Why on earth her sister had become engaged to a Greek, Jill could not understand; still less did she understand why, less than a fortnight later, she should want to break it off. That wasn't all, though. Susie was asking Jill to go to Adamandios Doxaros and tell him of his fiancée's change of heart.
'Please do it for me,' Susie begged. 'It isn't asking much, is it?'
'Not asking much?' Jill blinked incredulously. 'I don't know how you can be so casual about it. I warned you that you were acting too hastily, not having known Adam for more than a month or so. I also warned you about Greek men in general. I've lived here in Athens, remember, and I've learnt enough about the Greek male to cause me to give him the widest berth possible.'
'I wish you wouldn't keep on reminding me of your warnings,' snapped Susie pettishly. 'If you hadn't invited me over here, I'd never have met the wretched man!'
Jill drew a deep breath. She had been working in Athens for over a year, ever since she and her sister had decided to live separate lives. It had been Susie's suggestion originally, and although the two girls got on together very well indeed, sharing the house left to them jointly by their parents, they had both expressed the opinion that it would be nice to have their complete independence. However, Jill felt that Susie at eighteen was rather young to be on her own, and she had wanted to wait another year at least. But Susie was insistent, resisting Jill's attitude, declaring that just because she was three years older she need not think she could rule her life.
Jill had been learning Greek as a hobby and decided to have a prolonged holiday in Greece in order to practise the language. The house which she and Susie had sold fetched more than either girl had anticipated, and so Jill found she could easily afford the holiday and still be able to buy a small house on her return. She had seen her sister settled first, in a flat she was sharing with another girl of her own age, and then she had set off for Greece. Within a month she heard of a vacancy at the travel agent's in Omonia Square, and because she could speak French as well as Greek, she was successful in obtaining the post. So instead of investing her money in a house in England, she bought a little villa outside Athens, a white-and-blue villa with poinsettia hedges and bougainvillaeas climbing round the portals of the verandah. She had immediately invited Susie over, but Susie was already booked to go to Spain with her flatmate, Avril, so it was to be almost another year before she could come out to Greece. Jill had been thrilled when Susie wrote to say she would come, but did not quite understand the addition:
'I can stay for six weeks or longer, as I have given up my job and am not looking for another for a while.'
Jill had naturally been troubled but had decided not to write back for more information, knowing how strongly her sister resented any advice which Jill might at times offer.
With her own holidays due, Jill planned to take her sister around for the first fortnight, visiting Delphi and Olympia among other places of interest. After that Susie would have to be left to her own devices for the remainder of her holiday—at least, during the daytime while Jill was at work. Susie had somehow got to know and become friendly with an English couple living down the road from Jill, and it was they who took her to the party where she met the Greek millionaire Adam Doxaros. Susie had been most reticent right from the beginning, never even suggesting that Jill and Adam should meet. Nor had Adam taken his fiancée to meet his family. In fact, when Jill mentioned this, tentatively, in order not to arouse Susie's possible resentment, Susie had said that she did not even know if Adam had any relatives. This was eventually to prove to have been a lie on Susie's part.
'But surely he's told you something about himself?'
'Nothing,' Susie had replied, ignoring her sister's sceptical look.
'Don't you ever talk about yourselves?'
'Sometimes. I know he owns a cruise line and has a villa on an island somewhere.'
'I thought you said he lives in Athens?'
'He has a flat here—Oh, Jill, do you have to be so inquisitive about my affairs!'
'I'm worried, Susie. I know you dislike my taking on the role of elder sister, but you must admit I have reason for feeling perturbed about you. There's something definitely fishy about this whole business.'
Susie gave a deep sigh of asperity. 'He's a millionaire and he wants to marry me, so please let the matter drop!'
'Where is his home?' persisted Jill, determined not to be put off.
'I think the island's called Corina.'
'Corina….' Jill became thoughtful. 'I can't think where it is, but I've read about it and it's very beautiful. A number of Greek shipping millionaires have settled there recently. It has wonderful beaches and a few archaeological sites.'
'Yes, Adam did mention those things.' Susie's voice was still sharp-edged, and Jill said no more, but as the days passed her sister became so morose that she just had to question her again.
'Are you quite happy about the engagement, Susie?'
