Strangers May Marry

by Anne Hampson

  'It—it doesn't matter, Paul. Forget I asked about her.' She was on the defensive, and it exasperated him in a way that astounded her.

  'Do you want me to shake you, Laura?' he enquired in a very soft voice.

  'I wish I'd never mentioned her.' Laura was assuming an air of composure she was far from feeling.

  'But as you did mention her, then let us have this out, once and for all. I don't want you suspecting things that don't exist.'

  So he was troubled about her, anxious for her not to worry. Her heart warmed to him and a flood of affection encompassed her like sun-kissed water on a summer's day. She felt wonderful and it showed, in her eyes, sparkling and wide, in her colour, which resembled the bloom of a newly gathered peach, in the smile she gave him and with which she hoped to melt away his anger. She waited and saw his stern face relax, noticed the slow smile which erased the tightness of his mouth. Her lovely lips widened as her smile spread. Paul stepped forward, cupped her face in his strong warm hands and kissed her—gently at first, a mere caress, but ardour brought strength, and when at last he released her from the embrace into which he had drawn her she was breathless, gasping to take in air.

  'Oh…' Laura inhaled deeply. 'Wh-why did you do that?'

  'Because you tempted me.' His smile was slow, but yet reflected the humour in his glance. 'If you look at me like that, Laura, you must expect some kind of reaction.'

  She gave a shaky laugh, strangely happy that he was teasing her. 'Do you want the tea?' she asked absurdly. 'It—'

  'No, I don't want the tea. I still want an answer to my question.' His eyes locked with hers, and although the challenge in their depths was mild, Laura was not deceived into thinking she could parry any longer.

  'Marilyn seemed to think you'd married… er… on the rebound.' The words came reluctantly and they brought a flush to Laura's cheeks.

  'She did?' imperturbably. .'What else did she say?'

  Laura clasped her hands, cursing herself for even so much as mentioning the girl. 'She… she said she made a mistake in going away, and that… that you could see it now…' Her voice trailed to silence and she looked down at her hands.

  'She said that?' Paul's voice was chill and incisive. 'She must have been in a strange mood to speak to you in that kind of vein.'

  'As I said, she was upset on learning that you are married.' She moved restlessly towards the window, surprised to see how rapidly the sun was falling, until she looked at her watch. The sun fell swiftly in this part of the world, and as yet she was still missing the long twilight to which she had been used. Already the celestial blue of the sky was tinted with turquoise and pearl.

  'Was that all she said?' The cold precision of Paul's voice brought her swinging around to face him again.

  'Does it matter?' she asked with a plea in her voice which he chose to ignore.

  'It matters a great deal. As I've said, I don't want you suspecting things that don't exist.'

  'I know it's all over,' she assured him.

  'Yes, it's certainly all over,' he returned grimly. 'As for there being regret on my part… she's wrong and I should have thought she knew it. Marilyn and I would never have been compatible, and I explained this to her. I pointed out also, that it was better to discover it before marriage than after that most vitally important step had been taken.' He paused a moment and then went on. 'I insist on hearing all she said to you, Laura, so please don't prevaricate any longer or I am liable to lose my patience.'

  Laura looked at him, aware that the part he had left unsaid was that she had not yet seen his temper, and her memory winged to that early impression she had— that he could reveal a very different side of his nature that he could be ruthless to the point of cruelty. After all, he was a Cretan, and Cretans were notorious for being merciless towards those who opposed or angered them. It was a truism that there was 'none like them in all the peopled world.'

  She continued to look at his set face and gave a sigh of resignation. The next few minutes were going to be unpleasantly difficult for her she thought as she began to repeat all that Marilyn had said. She saw his mouth compress when he heard what Marilyn had hinted about Mandy.

  'Didn't you tell her that she was Joseph's child?' he demanded with rising anger.

  'No. You'd told her that Mandy was a relative of mine…'

  'So I did.' Paul seemed annoyed with himself. 'It seemed the simplest explanation at the time.' He stopped and frowned. 'You should have told her the truth, though. I wouldn't have minded.'

