his presence, his striking darkness of hair
and eyes. Her eyes met Katerinas and she sensed
that the housekeeper had guessed how matters stood
between herself and the kyrios, but she didnt
attempt to pry. You must try on the dress,
thespoinis, she said. You must have the courage to
stand up toher. Timareta? Prove to him,
thespoinis, that you have magic. IIm a very
ordinary person, Katerina.
You will not say that when you see yourself in a
Greek dress, the housekeeper assured her.
Believe me, thespoinis, if I didnt think you would
do justice to it, then I wouldnt offer to let you wear
it. Youre kind, Alice smiled. You Greek
people arent easy to know, but I am learning how
kind your hearts are beneath that rather watchful air
you have. I found it rather intimidating at first.
That would be true of the kyrios, no doubt.
Katerinas own smile was sagacious. Until people
get to know him they assume that he is rather iron-
natured, very shrewd and without sentiment. He is
all those things, but he is also a man with loneliness
In him. Here on the island we worry about him, you
know. We care that he finds happiness for himself.
There have been women who have tried to marry
him because he has been very successful in
business, as Greek men are when they set their
mind to it, but he has the zoikos of a true man of this
land and he deserves - Katerina paused,
considered, and moved her hands in a clasping
gesturegreat giving from a woman, not just the
taking, you understand. That is the problem for a
man of wealth; he can never be certain that a
woman wants him for himself alone. A man like
Stefan? Alice exclaimed. No woman would think
first of his money No real woman, Katerina
agreed. But some are children at heart. They want
toys, gifts, payment all the time for the giving of
their pretty selves. They dont realise that love is
giving, not taking. And men? Even the shrewdest of
them can be fooled by the big eyes that seem to
offer bliss, but they are really the big eyes of a
greedy child wondering what good things are going
to be given in exchange for her kisses. You are not
one of those, thespoinis. I can see thatI knew it
right away. You have much to give and it is all
locked up waiting to be given. The kyrios would be
a fool if -

He. has asked me to marry him, Alice said shyly.

Ah! Katerinas eyes were agleam. You have
agreed, eh? IIm not sure if I should, Katerina.
He doesnt really love me and that kind of marriage
can be hellI do have a career I can go back to, a-
and I think it might be best - It would not make
you happy, thespoinis. Would it really make me
happy to be a wife who knows that when my
husband looks at me hes comparing me to someone
else; looking for a smile or a mannerism I dont
have? That when he touches me hes closing his
eyes and pretending Imher? Will you be
happier miles away from him, my lady? Never
seeing himnever being touched by him? Oh,
theres more to life than belonging to a man,
Katerina! You think so, eh? Katerina shook her
head slowly, as if at the foolish remark of an
adolescent. The Greek gill believes all her life that
one man alone is set aside for her by the gods, and
she knows him when she meets him and she marries
him if she can. It may be that he seems to love her
less, Or perhaps her parents have provided a
dowry he couldnt resist. It doesnt matter to the
girl. This is the man she must have and she accepts
the challenge of making herself indispensable to
him. Believe me, thespoinis, many a marriage in
Greece has begun in that way and ended as a love
story. A challenge, Alice murmured; and she
could feel her straight young spine bracing itself as
she thought of Stefans pride and self-will, and his
certainty that she was a cool little mercenary who
wanted a man with money.

