Close to the Heart

by Rebecca Stratton

  Two days ago everything had seemed to be working out much better than she had dared hope, but now she was feeling more unhappy than she had ever been in her life before. She said little and smiled not at all, and her formerly healthy appetite had dwindled to almost nothing. And all because of a man who almost certainly would never wish to see or hear from her again.

  She had telephoned her father and told him she was home, and thought it best in the circumstances to tell him everything that had happened after Geoffrey came on board the Djenoun that night—to rescue her, as he thought. It had hurt to realise that her father was less concerned when he learned that Yusuf was holding her aboard the Djenoun than he was about the manner of her

  parting from her erstwhile captor, and what had happened at Zobi.

  He had told her that he considered handing out leaflets, as she and the rest of the group had done in the past, was not only foolish in the extreme, while they were guests in a foreign country, but discourteous too. As for scattering hundreds of bags of cement and then spraying the resultant mess with water, he could not find words to say how disgusted he was, and he had berated her soundly on the telephone for becoming involved with such people.

  Lisa had hardly expected sympathy, but his stern condemnation of her, along with the actual participants in the act of vandalism, hurt. He would not, her father told her, get in touch with Yusuf ben Dacra and try to explain. She had got herself into the spot she was in through her own silly actions, and she could extricate herself as best she could. All he would do, if Yusuf should happen to be in touch, was to apologise on his own behalf for having such an irresponsible daughter.

  Scolded by her father and wishing she had never heard of Balek!, Lisa had no idea what to do next. She could imagine Yusuf s fury at the unwarranted vandalism; and her driving away with Geoffrey as she had would make him see her as an accomplice. She should have struggled harder against his efforts to make her go ashore with him, she saw that now, but the clamour of that wretched bell had stunned her for the moment, and then Geoffrey's information that the group members were already concealed on the site and working havoc had completely robbed her of her senses.

  She supposed she could not altogether blame Geoffrey, for she had been a willing enough participant in the scheme at the beginning, but yesterday when he had called she had refused to see him, and Madame Raymond had sent him away. Sooner or later, Lisa supposed, she

  would have to see him and talk with him, for Geoffrey was not the kind to give up easily.

  At the moment she did not care if she never saw Geoffrey again, but it was hard to face the possibility of never seeing Yusuf any more, and she had shed tears about it in the privacy of her bedroom. Boy-friends had come and gone in the past, but not one of them had affected her in the same way as the tall autocratic man she had tracked down so determinedly, to deliver the group's warning.

  He was so very different from any man she had known before. More mature, certainly, and more sophisticated; an intriguing mixture of arrogance and gentleness, and she would never be able to forget him. She had only to close her eyes and she was back on board the Djenoun, having dinner with him and listening avidly while he confided in her in a way she had never dared hope he would.

  She could almost feel the touch of his fingers on her skin when he slid the silver bracelet on to her wrist; and remember how she had briefly thought it reminiscent of a shackle about her arm. Later she had laughed when he reminded her of his threat to put her in irons as a stowaway. Geoffrey, she believed, had lost her the bracelet and she almost hated him for it, even though it was unreasonable. The red caftan hanging upstairs in her wardrobe was the only thing she had to remind her of what she now saw as the most exciting days of her life.

  Instinctively she turned her head when the salon door was opened, and Madame Raymond looked across at her enquiringly without coming in, her bright brown eyes anxious. 'Mr Mason is here again, Miss Pelham,' she told her. 'Will you see him today?'

  It was an appeal, Lisa sensed, an appeal to return to normality, and she would very likely have agreed to see

  Geoffrey anyway, but she was given no time to make up her mind. He appeared in the doorway behind the housekeeper, and there was an expression on his face that Lisa recognised. She could not face making an issue of whether or not she would see him, so she simply nodded assent, and Madame Raymond stepped aside to let him in.

  'Lisa!'

