Desert Doorway

by Pamela Kent

  she saw the glowing tip of a cigarette. She decided that the only person it could be was the Comte, and that he was probably watching her on her balcony and disapproving of her heedless risking of a chill, so she promptly withdrew into the flood of soft amber light behind her, and then stooped to secure the window.

  But as she went into her bedroom and started to undress�wondering what it would be like to sleep in the ornate French bed�she thought of Celestine, the lovely Comtesse de St. Alais, and

  she found herself wondering about her and Max Daintry�

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  Had Celestine really gone to spend the evening with friends of both herself and her husband? Or had she gone to meet Max Daintry? Were they perhaps both spending the evening at the house of a mutual friend?

  Jenny felt suddenly acutely sorry for the Comtede St. Alais.

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  CHAPTER FOUR

  IT was exactly a week after her arrival in Marrakesh that Jenny saw Max Daintry again. _ She was enjoying her first free morning�that is to say, having handed the children over to the care of Nerida, she had been given permission to enjoy an hour or so of sight-seeing and shopping�and having been dropped by the Comtesse in the Place du 7 Septembre she had found her way gradually to the Djemaa el Fna, the huge marketplace She was standing as if awed by the sights on all sides of her when she heard a voice she immediately recognized utter her name from be hind. And it was odd, because the first tune she har ever heard that voice its owner had had tne advantage of coming upon her from behind.

  "Miss Jenny Armitage!" Max Daintry exclaimed And then, more disapprovingly: "But why are you here alone?"

  Jenny looked up at him a trifle vaguely The Comtesse, who was on her way to a jeweller to recover a set of bracelets that had been entrusted to him for cleaning, had promised to send the car back for her at one o'clock. But unaccustomed to the ways of Moorish life though she was it had struck the younger girl as a little strange that she

  should be light-heartedly abandoned to her own devices in entirely unfamiliar surroundings for so lengthy a period as a couple of hours, without receiving anything in the nature of advice before

  hand. ^ "I�why I�this is my off-duty�� "Off-duty?" he echoed. Still looking up at him

  she could see that he was frowning, but in the Kant sunshine it was a

  mistake about the color of his eyes more decidedly -grey�a hard, clear grey in which, eyeshadow? of his wiry black eyelashes were re

  fleeted. "And are you usually turned loose during your off-duty periods?"

  "This is the first off-duty period I've had."

  "I see," he said, and taking her by the elbow removed her from the path of a blind beggar who was tapping loudly with his stick to warn of his approach, and staring upwards at the brazen blue of the sky with emptly sockets of eyes.

  "Oh!" Jenny exclaimed, and felt herself shuddering inwardly. Max Daintry looked down at her with an odd smile curving his lips.

  "You'll see pleasant sights and unpleasant sights if you remain out here," he told her, and then directed her attention to the white ranges of the High Atlas beyond the city walls, incredibly beautiful with the sunlight pouring over them, and the blue sky behind them. The walls of the city were red�a soft rose-red, like coral�and nearer at hand were thousands of tall palms

  soaring upwards in the clear air. Jenny felt her temporary repulsion fade, and then once againshe looked about her at the�from her point of view�extraordinary sights that had been fascinating her before.

  There were white-robed figures squatting on the ground around snake-charmers and story-tellers, musicians and actors performing comic playsThere were "holy men", repulsively dirty, contort ing their bodies, and stamping frenziedly to the rhythm of small, oblong, hand-beaten drums which filled the square with an incessant throbbing; and medicine-men surrounded by their grotesque medicines: the skins of lizards, claws of leopards, skulls of foxes, and any number of bottles of evil-looking liquids. And in addition tothis strange, motley collection there were various sellers of goods�old-clothes sellers, water-sellers, sellers of sickly sweets.