The thought is exciting, eh? Katerina nodded. To

fight against odds and to win, thespoinis, is one of
the most stimulating things in life. Shall I fetch the
dress? Yes, please. Alice had made up her mind
and her eyes had a sudden brilliance that lit the
contours of her face and replaced her uncertainty
with eagerness. Perhaps what had held her back
from having the same kind of fun as the other girls
was her lack of confidence in herself. Young men
had thought her dull and proper and she had not
attempted to prove them wrong. But she was going
to prove Stefan wrong in his estimation of her. She
was going to dress up for this Greek wedding, cling
to his arm and let everyone see that she was going
to belong to him and couldnt wait for her own
wedding bells to ring. She had to do it! She had to
triumph over shyness and reserve, and mustnt let
herself mind that he didnt want her love he only
wanted her body. Katerina brought the dress to her
and Hesta slipped away from her duties to attend
the fitting. Alice found the Greek costume stunning
and quite irresistible with its flounced skirt of Cos
silk patterned with many tiny bunches of flowers.
There was a bolero of velvet and a silk blouse with
full embroidered sleeves. A beaded cap and
severalskirts to puff out the skirt were included,
and she stood there in the ensemble and slowly
turned so the two Greek women could inspect her
from every angle. Well? Alice looked from one
face to the other and her eyes were anxious. Do I
look all rightoh, do tell me if I look a sight or
not! Look in the mirror, thespoinis. Katerina was
smiling. The dress might have been made for you.

Taking a deep breath, Alice turned to the long

mirror and regarded someone she had never seen
before the Greek garment seemed to bring out
the person who had always been hidden inside
herself. Someone who had never entirely liked the
modern world in which her sister Alberta had
always been so much at home. The beautifully
blended colours of the dress seemed to find their
reflections in her eyes and hair, which looked
against the Cos silk as silky brown as the water of a
rock pool. She looked alive and eager a girl
who might have stepped from a Byzantine mosaic.
It fits you very well. Katerina fussed a little with
the skirt. Do you like yourself, thespoinis? II
frighten myself, Alice breathed. I feel like
pinching myself to find out if Im real. Oh, dare I
wear it, Katerina? I just dont look like myself
dressed up like this. Perhaps for the first time you
are seeing yourself, my lady. We each have an inner
self, and the dress reveals who you really are. I
look like someone from another century, as if my
face and figure dont belong in modern clothes.
Alice broke into a smile as she turned away from
her disturbing reflection. No wonder people
thought of me as an oldfashioned girl! I suppose
thats how I struck them. You will look like one
of us if you wear the dress to Marinas wedding,
said Hesta. One of our young men will fall in love
with youor maybe two or three. You mustnt
talk such nonsense, Katerina reproved her niece.
Mees Sheldon will be there as the exclusive guest
of the kyrios, and the other men will be wise to
keep their distance.

Hesta glanced enquiringly at her aunt. But that is

only in the case of an understanding between a girl
and a man, and there will be dancing and the
thespoinis will be asked to join in. At a wedding
there is always plenty of zoikos in the young men
and someone young like the thespoinis cannot be
expected to sit in dignity with the older women
because, she is the guest of the kyrios. Chattering
girl! Katerina clicked her tongue and glanced at
Alice. My niece has romance on her foolish mind
all the time, and it will be as well when she is
married herself. It would be nice to join in the
Greek dancing. Alice smiled rather wistfully.
Will I be expected to sit on my dignity? Surely the
kyrios wont expect that of me? It is for the
thespoinis to know what he expects, Katerina said
evasively. At any English wedding everyone
dances and joins in the fun. Surely the kyrios wont
just stand there on his dignity? I know hes the guest
of honour, but hes also a young man with lots of
zoikos of his own and Greek music is so
compulsive. He will dance with the bride,
thespoinis, for that is traditional, but it is only with
his permission that you will be allowed to dance
with another man. Hesta caught her breath when
her aunt said this and her eyes gleamed with
comprehension. Ah, so that is the way of the wind
- And you will keep quiet about it, my girl,
Katerina warned. The thespoinis has kindly taken
me into her confidence, but nothing must be said
until the kyrios makes the announcement.

