Stormy the Way (19 page)

'You won't see the young man?' persisted Tara on noting the almost anguished expression that mingled with the sudden flash of indignation that had entered Androula's eyes at Leon's assessment of her beloved. 'It's the least you can do, Leon.'

He was already shaking his head and Androula started to cry again.

'You had better go to your room,' he ordered curtly. 'Come down when you're more controlled.'

Tara watched her leave, footsteps flagging.

^You've no idea what Martin is like,' said Tara with more sharpness than she intended. 'It's most unreasonable of you to judge him without even meeting him. You've no proof whatsoever that he's interested in her money.'

Leon's eyes glinted; but the icy and arrogant retort for which she prepared herself was not forthcoming. Surprised, she regarded him intently, and felt that he was carefully selecting his words.

'We shall soon see, shan't we? If he's still keen on marriage, once he knows Androula isn't going to be wealthy in two and a half years'

time, then perhaps I shall change my opinion of him.' Leon's mouth was set and he appeared to be last in reflections. Tara sensed that he was thinking about her and Paul, remembering just how weak was the link which bound them. The circumstance of her own 'engagement' to his brother was causing Leon to be more adamant with Androula than pa-haps he would have been, and Tara once again felt her anger rise against Paul. Should she tell Leon the whole truth? After debating this question for a moment she reluctantly decided against it. For more reasons than one she would have liked to make a full confession of the wretched business, but, as before, she could visualize only the arousing of her husband's contempt for herself and his anger against Paul.

SINCE his visit Ricky had sent Tara several letters, all of which she had answered, and all of which had arrived at times when Leon was absent from home. For this Tara was glad, but she wanted to end the correspondence before Leon discovered that she and Ricky were writing to one another, as she knew for sure that the knowledge would infuriate her husband. He had allowed the matter of Ricky's visit to drop without too much fuss, because she had been ill, but Tara strongly suspected that it would not take much to stir her unpredictable husband into an angry mood again, and, therefore, she had given Ricky several hints that she wished to put an end to the correspondence. These hints had been deliberately ignored, and the thing which Tara most feared occurred while Androula was still at home. Savvas collected the post as usual from the box and gave it to Leon. He flicked through the half dozen or so letters and after putting one addressed to Androula on the hall table, he handed another one to Tara, his eyes having been fixed intently on the handwriting for some moments while Tara, instinctively guessing that Ricky had written, waited in a sort of fearful silence.

'Thank you, Leon.'

'From your brother?' he inquired in a very soft tone, his gaze still on the letter even after it had changed hands.

'Er - n-no,' she answered, quite unable to voice the untruth hovering on her lips.

It's a man's handwriting,' smoothly and with an inflection of inquiry.

Tara swallowed hard.

'It's from Ricky,' she admitted at last, angry with her former fiance for his insistence on writing, and even more angry with herself for this fear of arousing her husband's wrath. 'I - we've been writing since his visit,' she went on, anticipating Leon's question even as he opened his mouth to utter it.

His eyes darkened ominously.

'Since his visit? Who is this Ricky—? Yes, I know you said he was a friend,' he went on swiftly as she would have spoken, 'but I'm afraid I don't believe you.' His glance flickered to the stairs; Androula was coming down from her room and he said abruptly, 'We'll talk in here!'

and he ushered Tara before him into the lounge, closing the door behind him. 'Well?'

Tara hesitated, then with a gesture of resignation she told him that she had been engaged to Ricky, and that he had thrown her over for another girl. Tara kept her head averted as she spoke, because of the rising colour in her cheeks caused by humiliation at having to make this admission to Leon who himself had preferred another woman to her.

'You were engaged?' His voice was almost harsh and, glancing up, she noted the dark under-film of colour creeping up at the sides of his mouth. 'So you've been engaged before you met Paul?'

That dark colour seemed slowly to increase. With a sort of stunned disbelief she was aware of the word 'jealousy' rippling through her mind like a flash of lightning before it was gone, dismissed as impossible.

'Yes,' die admitted in a low tone, 'I was engaged to Ricky for several months.'His eyes glimmered in a way that set her nerves on edge.

'So it was your former fiance whom you entertained here while I was away?'

'Entertained!' she flashed, driven to retaliate before this husband of hers had her quivering with fear. 'You know why he stayed. He was ill!'

'He became ill as soon as he arrived?' The tones were very soft now and in spite of herself Tara felt a tremor pass through her.

'Well... no, not exactly.'

'No?' he prompted gently.

'He would have had to stay at an hotel, so I said he could stay here for the night - just one night, of course. The following morning he was ill, and I had to get the doctor - but you know that.'

A silence fell on the room. Walking over to the fireplace Leon stood to one side of it, resting an arm on the corner of the mantelpiece with a sort of lazy indolence and regarding Tara through half-closed eyes.

Tara sat down, and endeavoured to appear cool and composed.

'Why did he come?' Leon wanted to know at last, 'You said you didn't invite him, but it seems very strange to me that he should come over here without an invitation. I take it that he knew you were married?'

'Yes, he did.' She thought, naturally, of the fact that Ricky, discovering she wasn't married to the 'fiance' he had met at the wedding, but to his brother, had assumed there was something most odd about the marriage.

'Yet he came here - without being invited. How very interesting.

What sort of a reception could he have expected, I wonder?' Sarcasm now in the tones, but this in no way obliterated the underlying fury in them, and now Tara was reminded of the violent scene enacted after Leon had learned of Ricky's having stayed here in his absence, and involuntarily she shivered, a gesture that was not lost on her husband who at any other time might have derived some sort of amused satisfaction from it. But not now. His face was a set mask of anger, although his manner was one of languid ease still and he actually raised a hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn.

