'It was the way you kissed me,' she explained, penitently, and in some haste. 'And with your saying Mark; was sleeping - it was the way you said it, Craig. You really did frighten me.' She nestled against him again; and he felt the tiny shudder that passed through her. That sobered him and he said gently,
'But what about later, darling? You responded to my kisses then.'
She looked up, her eyes revealing all her love. Fleetingly she remembered that after he had achieved his desire, and forced the response from her, he had made that wounding reference to Cetin. But she understood how, with all the profound knowledge of a woman deeply loved, that anything he had done that night to hurt her had been born of jealousy.
'I couldn't help it, even though I thought I was cheating Diane.' Shyness overcame her suddenly as she added, 'I loved you so much, Craig.'
'I knew you did, but you'd just said there couldn't ever be anything between us, and I felt so utterly beaten.' His lips caressed her hair, and as they stood together in silence the room gradually became darker as the logs burned down to mere embers. 'Sweetheart,' he said at last, 'don't you think we'd better go and join the others?' He held her away, smiling in some amusement. 'I never thought I'd so forget my manners as to invite a. friend to dinner and then walk out on him!'
Jeanette's smile broke in response; she did not question Craig about what had happened when Mark, turning up without her, tried to convince him she had a headache. The smouldering glance Craig had given her on entering the room was explanation enough.
'Yes, I expect we ought to go. I'll get my coat.'
They came out into a white and silent world where everything glistened and soon they were travelling slowly along the Ortakoy Caddesi, on a blanket of snow. After a little silence Craig said in low and tender tones,
'My darling, you haven't said when you'll marry me?'
She hesitated, sensing his surprise as she did so.
'Craig... your mother won't be pleased,' she had to say, thinking of the letter she had read at the yali and at the same time hoping Craig would not insist on an explanation of her words.
'I understand my mother very well,' he said calmly, 'and I'm not going to pretend that she'll be pleased - quite the contrary in fact. But she'll accept you, and come to love you, I'm sure. In any case,' he added, still in the same calm voice, 'you won't have mother-in-law trouble, for we shan't be living in England.' He took her hand and placed it on his knee, asking again when she would marry him.
'My mother expects me home in a couple of days,' she began, when he interrupted her.
'You can write and tell her you're being married and the visit will be delayed.' His tones were firm, but he did go on to ask if her mother would be very disappointed at not having her home for the new year.
'She'll be so delighted with the news that she won't mind in the least.' Her mother would be glad for Mark, too, for she had long since despaired of his ever getting married. Jeanette hesitated, suddenly shy, and then, 'A double wedding would be nice, don't you think?'
'I do, but it so happens that Mark and Diane will have to wait a few months - for the sake of decency - while I, my child, am not willing to wait even a few weeks.' He fell silent, concentrating on his driving as he felt the wheels spinning beneath him. Skilfully he brought the car out of a skid, keeping his speed low as he prepared to turn off the Caddesi. Away in front the illuminations of the old city gleamed and twinkled like stars on a Christmas tree while in the distance the lights of a passing ship provided the only relief in the seemingly endless void of Marmara. Across the strait snow lay deep on the hills, like a glacier cascading down -to the sea and on the Bosphorus itself the familiar lights flickered and multiplied themselves in the dim and turbulent waters. Turning into the drive, Craig gingerly touched the brake; the car slid to a standstill outside the brilliantly lighted front porch of the house. 'Can you be ready in a fortnight?' he asked, his arm around her shoulders.
Jeanette's eyes sparkled, but she replied demurely, and with a fluttering of her lashes,
'That's very short notice, but I'll try.'
'You'll try, eh?' His eyes were dark with amused perception but his voice was terse. 'That's very obliging of you, my dear, but I've been kept waiting quite long enough. You'll marry me in a fortnight, understand?'
'Yes, Craig,' she answered meekly, and lifted her face for his kiss.
Anne Hampson Page 19