A startled look, a long moment of silence, and then, defensively: 'Happy? Of course I'm happy! We're to be married in a week's time—'
'A week!' broke in Jill, her beautiful brown eyes wide with anxiety and bewilderment. 'Susie, you can't! What on earth's wrong with you? You don't know the man. Besides, you've not brought him here yet. I want to see him—and I want to question him about his family.'
'It has nothing at all to do with you, so you can just keep out of it!'
But Jill was no longer intending to be put off, and she continued to question Susie. There was no result, though, and eventually she had no alternative but to give up, telling herself that she had done all she could, under the circumstances. Susie was almost twenty now, and her own mistress.
It was only a day later that Susie, right out of the blue, asked Jill to see Adam and tell him the wedding was off, that Susie was not now willing to go through with it.
Relief flowed over Jill like a deluge, but alongside this was total bewilderment, because Susie would offer no explanation concerning her change of heart.
'I've never known you quite so close as this over anything,' complained Jill. 'It was puzzling enough when you became engaged to him; it's even more puzzling now that you've changed your mind.'
Susie frowned, then sighed—like a martyr, thought Jill with ever-growing impatience.
'If only you'd mind your own business,' snapped Susie. 'I'm not a child who needs minding all the time!'
Jill's colour rose. She had had just about enough of her sister's awkwardness and bad temper. 'All right, I will mind my own business! If you're intending to jilt this man, then do your own dirty work! There isn't any reason, anyway, why you should have asked me to see him. It's your place, and no one else's, to go and see him—'
'I can't! He's a hateful man! He's arrogant and domineering and… and… bossy! He'd strangle me!'
For fully thirty seconds Jill could only stare. Susie's eyes had filled up, and her hands were clenching and unclenching convulsively. Jill's astounded eyes moved to her sister's face, pale and lovely but drawn and strained. Her big blue eyes stared into space, her mouth trembled, as if she wanted to murmur something but found it impossible to articulate words.
'He's a hateful man…?' Jill spoke at last, her whole manner one of bewilderment. 'Susie, nothing of this business makes sense to me.'
Susie looked at her, then burst into tears. 'I expect,' she managed after a while, 'th-that I'll have to… to tell y-you everything.'
'It would be an idea,' returned Jill, trying to keep the dry irony out of her voice.
Susie began to speak, and Jill learned that, while still in England, Susie had met and fallen in love with a young man, Kenneth Rivington, who owned a small grocer's shop not far from where she lived.
'We got engaged,' continued Susie, accepting the handkerchief offered by her sister, 'and I thought it would be easy to persuade him to give up the shop and take a proper job.' Susie paused to apply the handkerchief to her eyes.
'You never mentioned this engagement,' said Jill a trifle accusingly.
Susie shrugged her shoulders. 'It wasn't anyone's business but my own—and Ken's of course.'
'I suppose I can accept that.' Jill's voice had a curt edge despite the pity she felt for her sister. Susie was very young, really, very immature. 'This shop—why did you want him to give it up?'
'Because I couldn't see myself working behind a counter for the rest of my days!'
'I shouldn't think he'd expect you to. Is he managing on his own now?'
'He has one assistant. He says he'll have his own supermarket one day, and then he'll just do the supervising.'
'That sounds reasonable, and possible.'
'We quarrelled over it,' said Susie, ignoring Jill's comment. 'It was dreadful; he accused me of insincerity, said I didn't love him…' She spread her hands and the tears began to fall again. 'I do love him, Jill! And I want to marry him even if it does mean… mean w-working in that horrid shop all my life!'
'You gave up your own job. Why?'
'I wanted to get away from him—from the flat and Avril and everyone! I thought I'd come here to you for a time and try to forget Ken, but I couldn't!'
Jill fell thoughtfully silent for a while, her mind quickly sorting out the whole situation—at least, as far as Susie was concerned. The attitude of the Greek was one that still baffled Jill exceedingly.
'You became engaged to Adam on the rebound—or even for spite.' A statement to which Susie nodded her head in agreement.
'It was mainly for spite. I had the idea of writing to Ken and telling him I was marrying a millionaire.'
'And you find you can't.'
'No, I can never marry anyone but Ken.'
Jill was very tempted to censure her sister but thought better of it. She was far too unhappy already, and scared, too, of the Greek.
'What makes you so afraid of this man Adam?' she asked curiously.
