by Kay Thorpe
`Sometimes,' Nicky admitted. 'But I know they will be there when I get back.'
`That is always a good thing to know.' She patted the cushions at her side. 'Sit with me, child, and tell me of yourself. Nikos will fetch you some refreshment.'
`Tomato juice, please,' requested Nicky quickly,
meeting the suave dark glance for a brief moment. 'I'm afraid you won't find my background very exciting, kyria. My home is in the north of England, a small country town people pass through rather than stay to see. My father is a farmer.'
'It is a large farm your father has?
'Not very. Mostly dairy produce, with a few fields of crops. 'The house is quite old — almost three hundred years and it isn't easy to run! She spoke slowly, seeing the grey slates and weathered stone walls, remembering the cheerfulness of the huge kitchen with its roaring fire and gay check curtains, its scrubbed whitewood table and old-fashioned dresser laden with the willow-patterned crockery which had been one of her parents' wedding gifts. Outdated and ripe for modernization, she had said for years, impatient with the sense of tradition which kept progress at bay inside the house if not on the farm itself. Now, for the first time, she found herself hoping that nothing would have changed by the time she did get back. She wanted everything to be just as it had always been.
I have heard that in England it is not an easy matter to obtain servants,' observed the other sympathetically, and Nicky had to smile.
wouldn't really know very much about that. Apart-from the farm hands, we don't have any.'
'You do not !' Kyria Alexandros looked both astonished and dismayed, as though even the bare thought of such a state of affairs was too much to contemplate. 'Your mother must be a very exceptional person, my child. Do you not agree, Nikos?'
I am of the opinion that all English women are exceptional,' came the smooth reply from Nicky's
elbow, and his hand came out to offer her a glass. 'You are sure you will not take something a little stronger?'
`No, this will do fine,' she answered firmly.
Over the rim of the glass she saw Marguerite detach herself from the group of people with whom she had been speaking, and come gliding gracefully across to Nikos's side, pausing only to smile briefly and exchange a word with Dino in passing. Dressed as she was in white the girl had all the perfection of a Raphael portrait.
`You are very bad, Nikos,' she said in English, `to leave me alone for so long. You made me your promise that you would stay with me.'
Nikos has many commitments tonight, pedhi.' There was a hint of reproof in her aunt's tone. 'He must take care of all of our guests.'
`Of course.' Marguerite looked a little crestfallen. 'I am sorry, this. I did not mean to sound discourteous.'
`You have already met my niece, I believe?' Kyria Alexandros asked of Nicky. Nikos tells me you are the same age.'
`I understand so,' murmured Nicky.
`Then you will each find much of interest in the other perhaps. You must come and visit us whenever you can, child, and instruct Marguerite in the ways of your country as she in those of our own. There is much to be gained from such an exchange.'
Nicky could not think what exactly, and she was sure that Marguerite must agree, but it would have been impolite to say so. She was grateful that the announcement that dinner was waiting to be served saved her
from the necessity of any kind of reply.
The seating arrangements at table found her placed between Dino on her left, and Lee on her right hand, which gave ample opportunity for the kind of comparison she had anticipated. Up at the head of the table, Nikos was being the perfect host, dividing his attention among his immediate neighbours with a scrupulous courtesy which made no distinction for the vision of beauty at his side. Irrationally, Nicky felt as irritated over this as by his manner in general. If only once, just once he would do the human thing and ignore the demands of his position. Surely it was only natural for a man to show his bride-to-be a little favouritism?
'You have not forgotten your promise to allow me to show you the gardens?' asked Dino over the fruit course. 'They are best seen in moonlight.'
'I'm sure they are,' she returned equably. But I don't remember exactly promising.'
'You said perhaps, and that in your country most often means yes.'
Nicky laughed. 'You're a born optimist, Dino — or an opportunist. I can't make up my mind which.'