  Lisa could not understand why it should annoy her suddenly because he pronounced the 's' in her name as if it was a 'z', instead of giving it the same soft sibilance that Yusuf did. He came striding across the salon with an air of confidence that she immediately recognised was merely a cover for his nervousness. His eyes were sober, as they always were, but they were anxious too, and appealing in their way, and she reminded herself how warmly she would once have welcomed him. Sitting beside her on the cushion-piled ottoman, he took her hands in his, but after a moment Lisa eased them free.

  'I came to see you yesterday,' he said, and she nodded.

  'Yes, I know—Madame Raymond told me you'd been/

  'And you wouldn't see me?'

  Lisa did not look at him, but smoothed out the skirt of her dress with restless hands. 'I didn't—I didn't feel like seeing anyone, Geoffrey.'

  'Not even me? You're not ill, are you Lisa?' He was genuinely concerned for her, and Lisa wished she could feel more grateful for his concern, instead of vaguely irritated by it.

  'No, of course I'm not ill, I'm just '

  She spread her hands helplessly, unable to describe the new and infinitely disturbing feeling she had, and Geoffrey tried to take them in his, but again she avoided him, trying not to look as if she was brushing him aside. 'You're disillusioned with what we're doing at Zobi?' he suggested quietly. His eyes searched her face, narrowed

  and hinting at impatience. 'I don't understand what's so different now to when you took it on yourself to tackle ben Dacra on his own territory, Lisa. What happened on board that damned yacht? You don't seem like the same girl!'

  Lisa looked at him in silence for a moment, unwilling to tell him anything of what had happened aboard the Djenoun before he came and snatched her away. Also it angered her, perhaps unreasonably, that he was so unwilling to believe that Yusuf had told her the truth about Zobi. Why would he not believe that there was nothing to protest about, and never had been?

  'Haven't you understood yet?' she said, and her voice suggested just how weary she was of trying to convince him. There was no need to do anything about Zobi. Sheik Abahn is rehousing the people in a new village, and on much more fertile land than they had at Zobi. They have a better life altogether than they had before, and they don't mind moving away—how could they in the circumstances? The soil at Zobi isn't fit for anything but building on, Geoffrey—if you really looked at it you'd see. You could have found out that as easily as you found out about Yusuf's plans to build an hotel there.'

  It was quite unconscious when she quoted Yusuf s own argument, and she could see that Geoffrey was even more discomfited than she had been by the news. He did not want to believe it, she could see it in his face, and for a moment she almost pitied him, for he had been the prime mover in the Zobi project.

  Tou sound very sure of that/ he said after a moment or two, and Lisa frowned.

  Tou could discover how true it is by checking/ she challenged. *Why don't you do that? You're the one who found out about the plan to build an hotel there, it shouldn't be beyond you!'

  Lisa knew she was being unkind, cruel even, but she couldn't help herself. She felt sorry for him, although not in quite the same way she once had It had been enough that he had risked his career for a worthwhile cause, but to realise that he had done so for a cause that did not even exist must be very hard to accept, and the bitterness of it showed on Geoffrey's good-looking features as he sat there trying to come to terms with reality.

  'You're obviously convinced anyway/ he said after a long silence, and Lisa nodded
unhesitatingly.

  'Yes, I am!' Clasping her hands tightly together, she looked down at them rather than at him. 'I think I know —I got to know Yusuf ben Dacra quite well being with him for those few days,' she said in a not quite steady voice, 'and I believe he told me the truth about Zobi. I'm absolutely certain he did/

  For several seconds Geoffrey's grey eyes speculated on just how well she had got to know her captor in those few days, but he did not ask her. Instead he shrugged his shoulders uneasily, and there was a downward droop to his mouth. 'What happens now?' he asked, and she knew he must be thinking about the effect of what the group had done at Zobi on his own future.

  He hadn't been there personally, any more than she had herself, but the group would stand or fall in its entirety. She and Geoffrey would be counted as guilty as the ones who had actually vandalised the site, and the result could be disastrous to his career. The fact that he had gone into it knowing that would not make him feel any better about it, she guessed.

