Flower of the Morning

„ ^s&BoonCtes^ ^

Celine Conway

The Flower of the Morning grew only on the Malayan island of Numeh, and someone had told Katie that she resembled it. Untouched, the flower was magnificent, but if the petals were bruised the flower wilted. Was Katie like that ? She herself did not think so—but that was before she had met, and tried to defy, the arrogant overlord of the island, Simon Forbes.

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A chance to read and collect some of the best-loved novels from Mills & Boon - the world's largest publisher of romantic fiction. Every month, four titles by favourite Mills & Boon authors will be re-published in the Classics series. A list of other titles in the Classics series can be found at the end of this book.

CeIineConway

FLOWER OF THE MORNING

MILLS & BOON LIMITED LONDON - TORONTO

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CHAPTER I

he beach at Mondulu you could make a discovery ever Katie found weird and beautiful shells, sea flowers and , crammed with green and gold fish, odd-looking bone ;hed white by sea and sun, branches of pink and white , scarlet seaweeds and a few semi-precious stones. She d wear canvas shorts and an old white sleeveless blous thin scarf about her almost straight honey-blonde hai paddle in and out of the sea to keep cool in the glaring line. Had she been given to introspection she would ha id often and reminded herself that she was happier than iy time in her life, which had so far lasted nineteen yea two months. iring the three days since her arrival at Mondulu with la she had constantly felt that this was the life, if one 1 afford iti At least, it would be a marvellous way of ; for a month or two. After that, one would have to buy t and cultivate a cabbage patch and a flair for fishing, i 10 other reason than that one's funds had disappeared one had to have shelter and food. While the money 1, though, it was not unpleasant to stay at the only hote ie island and spend the days exploring. A pity Lorina couldn't share the joys, but then Lorina had never cared ||nuch for poking around in old clothes and swimming till she |was blissfully exhausted; her specialities were fine tweeds &nd beautiful shoulders in an evening gown. I This interlude couldn't last for long, of course; as soon as Jlorina felt quite fit they would have to find the Forbes man |and come to grips with him. Lorina would handle him; she Icould handle any male. And then the two of them would Iretum to England and buy the guest farm; and Numeh tisland would recede into its fascinating haze of heat and |ocean. ^ The South China Sea. Katie said the magic words aloud ^ 5

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that fourth morning, as she waded in the ripples and gingerly turned over a pale green crab with her toe. Such a long, long way from Morbay in Sussex, where she had lived with Lorina since leaving school. It was more than six weeks since they had sailed in a second-rate ship from Tilbury, and Katie felt, rather guiltily, that she should not have enjoyed it so much while Lorina lay feeling so ill in her cabin. Still, she had done all she could for her, and it had seemed a pity not to revel in the strange and exhilarating sights, the unbelievable smells, the views and the warmth and the heady realisation that they were travelling East, beyond Singapore and Macassar. She sloshed along idly at the edge of the sea. Looking up the beach she could see the hotel, a long white building backed by tall palms; and then, as she moved on, there were only palms, with a white sandy road curving through them parallel with the beaoh. This was where she had found some of the loveliest shells and a few flowering plants among the stones. And there was the long iron handle of something which wouldn't shift from its pebble-locked bed. She pulled and felt it bend slightly, then delved to attempt once more to loosen the rocky stones which gripped the object. She was so engrossed that she was unaware of the figure approaching till a rope-soled sandal trod cavemously into the sand, quite close to her. Katie looked up, expecting the plump white-haired Uncle Jake, who belonged to the hotel and was full of island lore. But this was someone she hadn't met 'before, a passably handsome man in light, sea-stained slacks which were rolled up at the bottoms, and a white shirt with a navy blue scarf at the neck. Katie gave him a bright blue glance and looked beyond him to where an outboard motor-boat had been pulled up the beach. "Hallo," she said uncertainly, and rose to her feet. He was tall and very brown, black-haired and dark-eyed. Had he worn earrings and his smile been vicious instead of mocking he would have looked like a pirate. He looked at her speculatively, looked down at the thing she had been trying to shift. "Want it, particularly?"

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; "Well, no. I just wondered what it was." ; "I'll show you," he said. ; He got down and methodically prised stones away from ithe base of the handle with his pocket-knife. Katie saw the bound black edge to which the handle was riveted, and then, latter he had gouged away more stones, she saw the brown | hands dig down and lift an old pan which had once been | patterned with holes. I' "Know what it is?" he asked. ;;. "A warmer of some kind?" | "That's right. It preceded the copper warming pan by I. about a hundred years. Relic of a shipwreck." | "It must have been solid, to last so long. May I have it?" | "Sure. What else do you collect?" ; Katie wondered if he were using his normal tones, whether the always sounded slightly superior and amused. | "Maybe I don't collect anything," she said. I "I'm sure you do. The pockets of your shorts are bulging, ; but you're a bit too old for bull's-eyes and marbles. What ; have you got - shells and pebbles?" I. "A few," she admitted, a little crossly. "Did you come here from Singapore?" i "Yes." It was partly true. !• "At school there?" ' "Certainly not. I'm nineteen!" ' "Really? I'd have put you at fifteen, but then I don't know much about teenagers. Horrible word, isn't it?" ; "I loathe it." She nodded past him. "Is that your boat?" ! "Yes. I've been spending a few days with a friend on , another island. What do you do in Singapore?" : The truth had to come out. "I'm from England. We're here on ... well, you might call it business." "We?" "I travelled out with ... a sort of cousin. She's been unwell, but she's almost over it now. In a day or two we'll set ' about what we came for, and if we're successful we shall be going home almost at once." He had lodged the warming pot on a rock, and now he

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stood back, with his hands in the pockets of his slacks, appraising her carelessly. "What sort of business could you have on Numeh Island?" "You wouldn't be interested," she said vaguely. Then something occurred to her. "Unless you know Simon Forbes?" He teetered on the rope-soled sandals. "Yes, I know the chap. Everyone knows 'him. His great-grandfather took over Numeh Island and was proclaimed its governor. The old man started plantations and a shipping service, and his son carried on, after him. The present Forbes is doing likewise." "Isn't he a bit of a horror?" He considered this. "Do you mean in appearance?" "His appearance doesn't matter, but it's bound to be revolting even if he's good-looking, because he's such a stubborn character." Katie lifted a determined little chin. "The man actually believes he's my guardian." "Good lord, does he?" He thought this over. "And you've never seen him?" "Not in person. I did keep a tiny snapshot of him. He looked as if he might be nice, and for a long time - till I left school - he was my favourite pin-up. I was at boarding school, you see, and we used to stick pictures on me inside of the door of the bedside locker. He got a bit faded and dog-eared, so when I put away childish things I tore him up. ' I actually thought I was done with him completely." "And you're not?" She shook her head, and the ends of the scarf danced on her shoulder. "He can't dictate to me in any way, but he holds the purse-strings. My father was a planter on Numeh; my mother died when I was very young and I more or less grew up in boarding schools. After my father died, Mr. Forbes sent money every three months and everything went smoothly till I was eighteen. We - Lorina and I - had always thought I'd have the capital amount transferred into my name at that age, and we'd planned what to do with it. But Mr. Forbes wrote that he'd decided to make use of a clause in my father's will, and retain the capital till I'm twenty-one. We sent him letters, but the beast wouldn't budge. In fact, in

his letter he said he might even extend the limit to my twentyfifth birthday!" He laughed, and his dark eyes gleamed. "So you came in person to shake him? Think you'll succeed?" "We have to. There's something we both want terribly and we need the money to get it." She looked at him, candidly. "Have you any influence here on Nurneh?" "A bit. I've lived here for some time." "What's your name?" "Verney." She held out a pale gold hand. "I'm Katie Howarfh. How do you do, Mr. Veraey." "It's a pleasure to know you. Miss Howarth." "Don't laugh at me, please. This is a serious matter for Lorina and me. Our whole future, in fact. Will you come in on our side?" "I'll have to meet your cousin before I can promise that," he said cautiously. "You see, I'm inclined to think you're rather young to know what you're after. You might be far better off with an allowance for the next few years." "But you don't understand," she said impulsively. "Lorina and I have been living at a guest farm in Sussex - working there. The owner died more than a year ago and his wife wants to sell out. I know that Mr. Forbes has been paying me only the interest on whatever my father left, and working it out at six per cent . . ." "You're as keen on money as the rest of them, aren't you?" She gestured impatiently. "We didn't come ten thousand miles without even a statistic to back us up. Lorina thinks that the money Mr. Forbes holds for me would be a little more than half of what the guest farm will cost. We'll take out a mortgage for the rest." "I doubt if you'll get your guardian to change his mind." "He only thinks he's my guardian. I'm going to prove to him that I'm capable of taking care of my own affairs!" He looked lazily at her clear oval face, at the healthy dark blue of her eyes and at the sweetly curving mouth. "How will you do it?" 9

"I'm not an idiot - not by any means." "I believe you, but you've a tough job ahead." She lifted her shoulders, a little despondently. "You're the first person I've told about it. I was simply trying it out, to get your reaction, and I'm afraid it's just what I expected. You're a stranger. Why should you bother about helping someone like me?" "I'm afraid no one can help you with Simon Forbes. You'll have to do it all yourselves - you and your cousin." Abstractedly, he consulted his watch. "I was going up to the hotel for a drink, but it's getting late, and I'm expected home for lunch. Maybe we'll run into each other again." Katie said arflessly, "When I need someone to unearth another pot I'll page Mr. Verney. You're a bit of a disappointment in other directions." He smiled, showing white teeth; but his eyes were old and knowledgeable, though he couldn't be more than thirty-one or two. "There's a flower that grows profusely in Numeh; you won't see it anywhere else in the islands. It has pale green velvet leaves and masses of tiny pink and gold flowers that form cushions. It has a native name which means 'Flower of the Morning.' Untouched, it's magnificent, but it bruises very easily." "Are you warning me against something?" she asked cheerfully. "Frankly, I don't think it would do much good. I've never met anyone so obviously destined for a hot time, one way or another." Before she could make a startled retort he was moving towards his boat, and adding, "If I were you I'd accept Simon Forbes as guardian of your purse, and come back in about five or six years' time. By then, you'll be quite something; if you didn't get what you wanted from Simon you'd get it from someone else." Katie took a couple of long. Uneven paces to reach his side. "Are you advising me to accept defeat before I've even tried?" He looked at her, as if surprised that she had caught up with him. "There again, I don't think it would do much 10

^ood. Whatever I say, you'll have a go at it." "Don't you wish me luck?" "I certainly do," he said mildly. "You're going to need it. He shoved Ac boat into the water, stepped into it and used an oar. His farewell was a casual flick of the wrist as he pulled in the oar and span the motor. Within seconds he was a hundred yards out and heading along the coast. Watching him, Katie felt an unfamiliar little knot of anger in her chest. But perhaps, she thought as she turned back towards the hotel, it was more frustration than anger. He was a man, with a man's viewpoint on her mission. He was rather too handsome, anyway, to be of much help. Possibly women were almost superfluous in his world. In any case, she couldn't bother with Mr. Veraey. She picked up her pot and carried it up the beach and into the lanai of the hotel. Old Uncle Jake sat there, exceedingly large in the small wicker chair and beaming from every inch of his ruddy countenance. He had built the hotel forty years ago, when he had mistakenly imagined a town growing up round it; now he sat back while his favourite niece and her husband ran the place to his satisfaction. Katie had heard his tales but had never questioned him. Now, smiling at him, she decided to ask him what he knew about the Verney man. The old man chuckled and heaved himself into a more easy position. "Yes, young lady, I know a lot about him. The Forbes family has already become a legend here, and Simon is increasing their prestige. He lives over at Kohti - has just built a new house that needs seeing to be believed. The old house was on mansion lines - old-fashioned and crumbling. The new one is built to catch every breath of air. Cement piles one room thick, and therefore very long, and french windows all over the place. Just one storey and well shaded by palms. If you're interested, you can see one end of it from the coast road." "I'm more interested in the man than in the house." He gave a short, full-throated laugh. "You're not the only wench! But Simon Forbes is choosy. He'll marry, of course, because the islanders expect it of him, but he's a most diffi11

cult man to please." ^"1 don'^t mean anything like that! He'd be a ghastly man Uncle Jake Dorfling tried to straighten his spherical body and take a good look at her. "What other reason would a girl have for wanting to know more about Mr. Forbes? Ill agree that a woman who married him would have an uneasy time ... but how do you know it? Have you seen him at all since you came here?" "No. No, I haven't." Katie was beginning to regret having mentioned the Forbes man's name. "He seems to be important here and I was curious, that's all." "He has something to do with this business of yours?" the old man asked shrewdly. When she had nodded, he said "If I were you I'd let Miss Carew take care of it. She is nearer his age. "That would be best, I think," she answered him quickly and with a smile she walked into the faded gaiety of the litfle lounge and along the corridor which led to the terraced block ot bedrooms. From habit, Katie tapped on the bedroom door before entering. She set her rusted iron pot on a newspaper in a comer of the room, and smiled across at Lorina, who was seated near the open window are'Sling'?00'8 awfu1' but r11 hide it somewhere- How Lorina smiled very sweetly. The waves of titian hair had been softly brushed back from her white forehead, and today she had taken the trouble to darken her thick lashes and eyelids. She wore a tan linen dress which enhanced the green of her eyes. She looked frail and beautiful, made Katie appear long-legged and boyish. - "Ym fine," she said. "You've been so patient, Katie" Oh, fudge. I've been having a marvellous time." Again he hesitated on the verge of mentioning the acquaintance she had made on the beach, and veered away from it "When are you going to bathe?" "Not for a day or two." A pause. "Darling, we can't wait 12

any longer. I think I'd better write a note to Mr. Forbes right away." "Oh, dear. The more I hear about him the more sure 1 am that we shouldn't have come. He sounds almost sinister." Lorina's glance sharpened. "Have you been talking to someone about him?" Oddly, Katie found herself evading the truth. I mentioned him just now to the old man. Uncle Jake. He says Simon Forbes is a difficult man." "We know that already, from the letters he sent you in England." Lorina ran a meditative shell-pink fingernail over the grass arm of her chair. "Katie, has anyone mentioned anything about your name? On an island like Numeh the name Howarth should easily be remembered." "Yes, it should - yet no one has said anything. My father died nearly five years ago, but old Uncle Jake would remember him. You'd think he would have asked me if I were a connection - but he hasn't. I wonder if . . ." "No, leave it now. I don't want these hotel people to know why we're here - not unless we're successful, anyway." Katie gazed at her in astonishment. "I haven't heard you sound defeatist before!" "I'm not licked, but so much depends on the sort of man this Simon Forbes turns out to be. And perhaps I'm still a bit depressed from feeling so seedy. Katie," the green eyes were softer than Katie had ever seen them, "this means so much to me that I'm getting cold feet a little. You'll have to help all you possibly can." "Of course I will," exclaimed Katie warmly. "Just tell me what you want me to do." Lorina smiled gently. "I'm sure I can leave it to your instinct. We're so happy together that we can't help but do the right thing for each other. You do want the guest farm • as much as I do, don't you? "I just want to be absolutely sure, now that we've reached the vital moment. I used to be able to manage men rather well, but ... I suppose it's through feeling low that I'm a wee bit uncertain." 13

"I'm sure it is. You'll soon be right again. We can't let the Forbes man think we're frightened of him!" "No, that would be fatal, but we must go carefully. Let me do most of the talking, will you? And it might be better if I were alone with him; an audience always cramps my style. I'd better write the note this afternoon and send it by messenger." "Do you mean you'll go and see him alone?" Katie asked hopefully. "I can't do that; after all, it's your money. But I must have a session alone with him some time. I'm doing this for you you realise that? Your father said you could have the money when you were eighteen, and I have to convince the man that you're capable of managing it, with my help." "You can do it. I'm sure!" "I'll try, darling." Lorina lifted a candid green gaze. "Just one little reminder. At the guest farm we got along splendidly as cousins; let's go on that way, shall we?" "Of course. You're far too young to, be my aunt, anyway. Thirty is no age at all." "Make it twenty-seven, there's a sweet. You don't know how infuriating it was to have a niece while I was still at' school! Your mother was nine years older than I and she married at nineteen." "Nineteen," mused Katie. "She must have grown up young I'm afraid I'm a bit backward where those things are concerned. I don't want to marry for years and years, but I'd love you to get married, Lorina." "If we get the guest farm, perhaps I will." Katie laughed. "Is there a secret understanding between you and Charles Kain?" "'You don't like him, do you?" ; "I shall, if he makes you happy. You're so good-looking its amazing you haven't married before." A shadow fell across Lorina's pale face. <
because we're approaching the climax of our trip. I want to be sure you understand and trust me before we storm the fortress!" "We've talked this thing through and through, and 1m quite sure we're doing the right thing. We've spent everything we had on this venture, and it's darned well going to succeed. What will you put in the note to the ogre?" "Very little. I'll just mention that we've arrived and would like to see him at his convenience. Then we'll sit back and wait." The reply to Lorina's note was brought next morning, by a blithe young cyclist. The writing was heavily masculine, the words few. Dear Miss Carew, I will give myself the pleasure ot making the acquaintance of yourself and Miss Katherine Howarth at six this evening. Perhaps you will meet me for cocktails in the hotel lounge. Sincerely, Simon Forbes. Well, the day had come, and Katie felt her resolve becoming firm, her spirits soaring. "I'm glad we haven't got to go to his house," she said. "Here in the hotel we're almost on our own ground." But Lorina was guarded. "This is to be the preliminary skirmish. I never thought about the man's writing in England, but now it has an ominous look - too self-assured. And the brevity isn't promising, either. He could have expressed surprise or pleasure, even without meaning it. But apparently Mr. Forbes is imperturbable and not given to glossing anything that's in the least unpleasant. I don't think we'd better say too much this evening - just weigh him up and do our deciding later, when he's gone." Katie had a swim before lunch, and during the afternoon she watched some islanders plaiting coco fibre into'-mats for their houses. Mondulu was that kind of place: primitive, unhurried, with one bamboo store that seemed to be open day and night, and a thrice weekly market just above the beach. She had tea with Uncle Jake Dorfling under a tree in . the paved lanai, and went indoors at five-thirty, to find that 15

Lorina had already had her bath and was dressing. | "I was about to send for you," Lorina said. "Do a good | job of make-up, won't you? And brush your hair well back." 1 She smiled a little sharply. "Our chief liability is your look 1 of youth, so we must hide it." | Katie was ready at five minutes to six, and at exactly the J hour, Lorina, tall and demure in navy silk with a white foam • at the throat, her red hair impeccably dressed and a modest | topaz dress ring on her right hand, nodded towards the door. | "Come along, honey. Into battle!" • i There were not more than half a dozen people in the \ lounge, all men. Four of them were guests whom Katie knew j by sight; the other two were seated at a table near the window, talking and smoking in a strange half-light from outdoors. One of them turned his head, and Katie's heart jumped right up into her throat and choked her breath. The i Vemey man! | She looked quickly at Lorina, saw only coolness and poise i and a smile. And then the man had got up, and so had his | companion, who seemed to be older and mid-brown, thickset I and rather rugged-looking. The men approached, and dazedly .; Katie registered their white dinner jackets and immaculate ; grooming. The taller might have been the Verney man's arrogant twin! He spoke first. "Miss Carew ... and Miss Howarth?" Just as if he'd never before seen Katie. "May I present Dr. Dan Willis. Dan and I are dining together, and I thought it might be a good thing for you to meet him over a drink. I understand that you. Miss Carew, have been unwell." "Yes, but I'm better now." Lorina gave him the soft, hesitant treatment. "Are you Mr. Forbes?" Without flickering an eyelid in Katie's direction, he answered. "I didn't introduce myself, did I? Simon Vemey Forbes. Shall we sit down?" By the time Katie found herself seated with the pleasantlooking doctor on one side and the master of deception on the other, she had begun to accept the situation. But not to like the man, or to trust him. He sat there, black-haired and 16

dark-eyed, looking for all the world as if he spent his time giving orders from behind a formidable desk, and yet you felt he gave them considerately and without prejudice. A dangerous man to deal with, she knew instinctively, because he could be many things without caring about his effect on people. The waiter stood obsequiously at his elbow. "The order, tuan?" "Martinis?" Simon Forbes asked them, "or would you prefer the local cocktail?" Each made a decision, the order was given. Simon offered cigarettes and lit them, sat back with an aloof smile. "I've written to you both a good many times, but it never occurred to me that I'd ever see you here on Numeh. Are you taking a cruise?" "Combining business with pleasure," Lorina replied, smiling a little. "We had a rather hard winter and I felt both Katie and I needed some sunshine. It's several years since I had a real holiday, and Katie had never even crossed the Channel - so we decided on a long break at tourist rates, Unfortunately," she ended deprecatingly, "tourist travel on a second-class ship isn't always as cosy as it sounds in the advertisements. The food was poor and I'm not a good sailor." "Then it was very brave of you to come so far." "It's easy to be brave for the things one wants - particularly if one wants them for a loved one. Katie enjoyed the voyage - didn't you, darling?" "I'd have liked it more if you could have shared it all." Dr. Willis put in, in quiet, smiling tones, "You must stay on Numeh for a while. Miss Carew, and make up for any unpleasantness you met on the way here. I'd be very happy to drive you both round the island. And we might arrange a moonlight picnic for you - don't you think so, Simon?" "I don't see why not. Miss Carew and Miss Howarth will dine with me at Kohti, of course." Lorina's green eyes opened a little wider, but didn't quite 17

meet his. "How very kind you are - both of you. We're very grateful." "Why should you be?" Simon asked coolly. "Since you came here to see me, the least I can do is to offer you hospitality." "Oh, yes." Dr. Dan Willis appeared to be the peacemaking type. "Simon acts guardian to Miss Howarth, I believe. I haven't lived here very long, so I'm not familiar with the details." With difficulty, Katie kept silent; determinedly she looked at the drink she had just tasted. Simon Forbes drank half his whisky before replying. "It's merely a matter between a London lawyer and myself," he said. "If I were Miss Howarth's guardian I wouldn't have permitted this trip to Numeh till she came of age." "In most things," said Katie before she could stop herself, "I came of age a year ago. I've never been irresponsible or extravagant, and the fact of having lived first in an ordinary boarding school and then in a sort of finishing school has made me independent." "So independent that you chose your career without assistance from anyone else?" This was perilous ground, and Katie knew it, without intercepting a warning glance from Lorina. "Yes," she said firmly. "If you hadn't forced me to spend eighteen months on that final course I'd have been almost trained by now." "Trained in what?" he asked, as if it were really a matter of interest. "Hotel-keeping?" "Possibly." "Do you know why I insisted on that extra year or so of ; school?" "Of course," inserted Lorina gently. "Katie had no parents to guide her and you felt she shouldn't be thrown on the world till she was old enough to handle the sort of things that crop up in a young woman's life. You wanted her well equipped, and considering you aren't a married man it was a v/onderful thought. I've always been so relieved that you were in charge while. Katie was under eighteen." « 18

Simon's sole reaction to this was a faint narrowing of his eyes. He said pleasantly, "Then there isn't much to discuss, is there? I'm very glad to know you, of course. As a matter of fact, I'm going over to England myself in a few months, and I intended looking you up in Sussex. If you'd mentioned in a letter that you were contemplating a visit to Numeh, I could have saved you the time and the money." Lorina had never before received this kind of cold-blooded response from a man. She looked at him briefly, apparently decided there was little one could do about him with others present, and turned charmingly to Dr. Willis. "I'm not sorry I came, anyway. Tell me about these moonlight picnics. Dr. Willis. They sound exciting." Lorina refused a second drink and Katie did the same. Dr. Willis seemed reluctant to bring the half-hour's talk to an end, but Simon showed no desire to prolong the session. "I have a few friends dining at my house," he said. "They're all men, or I would have invited you to join us. Will you come for lunch tomorrow? I'll send for you." Lorina shrugged her slender shoulders. "Very well, Mr. Forbes. It will be an honour to be entertained by the White Rajah of Numeh." His smile, as he rose, was distant and mocking. "Not the Rajah - just the tuan. A car will pick you up at a quarter to one." Then, as if in afterthought, he turned to Katie: "Seeing that I have a certain responsibility towards you I'll provide you with transport during your stay. Can you drive, or do you need a chauffeur?" "I can drive, and so can Lorina. We both used a station wagon at the guest farm." "Really? Then you should be able to manage my car. Come out and try it." "We don't need anything big." "I know. I merely want to test your driving." Katie's blue eyes brightened with anger. If Lorina had not made another warning movement she might have said something disastrous. The words remained unspoken, but they were there in the compression of her wide, sensitive mouth, 19

and in the tilt of her chin. She walked from the lounge into the darkness of the lanai, felt the tall man come beside her and impersonally take her elbow as he led her towards tha sandy yard where a couple of cars were parked. He stopped beside a long, powerful Mercedes, which Katie determinedly looked at as if it were a lizzie. "Ever driven one of these?" he asked. "No." "You're not going to drive this one, either,9' he said. "I'll send over something more in your line. I got you out here because I want a word with you." "I guessed that." He leaned back against the car, spoke tolerantly. "Still fed up because I didn't tell you yesterday that I'm the bear who holds the cash?" "Did you think I'd regard it as a good joke?" "It wasn't so serious. I'm not too keen on being taken by surprise - especially by a girl just out of school - so I punished you for it. Only lighfly, though. Found any more iron pots?" Exasperatedly, she said, "I don't understand you at all. We're trying to relieve you of a nuisance, but you treat us coldly and with utmost suspicion." "You're not a nuisance - only a habit. And the fact that you've travelled so far for money is certainly suspect. If that guest farm were such an excellent proposition you'd be able to raise a loan, but I don't intend to go into that just now." He paused. "Your cousin is remarkably attractive. Why isn't she married?" Katie stared at him. "Perhaps she doesn't want to marry." "I doubt it; she tries too hard to please." He shrugged. "I'm sorry, child, but even after seeing you the answer is still the same; you'll continue to receive your allowance every quarter, and I'll go into the whole business again when you're twenty-one." "You mean you've made a snap decision, without even hearing our side of it?" she demanded, aghast. "That's most unfair!" 20

"I'll listen," he said mildly, "but don't be too hopeful. Oh, and by the way, you don't have to wear sophisticated clothes and perfume for me. I saw you looking fifteen and smelling of the sea yesterday . . . remember?" "You're trying to jolt me, aren't you? But when I want something I'm quite tenacious, especially if the something is really my own. I suppose we ought to have guessed that you'd be this sort of person. Those letters of yours were the most unfeeling I've ever read!" "What was there to feel about? I only had to weigh my duty to you against this proposition of yours." "Any ordinary man would have been glad to have done with the whole thing as soon as he could," she insisted. "Any ordinary man," he said calmly, "would have thought quite a lot before taking you on at the age of fourteen. I was twenty-eight, then, and not a bit fond of women." "No?" She looked at him for a moment, saw a small tantalising smile on his well-cut lips, a faint glitter in the dark eyes. "What did you have against women?" "I was engaged to one of them; in appearance she was like your cousin." "What happened?" she asked curiously. "She went off and had a good time in Singapore - thought she could get away with it." "Then she wasn't in love with you?" "Love is for children like you," he said laconically. "I never have believed in it myself." Kate nodded comprehendingly. "I thought not; you were never young. That's why you're so detached about Lorina and me. You don't even like people, let alone love them." "Could be," he admitted. He looked her over in the darkness with the aloof interest of a scientist. "Now that you're here you may as well enjoy yourself. How long can you stay?" She turned away. "We haven't decided, Mr. Forbes. Shall we go in?" Katie didn't even look his way. Back at the hotel, she crossed the lounge to where Lorina and Dr. Willis were 21

standing, smiled at them both brightly. "Did you pass the test?" asked Lorina. "She's a little impulsive," said Simon smoothly, "but we don't have traffic jams on Numeh. I'm afraid we must leave you now. Ready, Dan?" He bowed, charmingly; Dr. Willis looked as if he would prefer to stay, but said goodbye. The two men went out into the scented darkness and Lorina turned towards the dining room. "Did you have trouble with him?" she asked quietly. Somehow, Katie felt a little raw and unwilling to plunge into a discussion. "No trouble. He's just like granite, that's all." "Yes, I'm afraid he is. How can a man get that way in a place like this?" Katie shrugged. "I wish we'd stayed at home." Lorina gave her most affectionate little laugh. "Oh, come, Katie. We haven't even started on the man yet. I think well have an ally in Dr. Willis." Katie was reflecting that one could-have a hundred allies and still be weaponless against the imperturbable Simon Forbes. "Let's forget the horrid man," she said. "I'm hungry." For a while, that evening, she did forget Simon. The dinner, of fish salad, roast pork, many vegetables, and heaps of fruit, was excellently prepared and served, and after it a guitarist sang and played just outside the lounge windows. Lorina seemed abstracted, and before ten o'clock she said she felt tired enough to sleep. So Katie took a stroll alone in the warm, whispering night. She looked at palms against the sky, at the seductive sea, where a few small boat lamps bobbed, at the white face of the Mondulu Hotel. She wandered along the lane beside the hotel, caught a sweet elusive perfume and bent to examine the flower it came from. There were clusters of them; pink ' and gold, she thought, though the hotel lights turned them yellow and streaky. The blossoms lay over a cushion of their own soft velvet leaves. Flower of the Morning. She straightened, remembering the man on the beach 22

There must be some way of persuading him. Lorina would find it and they would both depart happily for England. But as she hesitated beside the long smooth trunk of a palm and listened to the murmuring waves and the strange distant music of another guitar, Katie had the disturbing conviction that even if they got what they had come for, she and Lorina wouldn't be entirely happy when they left the island. Already some of the magic was at work.