'He… he threatened me—well, not exactly threatened, but advised, in that quiet voice with its foreign accent… Oh, Jill, he has a way of speaking that frightens you! He's like a devil, a pagan—the Greeks were all pagans once, you know.'
'And so was every other nation,' was Jill's dry response. 'I can't see why you're so scared of the man, just because he has a certain way of speaking. What about this advice he gave you?'
'He said—because I think he knew that I wanted to change my mind almost from the first—that I'd better keep to my promise, because if I didn't, I'd live to regret it.'
'Not very loverlike, I must say!' Jill knew of course that Greek men rarely fell in love. They married for the physical enjoyment and convenience of having a wife. They assumed the role of master, often tyrannical in their dealings with the women of the family. Wives were totally subjected to the wills of their husbands.
'I knew he wasn't marrying me for love.'
'You knew?' Jill frowned. 'Then why in heaven's name did you become engaged to him?'
Susie hesitated a moment and then resignedly confessed, 'He made a bargain with me. He has an aged mother who's fretting because none of her three sons is married. Also, Adam's always been something of a rake—'
'He told you this!' exclaimed Jill disbelievingly.
Susie shook her head. Her golden hair caught the sunlight streaming through the large window of the sitting room, and Jill, looking at her with a critical eye, thought she had never seen a girl as beautiful as her sister. But Susie's beauty, although Jill didn't see it, had a pale, ethereal quality that gave the impression of weakness, of lack of character. Jill, on the other hand, was possessed of stronger features, classical features which had been likened by a Greek friend of hers to those of the goddess Athena herself. Her forehead was high, unlined above delicately arched brows. Her eyes were large and deeply brown, with a frankness and sincerity which made people trust her immediately. Her mouth was wide and generous, her chin pointed and strong. Her hair was a glory of russet brown, gleaming and curly, with a delightful little fringe which flicked to one side of her forehead in several half-curls that were often unruly, making her look younger than her twenty-three years.
'No, he didn't tell me,' Susie was saying, as she applied the handkerchief to her eyes again. 'I reached that conclusion myself from things he said now and then. He has what they call pillow friends here; they're really—'
'Yes, Greek men usually do have pillow friends,' broke in Jill casually. 'But they usually give them up when they marry—at least, for a while. They might then go back to them, I don't really know. All I do know is that they're an amorous lot and seem to think of little else but sex.'
'I got the same impression, although Adam has never tried to make love to me.' Susie paused a moment. 'I was telling you about our bargain. He wants to set his mother's mind at rest—I got the impression he worships her, despite the sort of a man he is otherwise.'
'The Greeks revere their parents. You never find an aged person entering an institution, not here in Greece.'
'Well, Adam decided to make his mother happy and so he looked round for a wife. I met him and he seemed very interested in me. I was flattered, but later he was very honest and told me why he wanted to marry me. He'd give me everything in the way of luxury, and a very big settlement when, after his mother's death, we had a divorce.'
Jill shook her head, even now unable to take in the whole incredible situation. For her sister to consent to such a bargain was completely beyond her comprehension.
'And you really believed you could do it?'
Susie heaved a sigh and said no, she had never really believed she could do it.
'But I felt I would force myself,' she added inconsistently. 'You see, I thought it would be worth it—all that money coming to me in a very short time, as his mother's in her seventies and has a weak heart. And it wasn't as if Adam was going to force his attentions on me….' Susie's voice faded out as she saw the sceptical expression that spread over her sister's face. 'I believe he'd have kept to his side of the bargain,' she added defensively at last.
'Then you're far more na?ve than I thought,' returned Jill dryly. 'No Greek, my dear, could have a woman in his house and leave her alone for long. I've just told you, they think of little else but sex.'
'I'm sure you're exaggerating. In any case, he'd not bother me with his attentions when he has other women who'd be willing—as I'm sure I wouldn't be!'
Jill could have laughed outright, but she resisted doing so, the occasion not being in any way right for the introduction of humour. 'Willing or not,' she said, 'you'd have been made to perform your wifely duties.'
Susie frowned. 'Don't be so crude, Jill!'
'All right, I won't. Now, about this business of telling him you're not going through with the marriage. You'll have to tell him yourself, Susie. It's not right to shirk it, and no matter what your fears, he can't hurt you.'
