Beware of the Beast (17 page)

Charlotte had quite enjoyed the journey across the island.
Sitting in the donkey cart, she could see so much more than
when she was on foot, and she had determinedly put all dis
quieting thoughts out of her mind.

Yanni
, the old man who drove the donkey cart, spoke little
English, and for this she was grateful. It meant that he, at least,
was not continually asking her about Alex and his affairs.
Yanni
spent most of his time chivvying the donkey,
who
seemed inclined to stop and eat grass unless he was
prevented.

The light breeze lifted the hem of Charlotte's skirt, blowing
it above her knees, and she smoothed it down quickly. She had thought a long time about what she would wear for this
visit to Alex's grandmother's house, and had eventually
decided that this cream silk chiffon dress, with its long wide sleeves and
vee
neckline, was most-suitable. She had put up her hair, too; for coolness, she told herself, although in truth
she found a childish satisfaction in doing something of which
Alex would not approve. Still, he could not disapprove of
her visit to his grandmother, and the care she had taken
over her appearance proved she was not quite as undaunted as
she would like to believe.

Eleni
Faulkner awaited her in a cool lounge-
parlour
.
Charlotte was shown in by an elderly woman servant who
regarded her mistress's guest with obvious curiosity.
And why
not?
thought
Charlotte wryly. She was supposed to be
Eleni's
granddaughter-in-law.

As before, Alex's grandmother was wearing black, this
time with a white apron over her ample skirts. She stood in the
small, over-furnished room with all the dignity of a queen
receiving her subject.
A dark figure against the white walls,
surrounded by an assortment of furniture and bric-a-brac
that would not have disgraced an antique shop.
There were
upright chairs and small tables, stools and cabinets, and
against one wall an enormous carved dresser, set with some
exquisite pieces of bone china.

"So you came,"
Eleni
greeted her disconcertingly. "Why
didn't you let me know that Alex had left the island?"

Charlotte moved uncomfortably. "I suppose - I didn't
think." She paused. "He didn't let you know?"

"As I understand it, he left in rather a hurry. How could he
let me know?"

Charlotte shrugged, trying not to be intimidated. "I'm
sorry."

"Well, never mind. Sit down, sit down. We'll have an
aperitif before lunch. Do you like
ouzo?"

"I don't think I've tried it," admitted Charlotte, perching
rather precariously on the edge of a wooden seated chair.

"What? Not tried
ouzo"
Eleni
sounded shocked.
"Bettina,
feremas to ouzo, parakalo."

Ouzo
was, Charlotte discovered, completely
colourless
until water was added when it became cloudy, like diluted
milk. Nevertheless, she quite enjoyed its
flavour
, and as it
seemed innocuous enough, she accepted a second.

"Now,"
Eleni
eyed her thoughtfully over the rim of her
glass, "and how are you finding life without Alex's company?
Lonely?"

"I -!
manage
." Charlotte sipped at her drink. "As a matter
of fact, I had news of him this morning."

"From
Constandis
, I know."

"You know?"

"Of course.
He came here before coming to see you. He had
a letter for me - from
Alexandros
."

"I see."

Charlotte digested this information without pleasure. So Alex had seen fit to write to his grandmother, but not to her. It was surprising how irritated this made her feel.

"He didn't write to you, I suppose," went on
Eleni
, with
her usual perception. "He wouldn't. Alex was never a good
correspondent - he prefers to use the telephone. But there
were things he needed to say to me which could not be con
veyed by word of mouth.
Constandis
is a good man, but he is
not a member of the family, after all."

Charlotte took another sip of the
ouzp
.
"It really doesn't
matter," she assured the older woman tightly. "We had
nothing to say to one another.'* And then,
realising
how peculiar that must sound, she added: "What I mean is - anything
—
e have to say to one another can wait until he gets back."

"Which will not be for some time if his letter is to be
believed," put in
Eleni
sharply.

"No. Well, that can't be helped."

"Can it not?"
Eleni
sounded
sceptical
. "Were I a more
suspicious person, I might wonder if my grandson was not
staying away deliberately."

Until that moment, such an idea had never even entered
Charlotte's head. But when it did, there seemed such logic behind it that she actually found
hertelf
considering the truth
of it. Was it possible? Could h be? Once he had had time to
reconsider - to evaluate - the events of that hour before his
departure, had he decided that the end did not justify the
means after all?

With hot
colour
darkening her cheeks, Charlotte faced the
old matriarch. Whatever suspicions
Eleni
might be nurturing,
without confirmation they could mean
litte
. "I don't think you need to concern yourself about us," she stated firmly,
holding up her head. "George
Constandis
told me that no one
else could handle this merger now that - Steiner? Is that
right? -
now
that Steiner has been taken ill. The last thing Alex needs right now is a - a jealous wife!"

