solemnly, his blue eyes steady on hers. ‘It was the future that took me away and it was what I worked for over the intervening years. I always intended to come back, whatever you may think to the contrary, but I wanted to return with something to show for those years. I’ve done that now and I mean to stay.’
Her heart pounded at the revelation.
‘To marry here and settle down?’ she asked sharply.
‘That was the general idea.’ His eyes glinted in the semi-darkness. ‘Not the immediate goal, perhaps, but the eventual one.’
‘Is that why you were looking for a flat at Paphos?’
‘Part of the reason.’ He had evidently no desire to confide in her. ‘At the moment it will be no more than a convenient pied-a-terre.'
‘Did you find what you wanted?’
‘We looked at two possibilities,’ he said, following her to the door with the ice-bucket. ‘One of them would have intrigued you, I think. While they were digging the foundations for the block they discovered the remains of an old acropolis and they have glassed in an ancient tomb. Quite empty, by the way. It had been pillaged centuries ago, I expect, but the authorities wanted to keep it intact. They didn’t condemn the building—how could they when half our towns are built on the ruins of former civilisations?—but they wanted the tomb kept as it was because it was perfect in every respect.’
‘So—what did they do, in the end?’
‘Built round it. There was plenty of room so it sits there, behind glass, bang in the middle of the new flats and really it is quite a feature of the place.’
‘It hasn’t upset your plans—about the flat, I mean?'
‘No. I think you would approve my choice.’ He paused by the lift. ‘Why don’t you come out and see it for yourself?’
She held her breath. ‘It wouldn’t make the slightest difference whether I approved of it or not,’ she said. ‘I— I’m not at all concerned.’
‘I thought you might be curious.’
‘Curious? How could I be? You have your own life to lead and I have mine. Whether you buy a flat at Paphos or not can’t possibly be my concern.’
Deliberately he pressed the button to summon the lift.
‘It was at one time,' he said. ‘We shared most things remember?’ The lift doors opened and closed behind him and she was left staring at them with a foolish sense of disappointment in her heart. But why should she care what sort of flat he had bought at Paphos or anywhere else?
She found her mother in the small sitting-room recovering from Mrs Walsh.
‘I’ve heard every detail of your busy day,’ Dorothy smiled. ‘How that woman can talk! I don’t think she missed one single thing.’
‘It’s just as well she wrote most of it down in her diary,’ Anna laughed, ‘and I gave her plenty of leaflets to take home with her.’
‘She was most impressed,’ Dorothy said, ‘especially with Andreas. She calls him the Apollo Man!’
‘It’s the sort of thing she would say.’
‘Was he on his own?’
Anna hesitated. ‘No. He had a very beautiful lady with him. Probably Mrs Walsh thought of her as the Aphrodite Woman!’
‘Was she so very beautiful?’
‘Yes. Andreas introduced her as Lara Warrender.’
‘It’s an English-sounding name—the Warrender part, anyway.’
‘I think she is Swedish—Scandinavian, anyway. There was the hint of an accent, although her English was very good. She may have lived in England for some time.’
‘Did Andreas meet her there?’
‘Mama! I don’t know. He didn’t say where they had met or how long ago.’ Anna crossed to the open door leading on to the loggia. ‘Now, suppose you tell me what you have been doing all day. Were there any problems?’
‘None at all! I rested, as you said, after lunch and Paris brought me some tea at four o’clock.’ Dorothy smiled at her. ‘I’m leading a much too peaceful existence nowadays, thanks to you, my dear,’ she acknowledged. ‘You carry all the burdens.’
Anna
Her heart pounded at the revelation.
‘To marry here and settle down?’ she asked sharply.
‘That was the general idea.’ His eyes glinted in the semi-darkness. ‘Not the immediate goal, perhaps, but the eventual one.’
‘Is that why you were looking for a flat at Paphos?’
‘Part of the reason.’ He had evidently no desire to confide in her. ‘At the moment it will be no more than a convenient pied-a-terre.'
‘Did you find what you wanted?’
‘We looked at two possibilities,’ he said, following her to the door with the ice-bucket. ‘One of them would have intrigued you, I think. While they were digging the foundations for the block they discovered the remains of an old acropolis and they have glassed in an ancient tomb. Quite empty, by the way. It had been pillaged centuries ago, I expect, but the authorities wanted to keep it intact. They didn’t condemn the building—how could they when half our towns are built on the ruins of former civilisations?—but they wanted the tomb kept as it was because it was perfect in every respect.’
‘So—what did they do, in the end?’
‘Built round it. There was plenty of room so it sits there, behind glass, bang in the middle of the new flats and really it is quite a feature of the place.’
‘It hasn’t upset your plans—about the flat, I mean?'
‘No. I think you would approve my choice.’ He paused by the lift. ‘Why don’t you come out and see it for yourself?’
She held her breath. ‘It wouldn’t make the slightest difference whether I approved of it or not,’ she said. ‘I— I’m not at all concerned.’
‘I thought you might be curious.’
‘Curious? How could I be? You have your own life to lead and I have mine. Whether you buy a flat at Paphos or not can’t possibly be my concern.’
Deliberately he pressed the button to summon the lift.
‘It was at one time,' he said. ‘We shared most things remember?’ The lift doors opened and closed behind him and she was left staring at them with a foolish sense of disappointment in her heart. But why should she care what sort of flat he had bought at Paphos or anywhere else?
She found her mother in the small sitting-room recovering from Mrs Walsh.
‘I’ve heard every detail of your busy day,’ Dorothy smiled. ‘How that woman can talk! I don’t think she missed one single thing.’
‘It’s just as well she wrote most of it down in her diary,’ Anna laughed, ‘and I gave her plenty of leaflets to take home with her.’
‘She was most impressed,’ Dorothy said, ‘especially with Andreas. She calls him the Apollo Man!’
‘It’s the sort of thing she would say.’
‘Was he on his own?’
Anna hesitated. ‘No. He had a very beautiful lady with him. Probably Mrs Walsh thought of her as the Aphrodite Woman!’
‘Was she so very beautiful?’
‘Yes. Andreas introduced her as Lara Warrender.’
‘It’s an English-sounding name—the Warrender part, anyway.’
‘I think she is Swedish—Scandinavian, anyway. There was the hint of an accent, although her English was very good. She may have lived in England for some time.’
‘Did Andreas meet her there?’
‘Mama! I don’t know. He didn’t say where they had met or how long ago.’ Anna crossed to the open door leading on to the loggia. ‘Now, suppose you tell me what you have been doing all day. Were there any problems?’
‘None at all! I rested, as you said, after lunch and Paris brought me some tea at four o’clock.’ Dorothy smiled at her. ‘I’m leading a much too peaceful existence nowadays, thanks to you, my dear,’ she acknowledged. ‘You carry all the burdens.’
Anna
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