Dear Stranger

by Anne Hampson

  ‘We’ll be back for lunch. And in any case, Carl should be over some time this morning.’

  ‘He might come.’ Annoula bit her lip. ‘I think he will prefer to work at his house.’

  Shara could find nothing to say to this, so she merely moved from the room, a backward glance making plain her expectation that Annoula would follow, which she did. Colin, still sitting under the tree, glanced up and for one long curious moment his eyes rested on the Cypriot girl’s tear-stained face. Shara’s tears were not in evidence,

  but of course Colin knew that she too had been crying. Shara flushed on his transferring his gaze to her, and she averted her head. Gilbert joined them and, informing his nephew of his intention of taking Shara for a drive, he invited him to go along as well. To Shara’s complete surprise Colin shook his head, saying, without much expression, that he preferred to relax in the garden, at least until after lunch, when he might decide to go down to the sea.

  ‘So you’ll have company after all,’ Shara said to Annoula, although she privately wondered if Colin would be over-pleased at the company of a girl who was so shy with men that she scarcely spoke a word. Last evening it was a relief when, on what could only be termed an order from Carl, Annoula had gone early to bed.

  However, Shara was in for another surprise, for on her return with Gilbert a couple of hours later she found Colin and Annoula sitting on the patio, drinking lemonade and talking together as if they had known one another all their lives. Smiling in spite of the heaviness of her heart, Shara recalled how, if he really set out to charm a woman, Colin could do it in a matter of minutes. Inordinately attractive, he normally assumed an indifferent front, for he did not really have much time for women, and their deliberate coquetry often bored him to distraction. But if he did happen to be in a conquering mood then he had no difficulty at all in attaining his object.

  Gilbert obviously shared his secretary’s surprise, judging by his expression.

  ‘You two appear to be getting along very well indeed,’ he observed, taking a spare chair after having brought one forward for Shara. ‘Feeling better now, Annoula?’

  Shyly she said,

  ‘Yes, thank you, Mr. Holgrove.’ And instantly she retired into her shell again and Shara soon realized that, for the present at least, it was only with Colin that she could be free.

  ‘Will Carl be over for lunch, do you think?’ from Gilbert as, glancing at his watch, he added, ‘It’s half past twelve. He knows we have it about one and I did tell him to come if he felt like it.’

  But Carl did not put in an appearance, and a dejected Annoula commented on this to Shara.

  ‘It’s because I’m here. Carlos is angry with me— Oh, he doesn’t show it, Shara, but I know. It is the set of his mouth that shows me he’s impatient I saw this on those times when he talked, reminding me that it was I who had made the condition that if either of us fell in love with someone else then the engagement would be broken... .’ She tailed off on noting Shara’s expression. ‘And now you are impatient with me,’ she added in a tear-edged voice after a while.

  A deep sigh and then,

  ‘Because it’s all so futile - this talk. You and Carl are to be married Annoula, and I am resigned to this. ’

  Biting her lip, Annoula looked at her from under long silky lashes.

  ‘I w-wish I were dead,’ she whispered and, with a surge of indignation at the fact that it was she herself who experienced guilt, Shara turned abruptly away. Yet within seconds she had relented and, smiling, she invited Annoula to go down to the beach and swim with

  her.

  ‘We will be back by four o’clock? Carlos is coming to take me to the hospital, you know that.’

  ‘We’ll be back in plenty of time.’

  Gilbert preferred to take a siesta, but Colin accepted Shara’s invitation to go to the beach, and she drove through Kyrenia to Acapulco. They were all in swimming attire and after the car had been parked they merely had to discard their beach wraps and go into the sea. It was incredibly warm and, to Shara, relaxing. She seemed for a while to shed her troubles and enter into a sort of vacuum where thoughts were totally absent and people vague to the point of unreality. Colin and Annoula were swimming together, but Shara had drifted away to a small jutting headland from which, a long way out, could be seen one solitary swimmer. Brave - and venturesome, she mused as, coming from the water she sat on the warm rocks and narrowed her eyes against the glare that hovered over the tranquil blue sea. There was an odd sort of loneliness about the swimmer, as if the great distance from the shore was a manifestation of the man’s character. It must be a man, for no woman would venture that far out, Shara had decided the moment she saw the small dark shape moving about in the water.

