Charis

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Authors: Mary Francis
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girl
she’d described when she'd spoken of her childhood the day before. He remembered
the day she’d recalled, when he’d taken her for a walk as his father's deputy.
It was on that walk that he first realised how lovely she was and wondered how
beautiful she would become when she grew up. He had another memory that she
hadn't mentioned. She’d fallen and hurt her ankle, badly enough that she
couldn't walk on it. His mother had called him to come quickly and he'd carried
her to the house and then examined her ankle. He decided it was just badly
sprained and wrapped it for her. She’d been so brave because it must have been
very painful, but she didn't cry or make any fuss.
    He remembered, too, the day he’d kissed her on the cheek. He thought
at the time that he ought to keep an eye on this young lady because she was
going to be very special when she was older. How right he’d been! Ben regretted
that he’d lost track of her while he was so busy with his medical studies. Maybe
if he had, she could have avoided all the trouble with Mildred and Henry. He
didn't quite know what to tell her…how she'd react to him being the Ben she
knew all those years ago. He knew that he was already deeply in love with her
but he didn't want her memories of him from before to influence her feelings
for him now.  He wanted her to love him for who he had become. In the end, he
decided to say nothing yet…to take it step by step.
    She stirred, putting an end to his thoughts and memories of her. When
she opened her eyes and smiled at him he felt an overwhelming love for her…a
yearning he’d never felt before. He kissed her tenderly on her forehead. 
    “Good morning, my little one,” he said, his fingers softly caressing
her cheek.
    “Last night was not a dream then?” she asked.
    “If you have dreams like that, my girl, you are wicked,” he told her
in a shocked voice, but a decided twinkle in his eye. She giggled and he
whispered in her ear, “Do you want some more then?”
    She nodded and whispered in reply, “Last night was magical.”
    “Not just wicked but insatiable and completely and utterly adorable,”
he smiled as he took her tenderly in his arms again.
    *****
    They spent the day exploring the pyramids. Ben had visited before
and proved to be an interesting and informative guide. He was impressed with
her historical knowledge and the intelligent questions she asked, although she
expressed surprise at the pyramids’ size as they towered above her. Even though
she could see in photographs they were big, in real life they seemed massive.
    The day passed quickly and before long they were back on Ravi's boat
for their return journey. This time they settled in the back of the boat, sitting
quietly, enjoying the peace of the evening and content in each other's company.
Charis broke the silence first and commented on how different everything was
from home and it started them talking about the things they enjoyed doing.
    They discovered that they both preferred country living to town
life. They loved animals, walking in the countryside, and enjoyed reading and
music. They discussed their favourite authors and Charis was thrilled when Ben
mentioned Paul Ainslie’s name as one of his favourites and he was impressed
when she’d told him that he was her father. They preferred classical music to
modern - they both enjoyed Shakespeare; Charis' favourite was “A Midsummer
Night's Dream”, she had played Puck in a school production, and Ben's favourite
was Henry V. They enjoyed Gilbert and Sullivan and quickly agreed the best were
‘The Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘The Mikado’. Soon they were laughing about the
Lord High Executioner and his little list , and they had fun making up a
few little lists of their own.
    She learned that Ben had played cricket for his school first XI, and
that he played tennis and loved to ski but hadn't done much in recent years as
he'd been too busy with his studies. Charis declared that she

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