23

CHAPTER II KATIE awoke very early the following morning. Her first waking thought was an uneasy one with Lorina as the focal point. Ever since Lorina had first come to visit her at school, not long after her father's death, Katie had regarded her more as a cousin than as a young aunt, and she had been very willing to forget their true relationship when she had joined Lorina at the guest farm where she was book-keeper and receptionist. What woman of under thirty would want a teenage niece underfoot? Besides, the cousinship had made them more companionable, and for that reason alone Katie, who had no other relative that she knew of, was very willing to preserve it. But here in Numeh things were slightly different. It didn't really matter whether Simon Forbes knew they were niece and aunt, and surely Lorina would have more pull as Katie's aunt than as a cousin? Not that it would be policy to mention it; in any case, Lorina was shrewd enough to work out things for herself. Katie remembered times when Lorina's knowledge and experience had rather amazed her. She also recalled something which had occasionally occurred to her but never mattered much: at no time had Lorina been communicative about Katie's parents. Katie, of course, had wondered about them, but not very deeply. She knew her mother had died in a car accident when she was four, that she herself had been placed in the care of friends who had eventually sent her away to boarding school, Her father had taken a job as publishers' traveller . . . and then there was a blank, till he had come home from the South Seas to see her when she was ten. She had written to him care of a box number in Singapore, had received a few replies which told little except that he was working on Numeh and wanted her to have the best education he could afford. Then suddenly, only a month after her fourteenth birthday 24

the school principal had told her of her father's death and taken her to see the London solicitor who apparently regarded each client as a file in his cabinet. He could tell her nothing, except that he would pay her school fees, pocket money and holiday expenses, and that she would probably inherit her father's "estate" when she was eighteen. For weeks after that, Katie had felt unwanted and forlorn; and then Lorina, who had just come down from York, became the anchor she needed. Naturally, she had had to spend most of the holidays at the school or with a school friend, but Lorina had steadily kept in touch from her new post at the guest farm, and had had a place waiting for her when she had finished her last course. During recent months, while letters had been going backwards and forwards between Numeh and Sussex, Lorina had mentioned her sister only briefly. "She,was the lively one," she had said. "I was very fond of her, but we never really knew each other because she married so young. I was barely sixteen when she died." "What about my father?" Katie had asked. "I liked him and he liked me. He must have liked me or he wouldn't have written, later on, asking me to look after you." "You've never told me that before." "Because I didn't want it to influence you. And anyway," with a sisterly smile, "once I'd seen you again I wanted to help you in every way I could, for your own sake. For a schoolgirl you were quite appealing." Katie, unused to showing affection, had felt a lump in her throat and a new exasperation with the man in Numeh who wouldn't release her father's capital. She had repeated that somehow they would get the money and buy the farm, so that she and Lorina could feel quite independent and perhaps in time be comfortably off. She hadn't liked Charles Kain, but then he was just one of the "permanents" who happened to be keen on Lorina; there had never been anything to suggest that Lorina returned his feelings. Katie got up, saw that Lorina still slept, and went into the '25

bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, dressed in clean white shorts and shirt, the pale hair slicked back in one shallow wave, Katie walked through the lounge, where a boy was using an ancient carpet sweeper, and out into the sunny lanai. The air was fresh but warm, the bougainvillea spilling down from the trellis at the end of the paving billowed out into purple clouds, and the sea was rippling blue-green silk frilled with white where it lapped the pale gold sand. Old Uncle Jake Dorfling rolled round the building towards his favourite palm, looked about him to select a chair. Katie pushed the long lounger he liked best into position. "Good morning," she said. "Have you had breakfast?" He chuckled. "So you're the new waitress! I like your uniform, and," with a sigh as he sank down, ,'T like your youth. I don't eat breakfast any more - too old and fat." He gave her a sly smile. "I hear you're going to have a special lunch today." "Everyone gets to know everything in Mondulu, don't they? I noticed the waiters almost walked out backwards when Mr. Forbes was here last night." Uncle Jake's bushy grey eyebrows rose steeply. "Are you being irreverent, young lady? Mr. Forbes is a very good and esteemed master in this island. You've only seen Mondulu, but almost the whole of the rest of Numeh was developed by the Forbes family from raw jungle into plantations and the town of Kohti. There isn't a native in the place who wouldn't defend Simon with all he had, if necessary." "Lucky Simon," she said flippantly. "The iron hand in the threadbare velvet glove." His large smile was inquisitive. "I don't remember any casual visitors to the island being invited to the big house. You're the first, and perhaps your visit is not so casual, either. He came here for the purpose of seeing you last night." "Yes, he did." Katie hesitated, then said, "It may seem fantastic, but Simon Forbes holds the key to my future." "Ah, now, that's promising! You should be happy about it."

"I'm not. He's so cold and sure of himself that last night I 26

wanted to blow him and his island sky-high!" "You can't do that. Mondulu is on Numeh." She smiled. "I'd leave you here, and the hotel. Seriously, though, I can't make any impression on the man at all. I'm just someone negligible and distant who should be grateful to have the big man looking after my interests. Only I'm not grateful!" "You're not negligible, either. As a matter of fact, I believe you're the youngest white woman on the island - and that makes you someone! Mind you, though, you've got to be at least twenty-five before Simon will allow that you're growing up. Does he want you to stay here?" "No, he just wishes I'd stop reminding him of my existence." "And your cousin?" he probed. "Is she here to add beauty and blandishment to your cause?" Katie lifted slim shoulders, gave him another smile. "It's her future, too. But never mind; this morning I'm glad I came." She waved to him and went into the dining room, where the dozen or so tables were white and sparkling, with a section of yellow papaia set at each place. Violent scarlet pomegranate flowers splashed the white walls, their pots invisible beneath cascades of fairy fern. The room was small but a joy, and as Katie seated herself she couldn't help recalling the low-ceilinged dining room at the guest farm, where the dim mock-candles were needed for every meal, and arty copperware and Spode looked down from the walls. She caught herself up quickly. It was lovely there! The farm itself and the Downs, the boisterous sea and Morbay town, with its winding streets and leaning pubs, the market square and the church and the statue of some naval hero of long ago. Funny, though, and rather frightening, that she should have to remind herself so soon of the familiar details. She forgot them again, squeezed lemon over the papaia and dipped into the soft golden fruit with a spoon. She bathed- that morning, and got back in time to eat cream fancies with Uncle Jake. Lorina sat with them, but 27

drank unsweetened lime juice and ate nothing. Uncle Jake's weighty humour Lorina found irritating, but she smiled at him; she had never been known to make an enemy; enemies were incalculable, she averred, and it was better to be able to assess a person's reactions. This morning, Lorina was quiet and thoughtful. Her colour was better than at any time since she had left England, but the heat slowed down her movements and made her conscious that make-up quickly disappeared if one grew animated. Katie could be energetic; her skin was firm and young and golden. Not that Lorina had ever hankered for any but her own long delicate features, white skin and titian hair. At noon, the two girls went indoors to dress. Katie carelessly chose a sleeveless white linen which made her look more tanned than ever, and Lorina wore a flowery dress this time, one of those filmy feminine things that most women rather dislike but men find fetching. The car that called for them was a roomy sedan, almost new, mid-blue in colour and driven by a Malay in khaki drill. They sat in the back seat, and for the first time since their arrival in the dusk at Kohti harbour left the small district of Mondulu. "Do you suppose there'll be other people there?" Katie queried. "Somehow, I think not. And somehow, I think hell try to see you alone again. He senses that I don't want him to, so he'll do it deliberately. Upon reflection, I don't see that it can do any harm." Her smile at Katie was warm. "If I had to look for someone to boost my reputation I'd choose you, without hesitation." "I should hope so! The only thing I wished very fervently when I saw that man was that I'd knocked about a little more." "It wouldn't help you much. I don't find him a pushover myself." "Supposing we can't melt him at all - what shall we do?" "He'll unbend, some time. We may have to be very patient, though." She paused. "I've been thinking of writing an air

letter to Mrs. Barnwell, asking for an extension of our option. Four months from six weeks ago, when we left England, may not be long enoughi" "But the option is for sixteen weeks. We shan't be here a month, surely?" Lorina patted her hand. "When a thing is worth having it's worth waiting for. If we can't convince Simon Forbes in words, we'll have to stay and work on him. If we lose the farm I'm going to feel hellish." Katie looked at her quickly. "It ... it really does mean a lot to you, doesn't it?" "More than you know, honey. It's going to be a great success, and you'll never regret having your money tied up that way. Maybe you'll want to pull out in a year or two, when you marry, but you'll still get an excellent return on the investment." "You'd really love to live there - always?" "It isn't Morbay that attracts me, or even the farm, particularly. It's the business angle. If we built on a block of rooms we could double the summer trade and get away in the winter - perhaps go abroad. Can you imagine any better life than spending from spring to autumn at Morbay and the cold months in Spain or the South of France?" "No, I really can't. Are you quite sure we couldn't get the money in England?" "We could raise two-thirds of it - enough to satisfy Mrs. Barnwell for the time being. But the repayments would be a nightmare, and the extra building just impossible." She glanced at Katie's candid blue eyes, her sweetly curved red mouth, and said softly, "You wanted it enough yourself to come with me, darling. Not changing your mind, are you?" "Of course not. The man is such a trial, that's all." "Yes, I know. Don't upset him, if you can help it, but don't let him intimidate you, either. If he thinks you're easily overcome he's bound to conclude that you aren't fit to handle your own affairs. Today, I feel, we must try to keep off the subject." She stretched an elegant leg and waggled a white shoe. "There's one thing to remember. Every man has a 29

vulnerable spot. Mostly it's some woman, but in Simon's case it's more obscure. But don't worry. We'll find it." They left the matter there, and looked out upon plantations of coconut palms. During the whole fifteen miles between Mondulu and Kohti they saw no houses till they drove between the thatched native dwellings on the outskirts of the town. And then, just when it seemed they were approaching a surprisingly modem spot of civilisation, the car turned right, and sped down an avenue towards the sea, turned right again, and climbed a slow gradient to the Forbes house. Uncle Jake's description had hit it off nicely. It was exceptionally long, with a tremendous roofspan which extended to half cover a tiled lanai through which one entered the house. The whole building was raised on many concrete piles, for coolness, and the wide windows faced other windows on the other side of the house, so that one got the impression of bricks and glass and a glaring pale grey roof pitted by ventilators. The garden was already established; there were saplings covered with yellow and scarlet and orange bloom, budding yuccas among grey-green rock plants, and masses of foliage which Katie did not recognise at all. In a year or two, she was sure, the house would be accepted by its tropical setting. "Heavens," murmured Lorina. "But isn't it like him! I'll bet it's the only house in the South Seas so obviously shaped by the demands of the climate." Katie had no time to add her comment. The car stopped, a figure rose from a chair in the lanai and came down the three shallow steps to the gravel. Simon was tall and immaculate in off-white tropical slacks and a white shirt with a flowing tie. His skin was bronzed in the sunlight, his hair, blue-black, glistened as he opened the car door; he showed his white teeth in a suave smile, looked at them dispassionately with those dark eyes. "Welcome to Kohti," he said urbanely. "I hope you enjoyed the drive?" As if we were tourists, Katie fumed to herself. This was another Simon; not the boatman or the half-sinister creature 30

who put one in one's place, but the considerate host who nevertheless remained conscious of his exalted position on the island. He led them to the shaded portion of the lanai and seated them in comfortable modem chairs near a low table which was apparently a crude plank of local wood which had been smoothed and polished to mirror brilliance; it was part of this place, of course. Lorina sat back in her scarlet chair. "I expect you're tired of being told you have an astonishing and very charming house," she said. "I see you don't even run to glass doors; everything slides!" He took the box of cigarettes from the table and opened it. "The place has been completed about six months. The old house was stuffy and out of date; I'm having it modernised and converted into a school building. The children here do their lessons outdoors under an awning, but they need a building, of course, and a dignified one will give them the right outlook." He poured gin juleps, topped them with ice and a sprig of mint and handed them, before seating himself once more in his angular white chair. He raised his glass, and Katie, feeling as if she were in a world that she had so far known only from the glossy magazines, tasted her drink and found it deliciously cool if slightly heady. "Imported luxury," she said. "I like it. Are we permitted to put the obvious questions?" "Ask away," he replied. "I haven't many secrets." "No? I should have thought you had hundreds - big ones. What is the white population of Kohti?" "About a hundred and fifty. These days, white people aren't allowed to settle as planters; the land is for the people." "Do you have plantations of your own?" "Not really. I own the controlling interest in a development company that runs copra plantations, rice fields, sugar and a number of factories. All the growing is managed by local people - Chinese and Malays chiefly. I do take a working interest in the couple of industrial concerns, but if you 31

keep a finger on everything you can't specialise." He knocked ash from his cigarette. "Next question?" Lorina said, not too quickly but before Katie could speak: "Why not ask a few of your own, Mr. Forbes? You said you haven't many secrets. We haven't any at all." His smile was sardonic as he leaned back into the whitecovered, deeply-upholstered chair. "That's quite a challenge, from a good-looking woman, but I doubt if it's true. In any case, if I began to probe we'd get back to the reason you're here, and I've a feeling you want that as little as I do. Have you decided how long you're going to stay?" "Not yet. It may be two or three weeks." "Then you'll be glad of the car - the one that brought you today. We have about two hundred miles of roads crisscrossing the island, and they're all good in dry weather. It's best not to wander into the jungle near the hilltops or into the plantations, but as you're from England it's unlikely that you'll feel an urge for it. If you're keen on seeing the local sights, there's a mosque and several shrines, bazaars and so on." He paused. "I believe Dan Willis is most anxious to escort you, during his spare time." "I thought him most friendly," said Lorina casually. It was strange how the conversation remained on the cool and distant level and yet suggested quite strong undercurrents. They went indoors, to lunch at a table in the far corner of that extensive lounge upon succulent cold meats, salads, cheese and fruit, but though there was scarcely a pause in the talk, it never did more than flow over them genuy, the hint of electricity remaining ominously static. The meal ended back in the lanai, with coffee and cognac. And then, at two-thirty, when Lorina was consulting her watch and Katie was feeling uneasily that in a way matters were worse than they had been last night. Dr. Willis drove round the gravel path in a dusty black car. He came into the lanai, a broad-shouldered smiling man in official-looking bush-khaki, bowed to the two women and spoke to Simon. "Thought I wouldn't make it," he said. "Old Ah Ting had 32

a stroke just as I got home for lunch - his eleventh, to my knowledge. He's broken all records." "How is he?" "Who knows? A man who survives his umpteenth stroke at ninety-six could confound anyone. I left him sleeping among a brood of quarrelling grandchildren in his daughter's house." He hitched the drill slacks and sat down. "I should be free now for two or three hours. Larry Brendon is on duty," "My ward here," said Simon, with mockery, "should meet that young assistant of yours. You must arrange it, Dan." "All right, I will." He smiled paternally at Katie. "You look as if this climate agrees with you." "It does. I love it." "What do you think of Simon's house?" "It has everything except a heartbeat." "Like Simon?" "I'd rather believe he has a heart somewhere." "Why not try him out?" "How can I? I wouldn't know where to begin and I haven't much time. You can't invade a fortress without ammunition, and I don't seem to have any." "You have your share," put in Simon tolerantly. "It needs a few years to mature, thats all. Just be content to be young and in possession of an income which may not be large, but will provide you with most of your requirements." Lorina smiled at him, ruefully. "We've come a long way for those few words, so you mustn't be surprised if it takes us several days to accept them." She made as if to move. "Katie and I ought to go now." "You can't go. I invited Dan to lunch, but he couldn't be here in time, so I suggested he come as soon as he could, and we'd go for a drive. Unless you're tired?" "I'm not a bit tired," said Lorina quickly. "May we walk in the town first?" asked Katie. "It's too hot for you." "You can't postpone things .simply because it's hot," she protested. "That's part of the fun, anyway." 33

"Not for me," said Lorina. Dr. Willis leaned forward. "I'll take you, and Miss Carew can start out with Simon. They can find a good spot to wait for us, on the road." Strangely, Katie hoped Simon would disagree. He didn't, though. "A good idea," he said. "You two start away at once, and we'll follow. Keep her out of mischief, Dan." Lorina had gone quiet and watchful; Katie knew that she was marshalling her wits to make the most of this sudden piece of luck. Dr. Willis stood up. With another faintly anxious glance at the two who were remaining behind in the lanai, Katie went with the doctor to his roomy black car. He put her into the front seat, took his place and started the engine. They moved down the drive and out on to the coast road, turned left along the palm-lined avenue and took another turn down into the town of Kohti. He drove along a spacious esplanade between the sea and a line of buildings, pointed out Simon Forbes' sleek white yacht riding at anchor in the bay, and found an empty side-street in which to park the car. Dan Willis was a good companion. He took her into stores where she had the joy of examining all kinds of local products and gewgaws from other islands without buying a thing, showed her the mosque, with its eloquent line of shoes outside, the weaving shed, where brown fingers moved swiftly and intricately to produce delicate baskets and plates and bowls, of thin white grass, and a tiny Chinese coffee room full of young men with almond eyes and black hair who were earnestly discussing some problem. "You must walk along these streets after dark," he said. "Everyone comes out, the smells are indescribable and you hear the clicking of mahjong mingling with guitar music and the wail of a snake-charmer. Oh, yes, we have our snakecharmer, though only the small boys bother to watch him. I'm afraid he's not very genuine." "I'd rather believe he is!" "Of course you would." He waved at the crowded main street. "You find this exciting, don't you?" 34

"Yes, but it makes me uneasy, too. I can't imagine anyone living here for long and not being altered by. it. Except, perhaps, you." "Why me?" "I don't know. You're one of these bedrock types. How long have you been in the East?" "Fourteen years, though it's not much more than a year since I came to Numeh. I think I shall settle here." "You wouldn't like me to train as a nurse and come out and help you, would you?" He laughed. "I'd like it very much, but that's not your ambition, is it? I seem to have heard that you want to settle on a farm in England." "Yes, I do." But as she spoke Katie was aware of a tiny qualm. "Lorina and I are very happy at Morbay. If the place is sold well either have to look for other jobs or work with the new owner. Lorina runs the whole thing, practically, so buying it wouldn't be much of a risk, from our point of view. I can't think why Mr. Forbes is so set against it." "He doesn't meet many young women - just a few in Singapore when he goes there on business. He hasn't said much about you, but I should say that he thought of you as a schoolgirl and can't quite believe in your having grown up. At the moment, your money is in gilt-edged stock - the Numeh Development Corporation, no less! Last year they paid a dividend of twenty-one per cent. You won't find a better investment anywhere." "I didn't know about that," Katie said soberly. "Why didn't Mr. Forbes tell us?" "Are you sure you encouraged him to tell you?" "No, I'm afraid I didn't. Oh dear, that does complicate things!" He asked quietly, "Because of Miss Carew? Is she so very enthusiastic about taking on the responsibility of running a hotel of sorts?" "I'm afraid so." "Has she any . . . ties in England?" "Family, you mean? None at all." '35

"Well, perhaps things will work out. By the way, don't tell anyone what I've just told you about your capital. It's not really my business and I'd rather you waited till Simon himself mentions it." "I'm glad you're here," she said with a frank smile. "It would be too awful if there were no one to speak to about Mr. Forbes." He was leading her back to the car. "Talk to me whenever you like. Come down to the clinic and look round, if you're interested." "I'd like to. I'll bring Lorina, if she'll come." "Do that," he said, and Katie knew he was tacitly admitting that he would like to know more about Lorina Carew. "Why is it you men don't marry?" she asked curiously. He smiled. "With most of us it's through a combination of circumstances. Some men hurriedly become engaged before they come out, and the girl follows fairly soon. Others are the type who marry a little later; they get out here and there aren't many unattached women, so they don't marry at all. I'm one of those." "It seems a pity," she said frankly. "You're a good husband going to v/aste." "Jean Petlow said that once, when we were working on a child. She's my nurse." "Oh, you do have one. What is she like?" "Quiet and efficient - early thirties. She was here when I came, and she says she'll stay on when I go. When you find a woman just working in these places it never does to be inquisitive. They have their reasons, and one must respect them." '. "I can think of worse ways of spending one's life," she said. And then: "Isn't that a car right over there on the hill?" "Yes, it's Simon's. He's found a way down to the beach." Automatically, he put on speed, and a few minutes later they had drawn off the road and were coming to a halt beside the Mercedes. Lorina and Simon, they discovered, had gone a little way down the slope towards the sea, and were seated on a natural rock bench among fat succulent plants 36

and low shady trees. Simon stood up, and Katie noticed, with a queer leap at the heart, that he was smiling as if at something Lorina had said. There was a smile, too, ^ on Lorina's lips; they had actually been enjoying something together. "Well?" Simon queried. "Did little Kate get her fill of the town?" "Enough for the moment," she answered. "You've found a magic spot for a rest. Has this part of the island got a name? " "There are Malay and Dyak words for the headlands and bays, but the island is roughly divided into two-thirds Kohti and the other third Mondulu. This is Kohti, but about eight miles farther on you meet Mondulu. Both were named after people." "What people?" "I'll te0. you, some time." He sounded offhand again. "What did you consider the most exciting part of the town?" "I'm not sure. The whole blend was rather intoxicating. I noticed the Forbes name rather often. Forbes Square, Forbes Avenue, and so on. And a statue of Andrew Forbes ; was he the first on Numeh?" "He was," laconically. "He started the whole bag of tricks." "Why don't ytfU like talking about it?" Lorina gave a small laugh. "In time, Simon, you'll be prepared for my cousin's compulsion to hear and tell the truth about everything. Shall we have the tea now?" Simon nodded and went at long strides up to the car. Katie sat still and looked at the sea washing over the beach and about the few rocks half buried there. Lorina had called him Simon and there had been something in her voice that Katie hadn't heard since before their arrival; a note of confidence and friendliness. Katie couldn't decide whether it was a good sign or a bad one; she only knew that it was somehow distasteful. Simon brought a metal picnic container and set it down among the plants. He lifted the lid and delved, produced 37

flasks of ice-cold fruit juice and hot' tea, tins of little cakes and sandwiches, a packet of plastic napkins, cups and glasses. They nibbled and drank, watched the sea and enjoyed the densely-grown green coastline with its edging of rocks. The shadows lengthened; Dr. Willis said he would have to leave them - he had a couple of patients to see in the wilds while it was still light. "We'll all go," Simon said. "For the ladies' benefit we'll change partners. Go ahead, if you want to. I'll pick up Lorina at your house." It was all so matey that Katie could only shrug off her bewilderment and accept the situation. They all climbed to the cars, Lorina entered Dan's, and waved as it moved away. Simon stowed the picnic container and then paused to offer Katie a cigarette and light up for them both. He pushed a hand into his pocket, indicated the lush wild banana and plantain trees along the coast. "It's possible to live here without spending a penny," he said, "There's fish galore, abundant fruit - even breadfruit cassava trees, sago palm, and wild pigs in the forest. I know white men who live almost entirely on nature in neighbouring islands." "Good heavens! What do they do with their time?" "Loaf, chiefly. One of them - quite a close friend of mine - is a painter. I'd been staying with him and another man when I met you on Mondulu beach that morning." "Do they come here?" "Sometimes. Pete Craven is coming over in a,week or so." "Does his stuff sell?" "Oh, yes. He's no Gauguin, but he has an English agent who's built up the 'Back to Nature in the South Seas' angle. I have a couple of his pictures in my den; I must show you them . . ." He broke off as she suddenly dropped her cigarette, held her right shoulder with her left hand and swung round to him. "Look! Something horrible is clinging to me." It was purple and egg-shaped, blown out to the size of a 38

very large pea, and its teeth were tightly fastened into the flesh of her upper arm, near the shoulder. Simon pushed her hand away, swiftly blew the ash from the tip of his cigarette and tightly pinched up the flesh to which the hideous thing was attached. "Keep still," he said, and applied his cigarette to the swollen body. Within two seconds the thing had fallen to the ground, leaving only a red mark in the whiteness of the gripped flesh. Simon let go and pushed the palm of his hand over the spot, bent and looked searchingly at her bare legs before straightening again. "Haven't seen one of those for a long time," he said. "They're dying out." "What was it?" "The Numeh leech. If you should ever get another don't prise it off or you'll leave the teeth and the poison in your ekin. Either get someone to do what I did, very carefully, or drive straight down to the clinic and let them deal with it." "Is the poison dangerous?" "It's not fatal, but it can cause painful inflammation and a slight fever." He looked at her curiously. "You're quite a girl, Katie. Not a sign of panic." "I didn't like it much. If I'd been alone I might not have felt so calm. I suppose I realised that if I had to be attacked by one of your parasites I had the best possible companion for the occasion." "Thanks a lot," he said dryly. "We're beginning to know each other. Let's move." She slipped into the front seat of the long, beautifullyfitted car, and he took his place behind the wheel. And then, when he was ready to start up he glanced down at the mark left by the leech. With a movement that seemed almost unconscious he took hold of her upper arm and gently smoothed his fingers over the pale gold skin marked by an angry spot. "Its like satin," he said. "The damned nerve of the pest!" Something strange happened within Katie. She felt her 39

limbs go tense and a tickling dryness in her throat, and the smile she tried for wouldn't come. It was a tremendous relief when he started the car and had to concentrate on the road.