"
Bravol
"
Eleni
clapped her hands together admiringly.
"Bravely said, Charlotte.
Put the old woman in her place. Tell me to mind my own business. I couldn't have said it
better myself."

Charlotte's
colour
deepened. "That was not my intention,
kyria
-"

"Nonsense!
Of course it was. Don't go and spoil it now
by
apologising
." She paused. "Come, we'll have lunch. And
I would like for you to
call
 
me
yaya
,
as Alex does.
Kyria
is much
too formal."

Much to Charlotte's surprise and relief,
Eleni
did not ask
any more awkward questions. Charlotte had expected her to
want to know how she and Alex met, how long they had known
one another, the kind of things parents and grandparents like
to know. But perhaps Alex had invented some story especially
for her, and that had been sufficient. In any event, the rest
of the visit passed off harmlessly, and in fact Charlotte quite
enjoyed herself. Once away from personal topics,
Eleni
was a
fascinating
raconteuse
,
and as she had
travelled
to most of the
major countries of the world, she had a fund of interesting
stories with which to entertain her young guest. Charlotte
was sorry when Bettina came to announce that
Yanni
was
waiting to take her back to the villa.

"You will come
again ?"
Eleni
insisted, as Charlotte climbed
up on to the cart. "Won't you?"

Charlotte smiled. "Without an invitation," she agreed.
"And - thank you."

Eleni
shook her head, and with a gesture of farewell walked
back into the villa.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Charlotte
lay drowsily on the lounger, gazing up at the
arc of blue sky through the trailing leaves of the vine which had entwined itself round the pillars on the patio. She felt
sleepy and lethargic, and it was only a couple of hours since
she got up. She had been feeling this way for over a week,
and as the temperature was much cooler now than it had
been on her arrival, it could not be that which was upsetting
her.

Yawning, she glanced at her watch, and as she did so she
noticed with satisfaction how attractive
was the light tan
she had acquired. Several weeks of walking across the island to see Alex's grandmother, bathing in the sea which was still warmer than the English Channel in summer, and her earlier basking in the sun had burnished her hair and skin alike, and
the added advantage of good wholesome food had covered
her bones with a layer of much needed flesh. She knew she had
never looked or felt so good in her life.

But these weeks of lazy self-contemplation were beginning
to arouse certain anxieties inside her. It was more than six
weeks since Alex's departure, and apart from that one visit
from George
Constandis
, she had had no word to say how
he was or when he would be coming back. She had told her
self a hundred times that she didn't care, that she didn't want
him to come back, but deep down she knew she was only delaying the inevitable. Sooner or later, he would come, or
the reasons for her being here would never be fulfilled, and
until they were...

All the same, there were times when she recalled what his
grandmother had said, about his not wanting to come back.
Those were difficult words to contemplate. She did not alto
gether understand why they should trouble her so, except
perhaps that as time was a
great
 
healer
, it had cast a concealing
veil over the most terrifying aspects of that fateful morning.
It could not really be so bad, she had told herself angrily, or
people would not go on reproducing themselves with such enthusiasm. Even so, she shuddered when she remembered
what he had done.
 

Footsteps on the patio caused her to turn her head and she
saw Tina approaching with a jug of hot coffee. .Lately, Char
lotte had taken an aversion to coffee, but the milky chocolate
smelled delicious.

Smiling, she swung her legs to the ground and sat up,
only to grasp the back of the lounger sharply as her head
swam dizzily. For a moment the bile of sickness surged into
her throat, and she turned quite pale.

"
Kyria
!"
Tina set down the jug on the nearby table, and
came to bend towards her.
"
Kyria
,
are you feeling unwell?"

Charlotte felt the dizziness recede, and managed to look
up into Tina's concerned face. "I - I'm all right, Tina," she
answered, wiping the back of her hand across her damp fore
head. "I don't know what it was. I just felt dizzy for a moment.
-I expect it's the sun. I've been out here rather a long time. I
think I'll have the chocolate in the
saloni
"

"
Poli
kala
,
kyria
"
Tina continued to regard her anxiously.
"Can I help you?"

"Heavens, no."
Charlotte got rather nervously to her feet but found with relief that she felt perfectly all right now. "I
can manage."

It was beautifully cool in the
saloni
,
and Charlotte sank
down rather thankfully on to the couch. Tina set the chocolate
on a table beside her, and then said: "You are sure you do not
•wish me to bring Maria,
kyria
?"

"Quite sure."
Charlotte shook her head. "Honestly, I'm
fine." She forced a smile. "I'm probably putting on too much
weight with all this good food you're feeding me."