  Transferring her gaze for a moment, she at the same time raised a hand to wave in response to a gesture from Colin. He and Annoula were now on the beach, resting, but they were a good distance from her. Not a great enough distance, she decided, suddenly desiring to be completely alone, out of sight of all others on the beach, and she rose and moved round, so that several huge boulders effectively hid her, and she sat there watching the distant swimmer and marvelling at his confidence. It would almost seem that his object was an accumulation of rocks forming a tiny island, but, as she continued to keep him in focus, she realized that he had in fact turned around

  and was now making for the shore.

  She did not know quite when she realized that it was Carl, but as she watched and waited, with fast beating heart, she had the extraordinary idea that she had known all the time, that she had come here, to this lonely and isolated part of the beach, for the specific purpose of being with him, and it never for one moment entered her head that he would not touch the shore here, rather than the more obvious point where the rest of the bathers were occupying the warm shallow waters or sunbathing on the beach.

  ‘Shara!’ He came from the water, tall and lean and very brown. ‘Are you alone?’

  She shook her head, automatically making a gesture in the direction of the beach, beyond the rocks on which she sat.

  ‘Annoula and Colin are here.’ Watching his face as she mentioned his fiancee, Shara noticed the slight tightening of his mouth. ‘I didn’t see your car on the park. Have you been here long?’ It was only when the words were uttered that Shara realized she had not taken the least notice of any of the cars lined up in the vine-shaded area reserved for parking at the back of the beach.

  ‘I came at eight this morning.’

  Eight ...? So much information was contained in that short sentence — far more than was conveyed by the actual words themselves. Was Carl’s life to continue like this? - following the pattern of the past - lonely and loveless apart from the filial love of a daughter? A terrible ache gripped Shara’s throat and she found herself swallowing convulsively in order to clear it. ‘Darling, haven’t you had any lunch?’

  Carl sat down beside her; she quivered at the contact of his naked limbs against hers.

  ‘I didn’t feel hungry.’ With admiration and affection his eyes wandered unrestrainedly over her bronzed body and in a sudden access of shyness she averted her head, becoming absorbed in a little rock pool and vaguely wondering what sort of creature was responsible for the ripples coming to the surface. ‘Dearest, what are

  you thinking about?’

  She lifted her head then, and he noticed that her eyes were far too bright and that her mouth quivered uncontrollably. Pain caused his own lips to move and, unable to resist, he gathered her into his arms and held her in a long wordless silence that seemed to defy the hurts of the world, and even those of time itself.

  ‘Carl... how am I to live without you?’ She hadn’t meant to say anything like that; it could only give her lover pain; and in any case, she had promised Annoula that she would not try to take Carl from her, and Shara had not made that promise with the intention of forgetting it.

  ‘Or I without you?’ His voice was hoarse and broken, his embrace strengthen
ing from a tender gentle hold to one of almost primitive possession. ‘My dearest—’ His lips found hers in a kiss so ardent and demanding that although Shara deliberately tensed her emotions against the attack she felt the blood surge hotly through her body. How could she resist him? Fearfully she asked herself the question for, guided by instinct, she must inevitably surrender.

  ‘Carl—!’ His lips allowed the utterance of his name only before smothering anything else she had to say. She was struggling against a hard and sinewed body, trying desperately to push Carl away, but the small hand pressed against his chest was almost roughly removed and held behind her back. ‘Dear Carl,’ she whispered when once again he lifted his lips from hers, ‘don’t tempt me, I beg of you.’ And because her voice was one of helplessness and defeat he heard it with a flow of tenderness and contrition, and gently he released her, bringing the imprisoned hand to his lips and keeping it there until both his own and Shara’s heightened emotions had settled, and their racing heartbeats were normal.

  ‘My own dear sweet Shara - forgive me.’ His shadowed gaze held hers for a long moment before, with a great surge of tenderness which blotted out any thought of risk, Shara drew his dark head on to her breast and cradled it there, and his great shuddering sigh of comfort was her reward.