'You've forgotten already that he's said I'll live to regret it if I don't keep my promise. You see, I have a feeling—no, I'm absolutely sure—that he's told his mother about our engagement, because he mentioned the other day that she's much happier and has rallied from her melancholia, which was greatly troubling Adam, because she'd said she was going to die a very unhappy woman.'
Jill gave a deep, impatient sigh. 'Threats or no, you'll have to face the man. I can't do it, Susie. Not that I wouldn't, don't think that. But in my opinion you owe it to this Adam to face him courageously and make your confession.'
Even as Jill was speaking, her sister was flicking a hand impatiently.
'I haven't any courage—you know full well I haven't! You've been the strong one, always. Look how you coped when Mummy and Daddy were killed in that accident. You cried and cried, as I did, but you coped, and we managed to keep the house on only your salary until I left school and could contribute. I remember so well your saying that at all costs we must keep the house—and you were only seventeen and a half then.'
Jill's thoughts strayed momentarily to that dreadful time when, from being a happy family, they were suddenly left on their own, just two girls, one only fourteen and a half….
It had been a struggle, with Jill throwing up her chances of reaching university and immediately getting herself a job. She had been lucky in her employer, who after listening to her story gave her a starting salary of more than she would have received anywhere else. He had died later, but left her a small legacy which enabled her to meet some of the debts that had inevitably piled up.
Susie was speaking again, breaking into her reverie, and Jill brought her attention to the present, and the matter of informing the Greek that Susie was not now willing to marry him.
'Do it for me, Jill. I can't face him—I can't!'
'I'm sure he's not as bad as you make out, Susie.'
'He looked like a fiend when he was telling me I'd regret it if I changed my mind.'
'Well, he might look like a fiend, but he daren't injure you. Make up your mind, Susie, and do the right thing.'
'You're refusing? That's your last word?'
'I won't let you shirk what's your duty,' said Jill firmly, and as she was suddenly diverted by the ancient Greek gardener whom she shared with two others in the area, she failed to notice the expression that came to her sister's face.
But the following day, when Jill returned from work, it was to find a note on the table informing her that Susie had gone home, having been fortunate enough to book a seat on a plane leaving the Athens airport at one-thirty that day.
***
The car standing outside her garden gate did not even attract Jill's attention; the road was very quiet and dark and it was usual for cars to be parked along it while their owners walked to the taverna a few hundred yards away on the main street. She had been out to a meal at the home of a Greek friend, a young woman who worked in the bank which was next door to the travel agency where Jill was employed, and so it was much later than usual when she arrived home. It was as she fumbled in the dark with the little gate, whose latch was difficult to undo, that her senses suddenly became alert, not immediately to danger, but rather to the fact that two men had been sitting in the car, in the dark, for as she stood there they got out and came toward her. It was as they drew close that fear entered into her and she felt the presence of danger. Her hands began to tremble, but to her relief she managed to unlatch the gate. That was all; she was unable to take even one step along the path. A hand was thrust around her and pressed over her mouth; she was lifted bodily, struggling but unable to scream for help, and within seconds she was in the car and a blindfold fastened over her eyes. She heard the two men talking in Greek, something about being taken on a boat of some sort. The car shot forward, the jerk sending her head hard against the window. Bright lights spun behind her eyes and, more from fear than pain, she drifted into unconsciousness.
***
She opened her eyes and all was dark except for a strange disk of muted light which seemed a very long way off. Dreaming…. Yes, she'd had the most horrible nightmare, where she was kidnapped by two men—
It was no dream! She sat up, fear sweeping over her like a deluge as memory returned, and noticed that she had been lying on a bunk. Where was she? Where were the two men who had carried her off? She turned and slid off the bed. Her legs were like jelly, but she moved carefully toward the disk of muted purple light. A porthole. The moment this registered, she became aware of the throbbing of engines and remembered that she had heard the men saying something about a boat. Where were they taking her? How long would she be on this vessel? What time was it? Was there a light switch? She began moving around, amazed that her mind could be so clear when fear was holding her so mercilessly in its grip. She was searching for an electric switch and knew that she would very likely find one. It came to her hand at last and she blinked for a moment or two as the cabin was flooded with light. It was a luxurious cabin, with highly polished woodwork and furniture. A wardrobe was on one wall and a dressing table on another. The bed she had been lying on occupied the wall opposite the door, which was on the same side of the cabin as the wardrobe. Jill saw her lightweight coat on a chair, her handbag on top of it. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was half-past two. The throbbing of the engines seemed to become louder and louder until it became a drumming in her ears. She tried the door, then began thumping on the panels with her fists. No sound except that deafening drumming of the engines! She would go mad! Her glance went round the cabin again and lit on a metal wastebasket. Picking it up, she banged on the door, marking the beautiful wood and even splintering it in places.