  Round the sides of the square there were openfronted shops, stocked with quantities of things likely to appeal to Europeans, such as fake jewellery, cheap perfume, plastic combs, belts, and even mackintoshes. There were open-sided tentswhere fish was roasted over a brazier, and trestle tables at which customers sat devouring roast chestnuts and corncobs, and the smell of the various frying foods mingled with the heady smell of jasmine and those wax-white lilies which Jenny had already seen growing in profusion.

  She was so fascinated that she could have remained gazing at these amazing sights indefinitely, but once again Daintry took her by the arm and' led her, without asking her permission, towards a parked car near the centre of the square.

  "If you want to see the sights I can show them to you," he said. "But first of all what about having some coffee somewhere?"

  "Coffee?" Once again she gazed at him vaguely, for that wild cacophony of noises, made up of the many raucous voices raised against one another, and the incessant throbbing of the drums, wasmaking a violent assault on her unaccustomed ears.

  "Yes. And I'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind."

  She looked up at him rather more sharply as he handed her into the car�like all the cars she had so far seen in Marrakesh, luxurious and expensive.

  "Is there anything particular you wish to talk to me about?" she asked, by no means certain that she wished to -spend any time at all in his company.

  "There is�one thing," he admitted, piloting the car through the maze of streets which formed themedina, or native quarter. And then, with a much more casual air: "How do you like it here in

  Marrakesh?"

  "It's early days yet to form an opinion, isnt it?" she counter-questioned.

  He glanced at her with the mocking smile she remembered.

  "Which means that the little girl from thecountry vicarage is by no means certain that she

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  does like it�isn't that it? Or perhaps she's just a bit afraid of life in the raw! Although life in the St. Alais household should be comfortable enough." "It is," she admitted stiffly. "We must take you for a trip up into the High Atlas one of these days," he said, "and then you'll forget about the Moroccan slums. And Marrakesh is a kind of doorway to the desert�not the real desert, for that isn't to be come upon this side of the Atlas�but parched and arid enough to be exciting if that sort of thing appeals to you?" She felt that he silently 'added the words "Valentine stuff!" as he sent her another mocking glance, as if she was a raw teen-ager, secretly expecting adventure.

  She felt herself coloring, and decided that there was little about him she could like, and something of which she could actively disapprove.

  They drew up outside a very large hotel set in beautiful gardens encircled by high walls. Jenny did not know that this was the leading luxury hotel in Marrakesh, the Mamounia, which means "garden of monkeys", but as she had been expecting to be taken for coffee to somewhere more suggestive of a cafe�perhaps a Moorish type of cafe�she was a little surprised.

  As Daintry handed her out of the car he looked at her closely. She was wearing a candy-pink linen dress, and above it the deep blue of her eyes, and

  the peculiarly flawless texture of her skin, seemed somehow enhanced by the suggestion of an English hedge-rose. She had a very youthful, soft curve to her chin, and her mouth was both flowerlike and ardent. And under the brim of her white hat her hair was very definitely chestnut.

  "I think you'll fit in better here than in one of the cafes," he said.

  She did not answer, but followed him into the hotel, her eyes opening wide at the enormous lounges and public rooms. They reminded her of a super Hollywood film-set, but the atmosphere

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  I should say'"

  "Well?" she asked, her eyes widening consider" ably.

  "And although I'm going to give you a piece of advice
, there is absolutely no reason why you should take it."

  "Did you bring me here because you wanted to give me advice?" she asked more curiously, as he seemed in no hurry to lay his advice before her,

  "Partly�although, of course, you are a countrywoman of mine, aren't you?" with a mocking smile. "And we don't get many of your type out here�certainly not in positions of subordination, shall we say, in the houses of the local great?"

  "By which you mean the Comte and Comtesse de St. Alais?"

  "I mean the Comte and Comtesse de St. Alais �and my advice to you, the suggestion I wish to make to you, is that you cease to look upon them as employers, and go home to England! You can hand in your notice at any time, I take it? You don't have to serve a full month, or anything of that sort? How long have you been here now? A week?"