I knew it, Hesta exclaimed. We all saw the

likeness to his first sweetheart - Hesta, her aunt
said ominously, you will go down to the kitchen
and start peeling potatoes. Your tongue runs away
with you and the thespoinis doesnt wish to hear
your nonsense about other sweethearts. All the
same, its true. Alice stood there in the Greek
dress that flounced from her slim waist and
moulded itself to her racing heart. I am to take her
place as best I can that is, if I marry the kyrios. I
know it, everybody else knows it, so why pretend
there might be any other reason why he should want
to marry me? Hes rich enough to please himself
and Fireglow needs a mistress, so why shouldnt he
indulge his fancy? Alice swirled to face the mirror
once again and her smile was bright and her voice
brittle as she added: At least in your dress,
Katerina, I look quite fancy. Yes, I shall wear it to
the wedding, and I do thank you for the loan of it.
You are more than welcome, my lady. But
Katerina was looking at Alice with rather worried
eyes, as if she knew quite a lot of aching was going
on under the velvet bodice of deep ruby red. Alice
didnt really know what to expect when she came
down the stairs on Saturday to find Stefan waiting
to escort her to the wedding of Alekos daughter.
He looked superbly well groomed and intensely
dark in a suit of navy blue with a wine-coloured
shirt, and Alice almost missed her footing on those
rough bottom stairs as his lithe good looks struck at
her nerves. Mind!. he said, and he flung out a
hand for her to grasp. Her fineboned fingers were
lost in his as he drew her towards him until her
flounced skirt was touching the legs of his trousers.
She felt the
deliberate movement of his eyes as he scrutinised
her from her Greek scrolled hair (she had decided
not to wear the beaded cap) to the toes of her shoes.
Her heart was beating with excitement and she
wanted more than anything for him to like the look
of her and not blind that she dressed as a Greek
girl. She prayed that he wouldnt think she was
masquerading as Timareta, and yet she wanted him
to be as kind, as tender, as loving as he would have
been with his Greek fiancee. Where are the
spectacles and the bun of hair? he mocked. Is this
the Alice Sheldon who assured me she was a plain
and proper person, all dressed up in borrowed
plumes. Her fingers tensed in his and she felt
indescribably hurt by the way he spoke and looked
her over, as if he found her overdressed a
tawdry imitation of the real Greek girl he had loved
and lost. Do you want me to go and change? she
asked. II knew I was making a mistake in
wearing the dress. A mistake that cant be
remedied, there just isnt the time. He spoke curtly.
I dont know what game you think youre playing
at, but youll just have to go through with it, my
dear. Im not your dear, she gasped, making a
wrenching effort to withdraw her hand from his but
finding his grip impossible to break. I was crazy
enough to think youd be pleased if I made an effort
to to look like other girls at the wedding - But
you arent one of them, are you? He leaned down
to her and his eyes were dark and demanding. You
are the English girl I have decided to marry and I
dont ask that you masquerade as a Greek one -

Then allow me to go and change, she began. It

wont take me more than a few minutesplease,
Stefan! I shall be unhappy in the dress now I know
you dont like me in it- - Like you in it? His eyes
raked over her once again. Was that why you wore
it, in order to make me like you} Come, the horse
and buggy will be waiting and I dont wish to be
late. There was nothing to do but go with him, and
she even had to endure his hard hands around her
waist as he lifted her into the buggy and then
jumped in to take the reins. They went at a smart
trot along the winding lanes through the high-
growing maquis that smelled of honey, where
clusters of butterflies when disturbed fluttered into
the air with a scarlet flurry of underwings. Far
down Alice could see the blue-green sheen of the
sea, and suddenly she wished she had gone in the
amphibian with Alex. To marry Stefan, even if she
loved him, was to lay in a store of heartache
right now she could feel herself aching because of
his cold, hard manner. I cant help it, she wanted
to say, because Im not Timareta. She. sat there
wretchedly in the Greek dress as they trotted
through the narrow streets of whitewashed houses,
with flowering vines trailing over the stonework,
gay and green. They came to the courtyard of the
chapel, with its huddle of helmet-like roofs, with
tiles that hunched in the sun with a coppery gleam.
The sky above was smoky mauve and gold and
sheets of bougainvillaea hung down the sunstruck
walls of crusted limewash. We are late! Stefan
growled as he lifted her down to the cobbles. All
the others are insidecome, dont pull back! You
are coming inside with me!