'It would be of help,' he returned seriously, `if you had better knowledge of me, and you cannot do this by keeping me at a distance from you. We are alike, you and I, in our need for something other than our daily lives can offer. We could have many good times together while you are here in Kerkyra.'
'Need I keep reminding you that I'm not here to have good times?' she answered lightly. 'Tonight is an exception.'
'Tonight is not what I mean by a good time. For
me, it is good only because you are here. I shall come often to the Xenia if you will not come to the villa. Now that I have found you I do not intend to lose you again.'
Which would have been all the more convincing, thought Nicky in some amusement, if she could rid herself of the mental picture of him using that same technique on just about every other English girl with whom he had come into contact during his time in London. Turning her head a little, she caught Lee's glance, and winked to show him that she wasn't taking Dino all that seriously. He winked back, said in low tones:
`Better watch it. You're attracting some attention from the head of the table.'
It was the wrong moment to look, of course, but Nicky had switched her gaze before she could think about it. Nikos was looking straight at her, eyes a little narrowed, mouth unsmiling. She fought down the mad impulse to raise her glass to him, returned his regard with all the coolness she Could muster, and treated Lee to a dazzling smile.
`That'll fox him. Now he'll not know which one I'm after!'
Some unreadable expression passed briefly across Lee's face before he said evenly, 'Games like that can be dodgy, you know. Some might take them seriously.'
`Not Dino. I doubt that he's got a serious bone in his body.'
`You speak of me?' asked that individual from her other side, and Nicky laughed, aware that Nikos still watched from his place at the head of the long table.
'Can you think of a better subject?'
'None.' His eyes sparkled at her. 'But Lee can tell you nothing of me which I cannot tell you better.'
'In moonlight?' she asked on a taunting note. think this is where I came in.'
`It's also where you go out,' Lee observed, rising to pull back her chair as Kyria Alexandros came to her feet. 'The meal is over.'
The meal might be over, the evening certainly was not. The syrupy Turkish coffee was served back in the saloni, with liqueurs to follow for those who wanted them. Nicky sat beside Lee on the long blue couch, listening to him converse fluently with the couple next to him, and wishing she could do _more herself than answer a few simple remarks and smile until her face ached. She didn't know whether to be relieved or apprehensive when Nikos came purposefully across the room towards them.
'You expressed a desire to see the gardens, I believe, Miss Brent,' he said smoothly, ignoring the quickly suppressed surprise of the Greek couple. I shall be pleased to show them to you 'now, although they are hardly at their best at this time of the year.'
It may have sounded like a polite offer; Nicky knew differently. However, there was little to be gained by refusing, and at least it got her out of what was fast becoming a boring situation. She got to her feet with the smile still fixed and went with him without a murmur.
The night air was deliciously cool, the smell of the sea heady and strong. The gardens themselves were floodlit in calculated patches, each cunningly concealed beam highlighting a particularly well planned
piece of flora. As he had said, high summer was not the best time of all to view nature at its best in this part of the world, but there was beauty enough in the plant l
ife still flourishing
'Magical,' remarked Nicky flippantly, feeling that it was time she took some initiative. 'You must be very proud of your home, kyrie
'This is not the matter I wish to discuss with you,' he returned shortly. 'And well you are aware of it.'
'Yes.' She gave him a direct look. 'You want to talk to me about Dino.'
A reluctant smile momentarily overcame the tautness of his features. 'You believe, I think you would say, in taking the bull by the horns.'
'Every time. I can even fill in on what you're going to say. Stay away from my brother, Miss Brent. He is not for the likes of you.'
He inclined his head, expression veiled. 'It is not quite the way in which I would have expressed myself, but the meaning is the same. I would not like to see you take seriously anything which Dino might say to you. He is easily in love, and easily out of it. A habit he acquired in your country, oddly enough.'
'Nothing odd about it,' she retaliated. 'We're rather more enlightened about these things than you are here. A few light-hearted flirtations make the real thing all the more real when it eventually happens — if it ever does happen.'