CHAPTER III SIMON drove at a moderate speed and slowed each time they approached a view he considered Katie should not miss. He showed her the mountains, hazing in the late sun, a bay which formed an enchanting natural harbour for prahus and outriggers, a long village which was exclusively Malay and the padis, where young rice was growing in vigorous green spikes. She sighed contentedly. "You're an awfully good guide to your own island. I wish . . ." She tailed off, a little shyly. "What do you wish?" "Just something silly." "I've wished silly things myself. What was it?" "Well ... I wish I hadn't come here as Katie Howarth. I don't want problems or to be treated as a child. I just want to wallow in Numeh." "There are two reasons a young woman comes to these places: to many someone or to visit a relative. Take your choice." "If you were my big brother -" she began tentatively. "I'm not!" "All right, I was only supposing. Let's say that if Dr. Willis were my big brother . . ." "That's better, but it won't do." His tone changed slightly. "Had you been old enough a few years ago, you could have come to visit your father." She nodded, and looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry I said we mustn't speak about him. Actually, I think we should. I didn't know him at all, but one does miss having a background, and I think it will make me feel better when I get back to England if I can manage to get a clear picture of the way he lived here, and what he did. Where was his plantation?" "Plantation? Your father wasn't a planter." 41

"What was he, then?" He let quite a minute elapse before answering, "He was an accountant, working for the development company. A very good accountant." "But where did he get all his money?" "He saved, and invested wisely - for you. We'll turn off the road before entering Kohti and 111 show you where he lived. A shipping clerk and his wife live in the house now." Katie was silent for a mile or two. Then she asked. "Why are you so reticent about everything? You didn't like my mentioning your great-grandfather, did you?" "It's my nature to be reticent. You can find out all there is to know about Andrew Forbes in the guide books. He came here at the age of thirty and found the island uninhabited. As usual, the first natives ashore named the place and for some reason connected with their gods they named it Kohti. He put a Malay chief, called Mondulu, in charge of the other end of the island. He invited immigrants from China and the adjacent islands, and as soon as they saw he was setting up a proper little government and planning for prosperity they came in swarms. The rest you can see for yourself." "You tell a romantic story in the most cold-blooded fashion. What sort of man was he? Did his family grow up here?" "He was a Scot, married to an English woman. They fought over the education of their two sons, and eventually one stayed and the other went to England. The educated one came back and took over, while the other lazed, so after that all members of the Forbes family were schooled overseas. I lived in England from the age of ten till I was twenty-two; I did come back in between once or twice, but not for long." She was gazing at him, too interested to dissemble. "Did you ever want to do anything else?" "No. I was bom on the island and felt I belonged here." "No brothers or sisters?" "A younger sister - she always lived in England and married into the Grenadier Guards." Katie smiled. "You're rather extraordinary. How did you 42

come to take on the doling out of my legacy?" The invisible shutter came down between them. "I knew your father and he asked me to do it. We have no solicitor on Numeh, but I have the power myself to seal any sort of agreement or contract. The reason you've never seen a copy of the will is because there isn't one." "The solicitor in London talked about a will." "Possibly that was because you were young and he thought it unlikely you'd understand the legal terms. Actually, there was merely a contract between your father and me." "And I was the only one mentioned in it?" "Yes. He did tell me, though, that your sole relative, as far as he knew, was Miss Carew." She said softly, "He liked Lorina. He wrote to her not long before he died, asking her to take care of me." Simon looked at her briefly, but didn't comment. Instead he said. "You're very fond of her yourself, aren't you?" "Well, it's natural, isn't it? She's the only person who ever took a close interest in me. I wish she'd married, though." "She hasn't lost the chance. It's my guess that Dan Willis is already under the spell, and there must have been others. Her kind of beauty is very magnetic to a man, you know." She said hesitantly, "I don't think Lorina would marry out here unless she fell really desperately in love, and I can't see her doing it." "What do you know about love?" he scoffed. "Tell me the difference between the passionate kind and the desperate." "All right!" She sounded defiant. "There's a genuine, deep, sweet kind of love that's bound to become passionate . . . sometimes. Desperation only enters into it when you're unsure of the other person. At least, that's what / think." "Not bad at all. Heaven preserve you from desperation, little Kate. I think it will, too. You're going to grow into one of those glowing, charming women whom everyone trusts even a husband. And if he feels he can trust you there's every hope that you'll be able to trust him." He turned the car off the main road and into a by-lane that led towards the hills above Kohti. "In England the girls go in for male friends at 43

an early age, don't they? Had any yourself?" "One or two. We sometimes get young men staying at the guest farm for a couple of weeks; they hike over the downs and go out fishing in motor-boats. When the weather is bad we make up card tables and have dancing, and occasionally we go off to a film." "No permanent attachment yet, of course?" "I don't want to get married for ages." "Good. That shows sense." Katie tried him out. "But you don't think I've quite enough sense to know what I want for the future?" He said, tolerantly, "It isn't a case of sweet reason, my child. You were persuaded to work at the guest farm - you didn't choose it. I'm not saying Lorina was at fault in any way; she did what she thought was best, so that you would be learning something and also be under her care till you were accustomed to being let loose on the world. Her intentions were admirable, but she was a little blind to your particular personality. In my opinion you should have had at least a year at university." "But that's ridiculous. I couldn't afford it!" "We'd find the cash, from your father's capital. He always thought you'd study music." "I can't. It's too late, and I don't even want to." "You honestly mean," he said deliberately, "that you don't have a single idea of your own about your future? I thought better of you." "I want the guest farm," she said doggedly. Instead of a flat refusal to consider the subject, he queried, "What price are they asking?" "It's rather steep - twenty thousand pounds plus the expenses of the sale. But that includes everything, the whole business. There's a big turnover, and there are ways we can economise. A firm of auditors told us it's a bargain, and we know from our own experience that the business pays well. It's been keeping the owner and his wife as well as the rest of the staff. We'd have to get a bond for part of the money, but Lorina has ideas for expansion . . ." 44.

"Leave it," he said abruptly. "I merely asked the price." Deflated, she answered, "I seem to blunder round you like an excited spaniel faced with a ... a panther, or something. I can't decide what you're going to do next, but I do know it's going to be unpleasant." "That's hardly fair," he said calmly. "By refusing to agree to your proposition I'm protecting your interests." It was true; Katie knew it. She had learned from Dr. Willis that her money brought in a far higher rate of interest than she could hope for from the farm. That meant, of course, she realised suddenly, that the capital must be smaller than she had thought. Oh, dear, if only she knew more about finance. She looked out of the window at the palm plantations, saw that they were nearing a few houses splodged over the hillside. They came down into a valley, rose again and at the top of the hill saw the town, and the sea beyond it. They went down a side street into a tranquil avenue, and she felt a little raw when Simon stopped the car and said, "There's the house your father had; plain but comfortable. He lived there nearly two years." "But he was here longer than that." "His previous house has been destroyed. Do you want to go in?" "No," she said quickly. "No, thank you." He cast her a swift dark look and set the car moving again. "Don't start getting yourself tied up, there's a good girl," he said quietly. "Emotions are the devil at any age, but at your age they can take control. Don't let them." She looked away from him. "Why should I be emotional? I've told you I didn't really know my father." "Perhaps that very lack could make you more sensitive." He shrugged. "I wish you were either a bit younger or a bit older. Everything would have been much easier, of course, if you'd been a boy." "Would it? Even as a boy I might have had ideas different from yours." "But if a boy had tried to back out of further education 45

I'd have got tough with him." She smiled tremulously. "You're pretty tough with me. How can I prove to you that I know what I'm doing?" "I have to decide that for myself, after I've known you for a week or two. I've a hunch about this business, and only time can prove whether I'm right or wrong. How do you feel about making a bargain with me?" "What sort of bargain?" "That we'll keep off the subject of your money and the guest farm for two weeks. After that, I'U tell you what I feel about it." "Do you really think that knowing me better will alter your ideas?" He laughed. "You're shrewd, little Kate. No, I don't think it will, but I do think it will help me to suggest what you should do with your life. After all, I wouldn't be much of a , guardian if I destroyed your present future and didn't suggest another." "You're not my guardian, anyway!" "In a way I am, whether you like it or not. Do you agree to the bargain?" "I may not be here for two weeks." "You will, because both you and Lorina are tenacious. Say "Yes, Uncle Simon, I agree'." "I won't admit to any relationship. But I agree." "Fine. I'm not sure that I'd want you for a niece, anyway." They were apparently nearing their destination, for he slowed the car. He said, with a tolerant smile, "I suppose to you I seem fairly ancient?" She considered this. "Not senile," she said. "You're rather a tricky age; not young enough to be impressionable in any way, and not old enough to make one feel safe. So I'm not too satisfied with your age, either." "Well, it's not important. When you leave Numeh we may never see each other again." Katie seemed to fall into a sudden blankness. But she nodded. "There wouldn't be any reason, would there? Is this the clinic?" 46

He braked, and spoke in his normal cool tones. "Yes, and the house is Dan's. You may as well stay in the car. I'll collect Lorina." Katie sat there, feeling cold in spite of the sunshine that beat slanting rays upon the white clinic buildings and the thickly thatched house on its left. She saw Simon come out of the house with Lorina, speak to her as if they had known each other for a long time and walk with her through an opening in the hedge and into the clinic; presumably they were going to say goodbye to Dr. Willis. Katie watched the doorway, saw a white nurse in starched cap and apron emerge and approach the car. She got out quickly. The nurse was of a mid-brown fairness, her skin was pale but seasoned by sun and heat. She was slim and wore no make-up of any kind, so that she looked faded, particularly where lines had etched themselves below her eyes. But the eyes themselves were good: grey, intelligent and kind. "Hallo," she said. "Simon told me you were here. I'm Jean Petlow." "I'm Katie Howarth. How do you do." "I thought I'd make myself known - just in case you should need anything down here when the doctor's out. You can always come to me here during daylight hours, or send for me, if you like. Off-duty, I live in quarters up the road. Any of the islanders will show you the way." "You're very kind. Miss Petlow. I'm sure you're always busy, and I hope I shan't need you professionally. But we could meet for a chat. Do you ever come to Mondulu?" "Sometimes. I have a motor-scooter." "Would you come out and have lunch with Lorina and me?" Jean Petlow looked a little awkward and surprised. "I'm just the nurse at the clinic, you know. Miss Carew might not care for me to come." "Good heavens, we're only hotel staff ourselves. Do come." "All right, but not to lunch. I'll have some coffee with you next Sunday morning." Her smile made her look younger 47

than her thirty-odd years. "Dan told me he took you round the town and that your enthusiasm was a tonic. I suppose it's natural that he should find the women here a bit jaded and unresponsive. I'm afraid we lose some of our looks too." "I don't think that's true. You were probably just as eager when you saw Kohti for the first time." The nurse shook her head slightly. Her pale lips looked thinner and resigned. "I hardly noticed the place; I still hardly notice it. I've been here eight years." "You do like it, don't you?" "Yes, I like it." But there was nothing ecstatic in the liking, it seemed. "I don't want to work anywhere else." Katie thought of something suddenly. "You must have known my father - William Howarth." "I knew him quite well. He talked of you many times." "Then I must certainly see you again - for that reason as well," exclaimed Katie warmly. "Do come early on Sunday, and we'll have a long chat. There's so much I want to know, and Mr. Forbes only answers questions. He won't gossip." "If you take Simon as he is, he's the best friend in the world. There's just one thing you have to accept - the island comes first. With him, it always will. It's probably why he hasn't yet married." Simon appeared then, with Lorina. Tall, dark and vital, he came to the car, laid a friendly arm across Jean Peflow's shoulders. "Have you met our Katie? So refreshing, isn't she - like lime juice on a hot morning. I think we'll have to arrange a few events for our visitors. What do you suggest, Jean?" "I'm no socialite - never think beyond picnics." "Very well, I'll do the thinking. Now, you run along in you've had a long day. I'm always telling Dan he expects too much from you." "He doesn't believe it. Doctors are like that with nurses." She stood back. "Glad to have met you both. Goodbye. Goodbye, Simon." She turned and walked back into the clinic. Automatically, Lorina took the front seat, and Katie was 48

put into the back. As Simon started the car he said, "Jean's an admirable creature - a good nurse, self-effacing and always available. Seems to have missed the bus when she was young, but it doesn't bother her. She'll grow old gracefully." "She's not old!" said Katie. He glanced over his shoulder in some astonishment. "She's about my age, and in a woman that's not exactly youthful. I like Jean, but there's no denying that she's more nurse than woman. Don't you worry, little one. She doesn't mind." "Any woman minds having that said about her - that she's missed the bus!" "You're too touchy for the China Seas," he said lazily, and left it at that. Ten minutes later they were pulling up in front of the long airy house among the palms and he was helping them from the car. The dark, smiling servant brought drinks of some sort, and Simon left the women to sip them while he went off somewhere. He appeared again, in the mid-blue car which he parked just beyond the lanai. He came and held out the keys. "Here you are, girls. She's all yours for as long as you're here." Lorina took the keys, gave him a sweet, grateful smile. "Thank you, Simon. We'll take great care of it. We're ready to go now." "Yes, I think you should go before dark. The gears move very easily and the tank's full. Uncle Jake at the hotel keeps plenty of petrol, and there's a garage in Kohti. Mention my name and it won't cost you anything." "What does that mean?" asked Katie. "That they send you the account?" He looked both pained and exasperated. "You needed at least another year of finishing school, little Kate. Why don't you just sit back and accept things, as Lorina does? They call it poise." Katie shrugged, and took her place. The blue car moved off down the drive and turned on to the road. It was quite dark when they entered the bedroom. Katie 49

switched on the bedlamps, stretched and ran her fingers through her hair. She stepped out of her shoes and set the bath-water running. Back in the bedroom she said, "You can have the bath first, if you like, Lorina." "No, I want to take my time." Lorina let out a satisfied sigh. "It was a bit too hot, but I really enjoyed this afternoon. You know," with a small laugh, "Dan Willis is forty, and he's getting it rather badly - for me." "How could he - so quickly?" "Love, my dear, is supposed to happen that way - like a thunderbolt, or toast burning. No warning at all. I don't quite believe it, myself, but Dan did lay on the compliments rather heavily. He also told me how very enjoyable life can be on Numeh." "I hope you didn't lead him on, as you did that poor thing who came to the farm last year!" "Dan's not that type. He's a plodder, a sticker, and he takes his time. He won't go beyond compliments because we shan't be here long enough." She paused. "How did you get on with Simon while you were alone with him?" "Not very well. He doesn't like my age." "He hasn't much patience with the young. You know" thoughtfully, and with a smile on her lips, "I like him, rather. He has a subtle sort of charm, he's clever and very commanding. There are moments when he's so vital you feel weak, and others when he goes .lazy and watchful. Some person-' ality." "He's domineering." "I wonder?" Lorina bent to unfasten the straps of her high-heeled sandals. "He wants to be fair to us, wants to know us better before coming to a decision. I made a bargain with him this afternoon. The guest farm is taboo as a subject for discussion for a fortnight. After that, we talk." Katie stood very still for a moment. Blood rushed to her cheeks and ears and unconsciously her hands clenched hard at her sides. The cunning of the man! He had approached them both, separately and in different ways, contrived to get 50

the same agreement from each, and could now sit back, slyly superior in the knowledge that he could do as he liked, with anyone. He had them both gagged for a while . . , or he thought he had. Katie went into the bathroom, stepped into water that was much too hot and wasn't aware of it. All she knew was an awful urge to punish the man. For a couple of days life was tranquil. Katie and Lorina toured the coast of Mondulu, bathed, read a good deal and wrote letters. The bi-weekly mail came in, bringing a note from Mrs. Barnwell. It was off-season at the guest farm, and apart from the half-dozen permanents the place was empty. Though it was not yet Christmas, Mrs. Barnwell was already booking up for the Easter holiday, but she hoped very much that Lorina and Katie would have some news for her long before then. She was still anxious to visit her married daughter in Canada, and thought Easter a good time to arrive there. "The old girl fusses too much," remarked Lorina. "In a few days she'll have my letter asking for an extension of the option. She'll probably blow her top." "You can't blame her," said Katie. "If we hadn't said we were almost sure of buying the place she'd have advertised it weeks ago. She's depending on us." "Well keep our word to her - but it can't be arranged for a week or two. I'm counting on Charles to keep her as sweet as he can." Katie said casually, "Charles Kain would stay on if we bought, wouldn't he?" "I hope so. We'd need all the permanents we could get." "What is his job, exactly?" "You know it already. He writes." "Isn't Morbay rather out of the way for him?" "His sort can write anywhere. And anyway, Charles is hoping to do some serious work - a book on antiques." "There must be thousands of books on antiques." Lorina turned on her sharply. "There are thousands of 51

books on every subject under the sun, but that doesn't stop people writing more, in their own particular style and from a new angle. It was through Charles that I learnt about the history of the guest farm. He'll get out a booklet and publicise us. You'll have reason to be grateful to Charles!" As if aware, then, that her tone had been revealing, she added more gently, "I want to use him for our benefit - don't you see that? You're too young to be aware of all the ramifications of the business, and I shall need a man to handle some of them," "Yes, I'm sure you will." Katie hoped she didn't sound as abrupt as she felt. "I sometimes wonder if I'U be much good as a partner." Lorina patted her hand affectionately. "Of course you will. You learned a good deal in a year, and when we're in charge you'll have certain duties, just as I will. In time, you'll probably run the housekeeping while I look after bookings and the accounts." "We couldn't possibly sack the old housekeeper. She's a widow I" "Darling, we'll cross all those bridges as we reach them. No one is going to suffer, I give you my word. Meanwhile, we'll make the most of this trip." She laughed gaily. "I must confess I hadn't realised just how rich and exalted your guardian is. I doubt if we shall have to return to England by cargo vessel as we came!" "All I want from him is what belongs to me." "Even at that, we might run to the plane fare. Don't look so grim, Katie. You seem to have lost your sense of humour " Oddly, that was how Katie felt just now. Deep within her she was now certain that something had gone Very wrong' They had started out in high spirits and with the utmost optimism. Lorina had hated the smelly ship and felt ill most of the way, but their morale had remained high, their eagerness unbounded. They had arrived here happily and full of hope. Numeh itself had brought about the change; not at once - not, in fact, till they had begun to feel their way towards 52

the crisis of their journey. The crisis being, in effect, Simon Forbes. On Saturday morning, Katie went down alone for an early bathe. When she returned to the lanai, tanned and blooming from the sea and wearing a knee-length robe over the damp swim-suit, she met a sandy young man in white drill, who looked at her severely and said, "You've been sunbathing down there. I saw you when I arrived. You're asking for heat-stroke." Katie gazed at him with violet-blue eyes, saw his stethoscope dangling from his pocket and answered vaguely, "I do it every morning - I can take it. You must be Dr. Brendon." "Yes, I am - and you're Miss Howarth. Dr. Willis told me I must be sure to look you up while I'm here in Mondulu." "That's good of Dr. Willis. Do you come here to see patients?" "If necessary," he said. "Today I'm doing vaccinations children." "I haven't had breakfast yet. Would you like to join me?" He cast a hasty glance at her long golden legs and damp, ruffled hair, and looked away. "I haven't time, I'm afraid. Will you be about all morning?" "I think so. 111 try to look more dressed if you'll come back." He unbent slightly. "It doesn't do to go too South-Seas, you know. Looks bad. I know I'm young to talk like this, but you're much younger. You have to realise from the first that dignity is essential in these places." "One has to bathe," she reminded him. "Or do you stay out of the sea?" He teetered. "It's different for a man, isn't it?" "Is it? What would you advise me to do - put up a tent at the water's edge?" "Now you're laughing at me. It's just that . . . well, you're very pretty, and the men at the hotel are the trader type. You should be careful." "You'd be surprised how nice the men are, but I know you 53

mean well. Thank you for calling. Come back, if you can manage it." Larry Brendon did manage it. He was twenty-seven, not long out of his internship and very conscious of his position on an island where a doctor was regarded with awe as well as friendliness. He drank a julep and seemed reluctant, when the time came, to drive away. Katie decided he was tolerable but not impressive. You couldn't imagine a doctor, or anyone else, growing into a stuffed shirt in these surroundings, but if anyone could manage it it was Larry Brendon. Far more to her taste was Jean Petfow, who sputtered up on her scooter the following morning. Jean was not the type to don a snazzy outfit to match the bike; she wore an ordinary cotton frock and a scarf about the brown hair. She propped the scooter against a palm and came across the lanai just as Katie came out to meet her. Katie, with the white sleeveless linen heightening the tones of her skin, looked healthy and alive. Just for a moment Jean Pedow hesitated before she said, "I thought you might have forgotten I was coming." "Heavens, no. Coffee, or something cool?" "Coffee, please." "Good. Let's sit at the end table, away from the others." Katie pushed up a stool and fitted it against one of the chairs. "There you are - a lounger. All modern comforts in primitive and beautiful surroundings. I even remembered to bring out some cigarettes. Do you smoke?" "Too much." She took a cigarette. "Thanks. Is your cousin about?" "She drove to Kohti an hour ago. We had a note inviting us to Simon Forbes' house." "You stayed, because of me?" "I was glad to. The men on this island make me a little sick; they continually harp on my age. Women don't do it not often, anyway." Jean Petiow lay back and blew smoke above her head. "Women can't see anything wrong with being young And 54

even at nineteen we're awfully knowledgeable. Not that I remember myself at that age. I seem never to have been younger than thirty." Katie's smile was gentle and sympathetic. "It's because you've lived here and been alone so long. Don't you really want to go back to England?" "I've nothing there - nothing at all. Here, I have a job to do, and I enjoy doing it. One shouldn't really want much more than that from life." "Well, there are two sides to all of us, aren't there? A job doesn't really satisfy both sides." "A good many people get through on a one-sided existence." She changed the topic. "Your turning up here was quite a surprise. Simon was all set to visit you in a few months' time in England." "We didn't know, and couldn't have waited that long, anyway. Did he ... talk very much to you about me?" "More than to anyone, I believe. I'm the only other white person here who knew your father really well." Katie's eyes went bright, as if tears weren't far away. She smiled as she leaned forward. "Tell me about him - my father." Jean shrugged evasively. "There's not much to tell. I knew him distantly for some years, and then he had a heart attack, and I visited him every week. We used to play gin rummy, and he'd talk a little. He worried about you, and after he'd had the second attack he made the contract with Simon." Jean smiled. "Simon agreed to it, dictated the terms and your father was put at ease. He was tremendously relieved to know you'd be taken care of financially. He probably felt it vindicated him for all the mistakes he'd made." "Mistakes?" Katie took her up quickly. "What mistakes?" Jean drew in her lip, watched her own action as she knocked ash into a metal ashtray. "I'm sorry. I said that without thinking. Your father was essentially a good man; he was just unfortunate. The details don't really matter very much, particularly now, but if you want to know them, ask Simon." 55

The coffee things had been cleared and the hotel residents were ordering pre-lunch drinks when Jean looked at her watch and said she must go. "I have to be on hand for the doctor early this afternoon. It isn't Sunday to the Malays." "Do you work much with Dr. Brendon?" asked Katie mischievously. "Quite often. He's dictatorial and jumpy at the same time, but hell settle down, and Dan's helping him as much as he can. Dan himself has had so much experience with SouthSea people. You should see him handle them." Her grey eyes were soft in their unspectacular setting. "He talks to them in pidgin Malay or Chinese, gets a giggle out of them, however bad they feel. Dan looks stolid, but he isn't." "He's not stolid - he's splendid. And he doesn't mind what you say to him. I even asked him why he hadn't married." "I've asked him, too," Jean said dryly. "Whatever he says, the fact is he hasn't met anyone he wants to marry." She looked away. "I think he's a bit gone on your cousin though." Katie cast her a glance, saw something which hurt. It wasn't blatant, but if you were tuned in to it, it showed. "Lorina's quite beautiful," she said, "and in her time she's saddened quite a few hearts. Here, of course, they don't see many really beautiful women. She's even made an impression on Simon Forbes." Jean asked, very casually, "Would she stay and marry one of the men, do you think? I know it's early days to talk of it, but things of that kind do happen quickly out here Would she?" "I honestly don't know, but I shouldn't think so. Lorina's a clever person, and she's always wanted a business of her own - wanted it more than marriage, I believe. I shouldn't think she'd give up an ambition she's cherished so long, and live in a way that doesn't appeal to her very much." "What about . . . falling in love? Being a business type doesn't exclude her from that possibility." "No, it doesn't. But so far I'm pretty sure she's heartwhole 56

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I don't believe she. even thinks about marriage." "You don't either, do you?" Katie smiled self-consciously. "Your island has made me dream a bit. I suppose you got over all that in a very short time?" Jean Petlow started to walk towards her scooter. Her shoulders lifted. "When I came here I was in no mood to dream. By the time I was ready to be affected by the sun and the sea it was too late. I was an institution." Her smile was a little tight. "I'm happier here than I would be anywhere else, and what more can anyone aspire to?" She started the bike, patted the tank almost affectionately and with a word of thanks for the coffee, moved off. Katie watched her go, a slight figure in a print dress astride a grey scooter. The dust settled and she was gone. Katie thought of the nurse's tired, smiling face which had never been pretty but which had once been attractive and young. Now, it seemed, Jean Petiow didn't think too much, or bother with her appearance. All her energies were concentrated on her job at the clinic, and what was left of her feelings had become channelled towards Dan Willis. For something, Katie was sure, had stopped her from wanting to feel many years ago. A man, naturally; it was always a man. She had been very unhappy, once. And it looked as though she were going to taste more of the old medicine every time she saw Dan Willis and Lorina together. Oh, lord, what a muddle it was all becoming. She wanted so much to talk to someone about it. Not Dan, of course; with him one could only discuss ordinary topics and perhaps Simon. Lorina was too intent upon her quest to be helpful here on Numeh. And Simon? Katie shivered. She didn't want to approach Simon unless it was unavoidable. She went off to wash her hands and tidy the breeze-blown hair. Her face, she thought, should have looked much older today. She felt as if she had put on a dozen years since her arrival on Numeh. 57

CHAPTER IV ON Monday there was a picnic at Mondulu Bay. The hotel provided the food and all kinds of drinks, Simon Forbes was host, and the guests included Major Crawley, who was both a governmental and military authority on the island, a couple of planters who were hereditary owners of land, their wives and one son. Wongan Sue, who led the Chinese community, Kim Kalai of the Malayans and some pretty island girls and youths put in a brief appearance, but the party was mainly white. Dr. Willis was there for lunch and Jean Peflow turned up at tv/o o'clock. Though Katie was looked at with pleasure, Lorina was the chief attraction. In England, Katie recalled with surprise, Lorina had been deemed good-looking but a trifle hard; she had magnetised one or two men, but had not been unpopular with women, as the beautiful of the sex often are. Here in Numeh she was different. The tweedy appearance, which might be discouraging, was gone, and in its place was an ultra-feminine look, heightened by the soft red wavy hair and green eyes. In the most dainty of summer clothes Lorina had become a femme fatale. This was even more obvious the following night, when Simon gave a dinner party for the two women from England. Lorina wore a youthful and exceptionally pretty creation in willow green and her manner matched it. She smiled just enough, expressed just the right degree of regret when someone asked for a dance that was already spoken for, and took the floor in Simon's arms as if that was where she had longed to be all her life. Katie watched him, saw his easy smile, the dark glance as it slipped over the titian head and white shoulders. Was he falling? Was he? She asked herself the same question a day or two later, at a function given for herself and Lorina by the stiff-necked Major. Simon was charming and inscrutable, but unmistak58

ably appreciative. Dr. Willis, on the other hand, was anything but inscrutable. His admiration was in his eyes, warm but a little embarrased, as if he were perpetually reminding himself that he was just Dan Willis, passing forty, a hard-working doctor and no catch. Katie found herself tightening up a little inside, yet she didn't know why she should. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that Lorina had produced, from the trunk which had been stowed in the hold during the voyage, a selection of clothes which Katie hadn't known she possessed. It was enough to make one wonder, but not to make one feel a little scared and depressed. But the clothes stayed on her mind, and the next day, when she and Lorina were lunching in the hotel dining room, Katie mentioned them. "I don't remember your buying the green, or the new black, or those spotted and striped cottons ... or the nylon weave. They're lovely," she said. Lorina smiled, almost impishly. "I got the whole lot that day I went up to London - cheaply, too, because they were left over from an autumn display for people spending the winter abroad. There'll be too many for England, so when we get home I'll give you some of the dresses to see you through the summer." "They look anything but cheap, particularly the evening dresses." "Those did cost plenty," Lorina admitted. "As a matter of fact," apologetically, "I did something I've never done before. I borrowed a little money from Charles." "Did he actually have some to spare?" Lorina lost her smile. "That's unkind, Katie. He knew I'd feel lost if I arrived here without a rag, so he helped me. And by helping me, he helped you. Don't forget that." "I'm sorry. They're marvellous clothes and everyone's falling for you." "Not everyone. It's Simon I want." "You wantT' "To impress, of course! He won't fall in love - too cold 59

and canny - but if I can stir him enough to get the needful , . . you wouldn't mind at all, would you?" "No," said Katie reluctantly. She added, "I wish Dr. Willis were a little less conscious of you/' Lorina's laugh was light and silvery. "Don't tell me you've a thing for dear old Dan! He's twice your age." "It's not for myself," said Katie. "I believe Jean Petlow feels it rather. She stays out of the gatherings, if she can." "The nurse?" Lorina spoke the words in astonished tones, and Katie knew they were genuine. Jean simply hadn't made her presence felt. "I think she's fond of the doctor." "I daresay she is, but then nonentities often aim high without getting anywhere." "She's not aiming so high!" Katie was becoming a little hot. "Doctors mostly marry nurses, and Jean has worked with Dr. Willis ever since he came to Numeh. I think they're well suited." "It's up to Dan, isn't it? If Nurse Petlow couldn't get him without competition she's not likely to manage it now, is she? In any case, she's too mouselike to make a hit with a man." "She's not mouselike! She's quiet and efficient and very' sweet." "Have it your own way, darling," said Lorina magnanimously. "I'm quite sure Dan would be horribly surprised if he knew his nurse was goofy about him." "You mustn't tell him! I've only surmised it, you know." Lorina pushed away her fruit plate, smiled fondly at Katie. "There's one thing you don't seem to realise, honey. It's extremely pleasant to discover that I can be attractive to two men who are poles apart in character and background, and it's fun to know that one can don another personality with a new range of clothes, but I never lose sight of our object in life - yours and mine. I don't mind Dan losing a little of his rugged heart to me because it's going to help us." "How can it?" "By making me more desirable to Simon." 60

