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later, when we were married.'
'You're telling me you no longer love me? - that in five short months you've
had a change of heart? No, Lisette, I absolutely refuse to believe it! When
can I see you? What time's the funeral?'
'In an hour and a half '
'You don't have to go, do you?' he broke in sharply. 'Can you come over
now, and see me?'
'I'm going to the funeral,' she told him quietly, wondering if she were as pale
as she felt. 'I became most attached to Mrs. Mallory and I wouldn't dream of
not attending the funeral. Besides, it would be a dreadful slight to Sula - to
Mr. Condylis.'
'Sula ...' softly from the other end of the line. 'This is the nephew you spoke
about in your first couple of letters?'
'That's right.'
'And you call him Sula, do you?'
'We all use Christian names '
'You called your employer by her Christian name?'
'We'll - no-'
'Just her nephew, eh? I believe, Lisette, that I'm beginning to see the light.
You said in your letters that the man was extraordinarily handsome, but
cold. That he had an exaggerated sense of his own superiority. And yet
you're now on intimate terms with him.' A short but significant pause and
then, 'The man you describe is the type women often fall for '
'Please, Dick! I don't want to talk about Mr. Condylis!'
'It seems to me,' Dick said ignoring the interruption, 'that you've been foolish
enough to become infatuated with the man.'
She glanced at the receiver in her hand. It seemed impossible, but she had an
almost irrepressible urge to hang up on Dick. But should she do that he
would probably ring again and again, or even come over, despite the
inconvenience he would cause.
'As I've said, I don't want to talk about Mr. Condylis,' she said quietly. 'And
I'm afraid I must go, Dick. Perhaps you'll stay there, at an hotel on the
harbour, and I'll see you in the morning, when we can talk.'
'About what?' gratingly from over the wires.
'Us,' she said, her voice sinking even lower. 'I can't marry you, Dick. It
wouldn't be fair for me to pretend, or even to waste your time. I'm quite
determined to break the engagement.'
A long silence followed during which she began to wonder if Dick were still
there. He spoke at last, and no sign of hurt could be detected, merely anger,
deep and somehow frightening. Lisette frowned. Why should she be
trembling like this? No matter how angry Dick might be, he could not do her
any real harm.
'We'll talk about us, shall we? And what of this Greek you've lost your head
over?' For the moment Lisette was too angry herself to speak and Dick said
in rasping tones, as a thought suddenly occurred to him, 'Does this fellow
know you're engaged?' 'I didn't tell either him or his aunt.' 'And why not,
might I ask!'
'There were reasons, the main one being that, had I owned to being engaged,
these people would have thought it very strange indeed that you could have
gone off and left me '
'Oh, my God, not that again! All right, I was to blame, but surely we can let
that drop now. I asked you about this Sula you've lost your head over!'
'I'm not talking about him,' Lisette returned promptly and with emphasis.
'And in any case, I haven't said I've lost my head over him - though it
wouldn't be relevant if I had. Nothing can put things right between you and
me, Dick. I don't love you any more and, frankly, I do feel that your love
wasn't strong either '
'You shan't say that, just in order to vindicate your own behaviour!' He
stopped and Lisette heard a sound that was almost a sob. And when Dick
spoke again a profound change and taken place. His voice was hoarse and
faintly pleading as he admitted that he had been stupid, making the wrong
decision when offered the post by Lana. 'But I love you, Lisette, and that
love was always strong, no matter what you would now like to think, just to
suit your own ends. It was strong, and still is - and I've no intention of
allowing some damned foreigner to take you from me. In any case, he
wouldn't be interested in marriage, not to an English girl.' Another slight
pause before he continued, 'Must you go to this funeral, darling? Make an
excuse and come over here to see me. There's an hotel right here - the
Atlantis. I'll book in and then wait in the lounge for you.'
'That's impossible,' she returned in firm and definite tones. 'I'll meet you in
the morning if you want me to, but it won't do any good. I'm not marrying
you, Dick.'
Another sound, that of a trembling, indrawn breath. Lisette's eyes filled up.
How had she and Dick come to this? Why hadn't they discovered, long ago,
that they were not really in love? But Dick was in love, or so he truly
believed and, in consequence, was suffering immeasurable hurt.
'I refuse to accept that you won't marry me,' he said at length. 'It will be
different when we meet, Lisette, I know it will. If you insist on attending the
funeral then I must be patient. But surely you could come this evening?'
'Tomorrow morning, Dick '
'I expect your damned Greek needs comfort, is that it?' he suddenly
exploded, and Lisette excused him because undoubtedly his flare of wrath
was ignited by pain.
'What time do you want me to come in the morning?' she asked. 'Shall we
say about eleven o'clock?'
'Can't you come earlier than that?'
'Ten, then.'
'All right. You will come? That's a definite promise?'
'Of course,' she answered gently. 'I shall be there.'
She told Sula, at dinner that evening, that she was going to see Dick the
following morning.
'You were a long while on the telephone,' he commented, 'I noticed this
because I was wanting to use it myself.'
'I'm sorry. I didn't know.'
'It wasn't important.' A pause while he eyed her searchingly. 'Yes, a long
while, Lisette.'
She coloured, because there was an unmistakable question in the words . . .
and a trace of doubt.
'We - we had a lot to say to each other.' She looked down at her plate,
wishing she could be completely honest with Sula, and in so doing find
relief from her oppressive anxieties. If only she could say to him, 'I'm
engaged to that young man, Sula, but I've discovered I don't love him.' And if
she could tell Sula of what Dick did, that he had been able to go away with
the glamorous Lana Southern and leave his fiancee despite her pleadings; if
she could tell Sula these things and be sure he would understand. .. . But he
would neither agree with her decision to break the engagement, nor forgive
her for that impulsive lie. His own ideals were high, his character strong. He
would feel only contempt for Lisette if she told him the truth.
'It seems strange that he should come here, without giving you ample
warning.' Sula spoke meditatively, voicing what he had already expressed in
a previous conversation. 'He's come a very long way.'
'Yes.'
Sula glanced swiftly at her; she raised her head and her eyes were troubled.
She could not go on like this, but, on the point of blurting out the truth, she
had to draw back owing to the entrance of Chrystalla with the sweet. The girl
was red-eyed from weeping, and she still wore black. Everyone had been
devoted to Mrs. Mallory, and a pall of gloom had settled on the house.
'We'll have coffee on the patio,' Sula said quietly, and although Lisette
sensed that he now had more on his mind than the tragic loss of his aunt,
Sula refrained from mentioning Dick again that evening. But he left her
early, bidding her a rather curt good night, and she remained on the patio, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]