  "A week to-day," she answered him stiffly, and then added with hardly repressed indignation and amazement: "I never "heard such an impertinent suggestion in my life! And not only because it concerns anything so vital to me as my job, but because you profess to be a friend of the St. Alais's, and yet you would deprive them of their governess!"

  Her voice trembled with indignation.

  "I was afraid you would take it like that," he said, and signed to the waiter to bring more coffee.

  But Jenny had no desire for any more coffee, and she pushed away the half-empty cup that was already in front of her,

  "I'll have to go now," she said, preparing to rise. "The Comtesse is sending the car for me " "You've plenty of time," he told her almost lazily, glancing at his watch, "and, if I know any

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  thing about Celestine, the car will be late 2 And then with sudden, abrupt seriousness-icily coolness, because his face as well was hard and expressionless "Wouldn't you like to hear at least the reason why I think it advisable that you should go home to England? .

  "No I don't think so." But she was staring at him in amazement. How could he make such a suggestion and expect her to pay any attention -For one thing, I can't afford to give up my job, and for another, I am on a month to month employment. easily be put right," he told herm the same distant manner, "But can you honestly tell me that the job has come up to all your expectations? a little defiantly-'it has-in a way! I

  love the children, and already we are great And do you find yourself just as much drawn to Celestine?" he inquired with very noticeable

  "She "is quite a considerate employer; she doesn't interfere," Jenny replied truthfully. "And the Comte? How do you like the Comte?

  "He is very considerate." "Ah yes," the Englishman murmured, as if he found this piece of information interesting, I ve no doubt he would be-with their attractive suggestion of violets hidden in the depths of a shadowy wood, stared at him resentfully.

  "And are you trying to tell me that the Corntesse will cease to be after a time? He shook his head. .

  "I am trying to tell you nothing. I, am merely asking you-suggesting to you-to go home'..More than that I cannot say, but in your own best interests you should regard this Moroccan adventure

  more than an adventure which_midfired, turn your back on it and forget all about it

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  as quickly as you can. Believe me, I wouldn't give you this advice if I wasn't sure you are the wrong type altogether to have hit upon this governessing post, which is not your cup of tea at all."

  "You mean that I am not capable of giving the maximum amount of efficiency in return for my salary?" she asked with dangerous softness.

  "Not at all. I am quite sure you are extremelyefficient, and the St. Alais infants have probably taken to you�but that it all beside the point."

  "What is the point, then?" she insisted. "I have told you�it's not the job for you. You are too young��"

  "I am twenty-four. The Comtesse particularly asked for someone young, and so far she has found nothing about me to complain of."

  He was regarding her beneath very black and frowning brows, and she felt sure she had driven him into a corner. ; "If your father was alive I am sure he wouldnot have approved of your coming out here."

  "No, but he isn't," she said, with a sigh in the words. And then she added more stiffly: "And that is a definite reflection on the integrity of the Comte."

  Daintry ignored this, and then asked almost impatiently:

  "Will you be guided by me and go back to the kind of people you understand, and amongst whom you can find any number of jobs similar to the one you are holding down now?"

  Jenny found herself frowning at him just as he was frowning at her, and all at once she felt as if a flood of daylight had poured over her.

  Of course, she thought, the reason why he wanted her to go was because he personally did not wish her to remain where she was! She might in time become a nuisance�a hindrance to his "friendship" with Celestine. Her sympathies began to go out towards the Comte. It must be obvious to the meanest intelligence that the latter and his wife were estranged, and�as Jenny un

  fortunately already knew�the mother of Simone and Louis was in the habit of Permitting herselfto be kissed by Max Daintry, and she had looked at him with eyes of hungry possessiveness which

  no one could possibly have misunderstood . . .1

  The meaning of Daintry's desire to remove an observant English governess from the path was clear. "If you don't mind," Jenny said, rising in quite a dignified manner, "I really will go now. And, looking at him with cool scorn m her eyes, how ever guilty your own conscience, Mr. Daintry, l can assure you that you need have no fear of me whatsoever. I shall not be tempted to act as a spyon behalf of the children's father, and whatever you and the Comtesse de St. Alais choose to do is no concern of mine." ,