'I suppose the best thing is to explain a little further,' she decided at last, and her husband said,

'I assure you it is, Tara.'

'Ricky jilted me under pressure from his father, and the father of my best friend. They had done a business merger and so decided that it would be a good thing if Ricky married Freda, which he did—'

'So he's married too?'

She nodded.

'The marriage has broken up, and Ricky, thinking that my marriage wasn't - well, that there was something odd about it, hoped we would come together again.'

'He did?' with a raising of Leon's straight black brows. 'Now why should he cherish a hope like that? Did you give him any reason to believe that your marriage was-er-odd, as you term it?'

'Of course not. I hadn't written to Ricky at that time/

'I see ..thoughtfully and with a slow and audible intake of his breath.

'How long was tie interval between your being jilted and becoming engaged to my brother?'

A pregnant silence followed. This was the question Tara had been expecting, and the one she dreaded. She wished she had prevaricated instead of telling Leon so much about Ricky and herself. But there was nothing now but to confess that a mere three months had elapsed between Ricky's jilting her and her 'engagement' to Paul. Leon was surveying her with the most odd expression and because she feared he might hit upon the truth - that she was in love with him - she added swiftly, without thinking, T decided to marry for money, and that's why I became engaged to Paul. ...' She faltered to silence; her husband's eyes glinted dangerously and she recalled on the instant his earlier scepticism - and warning - about this particular statement. Yet she half-wished she could convince him, just so he wouldn't fasten on to the idea that she might have married him for love.

His eyes still glinted as they fixed hers, although his voice was toned to the same quiet thoughtfulness as before, when at last he spoke.

'You decided to marry for money ...' He appeared to be pondering on what he had heard during the past few minutes and as she watched his changing expression Tara did begin to wonder whether his powers of perception were successfully unravelling the whole situation, the situation that, puzzling him immensely, had led to his telephoning his brother in an attempt to discover more about the circumstances of his engagement to Tara. Tara herself was more than a little puzzled as to why Leon should do this, for as he had no love for her it really did not matter that he should know the truth about the engagement. And yet he desired to do so, knowing instinctively that there was some mystery. And what he had just heard must without doubt strengthen this idea, she decided, hoping fervently that he would not continue to question her, for in that event she would be forced to lie to him, which was so very difficult, with those dark and probing eyes looking into hers with such intentness that he might be examining her very soul.

'You're extraordinarily eager to remind me of this mercenary trait,' he told her softly at last. 'It just isn't convincing, Tara. A gold-digger doesn't go talking about her aspirations; she keeps silent about them.'

She gave a start and his eyes narrowed to mere slits, The involuntary twist of his lips was scarcely a smile, but his anger had disappeared altogether, much to Tara's surprise, and relief. The fact that he did not believe her about her mercenary trait, as he called it, afforded her a large measure of satisfaction while at the same time paradoxically causing her some alarm since it seemed inevitable that he would come right out into the open and demand a fuller explanation. To her amazement all he said was, 'Have you nothing to say about that, Tara?'

'I don't know what you mean,' she returned with well-simulated innocence, and Leon drew a sharp breath of impatience.

'If I don't end up by doing you an injury it'll be a miracle!' he snapped, astounding her. She had seen him in various moods, but never in one like this. No longer was he the aloof and unapproachable Greek god poised on his high pedestal, but a mere human, exasperated and looking very much as if he would carry out his half-threat and do her an injury. 'You're an enigma to me in more ways than one,' he told her grittingly. 'In more ways than one!' he repeated, glaring at her. 'But I expect you'll come across when life becomes too unbearable - as it will,' he went on to warn darkly as she blinked uncomprehendingly at him, 'if you continue like this!' And with that he left her, striding furiously across the room and almost colliding with Androula, who had decided to enter at that particular moment.

'Oh, Leon, I've had a letter from Martin. He wants to come and see you—'

'Tell him to go to the devil!' he said, and left the room.

'Well!' Androula glanced from the closed door to Tara. 'Have you two had a quarrel or something?'

'No - I mean, not exactly,' answered Tara quiveringly. 'It was just a - a sort of argument.'

Androula shook her head.

'I can't think what's come over Leon. He's always been so calm and composed. He looked just now as if he were in a sort of frenzy, almost.'

'Not quite that,' Tara contended with a frown. 'Leon would never allow himself to lose control to that extent.'

'Perhaps you're right.' Androula had the letter in her hand and idly she allowed her eyes to fall on it, flicking the pages and half-smiling as she lingered over whatever was written at the end. 'I'm going to phone Martin and tell him to come. Leon will have to see him then, and if he doesn't admit to having a favourable impression of Martin then I shall hate him for the rest of my life!'

It was to be expected that Tara would dwell on the scene that had taken place between Leon and herself, and the more she thought about it the more she began to wonder if it were possible that her husband could care for her. Staggered at-first, and determinedly trying to throw off the idea, she found it impossible to do so and naturally her trend of thought followed on to the question of Helena, and to her husband's relatively recent visit to Aegina. She, Tara, had attached to the visit her own particular ideas ... but could she have been wrong? She frowned, baffled and at the same time conscious of a hint of dejection creeping over her. Delude herself she would if she could... but she had to be realistic and admit that there was nothing on the small island of Aegina that could possibly interest Leon other than Helena.

His ill-humour remained throughout the entire evening and several times Tara noticed his darkling glances which were sent in her direction. Androula seemed not to notice; she was preoccupied, and all in all it was a most unpleasant time and Tara was relieved when, quite early, Leon got up from his chair and left the room, saying he was going to bed.

'Well,' gasped Androula, 'just imagine that! Leon's going to bed at this time! Do you suppose he's ill?'

Tara shook her head.

'It could be business that's worrying him,' she offered, and her companion shrugged.