Alice stood with him throughout the ceremony,

though she was aware that most of the other women
were seated together, with the dark-clad men in the
seats behind. She watched bemused the strange and
rather lovely ritual of the marriage, enacted there at
an altar on which stood several lighted candles and
ikons. The bride wore an embroidered gown in
traditional patterns, with a long lace veil that hung
to her ankles. The groom had an intense, tanned
face and black curly hair and every time he glanced
at his bride, women in the congregation glanced at
each other as if to say that this was a love match
and the boy wasnt marrying the girl merely for her
dowry of goats, a pair of good horses and a chest of
fine linen and china, which the happy couple would
take with them to Rhodes where they would set up
house together. The wedding coronets were made
of white flowers and were joined by a long white
ribbon, and these were held above the heads of
bride and groom as the priest spoke the vows and
gold rings were exchanged and placed for always
on their right hands. Then the couple circled the
altar three times with the bridesmaids following
with the lighted candles. The couple drank from a
wine cup which was then handed to the best man.
Two pairs of lips kissed the silver Bible, and the
bells began to peal in the belfry of the chapel. Alice
felt a cold shiver of emotion run through her and
she didnt dare to glance at Stefan, but felt sure his
face was hard and distant as his thoughts. So would
he have stood with Timareta to exchange lifelong
vows and golden rings; so would he have shared
the loving cup with her and given her the lingering
glances that Marinas groom was bestowing on her.
Glances of pride and longing of trust and
promise. Outside in the sunlight everyone pelted the
laughing couple with rose petals and rice, and then
bride and groom led the procession to the

nearby taverna where the food tables were laid

beneath the shade of the trees. On a turning spit a
pig was roasting, and there were large platters of
country bread, flagons of wine, and bottles of
strawberry cordial and lime juice. Some of the
women set to unloading the baskets that contained a
variety of eatables and fruit. It was a bright and
colourful scene, and a feeling of happiness was as
palpable in the air as the warm sunlight. Alice
wanted to enjoy it all, but she couldnt relax and
could feel the tension in her smile when she was
introduced to the other guests and replied to them in
Greek. Chero poli? I am pleased to meet you. Her
costume, despite Stefans disapproval, came in for
some admiring comment. She felt him glance at. her
in a sardonic way when an aunt of the brides
wanted to know if the English guest of the kyrios
had a little Greek blood in her veins, for it was
unusual for a foreigner to look as nice as Alice did
in the Greek dress. Stefan dryly translated the
remark for Alices benefit and she felt herself
flushing, and then because this was a wedding and
she didnt want to feel that cool distance between
them all day, she suddenly dared to tuck her arm
through his and felt instantly the tensing of his body.
You dont have to pretend in front of other people
that you care for me, he said, and she let go his
arm as if she had touched a live wire, stung and
smarting from his assumption that she was putting
on an act. She had to move away from him and
suddenly found herself walking away under the
trees, gripping her skirt and hurrying through an
archway that led into a lane. She didnt pause or
look back, and gradually the sounds of talking and
laughter died away behind her and the scent of
maquis was in the air as she climbed a hill and was
all alone but for the grating throb of cicadas in the
tall grass.