Katie's breathing became a little difficult, and she drew a pattern on the table-top to give herself time. She said, slowly, "You can't trick Simon into anything. I may not have much experience, but I'm sure of that." "There'll be no trickery, my pet. Simon will give in about your cash because he's been asked by someone he finds resistible but very charming." Lorina wrinkled her nose in a teasing smile. "On your own, you wouldn't have got a thing out of him, and you know it." "You haven't got it yet." "I'm preparing the way. When the scheduled fortnight is up, Simon will have a talk with us. By then, I'll have him in the mood to yield almost anything." "I don't like it," Katie said stubbornly. "Not if it's going to hurt others." "How can it, my dear? Possibly we shan't be here more than two or three weeks all told." "That's long enough to upset people. Dr. Willis may . . . may get really serious; Jean Petlow may shrink wholly into a nurse and forget she was ever a person. If we hurt others I shall wish my father had left his money to the clinic. I almost wish it now." Lorina's smile became cool and fixed. "Oh, come now. You're talking like an infant. Your father wanted you educated and to have enough to give you a good start in any career you might choose. That's what he worked for. That money is yours, and no one else's." "Well, I'm coming to hate it!" "Just because I'm making an impression on the men? At your age, you shouldn't be jealous, Kate - particularly of me. I got a job in the south of England to be near you, I found a comfy billet for you right in a spot where you could stay, if you took to it. It may sound a bit hard-hearted to say this, but it's time we were more frank with each other. It was great good luck that Mr. Barnwell died when he did just before you left the finishing school. A year of running the guest farm on her own proved to the old lady that it was too much for her, and during that time you managed to get 61

experience at her expense. But it wasn't all luck; I contrived some of it, you know." "I'm not jealous." Katie was choked. "I didn't know you thought about me Barnwells like that. They were good to you, and Mrs. Barnwell has been kind to me." "Of course - and we shall pay her what she asks, in return for that kindness. But don't let's be sentimental about it. We know what we want, and we're going for it. I've done a lot for you, Katie. You couldn't let me down now." Katie shook her head. "I won't let you down. More than anything I want you to have the guest farm. I know you can't upset Simon Forbes, but the doctor and Jean Petiow are different - more vulnerable. Please don't encourage Dan Willis!" Lorina's white brow cleared. "I've no intention of it, darling, but don't blame me if he refuses to be discouraged. Are you happier now?" Katie nodded, though she wasn't. "Do you need the car this afternoon?" "Well, I did think of ... but no. You have it, Katie," she said generously. "Go into the town and buy a few things. It'll make you feel good. As we're going to that function tonight, I'll lie down for an hour or two. You have to be in top form to enjoy anything with Simon." Katie dropped her napkin on the table and stood up. "I'll go now, Lorina. See you later." Within five minutes Katie was in the blue car, her bathing things and a couple of bananas on the seat beside her. But it took longer than five minutes for the suffocating mound in her throat to subside, though when it did she felt calmer and more philosophical. She drove towards Kohti, but took a turning down to the beach before reaching the town. She had heard about this particular inlet from Dr. Larry Brendon, who had advised her, very seriously, not to go there alone; he was always advising someone, very seriously, not to do something. For a man under thirty he was too didactic and grave. Katie found the beach and thought it delightful. Rough 62

little headlands closed in a half-moon of pale sand which was backed by grasses and flowering plants and a few wild bananas. Some nets were drying and an upturned boat was under repair, but there was no one about; it was rest hour on Numeh. Katie got into a white swim-suit and lay in the shade of a tall rock till the sun moved round and roasted her legs. Then she ran into the sea, marvelled at its clearness and at the bright little fish darting among the coloured weeds. She swam lazily, floated with the sun warming her and then swam again before she came out to dry. She got back into the shade of the rock, leaned against it and closed her eyes. For about ten minutes she dozed, luxuriously. Then something, a deepening of the shadow across her eyes, perhaps, brought them wide open. Standing above her, his rough wheat-coloured hair blowing slightly in the breeze, his aquiline features smiling wearily, was a man in green. Awful green slacks and a faded green shirt which was splodged with ineradicable stains. He was brown and nonchalant, gazed down at her as if he had got beyond being surprised at anything in this world. "You're Katie, the heiress, I suppose?" She blinked. "You might call me that. I don't remember you." "I'm not surprised. You haven't seen me before. I'm Pete the Painter." She laughed suddenly. "That's a funny thing to be. I do remember hearing about you, from Mr. Porbes. You've had pictures hung in some of the European galleries. I'm glad to know you." He slipped down, about a yard away from her, leaned back in full,sunshine. "What did Simon tell you about me?" "Almost nothing. He just mentioned that he'd visited Pete Craven, and you were coming here. Did you arrive today?" He nodded. "Boat leaked all the way and soaked the only glad rags I have. I was wearing them." "Whose get-up is this?" "Mine. My working togs." "Are you going to paint someone here on Numeh?" •63

"I might." He studied her face. "I might paint you." "Oh, no. You'll change your mind when you see my cousin." "Is she the glorious redhead? Her fame has penetrated even to Bemba Island - and we're known to be backward. Actually, Doc. Willis told us about her when he came over for an inspection." He looked about him. "You seem very much at home. Come here often?" 'This is the first time. I went temperamental and wanted to be alone." "And of all people, I had to be the one to find you." "Is something wrong with that?" He shrugged, and his smile was old and jaded. "People don't trust their womenfolk alone with me. I've been around too much." Katie digested this, found it rather amusing because he didn't look a lady's man. "Am J safe with you?" she asked, looking clear-eyed at him. "Oh, sure. Any woman who makes me feel a cad calls out the protective instinct in me." He added matter-of-facUy, "Your eyes are a very unusual blue - gentian, I think. It's the colour an artist gives to a blue-eyed woman on canvas, when he wants to flatter her." "And I really have it? How nice." She paused. "Are you staying with Simon?" "Yes. I was taking a walk and then going back for tea. Bit late for that now, so I'll wait and have an early drink when Simon gets home. I came a couple of days earlier than he expected me. I wanted to let him know that my sister is on her way here. She arrived by plane at Singapore a few days ago." "Your sister? Does he have to be warned against her?" He grinned. "Sure does. Cherry has more pull with Simon than any other woman in the world, and this time she means business. An ultimatum, in fact." "I'm fascinated. Tell me more." "Why not? You'll see it all for yourself as soon as she gets here." He slipped back further and looked at the sky. 64

"Cherry's twenty-four, and actually my half-sister. She and her mother came out to see me last year, and then Simon met her again a few months ago, in Singapore. She's one of those gay, highly-strung people - both sweet and acid, stormy and gentle. Just Simon's cup of tea, really. For him, a woman has to be all things." He glanced at her sideways. "How does he treat you?" "As someone young and faintly amusing. What is this ultimatum of your sister's?" He smiled. "What do you think? She's not one of your patient, waiting types, and she'd love to queen it here on Numeh. In addition to which she has quite a bad case on Simon. He likes her enormously, so she'll get her way." "She can't very well propose to him." "She won't have to." He sat up again. "Didn't happen to bring a drink with you, did you?" "Afraid I didn't. Can't you wait?" "I suppose so. Where's your car?" "Up there, under a tree. It's Simon's." "Will you drive me back to his house?" "Yes, of course." She slipped her arms into the sun dress and buttoned it to the hem, let him take her hand and help her up. When he kept hold of her hand she looked at it pointedly. "It's not detachable, you know." He laughed. "I think it would take a long time to get near enough to you for a kiss. Don't worry, Katie. I was only trying you out." "Do you do that with every girl you meet?" "It's just one of those reflexes that nasty men acquire. But you're bad for a nasty man - remind him he has a conscience somewhere under the whisky and late nights. Can you manage?" He went ahead up the footpath, stopped near a cycad root and picked some sort of flower. Katie's head was bent as he tucked the blossoms into her hair, but she looked up at him and smiled ruefully. "Everyone treats me as if I'm juvenile. For a while I thought you weren't going to." 65

"Neither am I." He stood over her, looking down into her eyes. "You're young and innocent, but you're not a child. There's even just a shadow of adult suffering in your face. You're waking up, and it's not very pleasant, is it?" Katie did not prevaricate, as she might have done with someone else. She answered simply, "Things do seem a bit tangled at the moment, but they'll straighten out." She pointed. "There's the car - race you to it!" She won, and told him he was out of condition. He reached into the car and brought out the bananas, and laughingly she told him he could have one. They ate, and then, before she could slip behind the wheel, he was putting her into the other seat. "I'll drive. We don't have motor roads on Bemba, so we have no cars. That's one of the reasons I like to visit Simon." He started the engine, and as they moved away from the beach he elaborated, in tones which seemed to be naturally tired, upon how he had studied in London and Paris and started travelling. He had found Bemba three years ago, and was now becoming sated with the delights of the South China Sea. "I generally move oh about a year after I'm fed up, but this time I'm not sure I will. If Cherry marries Simon I'd just as soon live near them. Reflected glory, and all that - I wouldn't have to work so hard." "You don't strike me as a man who's on his last legs from overwork." He let his jaw drop haggardly. "You don't know the half of it. I'm out of touch and out of date, and the kernel of it all is that I don't care if I never paint another black damsel or white one for that matter. Simon says I'll never do anything really good till I starve, both physically and emotionally. So it seems I'll never do any good work." She laughed a little. "I never imagined he could have a friend like you. You must irritate him profoundly." "Sometimes. Sometimes, believe it or not, he climbs down and becomes quite an understanding cove. Don't you find that?" 66

She looked down and shook her head. "Not really. He takes good care never to get on my wavelength." "Does he now! That's bad. He told me at lunch-time why you came, and even though I hadn't, met you I understood your angle, and said so. He told me I had about as much normal common sense as the stuff I paint with." "He would." Katie shrugged off the subject. "How long will you stay on Numeh?" "Depends on Cherry. She'll be here on the next ship, and I may stay over to watch events. They should be both interesting and fruitful." He turned the car down the avenue, away from Kohti, took the right rum, and slowed. "Will you come in for a drink?" "No, thanks," she said, quickly. "111 find a whistle you can blow if I start to get fresh." She smiled. "I wouldn't need it. I've already proved I can run the faster." "You can trust me - really." "I'm sure of it, but 111 go back to the hotel now. Will you be at the show tonight?" "Island stuff?" He shrugged his indifference to the entertainment. "All right, 111 come - if you'll promise to sit with me." She said candidly. "You don't have to flatter me, Mr. Craven. I want to go because I've never seen anything like it before." "And I want to sit with you because it's a long, long time since I met anyone like you. You make me feel I'm being very good, and it's healthy for my battered ego. Well, here we are." And then: "Here's Simon. He must have got back early." As the car stopped Simon was crossing the lanai towards them. Pete Craven got out of the car, and Katie slipped across the front seat and into position behind the wheel. With her fingers on the key she turned her head and looked up at Simon. He opened the door, said coolly, "I see you've annexed Pete. Come inside the house for a minute." 67

"No. No, thank you." But his hand was on her arm, compelling her to get out of the car. Even so, she stood there, with her fingers caught firmly round the edge of the door. One fair eyebrow raised, Pete said equably, "I'll go in and pour something cool." And he sauntered away across the lanai. "I'm not coming in," she said, vexed that her voice sounded husky. "Your friend asked to be brought home, that was all." "Where did you meet him?" "On the beach." She was suddenly conscious of damp, untidy hair and a face without make-up. "He insisted on driving or I'd have . . ." "Hurriedly turned the car and shot away," he finished for her. Coldly he added, "You enjoyed Pete, I suppose?" "Yes, I did, rather." "But you have no time for Larry Brendon." "He's an earnest young doctor, but he's a pompous ass." "He's decent and he admires you - the sort of escort you can depend on." His eyes dark and angry, he demanded, "How long were you with Pete?" "I don't know. About three-quarters of an hour." "What happened?" She was trembling now. "What do you mean, what happened? We just talked . . ." With a savage movement he tugged something from her hair, making her wince. He showed her his palm, where three withered flowers lay; blooms which had been pink and gold fifteen minutes ago. Flower of the Morning, she thought faintly - the flower that bruised when touched. "I didn't know what they were, Pete just put them there when . . ." His grip on her elbow tightened. "So it's Pete already! He's a friend of mine and I like him - but I don't like his private life. Quite certainly you're not becoming part of it. You came here innocent and you'll stay that way!" "Simon, you're hurting!" 68

His fingers relaxed slightly. "I'm sorry." But he didn't sound it. "I suppose you can't be expected to pick out a philanderer when you meet one, but surely there's some extra sense that puts a girl on her guard? Pete's an artist in the South Seas!" "That doesn't make him a menace to everyone. I thought him pleasant and friendly." "Because he intrigues you - as the forbidden always does intrigue the young. You're not interested in Brendon simply because he has no glamour." "That isn't the reason at all," she said. "He bores me." "And Pete appeals to your vanity - that's his line. I don't want to have to tell him to keep away from you - that would be too ridiculous - but I won't have you going all girlish over his rakish charm." She wrenched her arm from his hand, blazed up at him. "You haven't an ounce of understanding, have you? And for all your shrewdness, you know nothing about women. Young women, anyway. Since I was fourteen you've done your best for me - I accept that. But during that time I happen to have grown up; I'm no longer someone who can be put in an institution, so that all you have to do is dole out fees and pocket-money. I'm an individual and I want to live my own life!" "Isn't that what you were doing in England?" he asked sharply. "Your coming here wasn't my idea, you know!" She said recklessly, "It wasn't mine, either - I merely agreed to it. If I'd known what I know now, nothing could have dragged me here!" He didn't answer at once, but stood back slightly and pushed his hands into his pockets. When he spoke, his manner had changed, even softened a little. "Why the deuce do you have to be so impatient? We've agreed not to discuss that proposition of yours till a given date, so why don't you relax and have fun? Young Brendon really likes you . . ." "Be quiet about him!" she said. "Why should you be so keen for a friendship to develop between us?" 69

"I think it would be wholesome for you, do you good," he said abruptly. "You may enjoy Pete, but you aren't sophisticated enough to handle him." He paused, and added grimly, "If only you'd waited in England till I could be free to come over! Let me tell you something, little Kate. Your letters worried me a bit - they put your case so well that I knew your cousin had a part in them. But one thing you didn't mention was that you were willing to allow anyone I might name to go into things and report back to me, and that made the business slightly shady. Now that I've met Lorina I'm pretty sure the whole thing is straight and sound, but even so, I'd rather see the place before you cut yourself off entirely from a regular allowance and the chance to do what you want to do. I'm not going any further into it now, but you may be happy to know that I've instructed the solicitor in London to get in touch with Mrs. Barnwell and assure her that if she will keep her guest farm off the market till she hears from me again, she'll be amply rewarded." Katie looked at him, drew in her lip and looked away. "The all-powerful .Simon," she said in an undertone. "Do we stand any chance against you at all?" "I'm not against you. I like you." She flickered another glance at him. "Thank you for almost nothing. I'll go now, if you don't mind." He let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't get you - don't get you at all. Sometimes you seem to have great fun out of living on the island, and at others you're on edge and just yearning to leave. Why is it?" "Maybe that's how I react to your climate, Mr. Forbes," Katie said, "or it could be that I'm that type - unpredictable." "I don't think you are. You're just a golden girl, growing up." "And you, if I may mention it, are an autocratic individualist with no comprehension whatsoever of the ordinary female mind. I don't wonder that fiancee of yours went off to Singapore for a little normal petting . . ." She stopped suddenly, aware of the warning that glittered 70

from his eyes. Defensively, she looked over her shoulder and saw Pete Craven mixing drinks at the table. She opened the door of the car, but before she got in said casually, "Pete told me his sister is coming soon. She has a pretty name - Cherry." "She's a pretty girl," he said laconically. "Three of them all at once will be a record for Kohti. You'll still be the youngest, I'm afraid." "And therefore negligible?" "You'll never be that, little one - not to me. Maybe you haven't yet realised that I shan't feel I've done all I could for you till you're settled and happy, and preferably married." "How sweet," she responded coolly. "You'd even like to choose the man, I suppose?" "The way I see it, he'll just happen. But you could do worse than take a look at Larry Brendon - a real look. He won't want to marry for a couple of years, but then you won't, either. By the time you're twenty-one you'll really know him ..." Katie slipped into the car and slammed the door. She looked up into a face that was hard and watchful . . . and something else. Without a word, she switched on, roared the engine and sped away over the gravel. She heard him shout, "Be careful!" and felt like turning, and making him leap out of the way. But he wouldn't hurry, not Simon; he'd step aside, as though he were humouring a child. Katie was halfway back to the hotel before her thoughts became coherent. Why did he harp on Larry Brandon . . . why? Did he really want her to become more friendly with the man, or, knowing more about women than she was willing to believe, was he plugging Larry in order to put her against him? He was capable of it, though why he should want her to stay clear of the young doctor was another puzzle. Perhaps he was only trying to confuse her, or maybe all he felt was that if she looked kindly on Dr. Brendon during her stay she would have a yardstick with which to measure other men . . . men such as Pete Craven, who ad71

mitted himself a bad lad and might take advantage of the admission. The light was going when she got back to Mondulu. The bedroom was empty, so she took a shower and dressed for the evening in a blue and white dress she had made for herself last summer. She was putting on lipstick when Lorina came in, yawned and threw her book on her bed. "Have a nice time, darling? What did you buy in the town?" "I didn't go into town," Katie answered. "I had a bathe instead." "You're always bathing. It beats me how you can enjoy it on your own." Katie capped the lipstick, and casually mentioned her' meeting with Pete Craven. Lorina seemed unimpressed, till the^ name of Cherry Craven came into the conversation. "Dan Willis told me something about her," she said. "On her mother's side she has relations in government circles in Singapore. He seemed to think she and Simon might get together, some time." Katie nodded. "That's her reason for coming, apparently." "So?" Lorina's green eyes went dark and bright. "How interesting.- What else did you hear about it?" "Very little. It does seem that with her connections, and so on, she's the right type for him." They dined at seven-thirty, and at eight-fifteen Dan Willis collected them for the variety show which the islanders were putting on. Tonight's show was held on a patch of cleared ground near the town and the sea. It started with a toast in tuak a strong island brew which made Katie see even more stars than the the myriad which hung up there against the black velvet sky Then came a speech in Malay, followed by one in Chinese both delivered from the low stage at the open end of the horseshoe. More lanterns were brought and hung on poles to illumine the stage, there was tumultuous clapping and the first dancers appeared, a group of six young men in gold silk tunics and scarlet pillbox hats. They posed stiffly and strutted 72

their faces mask-like with make-up and lack of expression; then three of them disappeared and three girls took their places, small pretty girls with almond-shaped eyes elongated with mascara, lips highly coloured and immobile, faces heavily powdered, brows blackened, and their black hair dressed high and covered with white blossoms. The tempo of the dance did not change, but the girls brought grace to it with the fluttering of their hands. The music came from a guitar, drums and a combination of other instruments which were tapped or plucked to create a weird cacophony of sound. When the dancing had ended and been suitably applauded, a miming comedian took the stage. His antics, Katie realised after he had sweated and grimaced for about ten minutes, depicted a man running home with his market produce in the teeth of a hurricane. The islanders rolled with laughter, wiped their eyes and appealed to each other for more breath with which to laugh again. Katie laughed at their laughter; she couldn't help it. Pete Craven said, "You're sweet when you're amused. You should always smile, Katie, and never put on that look you had when Simon first spoke to you this afternoon." "What sort of look was it?" "A bit hurt, a bit frightened and a whole lot defiant. Did he warn you off me?" "I'm-afraid so." "He didn't say anything to me, but to set his paternal mind at rest I told him I thought you charming and unspoiled. He now knows you'll be as safe with me as you might be with Dan Willis!" "I wish you'd been able to speak to him before he started on me," she said with a sigh. "He may be the big noise on Numeh, but I find I can row with him quicker than with anyone I've ever known." "It's probably because he's the great chief here that you do it," he said understandingly. "I thought that was a marvellous smile he gave you when we all met together this evening." • "Lovely," she echoed scathingly. "I believe it was supposed to convey that he quite understands, and forgives." 73

Pete laughed. "Don't try to undermine Simon. You'd arrive nowhere and get knocked about on the way. You should imitate your cousin's attitude. Ultra-feminine, aloof and yet spiced with the age-old query. In confidence, Katie, I'm expecting a few fireworks when she meets my sister." "Oh dear, I hope not. You talk about your peaceful South Sea islands, but I've yet to find peace on Numeh." "And you blame Simon?" "Yes, I do. If he'd been just a little more trusting he'd have agreed a year ago to let me have the money my father left. He could have gone his way, married your sister, and neither Lorina nor I would have known or cared." He asked, with rallying inquisitiveness, "Aren't you glad you've met Simon?" "Occasionally. And sometimes I think it was a disaster when my father left him in charge of my finances." To change the subject she asked, "What do you think of Lorina?" He glanced past several people at the white shoulders and titian hair, the pale hand fingering a pearl necklet. "Some doll," he commented lazily. "What is she really after - Simon, or your money?" "What a horrible thing to say!" He looked at Katie's bright cheeks and parted red lips. "Blame the cynic in me. But remember I've had a good deal of experience, and I know a hell of a lot more about women than I want to." He lifted his shoulders as though in mild apology, but went on, "Simon once had a girl with red hair; maybe your cousin reminds him how she might have been by now. Personally," with the easy, flattering note in his voice, "I'm a goner for a honey-blonde with true-blue eyes. Will you marry me, Katie?" "Ssh. There's something special beginning." He shook his head with wry resignation. "The girl thinks I'm having her on. That's what I get for proposing in my best suit." The show ended, more tuak was taken by those who could stand it, hands were shaken and flowery compliments paid 74

r"""""'--—-—.I' SSimondiditsuavely,ashehadpresumablydoneithundreds ;oftimesbefore,andtheislanderslistenedwithmouthsand .eyeswideandfullofadmiration. |Theydriftedtotheircars,andthistimeLorinaandKatie ^werewithSimonandPete.Goodnightsweresaidandcars 'drewaway.Simonwaitedtillallhadgonebeforeheletin theclutchandstartedtheMercedesmovingslowlyover ;roughgrasstotheroad. "Well,littleKate,whatdidyouthinkofit?"heasked, overhisshoulder. "Itwasexciting.Thewomenarefarbetter-lookingthan 'themen." s"Buttheyruntofat,"putinPeteregretfully,atherside. "Justforkicks,lastweekIlookedoutmyfirstpaintingon Bemba.Itwasdoneonlythreeyearsago,andyetthegirlI :paintedistwicethesizenowandstillgrowing.Quitedis'heartening." "Idon'tknow,"saidKatiereasoningly."Youdidcapture thebeautybeforeitwashidden.Thatshouldbeasatisfacfaction." "Alittle,butlookingoverthatoldstuffdepressedme. EverythingpassesastheFrenchsay,andifI'mnotcareful I'llpasswithit,andleavenoripple.That'swhyIaskedyou tomarrymethisevening." Therewasasuddensilence.EvenLorina,inthefrontseat, wasoddlystillwhilethecarrolledon. ThenSimonsaid,"That'snotparticularlyamusing,Pete. Ifyou'vemadeyourjokealreadythiseveningyoudon'tneed torepeatit." Petesoundedwhimsical."I'mnotsureitwasajoke,old chap.Whenyou'velivedasIhaveyouknowthegenuine articlethemomentyoumeetit.You'veoftenbeenafterme tomarry,butI'veknownforalongtimethatifIdoitwill havetobesomeoneyoungandrathertouching,whoneedsto belookedafter."HetappedKatie'shand,companionably. "Sorry,sweetie.It'sthattuak.Icantakewhiskyingenerous doses,buttuakisinclinedtomakememaudlin.Forgetit." Thecarmovedfaster,andfiveminuteslatertheywere 75

entering the lounge of the Mondulu Hotel. Simon ordered nightcaps and offered cigarettes. He looked as masterful and non-committal as ever. They talked a little about the show and the possibility of hurricanes at this season, finished the drinks. Simon put away his cigarette case. He said with a slight smile, "I've a commission for you Pete. A portrait." "I charge five hundred. Ten thousand to you." "Five hundred," Simon nodded. "I want a portrait of Lorina." A flush swept up from Lorina's neck, her eyes were emeralds. "Simon," she breathed, "you can't do that!" "I want to," he said. "How about it, Pete?" Pete lowered his eyebrows. "I was kidding. I've never charged more than two-fifty." "Just go ahead with it," said Simon, "and make it a good job." After that there seemed to be little to say. All four drifted out to the lanai, the men said goodnight and drove away. Katie stood there in the darkness, her heart a hard, prickly ball. Lorina said softly, vibrantly, "Could 'it possibly happen, Katie? If it could, the guest farm can go chase itself!" Katie didn't ask what she meant. Fatalistically, she knew that Lorina was dazzled by the sudden and overwhelming possibility that Simon was at last in love . . . with Lorina Carew.