  'Who knows what happens next?' she countered, and a short snatch of laughter ended breathlessly in something that sounded very much like a sob. 'It all depends on what Yusuf does, and in those circumstances I don't think I'll be much good as an advocate, although I'd try if I thought it would do any good/ She remembered

  Yusuf s gentle hands and the warm exciting touch of his mouth, and closed her eyes tightly for a second when a thrill of pleasure ran through her. 'He isn't an unreasonable man when you know him/ she said, huskily unsteady. 'He's—he's '

  Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. Geoffrey was looking at her strangely, but she did not notice it for the moment. 'You were impressed/ he said with obvious dislike at the idea. 'You won't try to see him again, will you, Lisa?'

  Taking a firm hold on her emotions, Lisa hesitated, although not for any doubt on her own part. 'I doubt if I'll have the opportunity/ she said quietly, then looked up again and met his eyes levelly. 'But whatever the circumstances, if I have the chance I'll take it. Because I want to see him again!'

  'Oh, Lisa!*

  She refused to avoid the reproachful look in his eyes, and shook her head, holding tightly to her self-control. 'I might have the chance—I don't know, but I know someone—I mean, I met someone once who might help.'

  The idea of enlisting Yacub Boudri's help had only* just occurred to her, but the more Lisa thought about that handsome and friendly younger brother of Yusufs the more optimistic she felt. If he did not co-operate in this instance, of course, as he had on that first occasion, then she would be right back where she started, but it would surely do no harm to try.

  'Yes, I think he might help/ She smiled, although it did not reach her eyes, and she did not attempt to enlighten Geoffrey about whose help she was hoping for. 'I can but try/

  'Lisa '

  'Please, Geoffrey, will you go now?' She interrupted him anxiously, for Geoffrey's pleading could well weaken her resolve and she needed all her tenacity at

  the moment. 'I have a lot to think about, and if I can get Yusuf to see me, to talk to me so that I can explain '

  Geoffrey looked as if he would have argued the point. He definitely did not like the idea of her trying to contact Yusuf again, that was clear, no matter what the cause. But Lisa was set on it now, and she waited impatiently for him to go, so that she could think of the best way of going about it.

  'Don't worry/ she told Geoffrey, as she got to her feet. 'I know what I'm doing; I shan't go walking into the lion's den a second time, I promise you!'

  'I hope not/ Geoffrey declared grimly, and as Lisa followed him to the door she echoed his sentiment even more fervently. She could not afford to make another mistake where Yusuf was concerned.

  It was the following morning before Lisa finally made the decision to call on Yacub Boudri for help, and not altogether surprisingly, he proved much less difficult to contact than Yusuf had been in the initial stages of the group's campaign. Having got Madame Raymond to find the number for her, Lisa took the receiver over with visibly trembling hands, and asked if she might speak with Mr Yacub Boudri.

  Similar requests when she had been trying to get in touch with Yusuf to deliver their warning had always met with a demand to know her business and whether or not she had an appointment. But she experienced no such difficulties in the case of his adopted brother. A male voice answered and merely asked to know who he should say was calling, but Lisa hesitated to tell him that at the moment.

  'Would you tell him—will you please tell him it's the woman he met in the garden?' she said, and sensed the curiosity at the other end of the line.

  That is all?'

  From the tone of the question Lisa suspected she was speaking to another of the Boudri brothers, and she moistened her dry lips anxiously before she answered. 'I—I think you'll find he understands/ she said, hoping she was not being too conceited, that Yacub Boudri had not forgotten all about her. 'If you'd ask him to speak to me, please, I think you'll find he'll come to the phone.'

  'Oh, I am quite sure that he willV the voice agreed readily, and Lisa was certain the man, whoever he was, was laughing to himself. 'If you will wait for just a moment, I will call him to the telephone/

  She murmured her thanks and, recalling Yacub Boudri's boldly flirtatious eyes, guessed that female callers were not at all unusual. It probably caused a great deal of good-humoured amusement among his married brothers. Although it was probably less usual for a caller to refuse to give her name and resort to a rather dramatic pseudonym.