Alice kept walking until she had put a safe distance

between herself and the man who had hurt her in a
way that was so personal, so acute, it was as if he
had driven a knife into the pit of her stomach. She
sank down on the grass in the shadow of an old
squat windmill whose sails stood motionless
beneath the conical roof. No one was working
today because of the wedding, and she alone
seemed cut off from the joy of if all. A sob rose in
her throat and the forlorn tears rolled down her
cheeks. She hadnt wanted to love him! He had
made her do that, and now she was vulnerable to
his every remark, his every mood, his rejection of
her back there at the wedding where people were
affected by the feeling of new, young, hopeful love
in the air. I cant, she whispered to herself. I
cant go through with it, Her thoughts travelled to
England, to the neat, quiet flat where she could at
least live in peace, without this kind of pain to
bear. Some stones shifted and rattled down the
track that led from the windmill, and she turned her
head to gaze at some wild olive trees whose
gnarled limbs clung to the hillside. A breeze blew
the scent of maquis towards her, and her gaze
drifted over a spill of spineless white caper and
clumps of wild iris. Again there was the rattle of
stones being dislodged, as if a goat was foraging
for herbs in the grass. She sat up and pushed at her
disarranged hair she supposed she ought to be
getting back to the wedding, for Stefan wouldnt be
pleased if all at once he couldnt account for the
whereabouts of his English guest. Alice was
smoothing her hair when the foraging animal
appeared from among the olive trees her spine
stiffened and a chilly sensation ran down it.
Standing there looking at her, his lips drawn back
slightly from canine teeth, was a rough-haired dog
with a bushy tail. Alice sat very still, aware that if
she made a sudden move the animal might spring at
her. From the look of its coat the dog had

been living very much as a stray, and it was also

obvious that he didnt get very much to eat, for his
rib cage was apparent under the dirty fur.
Swallowing the dryness from her throat, and being
very cautious about it, Alice took from her pocket
the sandwich she had thoughtlessly, crammed into it
when she had fled from the party. The two slices of
bread were thick with roast chicken and removing
the meat from the bread she began to toss it to the
hungry-looking dog. But still he watched her with
suspicious eyes, though his nostrils quivered as he
caught the aroma of the meat. Go on, boy, she
said. Eat itI know youre starving, you poor old
chap. The animal was plainly tempted, but she was
a human being and he had obviously not been
treated too well by one of her sort. He moved, but
still he showed his teeth, and Alice knew that if he
sprang at her she would be badly mauled. Theres
a good boy, she said softly. You arent going to
hurt me, are you? I dont mean you any harm, and
the chicken will taste much better than I shall. The
dog gave a growl, but it wasnt too threatening, and
with his gaze still fixed upon Alice he moved
nearer to the meat and no longer able to resist it,
snapped it up in his teeth and ate as if he were
starving. Alice then broke up the bread and flung
that to him, which he ate with equal hunger. He
drew nearer to her, as if hopeful for some more
food, but she had no more and was now quite at the
mercy of the animals mood. Taking a chance, she
held out her hand to him. Come on, she said. I
know you arent as tough as you lookthat youre
lonely and hungry and no one loves you. II know
how you feel, old lad. I know what its like when
youd like to get close to someone, only youre
afraid they might lash out at you. Who has

lashed out at you? Someone you trusted who turned

you out to fend for yourself. Poor old thing, you can
come to me, because I wont hurt you. I only wish I
had a nice dish of meat for you, because you
certainly look as if you need itI wonder, are you
the dog they said was wild and might kill the
lambs? Left to roam about and go hungry, you will
in the end, and you are really a nice dog who needs
someone to trust in. Gently, keeping her voice
steady, Alice coaxed the animal into coming within
reach of her hand. She felt his dry nose touch her
fingers, heard the low-down growl in his throat,
and then he was permitting her hand to fondle his
shaggy head. He gave a little whine; and then as if
to prove that he could also be trusted he laid
himself down on the grass beside Alice and rested
his nose on her knee. God in heaven, a voice
groaned, you were taking a chance, my little fool!
Alice turned her head and glanced up at the tall
figure who stood above her on braced legs, as if
preparing to leap to her defence. Dont raise your
voice, she warned. I think this poor wretched dog
is too hungrytoo starved for affection to really
hurt anyone, but it could have been a man who
turned him loose from a warm fire and a square
meal. Men can be cruel brutes! I know! The dog
quivered and cocked an eye at Stefan. He seemed to
consider whether it was worth his while to go for
him, and then settled down again with his grubby,
flea-bitten head on Alices lap. He looks as if hes
got fleas on him, Stefan remarked. A good soapy
bath will soon get rid of them, she rejoined. I
hope you dont mind if I bring him home and feed
him? He isnt wild, hes just unloved.