  'As a matter of fact I didn't feel like embarking on explanations to a woman I didn't know. I merely said that you had proof that Mandy wasn't my child.' Embarrassed, she turned away again, hoping he would let the matter drop now that he had heard everything. The sun was lower in the sky, and shadows were lengthening across the wide green lawns and the exotically beautiful flowers in the borders and shrubberies. A figure flitted among the trees and then was gone. Another, smaller figure darted into the dimness after being caught fleetingly in the sunlight. Laura smiled. How happy Mandy was these days. This was what she had needed, people about her, people like Lefki and Julia and others to play with her, to give her some attention. She was thriving on it and Laura felt that Phil would scarcely know her now.

  'I can hardly believe that Marilyn would lower her pride sufficiently to talk like that to you,' Paul was saying after a thoughtful pause during which he had gone over all that Laura had said. 'She's usually very conscious of her dignity.'

  'I told her she'd regret what she was saying. Like you, I felt she had never before lowered her pride like that.'

  'There's obviously an inherent flaw in her character, a weakness over which, at the time, she had no control.' Again Paul lapsed into thought, while Laura nodded automatically in agreement. For herself, she had a natural aversion to acting in any way which, reviewed at a later time, might cause her cheeks to burn. 'Her only motive must have been the desire to upset you.' Paul sighed. 'There seems no other logical explanation.'

  'I believe she sensed a mystery.'

  'There is no mystery.'

  'Well, it wasn't a normal marriage… and I feel she guessed it wasn't—' Laura broke off as she noticed the lifting of her husband's brows, a sign that he was reminding her that it certainly was a normal marriage. 'What I mean is,' she added hurriedly before he could voice the sardonic remark which she was sure lingered on his tongue, 'that there never were the normal preliminaries… the falling in love—' Again she stopped, aware now of the sudden tightening of his facial muscles and the shadows which had darkened the vivid blue of his eyes. She frowned. Did he regret that there had been no preliminaries? No falling in love? Yes, she was sure of it, for she had learned that he could be sentimental, far more sentimental than Phil had ever been.

  He looked at her and said, as if the thought had just occurred to him, 'Were you upset by Marilyn's malicious remarks?'

  'A little, especially when she implied that you now knew your marriage was a mistake.' She turned to the window again on hearing childish laughter, but there was no sign of Mandy. Laura guessed the two were playing hide-go-seek among the trees and flowering shrubs. But it looked as if they would be driven in before long because instead of the expected miracle of the sunset, there was an eerie light descending over the entire landscape, which changed the aspect with dramatic suddenness. The sky had darkened, overcast by pewter-grey clouds which were vanquishing the sun and casting a forlorn atmosphere over the garden, making it appear sad and uninspiring. 'I think it's going to rain,' predicted Laura, and at that moment felt her husband's hands come to rest upon her shoulders. He turned her to face him, bent his head and brushed her lips with his.

  'You, my dear,' he said gently, 'have nothing to fear from any woman. The men of my family right down through the ages have been notorious rakes before marriage but invariably have made faithful husbands.'

  A smile lit her eyes, hinting of mischief. 'Were you a rake?' she wanted to know, and he laughed before answ
ering.

  'A wife doesn't ask a question like that.' He gave her a little shake to emphasise the words.

  'I don't think you were a rake,' she stated with conviction.

  'No?' His brows were raised and amusement glimmered in his eyes. He thought of his past as regards his relationships with women. A lot of laughter in his youth, interludes of dalliance, a sample now and then of the joys of sex, but certainly he'd never overindulged to the point where he could be described as a rake. He supposed his experience was somewhat scanty in comparison with that of the average Greek male, but he had acquired a certain finesse for all that. He looked down at his wife and smiled. Into the even tenor of his life she had come, and it seemed that all which had gone before dissolved into nothingness. But she was in love with someone else…

  'Dear Paul…' Her voice was no more than a whisper but the word 'dear' seemed to ring like music in his ears. It was the first time she had used it, and he wondered if it was the beginning of the victory he was fighting for. 'What are you thinking about? You're so far away from me.'