  Presently he raised his head and she saw that he was a little happier.

  ‘The cafe, Carl - I feel rather peckish myself; shall we go and see what we can get?’

  He nodded and smiled.

  ‘My money’s in the car—’ With an unexpected glimmer of amusement in his eyes he looked her over, saying, as he took in the very brief covering of her bikini, that as she obviously hadn’t any money either they would have to ask Michaelis to trust them. Hand in hand they picked their way over the rocks to the curving headland on the other side of which was the sandy beach. Slowly they went, treasuring every prolonged second before, reaching the beach, they must let go of each other’s hand, and even draw apart a little, strolling along casually, passing the occasional remark, making a gesture....

  Colin and Annoula were on the sands, sitting side by side, looking out to sea. From this distance they might have been a couple of tourists - sweethearts, perhaps - taking a holiday on this sun-drenched isle floating so serenely on

  the still blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

  The couple never glanced in their direction and by common consent Carl and Shara went to the cafe on their own.

  ‘I should have got my wrap,’ she said as they sat down and Michaelis himself approached them. ‘Shall I, Carl?’ ‘No, darling; you look adorable as you are - and it’s only imagination that makes you think everyone is looking at you.’ Glancing around, he added, ‘You’re not the only girl dressed like that; there are a whole crowd of them over there, at the back of you. ’

  Michaelis recommended the fish, which was always marvellous in Cyprus, and they had fried potatoes with it, and of course the delicious fresh salads which were invariably served with every meal.

  ‘You should have had something before now,’ Shara admonished as she noted how much Carl had eaten. She herself had not been hungry, but as she wanted him to eat she had to eat as well.

  ‘As I said, I had no appetite. ’ He paused, eyes tenderly resting on her face. ‘It was different when you came along.’ Another pause. ‘What made you leave the others?’ ‘I wanted to get away - be by myself,’ she confessed, and understanding, he nodded.

  ‘I felt the same; that’s why I went out there.’

  ‘You looked lonely.’

  A faint smile hovered on his lips, a smile tinged with bitterness which melted under the tender warmth that entered Shara’s eyes.

  ‘I felt utterly alone,’ he admitted. ‘Terribly alone, Shara... and lost.’

  Such a confession coming from a man possessed of so strong a character as Carl sent a flood of compassion into

  Shara’s heart and impulsively she placed a hand on his as it lay idle on the table. And even when she became acutely aware of the interested gaze of the man at the next table she made no attempt to remove it.

  ‘I’m glad I was there, when you came out,’ she said huskily.

  ‘I couldn’t believe it... and yet,’ he added almost to himself, his glance straying to the headland and its jagged rocks gleaming in the sunshine, ‘and yet I wasn’t half so surprised as I ought to have been.’

  She made no comment, but she did recall her own impression on discovering that the lone swimmer was Carl. It had seemed to her that the meeting was to be no accident, and when at length he did join her it was almost as if they had arranged the rendezvous.

  A small sigh from Carl brought her back; she heard him say it was time to go, as he had promised to take Annoula to the hospital.

  ‘I know; she told me and I said I’d get her back to the villa by four o’clock.’ Carl had risen and was waiting for her to do the same. ‘I don’t know what time it is now, but I expect she’s becoming anxious.’

  Together they left the cafe, Carl having told Michaelis that he would bring the money from the car if he wished, but Michaelis would not hear of it.

  ‘The next time you come,’ he said, and stood on the steps, lifting a hand in salute before they left him to make their way across the sands towards the couple still sitting on the beach.

  It was only four days later that Gilbert said, the most odd expression in his deep kindly voice,

  ‘Shara, have you noticed the amazing difference that has taken place in Annoula?’ He and Shara were in his study, but Gilbert had stopped dictating and his gaze was fixed on the couple outside, sitting together in the sun. Glancing through the window, Shara followed the direction of his gaze. She said,

  ‘One could hardly miss the change. I expect it’s Colin, mainly. He’s taken pity on her and he’s very successfully drawing her out— Listen to her laughing. She’d never have done that a few days ago.’ The Cypriot girl was gesturing in accompaniment to her lighthearted laughter, gesturing with such confidence and unconcern, towards something to which she desired to bring her companion’s attention. Yes, the change in Annoula was quite amazing.