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CHAPTER V THERE were no planned social events for three days. Katie drove down to the clinic and was shown round by Jean Petlow, she had tea with Jean and Dan Willis, and when the nurse was called away she remained talking with Dan, about the children's section and his X-ray outfit, and his hope that one day it would be possible to hospitalise people on the island. At the moment he dealt only with general medicine and emergency operations; other surgery cases had to be sent away. He was extra busy just now because Larry Brendon had gone off on a tour of the small islands. Katie heard, with relief, that the young doctor would be away about a week. She asked if there were anything she could do to help. "It's good of you to offer, but I'm afraid not. We'd have to teach you, and we just haven't the time. Jean manages somehow. I don't know what we'd do without her." Katie nodded. "And she remains cheerful about it, too, though it isn't humanly possible for a woman to be always happy if she lives alone." Dan looked surprised. "Jean's never miserable; that's one thing you can count on. She's more even-tempered than I am." "She's learned over the years to cover up, I suppose." "But she has nothing to disguise. I'd know it, if anyone did." Katie said casually, "You might not. When you work close to someone you don't see them clearly. I remember your telling us that you don't even know why she came to work in the East." "Of course not; She has a right to her privacy, like the rest of us. She probably drifted here when she was more adventurous, and got dug in." "Only into her job. You don't dig in very far if you 77

haven't any friends." Dan sat back in the chair behind the desk. In shocked tones he said, "No friends! We're all Jean's friends. If she needed help in any way both Simon Forbes and I would do all we possibly could for her." Katie wondered how far she dare go, whether she hadn't already overdone it a little. But she couldn't resist remarking, "What none of you seem to realise is that she's still young, not at ail bad-looking, and would probably make someone an excellent wife." Dan stared at her, genuinely bewildered. "What are you trying to say, Katie - that we use Jean and don't care about her private life? Is that how it looks to a newcomer?" "Yes, I suppose it is. I know she's invited to many homes; she's picked up and taken back to her quarters, talked to and danced with. But no one bothers to get to know her personally. If ... if I lived on Numeh, I'd love to have Jean for a friend, but she wouldn't gain much from friendship with someone like me. We get on very well, but I'm just a bit too young for us to be equals. She's become a litue wary of women friends, and you can't blame her, because here in the islands girls either marry or they don't stay." She gazed rather studiously at a cockled calendar on the wall. "You're older than Jean and you're a man. If you were really interested you could find out how deep her contentment goes." "Good lord," he said soberly. A pause, and then, with a shake of his head: "No, Katie. It's not my business. I could poke my nose only if I were prepared to do something about any unhappiness I might uncover. Otherwise, things are best left as they are." Dr. Willis went back to his work, Katie wandered into the nurse's office and arranged to come along later, to see if Jean had found something for her to do. During two long evenings she worked on records with Jean, and went with her to her quarters for ten o'clock tea and biscuits. Had she needed more proof of the nurse's dependability and cheerfulness those two evenings provided it. But as she drove back in the soft, star-sown darkness to the hotel, 78

Katie knew there was nothing she could do for Jean. She found herself thinking that though she liked Dr. Willis immensely, she hoped he'd feel really bad after she and Lorina had left Numeh; it might make him just a little more tender and perceptive. It was eleven-fifteen as she drove round to the parking space beside the hotel. She locked the car and walked across to the lamp-lit lanai, was about'to enter the hotel when Lorina came out quickly, took her arm and drew her across the paving stones to the dark shadow of a tree. "You're a nuisance, Katie," she said agitatedly. "Why did you clear off for so long in the car?" "You had it all day. I spent the evening with Jean Petlow." "Why didn't I think of that! The liner is in, with Pete Craven's sister ... or is it half-sister? They came out here for an hour - Simon, Pete and the glorious Cherry. I told Simon you were in bed with a headache." "But why?" "Because he fussed! He wanted you to meet that gii-1." "Is she ... lovely?" "Lovely enough. But I'm more concerned with some mail they brought us. I wasn't able to read any of the letters till they'd gone, but I've read one of them several times and it still scares me. Charles Kain has managed to snaffle a brief assignment in Singapore from a magazine. He says he'll be leaving England by air - in less than a week now!" "Is that terrible?" "It can upset everything! The very last thing I want is to have to deal with Charles out here. But there's a loophole. If I can cable him at once that we're taking the guest farm he'll stay there and look after our end of things. That's what I shall have to do, Katie." '• "But you can't, until we're sure Simon will agree." Katie recalled something which Lorina did not yet know that her inheritance was likely to be much smaller than they had thought in England. She had half promised Dan that she ••, would say nothing about it till Simon himself divulged the • fact, but surely now was the time for frankness? But a half 79

promise was as good as a whole one to Katie. She asked, "Why did you want the car?" "I had a mad idea that I'd send the cable right away. But of course, you can't send cables at this time of night, and I'll have to think out the wording very carefully." "If Charles is keen to remain at the farm why did he even consider the assignment?" Lorina shrugged impatiently. "Our letter to Mrs. Barnwell had arrived, and also one from the solicitor about Simon. It seems Simon's promised the old lady that she won't be out of pocket if she extends the option. Charles was furious when he read it - and he says all it does is to stretch the uncertainty and keep us out of England." "I can't see that any of it is Charles Kain's business." Lorina's tones changed slightly, went smooth. "It isn't, of course - except that I did ask him to watch things for us. None of us foresaw Simon taking a hand with Mrs. Barnwell did we?" Katie reached overhead and pulled a dark shiny leaf. "What if Charles does come out? Singapore is two or three days away from Numeh, and he wouldn't be able to run out on the job he's taken." "He says a brief assignment. He could be right here on the island in about ten days!" "Before then, we'll have had our talk with Simon." Lorina said sharply, "And Charles will already be out here. I have to stop him leaving England, and the only way to do it is by telling him the guest farm is going to be ours!" "But ... but I don't think we'll get it." Lorina's swift, irritable movements were stilled. Her head went back, so that her face was pale and expressionless in the darkness. "Oh? Where did you get that idea?" "It's a ... feeling. I'm sure Simon is dead against it, and we haven't much with which to convince him, have we?" "We have to convince him, darling. In fact, I'm beginning to see that you'll have to do it alone. If I enter into it any more than I have already he'll get the notion that I'm after 80

your money, whereas all I want is to make a success of the business for you," In low tones, Katie said, "The other night you were starryeyed over Simon's wanting your portrait; you thought it was a sign of his eventually wanting you yourself. Supposing he did fall for you - what then?" Lorina closed up, but spoke gently. "I'd marry him, Katie, and you'd be able to please yourself whether you remained here or went back to England. The guest farm could be put on the market and you'd get your own money, in cash. I'd arrange it all myself." "To me," said Katie, dully, "it looks as if you're trying to hang on to Charles Kain till you're quite sure you've nailed Simon Forbes." "That's an appalling thing to say!" "I'm saying what you force me to think, Lorina." Lorina smiled. "But you're talking like someone who's jealous and hurt ... not like yourself, at all, darling. Charles and Simon rouse different sorts of feelings. You don't arrive at my age without deciding to take other things than the emotions into account when you settle for a man. You just aren't quite capable of understanding, Katie." She paused. "What gave you the feeling that Simon will flatly refuse to hand over the money for the farm?" Katie dissembled. "I'm not sure." "You're not sure because of some reaction within yourself since you came here. Are you trying to go back on your promise?" "Good heavens, no. If I could, I'd give you the whole of the money tomorrow, and you could do what you liked with it." "Then I don't see that there's anything to argue about. I'll cable Charles early tomorrow, telling him we're buying but to say nothing to Mrs. Barnwell till the official word comes through. That will keep him in England." She drifted slowly into the lamplight. "I have a hunch of my own, Katie. After seeing Cherry Craven this evening, I'm rather inclined to believe that Simon will have to decide about her soon. Where

I'm concerned, his feelings are more complex, but I'm sure that if he doesn't propose we'll get what we came for. It'll be one or the other." Katie, half a pace behind Lorina, asked quietly, "Is Charles Kain in love with you?" "I think he may be," was the equable reply. "Supposing you marry Simon - what does Charles get out Lorina had reached the lounge door before she replied, lightly, "Leave that to me, darling. Once I'm certain where I stand I shall be able to handle anything or anyone. Like a nightcap?" , "No, thanks. I'll go straight to bed."' Katie wondered, as she quickly undressed and brushed her teeth, whether life on Numeh could possibly become more difficult. Sliding into bed and hurriedly snapping off the light as Lorina came into the room, she felt it might, at that. Lorina sat for her portrait in the Forbes house at Kohti. Pete Craven had been given a large light room for the purpose and after the first sitting Lorina walked straight into the room each morning at ten. There was no question of whether she could handle Pete; she ignored his sallies and sarcasm, carefully said nothing to antagonise him and left him strictly at eleven, when she took a drink with Simon and whoever else might be there, before driving back to the hotel. The morning after she had received the letter from Charles Kain, Pete followed her into the lanai, where Simon Pete's sister and Katie were sitting. She raised an eyebrow at Katie. '•I left you in town. Did you walk all this way?" Simon said easily, "Cherry and I found Katie gazing at bazaar stalls, so we brought her here." "Oh, good. It will save me a trip into town." She smiled at the servant. "Iced lemon, please." Katie was drinking iced orange, holding the glass so that it froze her fingers and gave her something to think about But she was looking at Cherry Craven, whose mobile heartshaped face was turned continually towards Simon. She was 82

a beautiful girl, very dark, with auburn lights in her hair, amber-eyed and red-lipped. She sparkled, spoke with a slight accent which must be a legacy from her Latin mother, but knew England as if she had grown up there. She also knew the islands very well, and the history of the Forbes family on Numeh. For her half-brother she seemed to have a kittenish affection. "How is that portrait going, you naughty thing?" she asked him. "I believe you will take a long time because Miss Carew is so very attractive." "No, it won't take so long. I painted a picture of you in two days - remember?" She shrugged her slim, half-bare shoulders. "I was your sister and sixteen and had no character. It was just a likeness." "And you feel Miss Carew has enough character to defeat me?" "You are not so difficult to fox," she said airily. "Is he, Simon?" "I wouldn't bet on it," Simon answered. "Are you finding the portrait easy or otherwise, Pete?" "It's never easy to paint someone who goes deliberately poker-faced," Pete remarked, with a narrow-eyed smile at Lorina. "It always bothers me, because I keep asking myself what they have to hide." Lorina took her glass and lay back, comfortably aware that she looked starflingly elegant in the lime green dress with its high collar and knife-pleated skirt. "You're excusing your failure before it's happened," she commented. "Have you seen the portrait yet, Simon?" "Yes, last night. It's coming along, I think." "May I see it?" Cherry demanded. "Oh, lord," from Pete. "Why should you be interested?" "Because this is the first time Simon has commissioned a portrait and I want to be certain he is to get his money's worth!" She stood up. "You must show it to me, Pete, and perhaps Miss Carew will come, too, so that I can compare the portrait and the original." 83

Lorina, looking bored but willing to humour the effervescent. Cherry, got up from her chair. Pete shrugged, and went with the two women into the house. Simon sank back into his lounger, looked at Katie, who was a yard away and staring past the palms and the beach at the glassy green sea. "Well, young Kate?" "Well what?" she said distantly. "Still angry because I insisted on your coming here to wait for Lorina?" "I wasn't angry." "You certainly didn't smile - except at Cherry; that was an admirably bogus bit. of gaiety you put on for Cherry." He pushed back slightly. "What do you think of her?" "She's very attractive and full of life. Nothing like Pete." "Don't you think Pete attractive?" "Not superficially. You have to speak to him before it shows." "Ah, there are depths to the man, and' little Kate has plumbed them," he said mockingly. "I hear from Dan that you've been lending a hand to Jean at the clinic." "I haven't been able to help much." "He's grateful, anyway, but he thinks that for your age you're a trifle too serious. Which gave me to think. Katie. When you first came you weren't what I'd call too serious; it's grown on you right here on the island. What's on your mind - besides the business proposition in England?" "Not very much. Do you still think we should stick to the bargain?" His dark eyes sharpened. "Why not? It's only four days now. Has something cropped up?" It was like him to find the spot with the first dig of the probe. "I find the waiting exhausting," she said. "Are you sure that's all? It couldn't be frightening you a little, as well?" "Frightening?" "Lorina," he explained succinctly. "Lorina and Dan." Katie's lips went dry. "It doesn't frighten me; it's their business." 84

"I see. I was going to tell you to stop worrying. Lorina would never marry Dan Willis." "No, I know. Do you think Dan . . . realises?" His shoulders lifted. "That's not the sort of question one man can ask another. She hasn't been here long enough to get very far under his skin." Katie was wondering whether Lorina had been here long enough to get under any man's skin, when he added, "If Dan had been easy meat he'd have been hooked before this. For your information, little one, so would I." "I would never question your toughness where women are concerned," she said. "What does that mean?" with a hard smile. "That even now you know me you can't imagine me falling in love?" "Partly. I do think you could become very fond of someone . . ." "Thanks." ". . . but you could never lose your head." "Become delirious?" he said with a- cool smile. "I hope not. You know, Katie, you're in such an odd frame of mind that if you were to fall in love right now it would be the desperate kind you once told me about. I believe you said that desperation came from being uncertain of the one you loved." A brief pause. "You're uncertain about Pete, aren't you?" "Pete?" she echoed. And then some sixth sense told her not to deny it too strenuously, if she did not want him to come too near the truth. "So we're on Pete now." He was still smiling, but his tones were faintly unpleasant. "I've seen it happen before. I don't know what it is about Pete Craven, but he either floors them at first meeting or not at all. Lorina hardly sees him, but you're conscious of him the moment he shows up. Don't deny it, Katie. I saw it happen only fifteen minutes ago, when he came out here with Lorina." "So you saw it," she said stiffly. "And what did it make you think?" His teeth came together, not sharply but with force. "I 85

thought it was the hell of a pity! I felt like shutting you up somewhere till you came to your senses. The last thing I would want to happen to any girl is an affair with Pete, and even less would I want it to happen to you. To me, you're rather special." Her heart jumped a beat, but she said evenly, "Because you feel responsible for me? Whether you like it or not, I've grown out of needing you." "Have you?" His glance rested on her bent head. "I'm not a bit sure of that. Something is pushing you around, something for which we can't blame Pete because he wasn't here when it started. The only reason I can think of is ,Dan. Dan and Lorina." She shook her head. She would like to tell someone about the horrible sense of let-down, the doubts and hopelessness. But she couldn't tell Simon - not about Lorina. "I shall feel better when everything's decided. May I have a cigarette?" He gave her one and took one himself, lighted them. Then he leaned forward and smiled at her; Katie's heart rose suffocatingly into her throat and she pretended the smoke hurt her eyes, so that she could dab at them with a handkerchief and hide the quiver in her expression. He nodded towards the house. "I can hear them coming they're talking," he said softly. "I'm taking Cherry to Major Crawley's for lunch, but I shall be free at about two-thirty. I'll come along to the hotel for you at three. Does Lorina rest every afternoon?" "Mostly." "All right. Be on the lanai." He got up as the others appeared. Cherry talking animatedly, Lorina very straight and calm and detached, Pete smiling quizzically. "Well, what was Cherry's opinion of the work of art?" She wrinkled her short pretty nose. "He is not an artist," she pronounced. "I could paint a better portrait of Miss Carew myself!" "Now, now," said Pete. "put your claws away. The portrait must be very good or you wouldn't have erupted. If you 86

were any sort of sister you'd try to get me another commission from this plutocrat, not blast the one I'm working on." "If you want to work on an adult picture of me, you think again, my good Pete! I wouldn't let you exercise your horrid mind upon my features." "Who said you?" he queried mildly. "Simon might like a portrait of Katie. She's the only ward he's ever had, and he may want to remember her." "So! You want to have long sittings with Miss Howarth, do you, and to be paid for them? And I thought you were really fond of someone nice at last!" "You talk in spirals, honey," he said, wearily good-natured. "For my own edification I've already made half a dozen sketches of Katie without her knowledge. I'm not likely to forget her." There was one of those silences which seem to stretch on taut wires between people. Simon'ended it, his voice expressionless. "Would anyone like another drink?" "Not for me," said Lorina. "Katie and I must leave you now." Five minutes later the mid-blue car was on its way to Mondulu, with Lorina at the wheel and Katie at her side. For most of the distance neither of them spoke. Lorina's mouth was tight, her hands were clenched with unnecessary firmness on the wheel and she stared ahead with eyes that were bright and stony, They were driving through the coconut plantation near Mondulu when she said, "That girl's a phoney right through, but she's clever with it. When she saw the portrait she kept saying that I was far more beautiful than Pete had made me; she said Pete was hiding the beauty with a mask of ruthlessness. That's what she'll pass on to Simon." "Simon can assess things for himself," commented Katie. After an hour in the bazaars of Kohti and another hour in Simon's company she was feeling tired. "I don't think there's anything artificial about Cherry Craven. The sparkling type are seldom secretive." 87

"She can afford to sparkle! Her mother has just married money, and Cherry has to decide whether she'll marry out here or go and live with her in luxury on the Riviera. Either way, she's well off ... while we have to scheme and flatter and wait even to get the few thousand we're entitled to!" "You can't measure your own fortunes by other people's." It was quite an effort for Katie to ask, then, "How do you think Simon regards her?" "They've known each other some time, and it's difficult to say. But she's staying there with Pete, in Simon's house, probably wandering about in a playsuit or a housegown. In her place, I'd have Simon in, my pocket in no time, and she's no less clever than I am." This last thought of her own apparently gave Lorina something to reflect about, for she spoke no more till they had left the car in the shade of a tree and were entering the bedroom. Then she began to unbutton her dress. "You didn't ask about the cable," she said. "I suppose you got it off?" The titian head nodded. "And I made it a long one, so that Charles would think we felt rich and expensive. He won't leave England now." Katie pushed off her sandals. "If Simon knew you'd anticipated his decision we'd be cooked for sure." "He won't know." Lorina shrugged off the topic. "Darling, would you like the car to yourself this afternoon?" "Won't you want it when you've had a rest after lunch?" "There's nowhere to go. Once you know this place it's more boring than Morbay." "Yet you'd consider staying on here - in certain circumstances?" Lorina smiled her gentle smile. "If I had plenty of cash I would stand it, periodically. Would you like the car for the afternoon?" Simon hadn't asked her to say nothing about their appointment for three o'clock, but Katie had sensed that he wished it to be kept quiet. So she said. "Thanks, Lorina," and left it there.

On an impulse she got quickly into a swim-suit and ran jown to the sea. Cool and refreshed, the short beach jacket swinging about her knees, she came back into the lanai and stopped for a chat with Uncle Jake Dorfling, and to caress the ever-present Siamese cat. Then, after changing into a pink woven sun-frock, she had lunch with Lorina at their table in the dining room. As usual, they had coffee outside, and wandered along to the bedroom at about two-thirty. Lorina shed her frock and lay down, Katie slipped a handkerchief and compact into her pocket and went out again, to sit in one of the long wicker chairs. She closed her eyes and dozed. A shower of cool petals touched her face and she awoke, to find Simon standing above her and showing those very white teeth in a teasing smile. "You've had too much lunch," he said. She sat up, and queerly, her heart was .pounding as though she were faced with sudden danger. "No, it's the sun. There's no breeze today." "All right, we'll go and find one. Ready." She took the hand he offered and let it pull her to her feet, knew a swift moment of alarming delight when he steadied her with an arm about her. They went to his car and got in, he swung it round and headed down through the coconut plantation. His sidelong glance at her was appraising and companionable. "You look sweet in pink - all pink and gold, in fact." "Like the Rower of the Morning?" "A little, but more like an English rose." "Thorns, too?" "I suppose so. You have your share, but you must keep them sealed off this afternoon. Cooler now?" "Yes. But if you keep up this speed we'll reach Kohti in no time, and be hot again." He didn't slacken off. "I've planned something you're still young enough to enjoy. We're going round the island in a motor-boat." Her eyes shone. "Where do we start?" 89

"At the cove where you first met Pete. Oh, yes," as she cast him a quick look, "I know where the great moment took place. It's only about ten minutes' walk along the beach from my house. By the way," casually, "Pete wanted to come with me this afternoon. Would you have liked that?" As carelessly, she answered, "I might have, but this is rather more of an honour, isn't it? I have the great Tuan Forbes of Numeh all to myself!" "Aren't you lucky?" he said, with cynicism. "This afternoon, though, I'm just Simon, and we're friends - no barbed wire about." He turned the car along the lane towards the beach. "We're probably the only white people stirring this afternoon." "What happened to Pete and his sister?" "After I'd told Pete I didn't want him he went disgruntled to bed. I left Cherry curled up on a chair like a kitten." "An extraordinarily pretty and unaffected kitten." "A delicious one," he agreed with a grin. "The sort any man would love to keep as a pet. Cherry has the advantage of being a woman as well." Katie turned away with a shiver. She smiled. "Here's our little inlet. Where will you leave the car?" "Near the bushes. The sun will go over and shade it." He didn't bother to lock up, but took the metal picnic container from the boot and carried it with him as they descended to the deserted beach. The long white boat was sheltered in a cave; Simon pulled it a short way out and stowed the picnic, took off his shoes and dropped them into the bottom of the boat before giving the sleek craft its final haul down to the sea. Katie yanked off her sandals, jumped in and , picked up an oar. "Don't be too enthusiastic," he warned. "If you don't mind, I'll get us away without help." She laughed, for the sheer joy of it, and he gave her a surprised smile as he shoved off and leapt into the boat, just beyond her. For a few minutes he was busy with oar and ropes, and when they were thirty feet from the shore he spun the motor. It roared, the boat nosed round and a magical 90

Ijibreeze whipped about them. jj'> Sunshine glared whitely across an aquamarine sea, rocks Jjtowered and disappeared, showed beneath the water like giant jifish. The coast was the thick lush green of wild coconut jfepalms with a strip of beach at every inlet and an occasional jjband of coral rocks just inside the sea-line. In a wide bay lay Jl-the town of Kohti, with its neat little harbour packed with J;-prahus and larger vessels, the white council buildings and the j bank and shipping offices just beyond the waterfront, and the | thatched and orange-tiled houses running away from the sea I and up the hill towards the coconut and sugar and fruit j. plantations. j Katie pointed to a square building on the green headland |, above the town. "What's that?" ESimon sat back with one arm across the petrol tank of the motor. "The old Forbes house," he said. "The upper rooms still contain some of the original furniture, but the lower half j is being converted into school offices." He ended laconically, I "I was bom there." | "I'd like to go over it before I leave Numeh," she said. 1. "May I?" I "Why not?" He sounded offhand, and said nothing more I, while they skimmed on over a gently moving sea, leaving a ; turbulent white arrow behind them. | Now the coastline was monotonous in its dense greenness. | Simon turned the boat into a river mouth; they entered a ^ green tunnel, he switched off the motor and they glided I through a dappled gloom in almost complete quiet. Then a ; parakeet shrieked, was answered by a long trill from the ' jackass bird. "It's eerie," Katie whispered, "but marvellously cool. How far can one go up the river?" "About a mile, to the rapids. Beyond that it's a series of waterfalls from the mountains." "Amazing what heat and water manage between them, isn't it? What are the trees?" He told her, and pointed out one whose bark was peeling. "That's a species of fig, but it hardly fruits at all. The islan91

ders make cloth from the bark - tapa. The giant over there is a mahogany. On the other side of the island there was a mahogany forest, but we needed the wood - for furniture and dug-out canoes - and the ground for planting. My greatgrandfather fancied himself as a diarist, and he wrote that the island was a vast green jungle running up over the mountains and hiding the rivers. But that was a good many years ago." Simon remained in his easy position, looking at her smooth, eager young face. "I have a photograph of you which was your father's. You must have been about twelve. At the moment you're very like it." She bent her head. "That's no compliment." "It certainly isn't an insult. In the photograph you look fine-boned and intelligent and rather tender." She coloured faintly, but did not smile. "I remember telling you when we first met that I used to have a snapshot of you, too. Either it wasn't at all a good likeness, or my imagination gave you such a vastly different personality that the real you doesn't compare at all." "When did your father send it to you?" "Only a short while before he died. It was with the letter in which he told me a bit about you, He ... he must have been ill then." "Yes, he was." She flickered him a glance, looked away at the dim greenness. "Don't you think it's time you told me all about him?" "What do you want me to tell you?" She shook her head. "Not just . . . questions and answers, Tell me all you know - how he lived and . . . and why he wouldn't come home." "He lived simply, in the house you've seen. When a man has become accustomed to the South Seas he often doesn't care if he never goes away. The islands become his home." She said quietly, "That isn't a full reply, is it? I've often talked to Uncle Jake at the hotel. He's known everyone on the island since he was a young man, yet he's never connected me with William Howarth, who used to work for you." Simon was silent for some minutes. At last he said, "I 92

(an never quite make up my mind whether young people hould be told things that don't matter, or left in happy gnorance. You've put me on the spot, though, so that I have o tell you your father was known here as William Clarke. )nly Jean Petlow and I knew his real" name, and that was >ecause she took care of him and I was his executor." I Katie's blue eyes, already shadowed by the dimness, became darker. "But why did he use a different name? Had he ;. . . had he something to be ashamed of?" "Not a thing, in my opinion. Look here, before we go any further we'll find somewhere to rest. Do you want to stay here, or get out into the sunshine?" "The sunshine, please," she said a little huskily, and lay back against the cushion. He kept the motor thundering till he sighted a beach, made for it and leapt into the water before she realised how close they were to the sand. She stepped out, waited while he made the boat safe and then walked with him, barefoot on the hot beach, to the shade of a thicket of young coco palms. She sat down and drew up her knees, took the cigarette he offered and leaned to the flame of his lighter. Lying back on one elbow, he was apparently in no hurry to speak. He smoked half the cigarette, blew away ash and then said meditatively. "I'd better tell you the whole thing, though it's possible you know some of it. How your mother died, for instance." H "My parents had a small car. She was driving it alone, and H crashed." j He nodded. "Seems your father blamed himself for it, j» though there was nothing to prove that anyone except the j driver was at fault. He did the car repairs himself to save j'cash, and he thought he might have left some part of it Jj insecure. He never got over it." ^ Katie made a sound of distress, turned her head from him | and pushed her cigarette into the sand. | Calmly, he went on, "He was the sort of man who would J always blame himself for everything that went wrong, either jp in his private life or in his job. He farmed you out, and I 93

blamed himself for not having provided you with a loving home. He took various jobs, always hoping to make plenty of money, to make up to you for the other things you'd missed. On his last job before coming to Numeh he had the bad luck to fall among crooks. They used him without his knowledge and he was dismissed; it broke him up. He came to Numeh as William Clarke, asked to be allowed to build some sort of home and live on what he could produce. As you know, it's not policy to allow white people to settle here. They can guide the islander, but they mustn't take his land." "So ... so he was at the end," she murmured shakily. "You . . . engaged him?" "There was no charity about it, I assure you. He interested me, and I let him live in an old house on one of the plantations for a while. He improved in looks, but he had fever in him and was always thin. Then we needed a man in the accounts section of the development corporation and I offered him the post. The house you've seen went with it, and he was happy there for a long time. He saved two-thirds of his salary every month without stinting himself because he lived so simply, and as the money grew it became his salvation. You're not a man with responsibilities, so perhaps you won't understand that." "Oh, but I do," she said on a caught breath. "If only I'd known him - really known him." Before she was aware it was happening, tears fell down her cheeks. She bent forward, her fists to her eyes, her knees raised against them, and wept uncontrollably yet with little sound. Simon sat up quickly, slipped an arm round her and lifted her head so that her face pressed against his shirt. For a long moment he just held her there, his hand hard over her hair. Then roughly he said. "For God's sake stop it. I'm not used to this!" She stilled automatically, pushed away from him and took her handkerchief from her pocket. "Sorry," she said thinly. "I just couldn't help it." 94

I- "Itls a11 right'" ^y-
to his fingers; he could have moved just a few inches and kissed her cheek. Neither happened, of course, but Katie hoarded the long, intimate moments. The' sun was going down in a thick lilac haze, the sea scarcely murmured. But far out a breeze rippled across the carelessly moving water, and a canoe which had been static began to bounce. "It's going to rain in a few hours," said Simon. "Let's hope it doesn't miss the island." The magic was over. He pulled her to her feet, picked up the picnic box and led the way back to the boat.