  'And does that matter?'

  'Yes,' she said without a moment's hesitation, 'it does.'

  The ensuing silence was profound; she looked at him and saw that his eyes were shaded by emotion. On impulse she went up on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.

  Chapter Eight

  During the next week or two Laura found herself falling into a pattern of life which, at least, was one of contentment. True, scarcely an hour passed but what there would be a brief intrusion of Phil into her thoughts, but more and more she was able to dismiss the image with a swiftness that surprised her. She spent a good deal of her time with Mandy, but she had been shopping, too, in Heraklion, taken there by Paul who had some business to do in the town. Laura splashed out with some of the generous allowance she had been given both for herself and Mandy. It gave her disproportionate pleasure when her husband praised her choice, but one day he did say she must have a shopping spree in Athens in the not-too-distant future. 'I have to go on business next week,' he told her, but added that as his entire time would be taken up, he was not taking her with him. They would have a few days next month, he promised, when he would be able to give her all his time. She was looking forward to it but was faintly disappointed that he was going alone first. She would miss him, she realised, miss him far more than she would have done earlier in their relationship.

  He had been gone only a few hours when to her surprise she had a phone call from Marilyn.

  'Before you tell me Paul's away, I'm saying it's you I'm wanting to speak to,' Marilyn began, an inscrutable ring to her voice. Laura held the receiver away, frowning at it as her heartbeats began to quicken.

  'Me?' she returned briefly. 'Why me?'

  'Oh, just to have a little chat,' was the cryptic reply. 'Is it all right if I come over immediately after lunch?'

  'You know Paul's away, obviously?'

  'I happened to be at the airport seeing a party of our guests off when I saw Paul. He said he was leaving for Athens.' A pause, but Laura felt instinctively that it was not made so that she could speak, but because Marilyn was thinking something over. Her next words strengthened the suspicion. 'He was exceptionally cool, which makes me think you repeated to him all I said to you.'

  Ignoring the implicit question, Laura said quietly, 'I can't imagine that you and I have anything important to say to one another, Marilyn, and so I'm not inviting you over—'

  'Then I shall invite myself!'

  'You—!' Again Laura stared into the receiver, 'I don't understand,' she said coldly.

  'You will. I've been doing a little detective work among Paul's employees because I became most curious to know how he came to marry you…' She stopped. 'I can't talk over the phone,' she resumed after a few seconds and in a much lower tone of voice. 'I'll be over at about half past two this afternoon.' And without giving Laura any further chance of speaking, she hung up.

  Slowly Laura replaced the receiver on its rest. Should she phone Paul? He had left her a number—that of his apartment in the capital—and said that although he would be out all day and probably until late in the evening, she could leave a message if anything happened to make that necessary.

  She stood, thoughtfully going over what Marilyn had said; she was conscious of ragged nerves and the sort of breathless discomfiture which always follows a sudden quickening of the heartbeats. She was most uncomfortable inside, as if knots were even now being tied in her stomach. What form had this detective work taken? And why had Marilyn interested herself in her, Laura, and the circumstances of her marriage to Paul? It was true that the girl was crazed with jealousy, but since there could be no possibility of undoing what was done, there seemed no profit in what Marilyn was doing. Nevertheless, Laura was conscious of a certain fear, a foreboding, and decided to postpone ringing her husband until after she had heard what the girl had to say.

  Marilyn was prompt; her car crunched to a stop right outside the imposing, pillared facade of the villa and she eased her supple body from the driver's seat, glancing towards the window at which Laura was standing, the wide french window of the living room into which she was shown less than half a minute later. She came in with her head held high, as if she would have Laura forget her self-inflicted humiliation of the previous visit. The big eyes were brilliant, as if triumph lurked somewhere in their depths.

  Laura said good afternoon and flicked a hand, indicating a chair. 'Please sit down.'

  There was a look of sneering amusement on Marilyn's face as she accepted the invitation, but there was something more as well, something that sent icy ripples along Laura's spine.

