good-bye in Sydney?’
Karin wrenched away her arm.
‘I haven’t the least idea,’ she replied.
He glanced at her quizzically. It was brilliant moonlight on deck, and in her pale silk dress and brocade shoes she looked slightly unreal, somehow. She was wearing a delicate flower perfume, and he inhaled it appreciatively.
‘You know,’ he said, wrinkling his nose, ‘I do like that stuff you put on your hair.’
She answered impatiently.
‘I don’t put any “stuff” on my hair!’
‘You mean it’s the natural perfume of your hair?’
‘I mean it’s probably shampoo, or setting lotion, but I don’t, as you appear to imagine, do anything about it myself.’
‘Then I love your shampoo and your setting-lotion.’ He was, she gathered, in a facetious mood, and that reacted on her immediately. She decided to be very stiff and formal, and as distant with him as she knew how. ‘By the way,’ coming to a halt at a spot near the rail and leaning his back against it, ‘are you really going to let poor Tom Paget go off this ship without anything in the way of encouragement from you to cheer him during some possibly difficult days ahead? He has, I believe, to look for a job, and that can be a pretty comfortless task when you’re on your own.’
‘Tom will not be on his own,’ she replied frigidly. ‘He has many friends where he is going ... friends who mean to do their best for him.’
‘And you haven’t arranged to meet somewhere when he’s landed a job? Haven’t you even exchanged photographs?’
‘Of course not.’
His green eyes gleamed between his heavy black eyelashes, and she saw his hard white teeth for a moment.
‘Snapshots, perhaps?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
‘I’m not being ridiculous. I was simply feeling rather sorry for poor Tom if you’re going to let him disappear out of your life. After all, he’s a likeable young man, and you’ve suffered his attentions during the voyage. Don’t you think you could put up with them for the rest of your life?’
‘Really!’ she exclaimed, amazed at what she considered his impertinence. ‘And what is it to do with you, in any case?’ she demanded.
He shrugged.
‘Absolutely nothing. But I sympathize with young men who are made use of, and you must admit you’ve made pretty good use of Tom in the last few weeks. He’s fetched and carried for you, danced attendance on you, been made to look a fool on more than one occasion when you declined to have anything to do with him, and transferred your interest elsewhere, and despite all that it’s pretty obvious he’s in love with you. Being in love with you can affect his whole future. Doesn’t that concern you at all?’
She stared at him, tight-lipped.
‘Well, doesn’t it?’
‘Not as much, perhaps, as it obviously concerns you,’ she replied at last. She was growing white with indignation, and her slim breasts heaved under the thin material of her dress. ‘It might interest you to know, however — and also relieve your anxiety to a considerable extent — that Tom is perfectly capable of looking after himself and making plans for his own future, and I don’t honestly think he needs either assistance or defence from you. He might even resent it if he knew you were taking this exceptional interest in his affairs.’
‘It’s not exceptional interest. It’s a perfectly natural interest when a thoroughly decent youngster is receiving a raw deal.’ His green eyes gleamed oddly in the intensely white moonlight that bathed the whole of the deck, and there was a certain restlessness in the movements of his hands as he discarded and lighted yet another cigarette. ‘I’ve seen it happen before ... many times! And I never like it when it does happen!’
‘I see.’ For a long moment there was silence between them, and then she, too, glanced up at him a little peculiarly while her brightly tipped eyelashes fluttered. ‘Then what would you suggest, Mr. Willoughby? That I
Karin wrenched away her arm.
‘I haven’t the least idea,’ she replied.
He glanced at her quizzically. It was brilliant moonlight on deck, and in her pale silk dress and brocade shoes she looked slightly unreal, somehow. She was wearing a delicate flower perfume, and he inhaled it appreciatively.
‘You know,’ he said, wrinkling his nose, ‘I do like that stuff you put on your hair.’
She answered impatiently.
‘I don’t put any “stuff” on my hair!’
‘You mean it’s the natural perfume of your hair?’
‘I mean it’s probably shampoo, or setting lotion, but I don’t, as you appear to imagine, do anything about it myself.’
‘Then I love your shampoo and your setting-lotion.’ He was, she gathered, in a facetious mood, and that reacted on her immediately. She decided to be very stiff and formal, and as distant with him as she knew how. ‘By the way,’ coming to a halt at a spot near the rail and leaning his back against it, ‘are you really going to let poor Tom Paget go off this ship without anything in the way of encouragement from you to cheer him during some possibly difficult days ahead? He has, I believe, to look for a job, and that can be a pretty comfortless task when you’re on your own.’
‘Tom will not be on his own,’ she replied frigidly. ‘He has many friends where he is going ... friends who mean to do their best for him.’
‘And you haven’t arranged to meet somewhere when he’s landed a job? Haven’t you even exchanged photographs?’
‘Of course not.’
His green eyes gleamed between his heavy black eyelashes, and she saw his hard white teeth for a moment.
‘Snapshots, perhaps?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
‘I’m not being ridiculous. I was simply feeling rather sorry for poor Tom if you’re going to let him disappear out of your life. After all, he’s a likeable young man, and you’ve suffered his attentions during the voyage. Don’t you think you could put up with them for the rest of your life?’
‘Really!’ she exclaimed, amazed at what she considered his impertinence. ‘And what is it to do with you, in any case?’ she demanded.
He shrugged.
‘Absolutely nothing. But I sympathize with young men who are made use of, and you must admit you’ve made pretty good use of Tom in the last few weeks. He’s fetched and carried for you, danced attendance on you, been made to look a fool on more than one occasion when you declined to have anything to do with him, and transferred your interest elsewhere, and despite all that it’s pretty obvious he’s in love with you. Being in love with you can affect his whole future. Doesn’t that concern you at all?’
She stared at him, tight-lipped.
‘Well, doesn’t it?’
‘Not as much, perhaps, as it obviously concerns you,’ she replied at last. She was growing white with indignation, and her slim breasts heaved under the thin material of her dress. ‘It might interest you to know, however — and also relieve your anxiety to a considerable extent — that Tom is perfectly capable of looking after himself and making plans for his own future, and I don’t honestly think he needs either assistance or defence from you. He might even resent it if he knew you were taking this exceptional interest in his affairs.’
‘It’s not exceptional interest. It’s a perfectly natural interest when a thoroughly decent youngster is receiving a raw deal.’ His green eyes gleamed oddly in the intensely white moonlight that bathed the whole of the deck, and there was a certain restlessness in the movements of his hands as he discarded and lighted yet another cigarette. ‘I’ve seen it happen before ... many times! And I never like it when it does happen!’
‘I see.’ For a long moment there was silence between them, and then she, too, glanced up at him a little peculiarly while her brightly tipped eyelashes fluttered. ‘Then what would you suggest, Mr. Willoughby? That I
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