Im glad you realise that it makes a fellow wild if

he isnt loved. Alice stared up at Stefan and there
was something in his face she had not seen before
her heart lurched, for what she saw in his eyes,
what was softening his proud features, was a
disturbing tenderness. He lowered himself to one
knee beside her. Why did you run away from the
wedding? he asked. Was it because of what I said
about pretending to care for me in front of other
people? Werent you pretending? Ive never
pretended anything, she said, and she couldnt
remove her eyes from his face. Im just meAlice
Sheldon. I was never anything else, but you seemed
to want to believe that I was two-faced and only
interested in being rich. Im really like this poor
old dog. I only ever wanted a roof over my head
and a little bit of love. IIm afraid I cant marry
you, Stefan. I cant live with a man who has no trust
in me. I cant live without you, Alicia. Ive known
that from the day I brought you to Solitaria, and if
Ive been a boor to you today, its because
because I thought you were dressing up to try and
look like someone you arent. I know Im not
Timareta, she broke in, raising her voice a little so
the dog stirred and raised his head, and then
lowered it when he saw that she wasnt angry with
him. Im tired of the comparison you make
between me and herI know you loved her, and
that you dont love me - I love you like mad, he
almost snarled. Ill kill you before Ill let you
leave Solitaria. Youre my Alicia and theres no
other woman like you in the world. I knew when I
received that cablegram from your sister that you
werent the one Damaskinos got engaged to, but I
had to find some way to keep you with me -

How did you know? she demanded. Stefan? I

knew that Alex had met the man at functions and I
asked if he had ever met the woman who was
supposed to marry Damaskinos. He said he had
seen her that she was a tinted blonde with china-
blue painted eyes, that she looked rather like a film
starlet, or a copy of one. The Alice Sheldon I knew
didnt look like thatnever had and never could!
And yet youyou were a brute to me today.
Alice could have hit him for making her suffer so,
and yet at the same time she wanted to kiss him.
When you saw me in this dress you looked as if
you could have ripped it off my back.- Thats the
way I felt, he agreed. I want you looking like you,
not some imitation of a girl I once cared for. You
adored her, Alice exclaimed, half in agony. I did
what Alex said, I put her on a pedestal instead of,
kissing her. If Id ever done that, I might have found
out what I really wanted from a woman. Depth,
intelligence, compassion for the underdog. Stefan
glanced at the canine bag of bones in Alices
compassionate lap. He isnt going to let mc change
places with him, is he? Not right now, she
agreed, fondling the shaggy head, and then giving
Stefan a rather uncertain smile. Are you jealous of
a poor hungry dog? Im hungry too, he growled.
Hungry for you! You arent going back to England,
my girl. You are going to stay and marry me, and
you can have just about anything you ask for. Ill
make you love me. Youll have to in the end, or die
of exhaustion.

That made her laugh. Oh, StefanStefan, you

crazy Greek fool! You dont have to buy me, and
you certainly dont have to kill me with love. I want
it to be a sharing thingdont you see? I want to do
my share of giving. I dont want to take it from you,
darling. II want to be your other half. My other
half, he murmured, and his dark eyes began to
sparkle as he reached out a hand and touched her
brown hair. I suppose you want to keep this flea-
bag of a dog, eh? Its a good thing he came to you,
guzel, because it was on . the cards hed be shot as
being wild. It took you to tame him, eh? She
nodded, smiling. I didnt know I had such a talent
for taming rogue males. Stefan drew his fingers
down her cheek to her lips. My Alicia. His voice
was warm and savagely tender. You have made a
place for yourself deep in my heart. You are like no
one else I have ever knew. You are mine! Yours,
she sweetly echoed, knowing at last that it was
utterly true.