96

CHAPTER VI THE rain came towards dawn next morning, heralded by a burst of thunder that rocked the hotel and a brief squall that hurled tiles into the distance and left the garden coyered with nuts and branches. The wind cleared, thunder and lightning passed over towards the sea, but the rain stayed, a continuous roaring torrent into which no one ventured. As if the storm itself were not enough, Lorina awoke with a badly-relaxed throat. She had mentioned the night before that her throat ached abominably, but this morning, she said, i she felt choked. "No heat or soreness," she said with difficulty. "It simply seems to have closed in. I had it in England once." "Yes, I remember," said Katie anxiously. "What were those tablets you took for it?" "Penicillin lozenges, I think, but I'm not sure. In any case, we can't get anything here. I shall have to suffer till the rain is over." 'Til make enquiries," Katie said, and she slipped on a jacket and went out into the steaming terrace. In the hotel lounge several of the residents were sitting and staring out of the windows at the grey deluge and flooded lanai. Uncle Jake was in a corner, looking disconsolate. "Good morning, Mr. Dorfling," Katie said. "Are we imprisoned till it's over?" "I'm afraid so, young lady. The education officer has gone off in his wagon, but it's tricky driving. Lack of visibility is worse than the condition of the road." "Are the other cars all right?" "They've been pushed under the port. You and your cousin can come here with your books or sewing." Katie shook her head. "Miss Carew has a bad throat. Have you a medicine chest?" "Nothing much. First aid and aspirins, that's all. A bad 97

throat, you say?" He looked serious. "Always have to treat a throat quickly here. I can give you some antiseptic for gargling." "Will you, please? Perhaps that will relieve Lorina till I can get in to Kohti." But the antiseptic was no good. The bottle, Katie surmised had been,used once and left standing for years. The liquid smelled unpleasant, and Katie poured it down a drain. She returned to Lorina and made her a gargle fluid of powdered aspirin. Lorina did her best with the stuff, but after a few tries she sank back on her bed, pale and shaking. A sweat had broken out across her cheekbones and to Katie it made her look pathetic. She felt panic rising within her. Lorina said, almost inaudibly and slowly, "I'll have to have something to help me, Katie. Dr. Willis could put this right in a few hours." Katie nodded. "I'm going to see him. Just keep covered, and I'll be as quick as I can." "Katie, I can't let you. I've no temperature; he'll think I'm bluffing." "If he does," Katie said firmly, "I'll tell him what I think of him. Don't worry about me - I can make it." "I'm sure you can . . . but I do think we ought to wait till the rain eases." "If it were anything else, yes - but not a throat. I may be gone more than an hour. Will you be all right?" "Will you get me some ice water? Sips of it do help." Katie complied quickly. She looked out the waterproof she hadn't yet used on Numeh and got into it, pulled the hood up over her head and tied the tapes under her chin. She took another look at Lorina, saw her lying back with closed eyes that appeared horribly dark in the subdued light, and hurried out into the terrace. There she hesitated. If she passed through the main part of the hotel there would be questions and exclamations and someone might try to stop her. By crossing the garden she could reach the thatched car port and get the car going before anyone would know. Uncle Jake had been right. Tricky was a mild adjective to 98

describe the conditions this morning. Even with the car beams full on she could see nothing through the rivers which ran over the windshield but the straight grey rain, and whenever a tyre found a large rock it slipped, and jerked the steering wheel. But one grew accustomed to it, plugged on and presumably covered the miles between Mondulu and Kohti. It seemed a long, long while, though, till Katie saw the islanders' dwellings on the outskirts of the town. The town was deserted; the shops and houses shuttered, bamboo screens fastened over upper windows, a cart here and there derelict and rotten or shrouded with tapa. There were no cars at all, not even in the side streets. The town teemed with imprisoned humanity of which there was, uncannily, hardly a sign. Katie reached the clinic, saw that it, too, was closed up and shuttered. She got out of the car and ran up the path into the porch of Dan Willis's house. She rapped with her knuckles and almost at once the door was opened by ,a wizened, darkskinned man in white. "May I speak to the doctor?" she asked quickly. "He is out, but the nurse is here. Will the mem please come in?" Jean Petlow came into the hall, a slim figure in a white overall, her mid-brown hair caught back and twisted into a knot. "Why, hallo!" she exclaimed. "My goodness, you're wet. Step out of those sandals and shed the coat. I was just having some tea." "I can't stay, Jean. Can I get hold of the doctor?" "Someone sick?" "Lorina. She looks ghastly and she has a bad throat." Jean did not hesitate. "I'll leave a note for Dan and go back with you. Will you wait a jiffy while I collect my coat and bag? Go into the office and pour a cup of tea. Please do, Katie, You need it." Katie entered the room she had indicated, saw the tea tray on the desk and a scattering of cards and papers which Jean had been dealing with. The second cup, presumably, had been 99

placed there for Dan. Katie poured some tea and drank it scalding hot, turned as Jean came into the room. The nurse wrote something on a pad and placed it where Dan could not miss it, and then the two of them went out to the car. Jean slipped into the front seat, Katie reversed the car and set it moving towards Mondulu as quickly as she dared in such a downpour. "You're soaked," Jean said. "Your cousin must be bad." "I'm steaming hot, so I shan't come to harm. Lorina said last night that her throat felt peculiar and this morning it's terribly relaxed. She looks like death." "What is it like out at Mondulu?" "Rather grim. We've no electricity." "That means no lights, but meals if you're lucky. This is one of those times when I wish we had a hospital, however small. Our clinic has half a dozen beds, but they're all full. Lorina wouldn't like it, anyway; we have no white people there." She had spoken entirely without rancour, but Katie realised suddenly, that Jean was doing for Lorina what she would do for anyone who happened to be sick. If it mattered that it was Lorina Carew, she was unlikely to show any sign. She must actually be thinking how best to act, for she said, "Look here, Katie, we shan't be able to leave Miss Carew out there if she's really sick. It'll take a bit longer to consult Simon, but I think we should." "Now, you mean?" Jean nodded. "It's what Dan would do, and we may as well save time. Turn left at the end of the road." Her feelings a little muddled, Katie obeyed. She drove out to the sea road and swerved round the wide drive. The lanai, that luxurious outdoor lounge which Simon used so much, was bare and awash, but Simon must have seen the car through a window, for he slid open one of them and stepped out to meet Katie just as she ran under cover. He took her arm roughly. "Good lord, what in the world do you think you're doing?" She explained quickly, became aware that Pete and his 100

sister were in the lounge, and smiled at them perfunctorily. Simon swung round. "Pete - Lorina's ill. Jean Petlow is outside in the car. Drive her up to Mondulu, will you? I'll be along soon." Pete swallowed a drink he'd been holding, smiled at Katie, and said to Simon, "I'm your man. I'll borrow one of your waterproofs." Simon was pulling at the soaked string under Katie's chin. "Get out of your things - all of them. Cherry will lend you something. When you're dry, have a drink and relax. We'll look after Lorina." "I think I ought to go back with you." "With Jean in charge there's no need." Sternly he added, "You shouldn't have come out. Uncle Jake would have found someone to do it." "But I'm not sure that Lorina . . ." "You did right to let us know at once, but you should have appealed to one of those loungers at the hotel. It's absurd that a girl should have to drive in this weather when there are men wasting their time . . ." He broke off as Pete reappeared, went outside a short way with him. They spoke a few words, then Pete went through the grey downpour towards the faint darkness of the car. Simon came back, took Katie's raincoat and said with a preoccupied frown, "Now do as I say. Get changed and relax. I'll find Dan and well go up together. Look after her. Cherry." He crossed the room and went out. Cherry Craven lifted brown shoulders which were strapped by a scarlet sun-dress and smiled cheerfully. "A little excitement is what one needs on a day like this. Simon hates being tied to the house, Pete was getting restless and he even mentioned that he might motor out to the hotel if Simon had a car to spare." She paused. "I was the only one who was rather happy. I thought Pete might get his way and borrow the car, and then I'd have been alone with Simon." Katie might have wondered how to respond to this breathtaking frankness had not Simon's car shot away like a phan101

torn in the dusky light. As it was, she gave herself time to unfasten her sandals and kick them off, pick them up and wander half across the room before she said, "I'll only -need slippers, thanks - and to tidy my hair. Where can I find the bathroom?" Ten minutes later she was back in the long luxurious lounge, and Cherry was pouring freshly-made coffee; They sat together, one at-each side of a low table, and faced the the teeming outdoors. The coffee was good, and Katie had the satisfaction of knowing she had done all she could for Lorina. But without Simon, she felt odd in this house; an outsider. In her faintly accented tones. Cherry said, "It will be fine again tomorrow; it is only in the hurricane season that they get days and days of rain. A pity your cousin's bad throat could not have waited a day." Katie looked at her, saw nothing except bland innocence. "That's how things happen, isn't it?" she commented. "I only hope it's nothing serious." "I do not suppose it is." "How can you know?" "I heard you tell Simon she has no temperature. It might be something obscure, of course. Unusual things do happen to her, do they not?" "Not particularly." "Oh, I thought they did." Cherry spoke a little too blithely, but her smile was natural. "Have you seen the portrait that Pete is doing?" "No. I'd rather wait till it's finished." "In the last stages, I am afraid, he will spoil it - glamorise it for Simon. Tell me, why do you think Simon wants that portrait?" "I've no idea." "I have a very good idea." Cherry was smiling inwardly; it was audible in her voice. "He wishes to disarm Lorina and at the same time to flatter her. Some time after you get back to England, the portrait will arrive at your home, beautifully packed and wholly intact." 102

"If he wanted to get rid of it, he would give it to Lorina before we leave." Cherry shook those dark, auburn-tinted curls. "No. He will part with you as good friends, and he will say that he still intends to visit England in a few months. But later on something will crop up to prevent the trip, and he will send the picture, to close the whole affair." "That means you think he'll agree to let us buy the guest farm." "At present, I do not think he will." She paused, drew on her cigarette. "I hope you will not mind my saying this: it has been rather irritating to discover you and Miss Carew here on Numeh. For me, you have created complexities, so you will not be surprised if I tell you that I will help you to persuade Simon." She stopped, and then said, "I have no fear of Miss Carew - do not think that for a moment. It is just mat I have only a very short time before I must make a decision, and I do not want to be hampered in any way." "I'd rather you didn't enter into any discussion with Simon about us." "You are not in a hurry to leave?" Cherry looked anxiously at her soft scarlet slippers. "You find yourself falling in love with Pete?" "No. No, I don't. I'd simply prefer to handle my business myself." "You," said Cherry frankly, "I do not mind. But your cousin - she has a fascination for Simon. You are aware of it?" Katie said stiffly, "It's her colouring, I suppose. She's a beautiful woman." "I also am beautiful, and if I marry Simon it will be for love, and nothing else. Your cousin, I think, would be more attracted to his money and position. She has a hard nature." "You don't know her." "I can tell by the portrait," was the prompt reply. "Pete is an excellent judge of character. By the way," softly, "I peeped at it a few days ago . . . and I also looked into his sketch book. He has made you pretty and sensitive. One day he will 103

make a portrait from those sketches, but he will not send it to you. It is unfortunate that you cannot love him. I think if you gave him a chance he would love you very much." To Kate's relief. Cherry left the subject. The morning passed. Cherry went off to her bedroom and Katie walked uneasily from one end of the long lounge to the other. The rain still tumbled down from an invisible sky, the beautiful tiling of the lanai was vividly clean, the drive was gravel mud that drained down to the road where a river rushed by. It was because she could now see the road that Katie knew the rain had become an ordinary torrent instead of the cloud-emptying curtain through which she had driven. Had there been a car she could use she would have left then, and returned to the hotel. She had just stabbed out the butt of the cigarette when the Mercedes came right into the lanai, so that the occupants could enter the house without getting wet. She slid back one of the glass panels, saw that Lorina, wrapped in a blanket over her dressing gown, was being lifted from the car by Simon, while Jean Petlow and Dan Willis gathered a suitcase and other things. In Simon's arms, Lorina looked pale and spent. Her eyes were closed. He carried her straight through the lounge and into the corridor, and Jean followed him. Dan Willis hesitated, and smiled a strained smile at Katie. "You . . . you decided to bring her," she said unnecessarily. "How is she?" "I'm not sure. If she'd had a temperature we wouldn't have moved her in this weather, but I don't think she got even a spot of rain on her. Simon saw to that. Katie, has she been taking some sort of sedative?" "I don't think so." "She's so sleepy. I don't like it." "How is her throat?" "I couldn't examine it properly - she was only halfconscious and the light was bad. Jean held the torch for me, but it was Lorina's sleepiness that defeated me. Simon was all for bringing her here, and I was relieved, I can tell you. 104

I'll be able to give the throat a thorough examination." He patted her shoulder. "Don't look so upset, Katie. She must have taken a sedative last night - perhaps in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep. It's bound to wear off and then we'll see how she is." "Isn't there anything I can do?" "Just watch her, that's all. I wish I could leave Jean, but there's a couple of cases we have to attend to, and as the rain eases we'll get people coming to the clinic. But I'll definitely come back myself after lunch." He picked up the suitcase he had dropped. "I'll just take this along and have a look at her. Come, if you like." Katie went with him, entered a large bedroom furnished in modem style where Jean Petlow was deftly tucking a peachcoloured blanket round Lorina, and Simon was shoving things into a wardrobe cupboard. Lorina was absolutely still, but occasionally she swallowed so painfully that Jean and Dan Willis looked at each other. The doctor felt her pulse again, lifted her eyelid; then he made a sign to Jean and they both walked out. Simon came to the bedside. "Don't worry so much, little Kate," he said quietly. "She'll be all right." "But. . . but what can be wrong with her?" she whispered. "A very bad throat and a dose of sleeping pills. We'll just have to give her time. Come and have some lunch." "I couldn't eat. Just let me stay here." "You can't do any good. Come on." Outside in the corridor he stopped and looked down at her. "We don't want you to flop out as well. What's been happening?" "Nothing. I just waited." "You're very pale. Did you sleep badly, too?" "Not too well, but I'm all right. Simon, I ..." "Be still, there's a good girl. We have to do what's best for Lorina, and we can't do it if you decide to go nervy on us. I need a wash. You go into the lounge and stop fretting." She nodded silently, went on along the corridor and into the lounge. Pete had come in, and was having a drink. He 105

came over to her, smiling. "Brighten up, chicken. She'll live." Her lower lip trembled. "How can you be so callous! She looks dreadful." "I thought she looked rather better than when she's awake," he remarked. "She's always whitish, and with the red hair flowing a bit she looks like a sleeping princess. Old Dan was shaken up." / "Well, so am I!" "Why, you poor little so-and-so." He laid an arm across her shoulder. "Here, take a gulp of my whisky. Please . . . or I shall think you blame me for something." She backed from the drink, but his arm was there, compelling her, and his tones coaxed. She sipped twice. And then she saw that Simon had come into the room and was staring at them, even though he went on moving towards the cabinet. Without haste, Pete dropped his arm. "You didn't take much, but then you're not a whisky-swiller so it may have some effect." He drank nonchalantly from the same glass, said to Simon, "I was just telling Katie that she mustn't worry now that Lorina is in good hands. The Doc says it's nothing infectious." "Has he gone?" asked Simon coolly. "Yes, with Jean. They took the car I drove - the blue one. Katie won't need it for a while." Simon poured his drink. "Lorina may have to stay here several days, so youll have to do the same, Katie." "I haven't anything with me." Pete said, "I'll get the car back from Dan and take you over to Mondulu, but there's no hurry. You need your lunch. Where's that sister of mine?" As if she had been waiting for the cue. Cherry walked in. She had changed into a cream dacron sleeveless dress and wore a pair of scarlet earrings; she was smiling an enquiry at Simon. "Is she all right - Lorina?" "She's sleeping. Like a drink?" 106

"No, darling. I was so uneasy about Miss Carew that I couldn't rest, so I had a bath and changed. Perhaps we had better eat a little lunch." When they rose from the table Simon went along to look into Lorina's room, came back to report that she was still sleeping. "So you can relax over coffee, little Kate. There's nothing you can do yet." It was strange, but to Katie the whole thing was becoming nightmarish. Simon's rich, airy house; Pete Craven, who was natural and pleasant even if he did touch her more often than was necessary; Cherry, lively, pretty and guarded, with a proprietorial interest in Simon. And Simon himself - oddly cold, the muscles of his jaw tightened up, his words crisp as snow. With it all, the pounding, torrential rain. Till the coffee tray was taken, Katie sat there, feeling small and shabby. Then she asked, "Do you mind if I sit with Lorina now?" Simon nodded. "Go ahead. I'll arrange about a bedroom for you." Pete said, "If Dan's coming back I'd better wait till he gets here before I do anything about the car." Katie went from the room and along the corridor, slipped quietly into the room in which Lorina lay, looking as peaceful as Katie would have liked to feel. She stood at the side of the bed, and as if under compulsion said quietly, "Lorina . . . it's Katie." The dark eyelids flickered and the green eyes opened slightly, then widely. Lorina smiled faintly. "Close the door, Katie." Her heart suddenly beating with abnormal speed, Katie did as she was told and returned to the bedside. "How do you feel now?" "Not too bad at all." "Your throat?" "It's almost better." "But . . . but you looked so ill." Katie gazed at her, and grew white. "You were bluffing, Lorina. How could you!" "Ssh! They'll hear you." Lorina waved to a chair. "Sit down, and try to look solicitous. And stop staring at me as 107

though I were a ghoul. I never do anything in this place that isn't for the two of us. If I marry Simon and abandon the guest farm, you'll gain by it. You must realise that." "I don't want anything by underhand means. You had me worried sick, sent me out in the deluge ... it was beastly!" "Calm down, darling. My throat did ache a little last night - maybe it was the change in the atmosphere because rain was coming. I'd been wondering how I could get into this house to stay, and it seemed the rocky throat was a sign; I only had to be sick for a day, and I was in! Too bad for your sake that it happened to be raining, but it did help to make the thing more authentic." "But you looked HI!" "I never have a high colour, so pallor was no problem." She smiled. "Know how I did it? While you were out this morning I found a dusty ledge on the wardrobe and wiped my finger along it; then I closed my eyes and applied the dust to my eyelids and below my eyes. I expect it's wearing off now, but it was most effective - far more so than a cosmetic. Particularly as we had only one little lamp in the hotel bedroom." "Dr. Willis thinks you took a sedative/' said Katie a little wearily. "Lorina, I do wish you hadn't done this. Or I wish they'd taken you to the clinic." Lorina's unpainted lips became set. "I knew they wouldn't. I counted on Dan's begging Simon to take me in. But Dan didn't have to beg. While I was supposed to be unconscious I heard lots of conversation." The green eyes glittered. "Simon wouldn't hear of my going anywhere else. Dan wanted to take me to his house so that Jean could be near, but Simon overrode him and said that he had room for both you and me. So you see, sweetie, I've got you in, too." Katie got up and crossed to the window. She gazed out beyond a veranda at the beating rain. "I'm not staying here, Lorina. You can do as you like, but I'm going back to the hotel." Lorina was calm and assured. "Don't be an idiot, darling. We're in, so let's make the most of it. At the worst, we'll get 108

from Simon what we came for, and save hotel expenses at that. But I'm hoping - and working - for the besti" "I won't live here and watch you tricking the men into giving you what you want. If you needed nursing I'd have put up with anything till you were better, but I refuse to accept Simon's hospitality and watch you deceiving everyone." Her tones pleaded, "Don't do it, Lorina. Please don't do it." "Don't be an idiot," said Lorina with cold serenity. "I've already accomplished the worst part. All I have to do now is to recover slowly and gently, and claim a little more attention than is possible while we're staying at the hotel. And you," with a calculating smile, "don't have to do anything at all, except enjoy your surroundings. I'll guarantee that you won't even have to fetch and carry for me. The men will do that. Yes, even your Pete - if I want him to." "I don't understand you at all," said Katie in low tones, as she turned back from the window. "Something has gone to your head." "I think it has, a little, and I'm enjoying it. When we came out I was prepared for almost anything, but it hadn't occurred to me that the set-up here would be so ... luxurious. It makes that five or six thousand your father left look a bit silly." Katie was walking past the foot of the bed. "But you'll take it if nothing else offers, I suppose? Well, let us get one thing straight. I've learned something about that money. It's not five or six thousand, Lorina. I doubt if it's two thousand." There was a silence, during which Lorina lay perfectly still and Katie stood between the bed and the door. There was no sound but the steady roar of the rain. At length Lorina said, "How can that be possible? Your allowance was supposed to be interest on the capital." "The capital is invested in the Numeh Development Corporation, and last year's dividend on the shares was twenty-one per cent." "Good heavens." Lorina considered this. She rested a cool glance on Katie. "I'm sorry, but it looks as if we shall have 109

to go our own ways." In that moment Katie saw, with painful clarity, just how valueless the relationship between herself and Lorina had been. She didn't attempt to answer, but went to the door. It opened before she could touch the handle, and Dan was there, his rugged face anxious as he looked past Katie at the bed. Katie herself, through some reflex action, looked back too. She saw Lorina lying absolutely still, the smudges of her closed eyes deep and dark against the whiteness of her forehead and cheeks, the titian hair spread over the pillow. Katie drew a trembling sigh, and walked to the lounge. Hardly anything was said till Dan came into the room. His mouth had moved into a little relieved smile. Before Simon could question him he said, "She's better definitely. She's not quite awake yet, but there's faint colour in her cheeks and the throat is much less painful - no swallowing. I took a look and .there's no inflammation. Actually, the sedative did her good. She slept through the worst." He turned to Katie. "What was it she took - do you know?" Katie shook her head, but said nothing. He persisted. "Was she given something on the ship something she kept?" "I really don't know." "Well, she'll be able to tell me herself soon. Mind if I stay on for a while, Simon?" "Of course not. I was going to suggest it. Nothing doing at the clinic?" "Not a thing. I took Jean up to her quarters and told her to rest. She'll come here and nurse Lorina during the night." "Will that be necessary?" asked Katie involuntarily. "Not really, but Jean won't mind." He smiled at her. "You've been through a good deal, Katie. When bedtime comes you'll be needing it. Cherry Craven went on leafing through her magazine, Pete stretched and walked about the room, Simon offered cigarettes and lighted them. There was more talk, which Katie half heard above the pulsing ache in her head. Then, after Dan had paid one of his visits to Lorina's bed110

room, he returned with a slight step and a gleam in his eyes. "She's awake at last! I'm sure you'd like to see her, Katie. Just a look - no talking." By the time Katie had been through the farce of tiptoeing over to Lorina's bed, whispering "Hallo," to the slack figure that lay there and sliding back into the lounge, she was feeling ill herself. But when Simon said, "Well, that's a relief. You can unwind now, Katie," she smiled at him. Not that he smiled. Even his casual speech was taut. The rain thinned a little. Katie saw the cars outside, the Mercedes and the mid-blue, which Dan had used. She waited, the ache in her head becoming a throbbing pain, for someone to make the first move. But it was dusk, and the men had had drinks, before the doctor said he must go. "If you'll run me home, Simon. I'll pick up my own car. I'll bring Jean tonight, after dinner." Simon looked briefly at Katie, but said nothing. He and the doctor got into waterproofs and went out. The big car swooshed away down the drive. Cherry yawned. "What a. deuce of a bore a rainy day can be in these places. Particularly when the house is crowded. Two men and three or four women are going to be rather much!" "I shan't be here," said Katie. "I'm going back to the hotel." Pete looked apprehensive. "I don't think you'd better. Simon won't like you to be alone there." "What I do isn't Simon's business. You might tell him that as Jean is coming here for the night I feel I shall rest better at the hotel." "I will tell him," said Cherry. "He will understand. Why not go with her, Pete?" "There's only the one car available," Katie said quickly. "Pete couldn't get back." "I am sure he could. If those men at the hotel have been incarcerated all day some of them are bound to try to get into Kohti tonight, when the rain stops. Pete could hitch a ride." Ill

"Sure," he said. "I'll go with you, Katie, and stay with you for dinner. I may even bring you back here with me." Cherry said cheerfully, "That is what I'll tell Simon - that you are dining at the hotel and will be back later. Then Pete can do the rest, if he turns up here alone." Obviously, Cherry's only kick against having Lorina in the house was that she turned life into a bore. Certainly she did not regard Miss Carew as a genuine rival. Katie wondered, a little woodenly, how Pete's sister would feel if she knew about the vein of cold steel in Lorina. Pete found a dry raincoat for Katie, and together they went out to the car. He drove, and Katie shivered in the new coolness of the air. It was pouring now like heavy rain in England, but the dusk was clearer than the dawn had been. The sky darkened, a wind blew, and Pete said the rain would cease before midnight. He cast her a sympathetic glance. "I know how you feel, Katie. You're wondering why Lorina took that sedative; it's not normal to take stuff to make you sleep during the day." "I'm not going to think about it any more." "Good for you. But you ought to have things straight. Lorina can fight as much as she likes, but she won't get far. Simon's already accepted an invitation to the new home that Cherry's mother has on the Riviera. He'll probably travel there with Cherry in a couple of months' time." Katie lifted her shoulders dispiritedly. "It doesn't matter to me now. I suppose for your sake I ought to be glad." "I don't care much. I used to be fond of Cherry, but she's grown up even more selfish than she was as a child. It's funny, but there aren't many unselfish people about. Noticed that?" "I've noticed that beauty seems to make for selfishness." "You just stay pretty," he said. "Pretty and generous. And give up being unhappy and shocked about Lorina. I knew the type the moment I met her. At first she wanted that guest farm on your money, but later she saw a more dazzling picture. It's a mirage, but she doesn't know it. Let her dream for a while. She needs the bump that will come afterwards." 112

Pete was good to Katie that evening. He waited while she changed, they had drinks and dinner by candlelight in the dining room; there just weren't enough paraffin lamps to go round. -He laughed at her, recounted incidents, which had happened during his years in the South Seas, made someone play a gramophone and insisted on dancing. In his easy fashion, he found someone who was travelling into Kohti, and at ten-thirty, Katie went out with him into a drizzle to say goodnight. He kissed her lightly on the temple, and she thought how simple life would be if all men were like Pete at his best, and woman's only ambition was to be a woman.

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CHAPTER VII MONDULU after the rain was a green paradise. Washed foliage wa' emerald in the sunshine, great hibiscus flowers opened, firm and strong and scarlet, there were azaleas and oleanders, poinsettias and bougainvillea, all of them flowering more blatantly than before. The sun, once the steam had disappeared, was hotter than even before, yet the sea was cooler, though still warm. Katie bathed early, had her breakfast, answered enquiries about Lorina and decided to take some sandwiches and stay away from the hotel for a few hours. That way she need answer no more questions. . Uncle Jake called her as she went towards the car, and she came back to gossip with him for a few minutes. He told her that yesterday's rain was nothing at all, a mere mist compared with the seasonal rains. "But I remember one time when we had rain worse than yesterday's on Christmas Day; it was the only rainy Christmas I've ever known." "What do you do here at Christmas?" "The islanders are not Christians, so we make little of it except in our own homes. Will you be gone before then?" "Yes, I think so." Katie recalled planning with Lorina that they might have a hot Christmas for once, on the ship which would take them back to England. "I shall be leaving fairly soon now." "Will your cousin be well enough?" "Probably. I must make the most of my last days. Where is your favourite picnic spot?" "Me?" He spread his hands sadly over his large tummy. "I don't go to picnics now. I don't even like to ride in a car. Verv slowly. I am petrifying into this chair. There will come a day when even the call to lunch will not move me, and then it will be time to dig a very large hole in which to hide 114

Uncle Jake." He shook his head, still sadly, but with a twinkle in his eye. "I would like to take a girl for a picnic, : just once more." "Come with me today, then!" "No, it's too late and I am much too heavy. There was a place I like, many years ago. You take the road round the west of the island, away from Kohti. About ten miles from here there is a rocky overhang forming an archway over the ^ road. Just beyond it you'll see water pouring over the road' from the rocks. Stop there and walk back. I've been there many times - and with a pretty girl, tool" "I'll try it," she said. "I wish you'd come." "And I wish I could, but I'm a fixture-here. Find a young man, drink of the water straight from the rock and make a wish." "Is that island lore?" "No," regretfully, "I'm afraid it is Uncle Jake's. The islanders drink any water straight from the rocks to ward off evil spirits. In fact, all day long the native is unconsciously doing things to placate the devil. The Malay has the old serpent so well placated that he himself is a happy man, and smiles all the time." Katie laughed a little, surprised that she could. "I'll find your spot. If Mr. Craven comes, will you ask after Miss Carew, and tell him I'll call at Mr. Forbes' house later in the day?" "Ah, Mr. Craven - there's a strange man for you. Yes, I'll tell him; Enjoy yourself!" Katie put the little bamboo picnic basket into the car and got in herself. She waved a hand as she passed Uncle Jake and took the road he had described. The gravel was dark with moisture, but surprisingly was puddled only at the sides. She recollected Simon's pride in the roads, resolutely put it out of her mind and trod down the accelerator. She found the archway, a freak of nature in pink rock, and only a hundred yards beyond it a veritable river poured across the road from a series of small waterfalls on the rocky face of the lull. She swished through the water, drew over to 115

the left and stopped the car. Almost as if it were business to be disposed of, Katie slithered down among palms and ipoh trees, found the wide ledge from which the water gushed down about sixty feet into a mangrove swamp. The greenness was almost violent, the tracery of vines and mosses incredibly obscure and lovely. She peered down and saw a solitary mahogany trunk which had been felled to form a bridge across the lower ledge of the waterfall. Some time she would go down there; not now, though. She climbed back, slid behind the wheel of the car and set it going again. And presently she approached the coastal road which she had travelled from the other direction with Dr. Willis, on that first day that she had lunch with Simon. They had seen the Mercedes, joined Simon and Lorina, had tea and talked. And afterwards, when Dan had taken Lorina and she had been left with Simon ... Katie shook her head and her teeth went tight. It had happened an age ago, when she was very young and silly; a child almost, who had trusted Lorina and accepted her statements that they were working for .each other. Now Katie felt tired and disillusioned, and much older. She had lived on Numeh, known Simon and the others for a long, long time. Just a fortnight in her whole life. Certainly the most painful. People said you always got over first love rather quickly. Katie hoped so. At any rate, she would do her own part towards forgetting; harden up and use her common sense. After all, she wasn't the first girl to fall for a man who was right out of reach, so she wouldn't be the first one to get over it - not by a long way. She passed a native village, took a turning to the right, drove through sugar cane and forest till she was well away from the coast, and stopped the car. There she ate her sandwiches and dozed, read pieces from the magazine she had put into the bottom of the basket, and dozed again. She felt cool and empty, isolated high on the hill under a gnarled old Hame of the Forest that dropped its fiery petals over her as if she were a babe in the wood. As Katie drove back she could feel sweat soaking the back 116

of her dress and her hands were wet on the wheel. Though barely six o'clock, it was quite dark when she reached the hotel. She had a bath and found a clean dress, went to the dressing table and saw that a leaf from a tiny notepad lay there weighted by a bottle of nail varnish. She read: "Mr. Forbes called", with the word 'twice" written in later. Simon. She had thought it would be Pete, and that he might understand. Katie brushed her hair and used a dab of powder, a touch of lipstick. She had put on a sleeveless blue dress which had bands of black about the skirt, but now she hesitated, wondering whether to change it. But it didn't matter what she wore. She would slip along to Simon's house straight after dinner, make her polite enquiries and come away again. She had a light meal in the dining room, would have gone without coffee had not the waiter asked, "Coffee at the table, mem, or in the lounge?" "I'll have it here, please. And you might bring me a packet of cigarettes." It was while she awaited the coffee that Simon walked in, like an arrogant and angry overlord. He came to her table,' tall, imperious, his lean face a tight mask; he drew out a chair and sat down, waved away the fussing head waiter and stared across at her. Yes, he was angry aU right, but it was the sort of anger that might pass, to an onlooker, as calm displeasure. Katie felt her heart sink low, and under the edge of the table her hands locked themselves together and pressed hard on the wood. . Before either could speak, the coffee and cigarettes arrived, the waiter dithered at the sight of Simon and was told to go, in a tone Katie had never heard him use to a servant. It was glacial. She bent her head. "Well, say it. I'm unfeeling - you wouldn't have believed it of me - what in the world has got into me? I've no explanation, Simon." "Think up one," he said curtly. "I'll wait." "I've nothing to say." "I came this morning, to take you back to the house for 117

lunch. You'd already gone on a lone picnic. I followed you, but the clue you left with Dorfling was meant deliberately to mislead, wasn't it?" "I ... I thought Pete would be the one to come out here." "You'd do-that to Pete?" he said with cold satire. "I hardly think so. Where did you go?" "Into the hills. I ... I needed it." "I came back here this afternoon." "I'm . . . sorry." "You're even more sorry that I've come this evening. It's strange, but I felt I couldn't rest till I found out what you'd been up to. And I come upon you here, looking as if you're quite enjoying being alone. You haven't even enquired about Lorina." Katie brought a hand up on the table but found she had to grip something; so she closed her fingers over the packet of cigarettes. "How is she?" "Improving - no thanks to you. She's asked for you several times today." Katie moistened her lips, shook her head quickly. "I just couldn't come. I'm sorry." "You said that before, and maybe I'll believe you're sorry when you've told me what it's all about. It's something between you and Pete, isn'^ it?" "Of course not. Why should you think that?" "Because he's showing as much callousness as you are! Fortunately, Cherry is on the spot." Katie twisted the packet in her fingers. "I was coming to see Lorina this evening, straight after dinner. If I ... I've worried you a little, I'm ..." "Don't say you're sorry again, or I'll break something!" He had spoken quietly but with deadly conciseness. "I knew there was something odd going on when you slipped out of my house with Pete, the moment I'd turned my back yesterday. Cherry was charitable; she said you needed a few. hours at the hotel to collect your clothes, but when Pete came back last night without you, I was pretty sure you'd never 118

intended to return with him. If it hadn't been so late, I'd have come for you then!" "Why should you worry if I prefer to be here?" "Because you're behaving in a most unnatural fashion! You've told me yourself that you're fond of Lorina - would do anything for her. But when she needs you most you're missing. Jean Peuow slept in her room last night, and Cherry is going to sleep there tonight." Katie asked huskily, "Does Lorina need it? You said she's improving." "She may not need it, but we're all happier if we know that someone is on hand." His tone altered slightly. "It's not that I care for the idea of your having a troubled night - just that your lack of concern is entirely out of character. You're the one Lorina has asked for." And Katie knew why. Things had changed so drastically between them that Lorina was just a little uncertain of her hold on the situation. She wanted to assure herself, at intervals, that Katie would keep silent about the means Lorina had used to land herself squarely in the Forbes house." She looked at the cooling cup of black coffee. "Now that I've seen you I won't come this evening. Tell Lorina I'm glad she's feeling better, and that I'll come tomorrow moming at about ten." In clipped accents he said, "I'm taking you back with me tonight!" "No. Just give her the message." He leaned across the table. "Go and pack a few things. I'll wait for you in the lounge." She met his glance then, for the first time since he had stalked into the room. It was black and glittering, it dared her to disobey. Her hand shook, the packet of cigarettes shot from her grasp and hit the coffee cup. A jet of coffee smote the table on its way to her lap, and she stood up quickly, with the brown stain spreading over" the blue glazed cotton. The waiter sprang to help, blut Katie didn't even notice him. She went out of the dining room almost at a run, and made for her bedroom. There she closed the door and leaned back 119

against it for a second, before hurriedly taking off the dress. She laid it on the bed, thought vaguely that she ought to soak the stain in cold water at once and was about to turn the tap when Simon knocked and came in. Katie stared at him blankly, saw him take the navy silk wrap from the hook on the door and felt him go behind her to slip it on. Mechanically, she buttoned and belted it, and with a jerky movement she pushed back her hair. She watched him take her packet of cigarettes from his pocket and drop it on to the dressing table, and it occurred to her that Simon, typically, had remembered to mention to someone that the mem had left her cigarettes and he would take them to her room - what was the number? Unsteadily she said, "I'm not going with you, Simon. There are three of you with Lorina, Dr. Willis calls in and Jean as well. I'll come to enquire, but I won't stay." He leaned back, near the door, shoved his hands deeply into his pockets. "You can't make a declaration of that sort without giving a reason. You told Pete, and he's on your side. Now you can tell me." "I've told Pete nothing. Whatever his thoughts, they're entirely his own." "I don't believe you." "I don't lie, Simon. I may occasionally avoid telling the truth, but I don't lie! If you're convinced Pete knows all about everything, ask him to tell you what you want to know. I've nothing whatever to say." "Which means there's plenty in the background. If you think I'd question Pete about you, you don't know me very well." She said swiftly, in choked tones, "I wish I knew you even less than I do. I wish to heaven I'd stayed in England and kept the sort of outlook I had there. I'll tell you frankly - I didn't want to come to Numeh! I had a ... premonition that you'd be awkward and despotic, but because we needed the money I allowed my own silly softness to persuade me that it was only your letters that were cold and hard - that you were probably as warmly sympathetic in person as anyone 120

else. Can you imagine anything more foolish than that?" "Yes, I can," he said roughly. "I can imagine that you've fallen quite heavily for Pete Craven, and that you've been swayed by his reaction to Lorina. He dislikes her - you can see it in the portrait - and in that experienced way of his he's substituted his own prejudice for whatever feeling you had for Lorina. You didn't see it happening - he's too practised for that. You're intensely young . . . and a fool." "I'd rather be a fool than a cold-blooded autocrat. At least it makes me human!" By 'now Katie was gripping her own elbows to still the trembling of her body. There were circles of high colour in her cheeks and her eyes flashed a misty blue fire; her chin stuck out firmly, but her lips quivered. Possibly Simon saw the quiver, or the pulsing at the base of her throat. He straightened away from the wall. "You're wound up. Sit down, and I'll pack your bag myself." "I'm not going with you, Simon!" "The argument's over," he said grimly. "Tell me what to pack." "If you don't leave, I'll scream, so that everyone knows that Simon Forbes is in here!" "I believe you would," he said, with unsmiling cynicism. "You're either not a bit the girl I thought you were, or something's gnawing at you. I intend to find out which it is, of course." He would find out, too, she thought faintly. She moistened dry lips, said thinly, "If you make me go with you I shall hate every minute I'm under your roof. Is that what you want?" He looked at her, cold speculation in his eyes. "If that's true, you must hate me." "It's . . . true." A kind of molten violence seethed briefly in the dark eyes, a muscle tightened in his jaw. For a suffocating moment she thought he would take her shoulders and shake all feeling from her, and fear made her knees weak. But the moment 121

ended. On a sharp drawn breath he went from the room, snapping the door hard behind him. Katie held her face with ice-cold hands; her physical being was sick to the depths and mentally she was utterly exhausted. Another bright morning, servants humming. Uncle Jake ponderously seated in the lanai, the sea blue and inviting, crabs scuttling. Rower of the Morning blowing gently in an enchanting mass of pink striped with gold, the palms whispering gaily far above the hotel rooftop, birds trilling and shrieking, butterflies delving into blossoms, islanders passing with their usual greeting, "Tabeh, man! Tabeh, mem!" Katie was sitting with Uncle Jake when the post arrived, and he looked through it and handed her a letter for Lorina. The writing was Charles Kain's, so Katie slipped the letter into the pocket of her plain willow-green dress and looked at her watch. It was nine-thirty; time to set out for Kohti. This morning she felt calm and chilly. There is a stage in all unhappiness when one accepts the worst, and nothing can hurt quite so piercingly as the stabs which have gone before. It is a temporary feeling, but a necessary one. The pain returns, but the respite has renewed one's reserves. Katie had reached that stage, and as she drove towards Kohti she felt old and assured; today nothing could touch her. Even when she braked on the drive of the Forbes house and saw Lorina sitting there in a long chair with Pete and Dan Willis, she felt only a minor qualm. Simon, she was sure, had remembered that she was to call at ten; he'd be in his den, and she would see him only if she asked for the privilege. Which she wouldn't. Lorina looked sweet and frail. She had put on lipstick but no powder; there was a narrow white scarf about her hair and she wore a white angora jacket over the lime green dress. There was a folded white blanket at the foot of the long scarlet chair, and Katie guessed that Dan Willis had put it there, in case his patient complained of the breeze. He looked absurdly happy, while Pete, wearing is disreputable green 122

outfit, smiled his knowledgeable smile and gave Katie his chair. "Hallo, darling," said Lorina, softly and delicately, '"I missed you so much yesterday. Are you all right?" Nicely put, thought Katie detachedly; she was now the delinquent who had not only neglected her cousin yesterday but was forgiven and asked after first thing this morning. But she smiled. "Of course I'm all right, and I hope you're as fit as you look. Good morning, Dan. Good morning, Pete." She sat down. "How is the throat?" It was Dan who answered, from the other side of the patient. "It's fine, but Lorina shouldn't talk too much. It took her most of yesterday to sleep off that sedative. I'd like to get my hands on the chemist who sold it without a prescription!" "I told Dan," said Lorina, in attractively slow and husky ;; tones, "that I took the last of those tablets I bought at Mor| bay - when we were so excited about coming here and I I couldn't sleep. Do you remember?" I "No," replied Katie hardily, "but perhaps you forgot to tell I me about them. When will you be ready to come back to the I hotel?" | Lorina touched her throat hesitantly. "Any time now, | darling. It's up to Dan." | "She can't go yet, Katie," he said at once. "It's hell feeling t under the weather in an hotel. It surprises me that you prefer j to stay there." ,; "Katie's a tough little nut," put in Pete, leaning back in the ; chair he had shifted closer. "I think she's better off at the ? hotel." Lorina ignored him; Dan shot him a dark glance. Katie : took the letter from her pocket and handed it to Lorina, who ; at once slipped it -inside the sleeve of her jacket. There were a few'more conventional words before Dan got to his feet. "I'll have to get back to the clinic, I'm afraid. Jean's overworked after the rain and Brendon isn't due back for a day or two. But I'll try to call in again later, Lorina." "Please do." She lifted a pale hand which he held for a few 123

seconds between both of his. "You've been so good to me, Dan." "Don't be silly," he said gruffly. "It was my job to look after you." He went out to his car and drove away. Pete drew his right ankle up on to his left knee, smiled at Katie, eyed Lorina, and said, "Good old Dan Willis, the rugged doctor man. You'd make him a rotten wife, Lorina." Very politely she said, "Do you mind leaving me alone with Katie? We've things to talk about." "Want me to go, Katie?" "For just five minutes, if you don't mind." He stood up and made his nonchalant way into the house. Lorina touched the outside of her sleeve in which the letter lay, rested her green glance on Katie's face. "It wasn't very wise, staying away from me yesterday. What did you hope - that Pete or someone would drive out , to the hotel and beg you to come?" : So she didn't know about Simon's visit; probably none of , them knew. Katie shrugged. "After you'd put on that act I | just didn't want to see you for a while. How are you getting '| on - versus Cherry Craven?" I "You sound bitter, and there's no need for it. If I get I what I'm after, you'll gain by it, so what's the grouse? If you | were really grateful for all I've done for you, you'd try to | help." ^ "You implied that our ways would part, and anyway, I || couldn't help you and keep my self-respect. Where is Cherry,, sj, by the way?" "| "Out with Simon. He didn't want her, but she insisted on | going with him." j| "Did you know that Simon is going to visit her mother on jj the Riviera?" .| Lorina was obviously jolted. "How do you know?" H "Pete told me. That's probably why Cherry doesn't much || mind your being here. She's sure of him." j "There's been no whisper of an engagement."

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'They could have whispered things to one another, without your hearing. You've been under a sedative for two days." "Katie, how dare you! I can't understand you at all. I've done nothing whatever to hurt you." "You've rocked my faith in human nature - but maybe it was time I grew out of needing an anchor. I just thought you ought to know about Cherry. It makes your deceit look a bit silly, doesn't it?" "No," said Lorina sharply, "it doesn't. It merely means that I shall have to work faster, that's all. Cherry Craven is good-looking and gay, but she's a bird-brain with one idea ,9

"I wouldn't underestimate her, if I were you. She knows Simon far better than you do. And I've a feeling that he prefers the dark, lively type to delicate redheads. You've made an awful mistake, Lorina." "If that's your attitude," came the quick, furious answer, "it's as well that you decided to remain at the hotel. But you still owe me far more than you can ever repay, and if you've any principles at all, you'll be fair in what you say about me!" "Don't fret," said Katie wearily, "I'll never let you down on Numeh. Today, you may recollect, Simon's bargain period comes to an end. While he thinks you're unwell he won't speak to you about it, and somehow I don't think he'll approach me first. In any case, we already know his answer, don't we?" "About the money?" Lorina's shoulders lifted. "It too little to bother with now, isn't it? Even if we could get a building society interested in the guest farm, they'd want a substantial deposit." Again she fingered the sleeve which covered the letter from Charles Kain. "There'll be disappointment, of course, but it's no one's fault. I can easily tell Charles that we didn't know the capital amount when I cabled him. It's true." Katie drew in her lip. "You don't care about anyone, do you? You've never married because you couldn't find a man with sufficient money and you weren't going to trade your looks for anything so ordinary as love. You wanted either a 125

business or someone with a ready-made bank balance!" "I won't have you speak to me like that . . ." Suddenly Pete was there, with raised eyebrows and an admonitory finger. "Now, now, Lorina, watch that bad throat. Five minutes are up, Katie. Mind if I go along with you?" Katie stood, and took a long look at Lorina. There was a pearly quality in her white skin, a strange beauty in the thick lashes and in the way the titian hair was brushed up from her forehead. But there was nothing behind the beauty - no tender, hidden thing, nothing lonely or vulnerable. She was self-sufficient and hard right through. Katie murmured goodbye and went down to the car. Pete put her in the front seat and himself took the wheel. They moved away, down the -gradient towards Kohti. After a minute or two, Pete said, "Don't bother with her, sweetie. She likes fuss and attention, and we're in the woods because we don't give it to her. I don't think her throat was that bad. She took a sedative to frighten you into calling Dan and Simon." The whole subject was distateful to Katie. "Where are we going?" she asked. "It's about eleven, and I'm going to take you into a Chinese cafe for iced tea and rice cookies. It's the only one of its kind on Numeh - the rest are primitive. Cheer up, old timer. This is Pete." At first sight, the cafe looked full of Chinese men, but Pete found a table near the wall, and not far away another European couple sat - old folk these, who were probably refugees from Indonesia. They looked tired. A short fat Chinese jovially served them and laughed uproariously at a joke of Pete's. He brought them glasses of tea topped with a sprig of some local herb, a dish of knobby brown cakes and another of sugared fruits. Katie's calmness returned, she tried a cake and some of the fruit, wrinkled her nose at the taste of the tea, but agreed that it was an experience. "That's the way to get through a sticky patch," Pete said. 126

"Just tell yourself that it may not be pleasant but it's an experience. You don't suppose people really enjoy those horrible things they write about in travel books, do you? Of course they don't. They like to boast they've had outlandish experiences, and in retrospect nothing looks so bad as it was. When mis spot of bother with Lorina blows over, you'll feel the same." "You're a comforting sort of person, Pete." "I know," he said ruefully. "I'm slipping." "Or improving, depending on the way you look at it. What's happening to your portrait of Lorina?" "Hanging fire. I could finish it without her, but it's polite to the buyer to make a big thing of the sittings. Not that Simon cares a bean. I can't think why he suddenly wanted the portrait. He's not normally the whim type. I'll tell you something, Katie." He leaned across the table companionably. "Simon came in late to dinner last night, and we had it alone - he and I. He was unapproachable till we'd eaten, and even then he was like a steel spring. He called me a few names, as he has before - you know, waster, idler, and so on - and then suggested that as I seem to have painted myself out in the South Seas, I might like to go back to Paris, take a studio and become a respectable artist. He even said that if I needed .cash, he'd stake me." "Why should he do that?" He shrugged. "Because we're going to be brothers-in-law, I suppose. He doesn't want a no-good relative like me in the vicinity. It's an attractive offer, anyway." "Will you accept?" "I don't know yet." He sighed, rather gustily, and pushed away his glass. "You've made me dissatisfied, Katie, and a bit unsure of myself." "Good lord, how could I?" "Just by being you. You see, I've never had a yen for someone who hasn't wanted me - till now, that it. I suppose you still think it's a joke that I'd like to marry you?" "Not a joke," she said, smiling at him. "I think you're ready for marriage, Pete, and I'm the first young thing 127

you've met for a long time. You know, I visualise you married to one of those spidery French girls who have big black eyes and a ragged haircut. She'd be about twenty, give you the run-around but love you tempestuously." "Hey, there - you'll have me on my way! You've been holding out on us, Katie - you do know a bit about love." "Very little," she said soberly. "I just have imagination. Would you mind leaving Bemba?" "Not much. As islands go, it's quite dull. The only white people are traders, a few planters, a missionary and an octogenarian doctor who's more of a menace than a boon. Characters, most of them, but you get tired of eccentricity. I'm about ready for a spell of civilisation." He smiled. "If I should go to Paris, you won't be far away. I might even come over and spend a month or so at your guest farm." "Somehow, I don't think there's going to be a guest farm." Quickly she tried another topic. "You've never told me about your house on Bemba. What is it like?" He described it, making it sound as if it were all primitive studio with an incidental kitchen tacked on to the back. He ate island food, he told her - couldn't be bothered to teach his cook anything different. His nearest neighbour was a trader whose wife had left him a dozen times, but always came back, and as an artist he had been given a Malay name which meant "Maker of Images." "Bemba's charm, when I first landed, was the fine-looking islanders and unusual flowers. On nearly all these islands you'll find one particular plant that doesn't grow anywhere else. On Bemba it's a kind of violet that grows in the crevices of tree-trunks." "On Numeh," she said, "it's the Flower of the Morning. If you cut them carefully, handling only the stems, they last a long time in water, but if you touch the petals they wilt, without quite dying." She kept her glance lowered as she added, "Simon once likened me to the Rower of the Moming." Pete grinned, almost affectionately. "He doesn't handle you very gently, though, does he? Perhaps he's trying to find out 128

whether you're as vulnerable as you look." "I don't think so. He doesn't care." She wished they could keep the conversation right away from Simon, but somehow one or other of them edged it back there; seemed unavoidable. Pete paid the bill, took her elbow as they went outside into the hot, aromatic street. Then he took her into a store and insisted on buying her, as a memento, a pair of polished ivory chopsticks with carved handles. She was outside again, examining the fine work and smiling at him her pleasure of it, when the Mercedes purred its way through a throng which magically melted in an arrow before the well-known vehicle. Cherry was in the front seat and only a yard away from them; she looked radiant in ice-blue silk with a heavy white necklace. She called, "Hallo, you two. What have you been buying - a ring?" "Not yet, honey," said Pete lazily. "Just leading up to it." For a moment it looked as if Simon would stop. But then it must have occurred to him that they had a car somewhere and were making for it. He nodded, coolly and without expression, and kept his car moving. Cherry waved and called another gay remark. Pete gestured, and the car disappeared. They were on their way out of Kohti when he said. "Do you mind if I spend today with you? You're alone out there at Mondulu, and for some reason I'm beginning to feel more damned lonely than I've ever been in my life. 111 renew that promise to be as bluff and harmless as Doctor Dan." "I'd love it, Pete. Let's bathe and eat coconuts, and not care about anybody at all." They got back to the hotel just before seven, and Pete had a drink while she went to her room to change. But just inside the door she paused, looked at the almost bare dressing table and then went to the wardrobe. Lorina's remaining clothes and other possessions had gone. Katie hesitated, and then walked along the terrace into the office of Uncle Jake's niece, the black-clad, angular woman who managed the hotel. "Oh, yes," the woman said. "Dr. Willis and Nurse Petlow 129

came just after lunch and collected the rest of Miss Carew's things; they brought a list. They checked out for her - paid her account. Dr. Willis said I must tell you that Miss Carew will spend the rest of her stay at Mr. Simon Forbes' house, and that you're very welcome to join her there. You see, she's not really well enough to live in a hotel, and I must admit we don't really like to have sick people here. They're nearer the doctor in Kohti. Will you be leaving us, too?" "Not . . . just yet. Perhaps in a few days. Thank you very much." Pete, when he heard about it, philosophically lifted his shoulders. "They're closing in, Katie. I'll bet you that when I get back tonight Simon will ask me to go back to Bemba and think over his suggestion that I move to Paris. He's still not sure he can trust you alone with me, and I'm too outspoken in the house. But who cares? Well have a good dinner, a bottle of wine and find some hot records for dancing. What will you have now - Martini, or shall we start off with a bang - on champagne?" Sitting beside him, she slipped a hand into his. She was badly in need of the reassuring squeeze he gave her fingers.

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CHAPTER Vni PETE didn't get marching orders - not quite. But he intimated, when Katie arrived at the Forbes house for a routine visit next morning, that he had been requested to leave Katie alone, for her own sake. In fact, he had been advisedoto find someone who could match his own rather squalid type of experience. It was like Pete to give Simon's objections more or less verbatim, without regard for his own feelings, but he was a little weary-looking and said he thought he would get out of Numeh soon, anyway. Those few words were all they had time for before Lorina came slowly and ethereally into the lanai and was settled by the blithesome Cherry in a whitecovered long chair. Katie spoke a little with Cherry, noticed that both she and Lorina were wearing new dresses that were beautifully cut and entirely suitable, each to type. Lorina's was pale grey, with one of the knife-pleated skirts that suited her slender figure, and Cherry's was a flamboyant tan-pink, which made her round arms look tobacco brown. The titian head lay back against a dead white cushion, the green eyes gazed with serenity and indolence at the palms and the sea. But the dark head was fluffy and luminous, the pink cheeks and red lips had a vitality all their own. Pete, without speaking, rested a long glance on the two women. Then he looked at Katie, in thin green cotton crisp as lettuce, at her soft, honey-coloured hair, pale gold skin and sensitive red mouth. He saw her unhappiness and sweetness, knew from his own knowledge that she had a certain heartwarming quality which is rarely possessed by the very beautiful woman. Far too tender a plant for Pete Craven, but he would have given a lot just to be able to help her. Katie drank iced orange, said she hadn't better stay for lunch, thank you very much, and found herself walking to the car with Pete. He saw her seated in the car, stood there 131

smiling down at her. "What are you going to do with yourself?" "What we did yesterday, probably, but I shall take a book instead of you." He hesitated. "I may be moving out, Katie, but I shan't be leaving Bemba for some time. If you should need me in any way - no strings, I promise! - just send for me. Old Jake Dorfling will arrange it." "You're very kind, Pete." She put a hand over his on the window frame. "I'm going to miss you during my last few days." "Bless you for those words, lady. In fact, I'll kiss you for them." He did, close enough to her mouth to make the act appear touching to the two who sat back there in the lanai. But Pete was impervious, and Katie just didn't care any more. She switched on and let in the clutch, gave him another smile and drove away. Next morning, because it was expected of her, she called again at the Forbes house. Pete was gone, but Major Crawley's wife had moved into the house, as a chaperon, no doubt. Simon was out, but the Major himself had turned up for mid-morning refreshment, and Larry Brendon, fresh from a triumphant tour of the islands and more tiresomely correct than ever, assiduously handed cups of tea and coffee and a dish of fancies. Katie knew the young doctor would have liked a slightly more private conversation with her, but her fretted nerves, she felt, would not tolerate him. She was pleasant, thankful that among such a crowd there was no necessity to speak directly to Lorina, and even more thankful when she could make her escape. Then, two days after Pete's departure and several hours after she had returned from the morning call at the long house among the palms, Simon came to Mondulu. Katie had rested that afternoon in her room, had washed and put on a fresh flowered cotton, lit a cigarette and wandered through the hotel lounge towards the lanai. And there he was, tall and immaculate in a tropical suit, his hair a gleaming black 132

in the afternoon sun, his eyes dark and expressionless. "Good afternoon," he said distantly. "We've things to talk about - come and sit down." They took chairs with thonged seats at one of the tables at the edge of the lanai, he ordered gin juleps and lit a cigarette. He leaned an arm on the table, spoke impersonally, but with something savage and deadly in the background. "That discussion of ours is several days overdue, but it could have taken place on the day we'd fixed, if you'd wanted it." "It doesn't matter. Is that what you've come about now?" "One of the things. I didn't come to implore you to transfer from the hotel to my house." "I didn't think you had. I've seen Lorina each day, but you were out." "Maybe I was as keen to see you as you were to see me." "I've asked for that, I suppose, but there's no harm in my saying that I wish things hadn't gone this way. And I may as well tell you at once that whatever you've decided about the money is all right with me." "Really? Because you've realised that your income will be greater if you leave it where it is?" She shook her head. "None of it is very important now. I've been waiting for some sign from you, so that I could tell you I'm ready to go home." In the same cold tones he said, "That's a gambit, of course. You were disappointed to discover that your father didn't leave so much, after all . . ." "Don't speak to me like that! If it weren't for the fact that my father saved hard. especially for me, I'd give it away." "I know you would, I also know whom you'd give it to > . . and I don't mean Lorina. Too bad Pete walked out on

you."