'You doubt the existence of love?' His voice had taken on a new note, a disturbing note. 'You have never felt any deep emotion for any man?'
Nicky's shrug was careless. 'It depends on what you mean by deep. I think Dino is just about the most
handsome man I've ever met. Will that do for a start?'
`You joke with me,' he said frowningly. But I am not joking. Tonight I see you smile first at my brother, and then at Lee Merril, as if they were both of them special to you.'
`They are,' she said blandly. 'They both have a lot to offer — although of the two perhaps your brother's prospects are rather poorer. At least Lee isn't tied to the family purse-strings !'
The sudden sharp contraction of the muscles in his jaw was almost audible. 'You go too far,' he said. 'I will not permit such remarks.'
`Really?' It was the tone of his voice more than the actual words which roused her — that and the knowledge that he could be right. 'I'm afraid I'm not very interested in what you will or will not permit, kyrie. You began this discussion. All you want is for Dino to toe the line and accept a lifetime of playing second fiddle to you. You've made no attempt to find out what he wants.'
Nikos was still for a long moment, the skin pulled tight over the bones of his face.
`You have known my brother for less than one week,' he said at last. 'And yet already you believe that you know him better than I do myself?'
`I think I understand him better.' Fleetingly Nicky thought of Lee and his plea for her not to interfere in the affairs of the Alexandros family, and found herself going on anyway. 'Dino needs to lead his own life, in his own way. He wants to open a restaurant of his own in England, but even for that he needs your approval.'
`He has told you this himself?'
`Yes. It's one of his dearest dreams.' Nicky was beginning to have grave doubts herself about the wisdom of this whole conversation. What she had begun, however, she might as well finish. 'I'm sure he would make a success of it.'
`You are?' He was looking at her with an odd expression. When he moved it was to indicate a path leading off from the right-hand corner of the stone-paved patio before them. 'You will come with me.'
Somehow, Nicky found herself obeying him despite herself, winding through shrubbery and trees, from shadow to light and back to darkness again. Once he slipped a hand swiftly beneath her elbow when she caught her toe against a raised stone and stumbled, but he did not speak. Stealing a glance at him as he paced so coldly at her side, Nicky felt a flicker of apprehension. Where was he taking her, this man she could not begin to fathom? And why was she going with him in the first place? She had said all she intended to say on the subject of his brother's future. Now it was up to Dino himself to hold out for his rights.
The path ended abruptly in front of a small, rough stone building set under the left-hand fork of a huge olive. It was dark here among the trees backing the more formal part of the grounds, the moon hidden behind the spreading foliage. Nikos pushed open the door of the cottage or shed, or whatever it was, and indicated that she should wait just inside while he moved slowly on ahead into the room. A moment later there was the sound of a flint being struck, and his lighter flared to reveal a low, bare raftered room with a long bench of some kind running along one side under
the window. It was to this latter that Nikos moved, busying himself with something standing there until quite suddenly a soft radiance filled the interior, and he replaced the glass over the tall oil lamp.
From her place by the door, Nicky could now see that the bench was equipped with a full and expensive array of tools, all neatly hanging in racks fixed to the back wall, with glass covers to protect them from the damaging humidity. To one side stood a large box bearing English lettering which stated that here was one Bridges Electric Drill. The box was closed and fastened with staples as though it had just recently arrived. The whole place was spotless, not a trace of sawdust, or even any other kind lingering anywhere.
'One of Dino's dearest dreams when he was fifteen years of age,' said Nikos expressionlessly. 'This whole place was built and equipped for him in exact copy of one he had seen in an English magazine of hobbies for men and boys. He has never even used any of the tools. My brother has always been like this he always will be like this. His ideas do not last longer than it takes him to think of something new.' A slight pause. 'It is the same with whatever it is that he desires.'