  She moved towards the entrance, and realized that he was following hard at her heels. When sheventured to turn and look at him over her shoulder she saw that his face appeared to have lost a

  considerable amount of its tan and thathe was

  almost white with anger, while his eyes frightened

  Perhaps it will be as well if you forget our conversation of this morning "he said, and suddenly forged ahead of her and led the way out to his car. He held the door open for her, and when she was seated beside him he started up the engineand drove her back to the Place du 7 Septembre, where they saw that the Comtesse'a car, with the grey-livered chauffeur at the wheel was drawn

  up awaiting her. Jenny's wrist-watch indicated that it was a quarter past one.

  "Thank you for the coffee," she said, as she climbed stiffly down from her seat beside the wheel of Daintry's car, "and thank you,', she added with a dryness which was marred by her shocked realization that she was a quarter of an hour late, he didn't wait until the chauffeur had started up the grey

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  car before his owa engine purred to life ao-ain and he shot across the square like an arrogant streak of controlled dark crimson fury picked outwith a great deal of chromium and an Ene-ligh number plate. And, as Jenny realized, he hadn't even said good-bye,for her!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  WHEN she reached the St. Alais house she was so conscious of being late for lunch that she wasalmost in a panic. This was the first time she had been permitted the indulgence of a few hours off duty, and she had kept the Ccmtesse's chauffeur waiting, and worse than that the family would already be at lunch in the great dining-room, andher entrance in the middle of the meal would look extremely bad, even if one took a light view of it.

  But she had to hasten up to her room to tidy herself and wash the stickiness of the morningfrom her hands and face before she could join the others, and by the time she had hastily re-made up her face another ten minutes had sped by. She descended the stairs with a quaking heart, and entered the dining-room ready to express sincerest apologies.

  But the Comte�who, as usual, was seated at the head of the table�said to her very pleasantly, as he immediately stood up:

  "Oh, hello, Miss Armitage! Did you find all the strange sights so absorbing that you couldn't drag y
ourself away from them?"

  "I'm so terribly sorry I'm late," Jenny got out.

  "'It would have been a little more considerate of you if you had been on time for lunch," the Comtesse, who was assisting Simone to spoon up her grapefruit, observed in the bleakest of disapproving voices, and Jenny felt herself color furiously with embarrassment,

  "I'm so sorry!" she repeated. "I'm afraid I was having coffee with Mr. Daintry�I met him in the big square where all the little stalls are�and I didn't notice the time was passing��"

  "You were doing what?" Celestine asked, as if the rest of the explanation had passed her by. "Having coffee with Mr. Daintry. We went to an hotel��"

  "Which hotel ?''

  "I think it was called the Mamounia. It was

  very large, and modern��" "You'll be going there again this afternoon/" the Comtesse said, still efficiently attending toSimone, although Jenny had made an agitated move in the direction of the child and been waved away to a seat on the other side of the table, "totake the children to see their grandmother. You'll have tea with her and her companion, and I hope you won't keep the car waiting when it arrives for you at five o'clock." She waited for a moment tobe sure that her daughter was capable of manipulating her own small silver spoon without scattering grapefruit juice over herself at the same time, and then delivered her final barbed shaft. "And in future, when you leave this house by yourself, you will avoid having coffee, or any other form of refreshment, with masculine acquaintances whohave not yet really become acquaintances, because that is something I do not care to permit," with a dangerous flash from greenish-amber eyes. "If you are anxious to have young men friends, we will find you some�or, at least, one!�but Mr. Daintry is not to be called upon to look after my

  governess when she feels the need of entertainment! Is that absolutely clear?" "I�I��" Jenny found herself stammering, half choking over her own grapefruit, and 'in the midst of her extreme confusion she was not even aware that a glimmering distress appeared inthe eyes of the Comte as he gazed at her. But shedid hear him say quickly: