Beware of the Beast (15 page)

She heard him moving about, dressing probably, but
refused to look at him. She felt degraded and humiliated,
and she couldn't bear to see the satisfaction in his face. How could anyone suffer such indignities for pleasure?
she
asked
herself bitterly. Dear God, what had she let herself in for?

"I've got to go, Charlotte." Alex's voice was harsh in the
stillness, but she didn't look round. "Charlotte, for God's sake, what do you want me to say?"

"Nothing t" she mumbled into the pillow, and gasped when
he caught her arms and flung her on to her back.

He was dressed now, his shirt buttoned almost to the top,
dark and disturbingly attractive, and she hated him for it.
With trembling fingers, she dragged the covers over her
limbs, while he looked down at her coldly.

"Can't you at least say goodbye to your husband?" he
demanded.

Charlotte gulped. "Yes, yes. Goodbye. Just go
I
"

"Is that all?"

"I should ask you
thatl
" she retorted bitterly.

"Charlotte, you were a
virgin !
There was no way to make
it easy for you."

"I don't want to talk about it. If that's all there is to it,
then I don't even want to think about it." She shuddered.

Alex sighed frustrated, "Charlotte, if I had the time I would show you how much better it can be
- "

"No, you
wouldn't !
" she replied stormily. "Don't you dare touch me again I"

"Oh,
God!"
Alex raked a hand through his hair, staring at
her with angry eyes. "This is some way to send me on my
trip, isn't it?"

"You can't blame me for that." Charlotte sniffed. "Why
don't you go?
Go!
George will be getting impatient. Go and
tell him what you've
donel
"

"Charlotte, I warn you
- "
He broke off, his expression
violent. "
All right.
All right, I'm going. I'll let you know when
I'll be back."

"Don't
bother !"
Charlotte retorted coldly, and buried her
face in the pillow again.

She didn't see him go. She heard the helicopter rise over
the villa and presently
fade
into the distance, and only then
did the hot tears flood down over her pale cheeks.

CHAPTER SIX

 
IN spite of her distress, Charlotte must have fallen
asleep
 
because
she awakened to the sound of Tina saying her
 
over and over. She opened her eyes reluctantly, aware
if a.
curious aching sensation in her lower limbs which at
3nee resolved itself into a bitter remembrance of what had
:-:
curred
. She was also made aware of her nakedness beneath
the thin satin sheet, and a wave of embarrassment swept over
her. The Greek girl was standing beside the bed, and although
it was a futile exercise at this late stage, Charlotte rolled over
on to her stomach, turning her head sideways on the pillow
and saying rather resentfully: "What do you want?"

Tina's sharp eyes had missed nothing of the tumbled state
of the bedcovers and Charlotte's discomfort, but her voice was
gentle as she replied: "Maria was worried,
kyria
.
Is eleven
o'clock!"

"Eleven o'clock!" Charlotte echoed her words disbeliev
ingly, but she propped herself up on her elbows and reaching
for her watch from the bedside table saw in dismay that it
i
^r
as
indeed ten minutes past eleven.

"
Kyrios
Alexandros
left very early this morning, didn't
he,
kyria
?"
Tina went on conversationally, in a sympathetic
tone. "What a pity,
ohi
?"

Charlotte hunched her slim shoulders, feeling the sheet slipping away but hardly caring. Her throat was tightening,
and tears were not far away. "It doesn't matter," she managed
in a cold little voice. Then: "Tell Maria I'm sorry she was
worried. I'll get up right away."

"No hurry,
kyria
,"
exclaimed Tina at once. "So long as you
are not ill ..."

"I'm not ill," retorted Charlotte crossly. "You can go now.
Tell Maria I don't want any breakfast."

"Oh, but
kyria
-"

"Nothing," Charlotte insisted, meeting the other girl's eyes squarely, and muttering resignedly to
herself
, Tina
went away.

After she had gone, Charlotte got out of bed. Her reflection
in the long mirrors of the wardrobe caught her attention, and momentarily she halted, staring at her naked body without
pleasure. There ought to be some sign, she thought, some
evidence of what had occurred, but there was none. The slim
lines of her body looked exactly as usual, the flesh turning honey gold in places, contrasting with the paler skin hidden
from the sun by her pants or bikini. Discolorations of her
flesh in places revealed themselves as "bruising, and her lips
trembled. Clenching her fists, she turned away and walked into
the bathroom. She took a bath as hot as she could stand it, a
ridiculous affectation in this heat, and scrubbed violently at her
skin as if she could erase the touch of Alex's hard, demanding
hands.

She emerged from her room in time for lunch, and although
she had no appetite, she made an effort to eat the food which
Cristof
had so delicately prepared. Stuffed eggs and
savoury
sausages, a light cheese pie served with salad, a caramel
custard that melted in the mouth, Charlotte had a little of
each, and realized with increasing bitterness that her lack of
appetite would probably be attributed to Alex's abrupt
departure. Tina was bound to have gossiped about what she
had seen in the bedroom, and Charlotte's vain attempt at
concealment had seemed stupid when she found her torn
nightgown lying on the floor in a place where Tina could not
have failed to see it.

Sighing heavily, Charlotte left the table and walked down
the shallow steps to the hall. Pausing by the open doors,
she stared out broodingly towards the curving headland. She
was virtually a prisoner here, she thought, emotion arousing
a kind of panic inside her. If only they had been near a town,
civilization of any sort, she could have left the villa, escaped th
e inevitable feeling of speculation, sought someone to
talk
!
As it was, she was confined
to
Maria and the other servants,
and they would never understand the way she was feeling
right now.

In truth, she didn't altogether understand how she felt
herself. She felt shocked and bitter, unwilling even to con
template that ghastly thing that had happened to her, her legs
weakening every time she allowed its implications to creep into her mind. There were even times when she wished that Alex was here so that she might expunge some of her anger
and resentment on him, vent her frustration and contempt
that he should have violated her in such a way. But mostly,
she dreaded the very idea of seeing him again, of living in
fear that he might touch her as he had touched her in the early
hours of this morning.

For the rest of that strangely unreal day, she paced the
rooms and corridors of the villa, unable to settle to anything,
even reading, walking and thinking and coming up with
nothing except her own utter desolation. How could she
have allowed herself to like him, to actually admit to caring
about what happened to him? As all the details of what had happened came to light, she had to admit that in some small way she had invited what had happened. And that was the
bitterest thing of all to bear.

The following afternoon, a note arrived at the villa. It was
delivered by hand and addressed to Charlotte, and she was not
altogether surprised to discover it was from Alex's grand
mother. The note was brief and to the point. She was invited
to lunch the next day.
Yanni
, the elderly man who had
brought the note, would come for her at noon, in the donkey
cart.

It was more than an invitation. It was a summons. And
Charlotte could think of no reasonable excuse she could give
for refusing. Nevertheless, she accepted the invitation with some misgivings, remembering the old woman's penetrating stare and dominating manner. Somehow, between now and then, she would have to
marshall
some sense of composure so that
Eleni
Faulkner should not guess at the events which had occurred since their last meeting.

But before her visit to Alex's grandmother's house, there
was another message for her. It came via the helicopter, and
when Charlotte heard the machine's powerful engines low.
over
the villa, all tenuous calmness left her. This morning she
had risen early, and had asked that her breakfast be served in
the dining area, but now, hearing those engines, convinced
that Alex had returned unexpectedly, she wished she had
remained in the comparative safety of her room.

She heard the excited chatter of the women's voices as the
helicopter landed. No doubt they were surprised that she did
not rise and go to meet her husband, but her legs felt like
jellies, and she remained frozen in her chair.

Presently, a man's voice could be heard, interjected amongst
the higher tones of the women, speaking in fluent Greek. It
was a voice Charlotte had heard before, but it was not Alex's,
and her hands relaxed their grip on the edge of the table.
Maria appeared in the hall below, and behind her came George
Constandis
. He appeared to be alone, as Maria gestured
upward, and that brought Charlotte out of her seat to
stand nervously waiting while he mounted the steps to her
level.

"
Kalimera
,
kyria
"
he spoke politely, with a half bow. "You
are well?"

"
Kalimera
."
Charlotte used the Greek word of greeting
automatically. Then, jerkily: "Where - where is he?"

"He?
You mean Alex?" George halted at the other side of
the table. "He is not here. He is in New York - as you
know."

Charlotte's brow furrowed. "But you - aren't you supposed
to be in New York, too? You were going with him."

"Our plans were changed when we reached Athens. It was
arranged that Alex should fly on to New York
- "

"Alone?"
Charlotte's interruption was almost an accusation,
and George smiled.

"There is no need for alarm,
kyria
.
Alex is never alone.
Dimitrios
is with him, naturally."

Charlotte despised herself for the way she had reacted, but,
she told herself impatiently, she would feel the same about
anyone taking unnecessary risks.

"All I meant was - I'm surprised he can manage without
you," she retorted hastily, frustrated by the knowing look in
his eyes.

"Well, as I was saying," he went on, "our plans were chang
ed. It was agreed that I should remain in Athens until Alex
telephoned me his intentions."

Charlotte sat down again, crumbling the roll on her plate.
"And now he has?" she prompted coldly.

"Yes." George nodded. "I am to tell you that something
most unfortunate has happened." Charlotte's head jerked up,
and he continued: "The man, Steiner, who was handling the
merger we have been negotiating, has been rushed to hospital
with a suspected rupture of the spleen. This is a most unhappy
state of affairs,
kyria
.
The point being that apart from Steiner,
only Alex himself can interpret all the details of the merger.
Consequently ..." he shrugged, "Alex must stay on in New
York until the deal is settled."