Nicky said slowly, 'Ten years is a long time. He was a boy then, he's a man now. By this time he should know his own mind.'
'Why are you so eager for him to go to England?' he asked bitingly. 'Because you see yourself as the one he would rely on there? Perhaps for a time it would be so, but not for very long.'
'Meaning I haven't got what it takes to hold on to a man like your brother?' She tried to say it lightly, not at all certain how she had created this particular situ-
"
ation, but determined to see it through to its bitter end. 'Then it looks as if it's going to be Lee after all. Better a bird in the hand, and all that. Anyway, thanks for the advice.'
She had her hand on the door jamb ready to step outside when he caught her roughly by the shoulder, spinning her about to face him. In the flickering light of the lamp he looked very dark and very dangerous.
"Always when we speak together you enrage me,' he clipped. 'And purposely so. Why do you do this? Why must you always fight against me?'
Looking at him, Nicky felt a sudden dryness in her throat. She swallowed, said swiftly and fiercely, 'It wouldn't occur to you, I suppose, that I simply might not like you very much? Why can't you just leave me alone? I can manage without your patronization!'
For a moment, as his hands cut into her shoulders, she thought she had finally gone too far. Heart racing, she gazed into the glittering eyes, aware that fear was only a part of the emotions running riot inside her. She wasn't sure why she reacted to him this way, or even which way she wanted him to react towards her. The only thing she did know was that Nikos Alexandros aroused something in her which she had never experienced before. She was almost disappointed when his grip relaxed and fell away.
'While you are at the Xenia,' he said harshly, 'you are in my care. If you do not like such a state of affairs that is unfortunate. We will now return to the house.'
They had made the journey out in silence, and in silence they returned. To Nicky it seemed an age since they had left the saloni, but it could only have been a matter of minutes, for nothing had changed. Nikos ac-
companied her back to her seat on the long couch at Lee's side, bowed with meticulous and expressionless politeness and departed, leaving Nicky to reluctantly meet Lee's questioning gaze and hope that her face reflected nothing of what was going on inside her.
`Duty done,' she quipped, 'the host now takes his leave. Do we have to stay much longer,
Lee?'
`Not if you're against it,' he said. 'Some of the others are about ready to leave.'
`You must come again very soon, child,' said their hostess when they went over to express their thanks for the evening. Her smile was warm. 'You are both of you always welcome.'
Nikos was nowhere to be seen as they made their way from the room. Neither, Nicky was swift to note, was Marguerite. She was glad to be back in the car and moving away from the villa, glad to be alone with Lee who of all these people seemed to be the only one with whom she would be at ease.
`Thank goodness that's over,' she said. 'I'm just not cut out for that kind of social gathering.'
`What did Nikos have to say to you?' he asked.
`Nothing very much.' Her voice was carefully casual. 'Just a warning not to encourage Dino's advances in any way. Not that he has anything to worry about. I hardly see myself as a suitable candidate for the position of his sister-in-law !'
`Perhaps as well. He probably already has a suitable wife picked out for Dino. A nice submissive piece who can be relied upon to behave.'
`Well, thanks. I take it I can't.'
`Not in accordance with the rules.' His glance at her was tolerant. 'It's not knowing quite what you're going
to say or do next that's made life so much more interesting round here this last week. That, plus the fact that you're decidedly easy on the eye.'
`Are you looking for a replacement for that French girl?' she asked blandly, and he laughed.
`Is that an offer?'
`I couldn't even start to compete. I don't think I'm the here today and gone tomorrow type.'
`Meaning that you'd want a man for keeps?'
She looked at him quickly. 'Anything wrong in that?'
`Nothing at all — for some. Personally, I think marriage puts blinkers on a relationship, particularly on the woman's side. You're a complacent bunch once you've tied your men down.'
`Don't generalize,' she retorted. 'That's just because you've never met up with the right one.'
`And when I do I'll change overnight, I suppose. You're a romantic, sweetheart.'