  She was banking a great deal on Yacub Boudri's cooperation, she realised as she waited anxiously at the end of the line, but he had proved that he had the ear of his older brother when he persuaded Yusuf to come out into the garden and see her that first evening, and she hoped he was not going to prove less helpful now.

  Only seconds later she heaved a sigh of relief when he came on the line; his voice speaking its good but accented English, slightly curious but not unduly so. 'I remember that you are English and that you are very lovely/ he said when the preliminaries were dispensed with. 'But you are still a lady of mystery, it seems, yes? Will you not give me your name?'

  'I'd rather not—it's rather difficult/ Lisa explained a little breathlessly. 'I prefer to speak first, Mr Boudri, if you don't mind, just for the moment/

  'As you wish, of course/ he agreed. 'But if you are seeking my assistance, as you did on the first occasion that we spoke together, I must insist that you call me

  Yacub/ Lisa could imagine those velvet-dark eyes rolling expressively. 'But how may I help you, my dear young English lady? I hope this is not a request to see my brother again. It is very lowering for my ego, and not at all what I am accustomed to, being passed over in favour of Yusuf.'

  Lisa was quite sure it wasn't what he was accustomed to, but she could tell from his voice that his ego was in little danger. 'As it happens/ she told him in a slightly unsteady voice, 'I do want to see Yusuf, but he won't want to see me, I know, and '

  'Ah, as I thought/ Yacub declared, obviously gratified with his own astuteness. 'You are Miss ■

  'Please/ Lisa begged hastily. 'I don't want anyone to hear you; I don't want them to know you're talking to me/

  'Lisa Pelham, yes?' Yacub whispered into the telephone, and Lisa murmured agreement.

  *You—you know about Zobi?'

  He would know, of course, Lisa thought. She had decided the first time she saw him that Yacub Boudri was nobody's fool, for all he was a determined flirt and gave the impression of being too lighthearted to know about the business that his family were involved in. When he spoke again something in his voice suggested that he was much more on his guard now that he knew for certain who she was, and Lisa bit her lip anxiously.

  'You wish to see my brother again?' he asked. 'In the circumstances it will not be easy, as I am sure you will realise, Miss— mademoiselle. 9

  'I know.' Her voice caught in her throat, and she sounded so obviously unhappy that even a less susceptible man than
Yacub Boudri would have been touched. 'I realise that he's still down at Zobi, but if I go down there, he won't '

  'No, no, my dear Miss Pelham!' She hesitated, plainly

  confused, and Yacub Boudri went on. 'My brother is no longer at Zobi, he returned here to Casablanca yesterday, by car. The Djenoun was too slow, so he said, although I have never known him think so before.'

  Why else would he want to return to Casablanca so quickly, Lisa thought, unless it was to consult with his solicitors about what action to take against the group and, inevitably, against herself as a member of the group? If he had been so quick to seek revenge then perhaps she was wasting her time trying to reason with him. Her heart was thudding hard and making her head pound so that she could not think very clearly.

  'I—I didn't know that,' she said in what was barely more than a whisper, and tried to decide what to do next. 'Do you know—I mean have you any idea why he came back so soon?' She knew she had overstepped the mark there, and hastened to recoup her position if she could. *No, I'm sorry, Mr Boudri, I can't ask you that. I'm sorry/

  'I could tell you very little, even if I were at liberty to say what the position is, my dear lady,' he told her, and Lisa accepted the softness of his voice as a sign of sympathy.

  He made no other move, offered no solution, but at least he had not so far dismissed her out of hand, and she took heart once more, it is very important that I see Yusuf—your brother,' she stressed, huskily anxious.

  That is what you told me on that first occasion, if I remember,' he reminded her, but something about the way he said it suggested he was already weakening.

  it's true,' she vowed, it really is important to a lot of people, including my father.'

  'John Pelham?' Obviously he too knew her father, and he would realise well enough just what her involvement with Balek! could mean to him if Yusuf took legal action against the group, it is a most unfortunate situa-