  Carl noticed it and was clearly puzzled. He was giving a small dinner party and as Annoula was staying with Gilbert and Shara she naturally came too.

  ‘Annoula,’ Carl said to Shara when before dinner they snatched a moment together on the terrace. ‘That dress

  - it can’t be one of yours; you’re slimmer than she.’

  ‘Colin took Annoula into Nicosia today - before lunch, it was - and she bought that dress and another -even shorter,’ Shara added significantly. ‘She also bought a trouser suit—’

  Carl’s eyes opened wide. ‘But she’s always been so conventional. As you know, she’s still in black for her husband.’

  ‘She brought nothing with her except black, I know that, but she told me that Colin had urged her to buy herself something more bright, just to buck herself up as it were.’

  Carl shrugged.

  ‘Annoula’s certainly coming out,’ was all he had time to say before his housekeeper, Maria, appeared to announce that the meal was ready.

  Dick Broadhurst was one of the guests and he and

  Carl and Gilbert became immersed in conversation. For a while Shara chatted to Dick’s wife, but somehow she could not concentrate, her mind being on the couple opposite. Quietly they talked; Annoula blushed now and then, and sometimes her eyes would glow. How very lovely she was, thought Shara, her eyes fixed on the girl’s face as, a brief silence having fallen between her and Colin, she sat there, smiling to herself in that serene sort of way that could have inspired the sculptors of ancient Greece. Yes, it was a face that could quite easily have been sculptured, for Annoula reminded Shara of a beautiful kore she had seen in the museum at Athens. From under her lashes, long and dark and silky, Annoula looked at Carl... and it was something in her expression that, after sending preliminary prickles running the whole length of Shara’s spine, gave birth to an idea so s
taggering and incredible that Shara’s fork actually clattered against her plate as an uncontrollable trembling seized her.

  ‘No!’ she whispered fiercely. ‘No — Colin wouldn’t be so cruel! Much as he cares for me, great as his affection for me, he wouldn’t be so callous to this innocent girl. He wouldn’t dupe her .’

  ‘Are you all right, Shara?’ from Carl, whose rather anxious voice told Shara that she was equally as pale as she felt. All eyes were on her; she managed to say, although her voice was far from steady,

  ‘Of course, Carl. I was merely clumsy - almost dropping my fork like that.’

  She tackled Colin the next morning, her eyes accusing as she said, in a voice of disbelief in spite of the firmly-rooted conviction that had kept her awake throughout the night,

  ‘Annoula - I know what you’re up to, Colin, and I won’t let you do it! I tried to get a few moments alone with you last night, but I couldn’t manage it. You’re callous, to have started a thing like this! The girl’s going to be heartbroken when you throw her over! Colin, how could you!’ She was almost in tears and her voice was raised. Gilbert, wondering what was amiss, had come out on to the patio, but he was behind her and for the moment she was unaware of his presence. ‘A tremendous amount of damage has been done already, I’m sure of it!’ She shook her head, tears rolling on to her cheeks. ‘I never would have believed it of you! - and it’s no excuse that you’re doing it for me. It’s the most dastardly act I’ve ever heard of in my life—!’

  ‘Shara,’ interrupted Colin at last, ‘do you mind explaining what this is all about?’ Fleetingly his eyes wandered over her shoulder to where his uncle was standing. ‘I’m sorry, but you’re quite incoherent.’

  ‘You know very well what I mean—’ Suddenly conscious of the man behind her, Shara turned. ‘Gilbert - how could he! Colin’s deliberately made Annoula fall in love with him so that she’ll break with Carl. She intends breaking with him — I saw it in her eyes last evening, at dinner. She’s so innocent, and believes that Colin’s serious, but once she’s broken with Carl then Colin intends throwing her over.’