  'I haven't much time before Mandy comes from play school,' said Laura, 'so please bear that in mind and be as brief as possible.' She was acting a part, making a supreme effort to hide her uneasiness.

  'You're a cool one!' Marilyn leant back in the red damask chair, her golden head making an attractive contrast against the soft, duck-down cushion behind it. She wore a cotton dress of pale lilac with dark mauve trimming; her bag and sandals were of fine white leather. An exotic perfume clung to the girl as if it were part of her and her alone. Attractive, desirable, tempting… Just three adjectives out of many flattering ones that Laura could have used. She wondered just how deep Paul's feelings had been for this girl. 'So you've started the child at school already?'

  'Play school. It's just a few hours daily.'

  'You fetch her home yourself?'

  Laura frowned impatiently and sat down. 'Will you please say what you've come to say? I'm sure you're not interested in Mandy.' So cool, but inside… The knots were twisting themselves together again. 'You said on the telephone that you'd been talking to some of Paul's employees. Perhaps you'll explain, because I'm extremely interested in your reason for this… er… detective work, as you call it.'

  Marilyn looked at her through narrowed, glittering eyes. 'You came here originally to find Joseph Warburton. You asked all about, even in the cafeneion down in the village.'

  'You've been busy,' was Laura's only response to that.

  'And so were you—without much success. You were not only wanting to find Joseph, but the woman who'd been living with him… your sister.' Marilyn stopped and waited, eyes still narrowed but they flickered now, continuously, as they looked into the guarded stare of the girl sitting opposite to her.

  'Will you tell me what all this is leading up to?' Laura marvelled at the steadiness of her voice. Bewildered because nothing had as yet emerged with any clarity, she was at the same time profoundly affected by the girl's manner, feeling that before this interview was over Marilyn would have succeeded in striking real fear into her heart. 'How you have learned that Joseph's wife was my sister I can't think. I never mentioned it to anyone.'

  'His wife!' with a ring of contempt. 'Oh, well, I expect you prefer to think of her as his wife. However, she's not the wife of the man she's with at present, is she?' Laura, pale now but still managing to retain he
r composure, refused to comment and the girl continued in the same cat-and-mouse way. 'You had no idea when you came here looking for Mandy's father that your sister had put herself in grave danger. When you were told of this danger by Paul you then made some attempt to find her—'

  'How do you know all this?' demanded Laura with a baffled stare. 'It would almost seem you have eavesdropped, here in this house, but of course that isn't possible.'

  'No; but it's possible for someone else to eavesdrop.'

  'You mean… ?' Laura was still baffled. 'None of Paul's servants would eavesdrop. There's no reason why they should.'

  'It depends.' A pause followed, with electricity running through the silence. 'You know of the vendetta. Paul told you about it. Well, in his employ there is at least one person who believes in just punishment for a crime. An eye for an eye! As I do.' The girl's voice was becoming strident and her manner almost hysterical as she continued. 'You took the man I was going to marry. If you hadn't arrived on the scene, all would have been right between us when I came home! But you did arrive, to look for Joseph so you could give him his child. Then Paul, out of pity… and perhaps to spite me… asked you to marry him. It would solve all your problems. You refused because you had someone else. What happened on your return to England I'm unable to know for sure, since I wasn't there. But I can make an intelligent guess. Your fiancé still wouldn't have the child.' She stopped, her eyes wide and bulging now, and bright with sheer virulence. She was mad, thought Laura, and rising rather quickly, tugged at the bell-rope. 'What are you doing?' demanded Marilyn, leaning forward in her chair to pick up her handbag. 'Don't you dare ask anyone to show me out yet! I haven't finished… not by any means!' Fumblingly she opened the bag and extracted a cigarette case.

  Fascinated, Laura watched even though her mind, made chaotic by all it had taken in, was grappling with the instinct to put all the items in order. The one starkly distasteful thing was that someone had deliberately listened to much that had been said—in this very room mainly—by Paul and herself. She spoke at last, after Marilyn, inhaling deeply, seemed to have calmed down a little. 'What reason did you have for this investigation?'