At last she heard voices, then, after what seemed an eternity, the sound of shuffling footsteps and the repeated murmur of voices.
'Be quiet! What do you want?' The words came in strongly accented English.
What did she want? Was the man soft in the head to ask a question like that?
'I want to get out of here! Open this door—'
'Thank heaven she's awakened!' The voice was that of a second man, speaking in Greek. 'She's been unconscious a long time.'
Jill wondered whether to hammer on the door again, just to see what would happen, but she thought better of it, deciding to listen instead to the two men talking. Her Greek was not so good that she caught every single word, but it was certainly good enough for her to understand all that was being said.
'I'll be glad when we're there and can hand her over to the master.'
'It won't be long now.'
'She was so afraid, Petros, and I couldn't help thinking that if it was my daughter, my little Maria—'
'Your daughter would not be carried off like this one, Georgios. Why should she be? So what's the use of talking about it?'
'This English girl,' said Georgios, bypassing Petros' words, 'was so frightened. You should have made it clear to her that she would come to no real harm.'
'She didn't give me the chance! She fainted before I could tell her anything.' The voice faded and Jill realised that the men were walking away. She cried out, crashing the wastebasket against the door again.
'Go to sleep, woman,' shouted Petros. 'It will be light in an hour and I'll bring you some breakfast!' She decided not to court trouble by making a bigger fuss and getting him even more angry than he sounded already. She had been calmed by Georgios' words: 'You should have made it clear to her that she would come to no real harm.'
Besides the calm, though, there was puzzlement. If no harm were meant her, then why had she been abducted at all?
She sat down, trying to think, but realising that she was very, very tired. It would be easiest to get back on that bed and try to sleep for an hour. At least she was safe for the present, and it seemed very much as if she would continue to be safe.
Many questions darted about in her mind as she lay on the bed a moment or two later, questions about her kidnapping, about this 'master' to whom she was being taken, but gradually the questions ran into one another as her mind became more and more hazy with the approach of the soothing slumber that she craved.
Daylight was streaming through the porthole when, awakened by the door opening, Jill sat up on the bed and quickly slid off it.
Petros had brought a tray, which he deposited on a small table at the foot of the bunk bed. 'We'll be there in half an hour,' he told her. 'You will be taken to my master.'
'Who is your master?'
The man shrugged and turned to the door. 'My master say that we must not speak to the lady,' and with that he was gone. Jill watched the door frowningly, heard the key turn in the lock, and then, with a little sigh that was a mingling of resignation and bewilderment, she determinedly sat down to tackle the contents of the tray. She might as well face this 'master' on a full stomach rather than an empty one, she thought, eyeing the crispy rolls, the fresh butter and the cherry jam. The coffeepot was hot to her touch, and the cream in the jug was thick and fresh.
The engines stopped a short while later and she looked out the porthole to see a charming little harbour surrounded, except for the narrow strait through which the boat had come, by pine woods, olive and palm trees, and orange groves. The land to the east looked steep, with a pyramid of blue and white houses gleaming in the sunshine. Next to the harbour itself, men sat mending nets or just chatting to one another. One man was slapping an octopus on the hard surface, creating a lather which, Jill had already learned, made the flesh tender and juicy. A donkey was ambling up a hillside, its back laden with brushwood; its owner rode another donkey, while his wife trudged along beside the laden donkey, a stick in her hand. Familiar sights. Jill had visited several Greek islands while she had been living in the capital, and she naturally wondered which one this was. Not one that she had visited, but its distance from Athens could not be very great.
It was only six o'clock when Petros entered the cabin again, this time to tell her that she was to be taken by car to his master.
She merely nodded, having already decided that to argue or question would be to no avail. Better wait until she came face to face with the man's employer, for only then would all the baffling questions be answered.
'Are you ready?' asked Petros.
'Yes, quite ready.' She picked up her coat and handbag. Her face was pale, but because of Georgios' reassuring words, she had completely lost that terrible fear which had sent every nerve in her body rioting and her heart throbbing wildly.