There was a new quality in him that Katie could not fathom; whatever it was, it stiffened her further against him. She said quickly, "We won't discuss Pete, if you don't mind. He and I were good friends, and I won't have you spoil it." 133

"Pete was never good friends with any woman, unless she was willing to give him something. Lorina despised him, so he disliked her. You let him maul and kiss you and make dangerous remarks, and for the time being that was enough ,^ for Pete. You probably loathe me for something else now for pointing out to him that a man with his past had better's stick to his own kind of woman. He must have agreed with me, because he cleared out." In low tones she said, "I suppose Lorina told you he kissed me goodbye. If he'd meant anything by it he certainly wouldn't have chosen to do it on the front drive of your house." "Hell," he said with suppressed violence, "I know better than anyone that Pete meant nothing. Lovemaking is as stale to him as last week's bread. It probably meant a little more to you, though. You haven't had time to indulge in so many affairs!" His eyes were hard and cold as steel as he added. "I've never been so sickened by anything as by the things I've learned about you just lately. And don't blame Lorina; she carefully says as little about you as possible!" Katie had gone pale. "I don't know what you're getting at, and I don't want to know. All I want right now is my ticket back to England, but it so happens that Lorina is holding the travellers' cheques. I haven't asked her for mine, because I know she won't part with them till she's quite sure where she stands herself. But I don't doubt that now you know me so very well you'll get them for me, or even advance my allowance. Ill go tourist as I came . . ." "You'll do nothing of the sort!" The clipped sentence hung on the air for a minute, and Katie leaned back, to feel her heart thudding uncomfortably and sweat tingling the palms of her hands. The cigarette had fallen from her fingers, and quiveringly she put out a sandal and squashed it. Her mouth was dry, her throat rough, and because she could not bear to look at him she turned her head and became intent upon the curving horizon of the sea. There was a golden refracted sunlight over the ocean, the glow of dying day. The waiter who had brought the juleps hovered anxiously, 134

as if he were afraid the untouched refreshment had not pleased the great master. Simon, automatically aware of him, tasted the drink, gave the man a nod, and said in a rigid undertone, "It's not necessary for everyone to know we're disagreeing over something. We'll take a walk." She went with him, but as they neared his car she stopped. "There's really nothing to say, is there? Have you already decided about the ... money?" "Yes. The present arrangement will go on till you're twenty-one." "Very well. Have you told Lorina?" "I'll tell her tonight." "Would you rather I ... stayed away from your house altogether?" His eyes glittered a warning, and suddenly his hands came up and gripped her shoulders. He spoke quietly, but it was easy to see he was in a blazing rage. "You'll be as normal as you know how, and if you're invited to any function whatsoever, youll accept. When it's time for you to leave the island I'll book your passage myself!" She winced from the dig of his fingers, and he dropped his hands to his sides. For fully a minute they stood there, Simon tall and tense with anger, Katie scared and perspiring. Then, with a movement of disgust, he took a crumpled, folded sheet of paper from his pocket and thrust it into her hand. "A piece of your property," he said. "It blew into a shrub in my garden and my servant found it there yesterday. Lorina recognised the writing as that of a friend of yours!" Then he was gone, the car roared into action and sped away. Katie stood on the road, swaying, the letter in one hand and the other hand hot and damp against her brow. With an effort she crossed to the beach, walked a dozen yards in the sand and sank down against a lone tussock. Once or twice she had imagined the meeting with Simon; it had been cool and final, nothing whatever like the scene just ended. 135

She sat there for some time, not thinking very much, not even entirely conscious of the surge of pain. But the numbness wore off, the pain receded a little, leaving a sensation of glass splinters all over her body. Slackly, she opened the sheet of notepaper, saw with faint surprise that the writing was Charles Kain's. Charles? She shook her head, with her eyes closed, as if to shake away a veil,- smoothed the crushed page, and read. . My own darling (it said). Your cable came as a tremendous relief; I have already turned down the assignment and await further bright news from you. Congratulations on the quick work with Simon Forbes - I knew you'd make < it. The Bamwell hag and I have had a drink together, but I long for the day when you and I will celebrate quite alone. Have you any more ideas about how we shall ditch your cousin, or is it too soon to plan for the day when we shall be Mr. and Mrs. Kain, sole owners of the Morbay Guest Farm? With your disturbing presence all mine, I may not be able to settle to serious writing at once, but we'll have wonderful times - particularly if we can cut the overheads, throw out the permanents and go abroad for the winter months. Darling, I can't wait for the day when I'll take you in my arms again . . . It ended there; this was just the first page of the letter. Katie read it again, only half believing. "The Barnwell hag" . . . "ditch your cousin" . . . "sole owners of'Morbay Guest Farm" . . . It was incredible. Yet it wasn't. From her first day at Morbay Katie had disliked Charles Kain, with his long wavy hair and thick underlip, his slight plumpness, his air of being rather above the rest of the world because he didn't turn out with the rest to catch the eight a.m. to London. A few times she had looked her disapproval when he had spread himself over Mrs. Barnwell's private lounge, and he had quipped at her expense. Pleasantly, of course, though at first she had noticed the tail end of a sting. Latterly he had been all smiles and encouragement - and to Katie more revolting. 136

He loved Lorina, or let her think he did, but neither of them had much money. Charles was always slow to pay his accounts, and Lorina had been apt to spend too much on her fine tweeds and biennial evening dresses. Perhaps they had planned together, immediately after Mr. Bamwell's death; almost certainly Katie had been provided with bed and board and the semblance of a career for just one reason - the money which they had calculated to be far more than she possessed. It was a horrible thought. And somehow they had hoped to own the farm themselves. No doubt there would have been a "gentleman's agreement" which Katie, in her innocence, might have 'fallen for. Or perhaps the whole thing would have been gradual, and one day she would have found herself crowded out and promised a small percentage on her investment. Katie clasped her hands to her head. And then, suddenly, cold clarity washed over her and she sat up straight, staring at the sea. Simon thought this letter had been addressed to her! There was no name, nothing to suggest Lorina, and Lorina herself had told Simon that she recognised the writing as that of a friend of Katie's. She had thought fast, no doubt decided that Simon would destroy the sheet or at most place it in an envelope and send it to the hotel. The worst that could happen, Lorina would reflect, was what had happened - Simon's handing over the page in person. She had taken the chance, because she still believed in Katie's loyalty. The loss of the first page of the letter, Katie was sure, had been accidental. Lorina had probably been unaware it was missing till Simon had confronted her with it, and in that moment, while glancing at the writing and realising there was nothing to connect it with herself, she had no doubt implied, gently and deprecatingly, that the letter was Katie's; she might have mentioned, apologetically, that she had seen it in Katie's hand a day or two ago. Simon himself had stated that Lorina used the fewest possible words when speaking about her. The sweat which had runnelled Katie's back. grew cold and she shivered. Simon now knew that Charles Kain had been 137

informed that the purchase of the guest farm had his sanction. He believed Katie a cheat and a liar. She couldn't bear it! Yet even as she dragged herself to her feet and turned back towards the hotel, Katie knew she would have to leave matters as they were. She had promised Lorina the guest farm, and there was now no chance of her possessing it; that would be punishment enough, because it would probably lose her Charles. But perhaps, deep in her mind, she had already given up Charles Kain? Perhaps she was intent only on Simon? Certainly, once she was aware of the size of Katie's inheritance she would have decided to work for something else. Taut and tired, Katie walked into her bedroom, struck a match and burnt the sheet of paper. Then she counted her money, found it less than twenty pounds, and concluded that she would have to ask Lorina for her own share of the travellers' cheques; she couldn't very well withhold them now. But for a few days Katie did nothing whatever about her own predicament. She got up early and watched the mist turn blue in the palm forest, bathed and dived for pieces of coral, found a small pearl in a bed of giant oysters, came upon a hitherto unnoticed camphor tree which hid pastel-tinted fungoids under its huge leaves, and watched Malays curing the tobacco weed which they incessantly smoked. Then came an invitation from the Major's wife for dinner the following Saturday at the house of Simon Forbes. Katie would be called for by Dr. Larry Brendon. Her acceptance, apparently, was taken for granted, and her heart was too cold for her to care whether she went or stayed away. The invitation did rouse her slightly, though. On Wednesday afternoon, over tea, she asked Uncle Jake about sailings, and learned that she could almost certainly get a passenger-freighter to Singapore without booking more than three days ahead. "Is that business of yours finished, then?" he asked. She nodded. "I'm ready to leave." "But you have to wait for your cousin?" "I'm not sure. We may not travel together." 138

His eyes twinkled shrewdly. "You don't go to see her now. I heard yesterday that Miss Craven is leaving, and your cousin is going as a guest to Major Crawley's. Some people say that Mr. Forbes will announce his engagement to Miss Craven before she goes to say goodbye to her mother, who is going to settle in the South of France." "Do they?" said Katie tonelessly. His round shoulders lifted in a shrug. "But others feel it is more complicated. Miss Craven goes and Miss Carew stays, as the guest of the next most important man on Numeh. Obviously she cannot continue to live at the big house, but you notice that she does not come back here, to be with you. Mr. Forbes is transferring her to a more important address." It was all beyond Katie, and she had no wish to try and think it out. These days she found very little to say to Uncle Jake. She was standing up, and about to wander off for a walk, when Jean Peflow's motor-scooter puttered to a halt near a tree, and she felt a quick gladness to see the slim, brown-haired nurse in her plain cotton and brown sandals. They met halfway between the lanai and the road. "I've missed our little chats," Katie said at once. "A few times I've been on the point of coming down to your quarters." "Why didn't you - because the blue car gives you away?" "I suppose that was it. I've hardly used it at all during the last week." She paused. "What made you think that might be the reason?" "Adding up two and two. Simon said if I had time he'd like me to come out here; you don't come to town. So I take it you two aren't on speaking terms." "What does he think I'm doing - going native?" Katie didn't want a reply. She added, "You look as if you're still working too hard. Isn't it better now that Larry is back?" "Much better." They had stopped at one of the tables in the lanai, but Jean said, a little hurriedly, "I wonder if we could go to your room? It's more private." "All right. Shall I order tea?" "No, thank you. I just want to talk." 139

They were inside the bedroom and Katie had offered cigarettes and sat down on a stool near Jean's chair, when the nurse said, "I'm afraid I'm using you, Katie. I just had to get away from my quarters and the clinic, this seemed a good distance, and you're out of touch with the others. I remembered that Simon wanted me to see you and told myself I was doing what he'd asked, but in reality I was doing something for myself." "That's fine. About time you thought of yourself first." She looked at Jean, sensed there was something odd about her, yet conceded that she appeared as calm as ever. "If you don't want to tell me the details, I shan't mind a bit. I suppose I must seem a little unfledged to you." "You don't, as a matter of fact. I never feel nearly so old when I'm with you." "Well, you're not old. If I hadn't known differently, I'd have put you at about twenty-six." "I've several lines and a couple of grey hairs." "Phooey. Everyone hides something. With a spot of makeup you'd leave the rest at the post." Jean smiled faintly. "Sweet of you, but I've lived a long time with my limitations, and make-up won't mask them. Not that they bother me ... now." That last word seemed to echo hollowly, and it was then that Katie knew the other woman was desperately unhappy. Jean would never show much of her feelings, but perhaps at the moment they were almost new and at their most painful. Katie leaned forward on the stool, her chin in her hand. "Well, they should," she said, for something to say. "I believe I'll always have trouble with my limitations. Are you off duty at the moment?" Jean nodded. "I went off at four, and came straight here." She drew on her cigarette, moistened her lips but sounded quite firm when she added, "I've resigned from my job given a month's notice." Katie's head lifted, she gazed at the other blankly. "Good heavens. I thought you were a fixture! It's a catastrophe." 140

The nurse glanced down at the tip of her cigarette. "No one is indispensable - they'll find someone else. I wrote out my resignation last night and handed it in at the Health Committee offices as I came off duty this afternoon. I also left a note for Dan." Soberly, Katie remarked, "And then you got out of his way, so that you won't see him till he's past the stage of shock?" "Something like that," offhandedly. "He has no cause to grumble. I've always given him all the co-operation I could." "You didn't consult him first?" "No." ' "Then hell be hurt as well as flabbergasted." "Amazed and bewildered, but not hurt," said Jean in level tones. "I have a right to leave Numeh if I wish." "They'll do their best to persuade you to stay. You must know that." "Yes, I know it. Simon will instantly offer more money, the Malays will petition, Dan will go on looking bewildered . . . but I shall leave just the same. I've stayed here too long, anyway." "But, Jean, you once said you were happier here than you could be anywhere else! It wasn't so long ago you said it, either. What's happened?" Jean pressed out her cigarette, spoke in the same unemotional voice. "I've worked just over a year with Dan. We got on as well as any doctor and nurse could; he expected lots of work from me, but he was considerate too, and never above asking my opinion on a case that I might have dealt with for years. We'd discuss things, our very characters dovetailed so that there was no need for him to wonder whether he could depend on me ... whatever the hour of the day or night. It was just as if I supplied some part of him. Even Dan was aware of it. Lately, it hasn't worked." "You mean . . . Lorina?" Jean twisted her locked fingers as if she hated her own thoughts. "I tried not to see; then when I had to, I told myself it was temporary. Dan's got it badly, and while she's 141

here it will steadily grow worse. If there's any suggestion of her leaving hell propose to her." "But she won't accept him, Jean." "I don't care. I just don't want to be here. IT1 get in touch with the Far East Nursing Association and they'll fix me up elsewhere. In any case. it's no fun working with Dan now. He spends a lot of time with Lorina, comes back absentminded and cautiously happy. It's there for anyone to read but I'm afraid I've read more than enough of it." She paused. "Have you seen them together?" "Not recently. They did hold hands a bit . . ." "It's her fault, of course. She smiles that sensitive little smile, touches the back of his hand with a forefinger, tells him how good and kind he is. He's just wallowing, and loving it." Katie drew up her knees, looked sadly through the open doorway. "You're in love with him, aren't you?" Jean's reply was long in coming. "It's pretty obvious, isn't it? But don't get a wrong impression. I never hoped for marriage with Dan." "Why on earth not?" "Apart from my nursing experience, I haven't much to give him." "You call love not much? Honestly, I think Dan's a besotted fool not to see the marvellous thing that's right under his nose. How can he possibly allow himself to be taken in by Lorina?" "So you're finding her out, too?" Jean sighed, a little wearily. "I think I know Dan better than anyone here knows him; that's why he's cool with me now. He doesn't mean to be, but it's a sort of defence against part of himself, really. In his heart he knows that marriage with Lorina wouldn't work out." "Then why don't you make him talk about it?" "Because I can't. However happy we've been, working together, I'm still his professional assistant. His private life isn't my concern, and he's in the mood to tell me so." Katie jumped up, exasperated. "He's just . . . bemused. 142

I've seen Lorina do that to other men, but they got over it. I wish I were ten years older!" "What would you do?" asked Jean, with the faint smile. "No man cares to be told he's a fool. He has to find it out for himself." "I suppose he does." Katie leaned back against the doorframe. "Something should have grown between you, Jean something that would mean much more to him than a transient redhead." "Life isn't divided up into labelled compartments. It's a ragged business, everything overlaps. I'd been here a good many years when Dan came, and I was accepted for the person I v/as - an efficient nurse of no particular background, Simon was kind, your father and I found a sort of bond between us, but I was still colourless and very willing to remain so for the rest of my life." "That was wrong!" "Maybe, but I had my reasons, and strangely enough, I was contented. To me, Dan was just the new doctor. I had to get used to him, train the Malay nurses to his ways, but carry on as before at the clinic. It took me about three months to realise that Dan was different, and by that time he had accepted me as a spinsterish, hard-working nonentity. In a way, I was willing for things to continue like that. There are many bachelor doctors in the tropics, and if he'd remained unmarried but dependent on me, I'd have been satisfied." • "But that's dreadful. It's like being only half alive!" Jean reached for the cigarette packet on the table, took one and smoothed it between her fingers. Her head still lowered, she said, "I died - once. I thought I'd never want to come alive again. Your father was the only one on Numeh who knew about it and I told him because he'd had a similar sort of experience and reacted to it in much the same way. I suppose I'm telling you now because you're a bit like your father. You take things hard, and you don't belong here. And I may as well admit that there are times when even a hard-boiled nurse just has to get things said - to someone." "Tell me, Jean," said Katie softly. 143

The even wic® continued, "When I was twenty I married ^ an aircraft engineer. It lasted two heavenly years, and though , I went on with my work there was no disillusionment; star- j dust still lay over our marriage when he crashed in a test j flight" '' Katie made a small sound of distress, but didn't move. .^ ; Jean went on smoothing the cigarette, and speaking in empty j j "I lost all feeling, but I couldn't stay in that district. Some. | one suggested tropical nursing, and without giving it a thought jj I got in touch with people who could help me. I came out jj East worked and worked. When I came to Numeh I was jj Nurse Petlow. and perhaps had been jilted. I took care that j. no one thought of me as Mrs., and actually that was one ot j the things that helped me most. I didn't have to talk about j | . my husband. It took a long time, but I did get over the ^ j loss, though I knew I'd never be quite whole again." | "But but Dan?" queried Katie huskily. | She nodded, flicked a glance upwards. "He's very different j - older more prosaic, solid and dependable. At first I ... I didn't think it possible that I could be interested in a man » again, but it isn't the same sort of feeling. You wouldnt | understand, Katie, but ..." , • i- ^ "I do! You need a man like Dan now. Jean, I do wish j| you'd waited, and thought longer before sending in your j resignation." . .S "My dear, I've done the right thing. My only anxiety is whether I've been wise in coming here to you today. I had no intention of telling you so much." "But I'm glad you have told me, even though it's made m© feel wretched, I think you're the bravest person I know." "It's not courage - just something that drives you so long as you have a worthwhile job to do." Again the pale smile. "I recommend it, Katie. When you've nothing to fall back on, try nursing." She stood up then, quite briskly, dropped the cigarette on the ashtray and glanced at her watch. 'Til have to go, I'm afraid. Sorry to be so harrowing " 144

"Will you see Dan when you get back?" "I expect he's waiting for me, but talking about it has done me good. I'll be able to face him." "Supposing he begs you to stay on?" "That's out," she said briefly. "He won't, anyway." "Then . . . there's nothing anyone can do?" "Nothing. Don't worry about it, Katie, or I shall wish to heaven I'd kept quiet. I can handle it." "Will you let me know how things go? May I come to your quarters?" She hesitated. "Yes, but not for a few days. There may be difficulties (hat it would be better for me to deal with alone. Next time," with a quick lift of her mouth, "we'll talk about you." They were in the terrace when she asked, "Heard from Pete?" "No, he doesn't write letters." "Bad luck. Larry Brendon's quite excited at the prospect of taking you to Simon's party on Saturday." "Are you going?" "I sent my regrets. They say Simon may announce his engagement to that bright Cherry person." Katie kept her tone light. "I heard that, too. It's likely to be popular with the islanders." "Yes, they want him to marry." They crossed the lanai, Jean started her small engine and sailed away, her straight back looking narrow but determined. Poor Jean, who gave so much and wanted so little in return. She had said she didn't even want marriage with Dan, but Katie could not believe that. Jean loved the man, and you can't love without wanting marriage. Secretly, perhaps unconsciously, Jean had hoped. And then Lorina, with her insidious small actions and delicate-sweet words, had jolted Dan into an awareness that no other woman had ever contrived. And she had done it for one purpose; to rouse something more violent in Simon. The very idea of it was abhorrent. If only there were something one could do for Jean. Speak to Lorina? But how could that possibly help? Lorina would 145

suggest, with lethal gentleness, that it was sad about Jean, who couldn't even interest anyone who valued her as much as Dan did. No, Katie couldn't trust herself to contact Lorina upon so vital a matter. Dan himself? Heavens, no. Between embarrassment and anger he would find himself detesting everyone who had probed ... but not Lorina. Dan was one of your nice, blind types, capable of loving but incapable of understanding all the nuances and trickery of a nature like Lorina's. Already, Jean said, his comradeship with herself was cooling because, inwardly, he knew she disapproved of his sudden subjection to Lorina Carew. Katie sighed. She wasn't experienced enough to deal with these things. And anyway, Jean would hate her to do anything about it. She turned and went quickly back to the hotel. She took a shower and put on a dark blue sleeveless linen dress, made up sparingly and went to dinner with a thought prickling at her mind. Of the people she knew on Numeh, only Simon would be able in any way to help Jean Petiow. Even he might be tied by his code and refuse to interfere in some business which was exclusively Dan's. But he had to be approached, and as Katie was the only person who knew of Jean's unhappiness, she must be the one to approach him. She went back to her room and looked out the invitation from Mrs. Crawley. It was addressed at the top, she now noticed, from the Crawleys' own home, which might mean that Lorina and Cherry Craven had already been transferred there. Simon had surely had enough of being surrounded by women. Katie couldn't be sure, though, and there was only one way to find out. Her tension and nervousness veiled by a tiny set smile, she took the car keys and went out through the lounge to the; parking space. The road was silvery from the rising moon, the palms were dark and benign, moving only gently against a: sky splashed with stars. There were a few vehicles on the: road, but none that Katie recognised; it was not until she had! passed through the native village and was on her way up th& 146

gradient towards the Forbes' house that she allowed herself to wonder whether she ought to have worked out some method of approaching her task. She drew in under a tree close to the drive, got out of the car and slipped along in the shadows till she could see the front of the house. The lanai was lighted, the furniture stood there, unused. The only other light came from a long window to the right. Katie moved over the gravel, each footfall sounding loud in her ears till she reached the grass and paused. Then she went on again, towards the lighted window, saw that a glass door had been slid back to let in the night air. From a distance of twelve feet she could see into the room. It was the library; book-lined, red-carpeted, a carved mahogany desk where a man sat, writing a letter. She could see part of his shoulder, - Simon's. Moistening dry lips, she stepped on to the tiled path, and instantly he leaned forward, got quickly to his feet and came to the opening. For a moment he stared, and she knew his mind was working mechanically and swiftly. He said coolly, "Good of you to call, though you could have used the conventional way. Come in." He stood aside and Katie entered the room. It was rich and comfortable, not so modern as the lounge and for that reason rather soothing. It was the room of a man who liked to have some private place furnished solely for himself. She said haltingly, "I ... I wasn't sure whether you had visitors. I didn't want to see anyone else." "But you did want to see me?" He sounded as distant as the moon out there, and just about as warm. "Sit down, Katie." She did, in a deep wine-red chair. "I ... don't quite know how to begin." "Take your time. Perhaps a drink will help. Excuse me a minute? I'll get some ice." He went out and she sat there, knees trembling, head throbbing, and full of the conviction that coming here was just another act she was bound to regret. 147

CHAPTER IX SIMON came back, carrying a jug of ice cubes and another of diluted lime juice. Deliberately, he took two glasses from a cabinet which was set between the bookshelves, measured a finger of gin into each, added the lime juice and a couple of cubes of ice. He put one glass into Katie's hand, took the other for himself and half-raised it to her. They both drank, and Katie put the glass on to the tiny curved table at her side. "I .... I hope I'm not butting in on anything," she began. "Nothing that can't wait. I'm sure you had an important reason for coming here tonight. I don't believe you've ever done such a thing before." "I wouldn't do it now, if it were connected only with myself." "What am I to infer from that? That you have a favour to ask for someone else?" "Not a favour, exactly." She looked down, away from him. "I know you feel horribly cold and distant towards me, but this isn't for me." "You said that before." "Not making it easy for me, are you?" He took another pull at the drink and set it down on the top of the cabinet. In tones that were slightly less glacial he said, "It seems you're not in any difficulty yourself. Who is it?" "Well ... it isn't really my business." "I rather thought that. But it's someone you care about? Pete ... or the man waiting in England?" For a moment Katie was tempted to hurl at him the truth about Charles Kain; but a new sense of caution made her hesitate, and the moment passed. "It's not a man," she said. "Jean Petlow came to see me this afternoon, to tell me she's resigned from her post." "Yes, she has. How does it concern you?" , 148

"Directly, not at all. But I'm fond of Jean; she's not the negative personality people think she is ... and she's dreadfully unhappy." "You want me to believe that she came out to Mondulu to tell you that? I've known Jean ever since she arrived on Numeh eight years ago, and I'm sure she wouldn't unburden herself to someone who's been on the island less than a month." "Which shows," said Katie evenly, "that you don't know Jean at all - or you know only one side of her. She has no close friends, and when I helped a little during Larry Brendon's absence she probably talked more to me than she has to anybody here. It may have been because she knew I'd be leaving, and it was a relief to get a few things sorted out. Anyway, she talked, and so did I. Actually," her tone as firm as she could make it, "she's the only real friend I've made on Numeh." "Really?" with sarcasm. "What's Dan's category . . . and Pete's? I suppose you regard me as an enemy?" She said hurriedly, "I'm not here to discuss that sort of thing. I knew you'd be unsympathetic about anything connected with me, but . . ." "The hell you did," he said with dangerous quietness. "You may have grown up about a year since you came, but you're still too young to make sweeping declarations of that kind. But go on. What have you learned about Jean that nobody else knows? " She had to ignore the unpleasant tone, and answer him bluntly. "Jean is in love with Dr. Willis." He stood beside the desk, silent for almost a minute. Katie continued to take interest in things that happened to be below desk level, and to wonder, fearfully, whether she had committed a fatal error. At last he asked, "How do you know?" ^ The ordinary query made her feel easier, but she did not look up. "I saw it some time ago, actually, when I first met Jean. And then I did the spot of work with them both at the clinic. I'm not surprised if you've never noticed it; Jean was 149

content to go on in the old way for ever. She's resigned because . . . because Dan seems to have gone overboard for Lorina." •"I'd hardly say he's done anything so drastic." "For Dan, I think he has. Jean thinks so too. She says she just doesn't care to stay and watch what happens. I told her Lorina wouldn't marry Dan, but she said it made no difference. I suppose she thought that if a woman let him down he'd never be the good doctor and companion he's been during the past year. She'd rather get out now." Simon said slowly, "She's a wise woman. I didn't know she had it in her." He paused. "I suppose she told you all this in confidence?" Katie nodded. "She didn't swear me to secrecy, or anything like that, though. She probably thought I'd simply accept what she told me, regret it, but feel unable to do anything about it. But . . . well, Jean was good to my father; she talked to him and encouraged him to tell her things. In a way, I feel I owe it to her to do all I can now that she's unhappy herself. And I did think that . . . that you'd see it ' went no further." "I'm fond of Jean, though you may not believe it," he said coldly. "I certainly don't want her to leave Numeh. In fact," he waved at some letters on the desk, "I was just writing to the Health Committee suggesting that they offer her a substantially increased salary to stay on." "She said you'd do that, but that it would make no difference." "It's the obvious first step!" 3 "Yes, I know, but . . . but you don't realise how deeply I this thing goes. She'd rather go elsewhere on a smaller salary j than stay here under present circumstances for all the money 'j in the world." J He finished his drink and left the glass on the desk, moved towards the french door and looked out at the moon-washed j night. Katie saw his hands go into his pockets, the dark head | move slightly ias he bent it thoughtfully. I Over his shoulder he asked, "Why did you come to me - s 150

because you thought I could work miracles with a man's emotions? Even supposing Lorina hadn't come to Numeh if Jean hasn't stirred Dan before this, it's unlikely she'll ever do so now." Katie let out an unhappy sigh. "I'm being foolish -1 know that. It's just that Jean is such a worthwhile person." "And Lorina isn't? Is that what you've been wanting to say?" Katie shook her head quickly. "I don't want to speak against Lorina. I only know that she'd never marry Dan, so he's not going to get what he wants, anyway. He'll lose her, and he'll lose Jean. I can't believe he has no feeling whatever for Jean. If you'd seen their comradeship .. ." "I've seen it," he said dryly. "And that's all it is, comradeship. Jean's a fine woman, but she's all nurse. If she's a bit in love with Dan it's because propinquity does that kind of thing to some people - both men and women. She's not a child, she doesn't expect the earth." "That's the trouble. For years she's never expected anything; she's worked hard and cheerfully and been happy to do all she could for other people. If Dan lets her go ..." Her voice cracked, and she stopped. Simon turned. In tones which had gone slightly harsh, he said, "I think we can let them handle their own affairs. Jean may be right about leaving. If it's true that she really cares for Dan she'll be better off elsewhere." Katie stood up. "You're probably right," she agreed tiredly. "I came to you because the knowledge was rather a responsibility. You're the Big Master, and if you can't help Jean, no one can." A wall lamp shed its soft glow over her features, making shadows. The honey-blonde hair became silvery at the top, shading to a pale warm brown as it curved down behind her ears and curled gently at the back of her head. Her eyes were a dark violet as they glanced at him, and her expression was sombre. Simon's appraisal of her was comprehensive but brief. He said, "Jean's kind of woman is rather different from the 151

normal. She's always been dedicated to nursing, never thought of anything else till Dan came, and even then it took her some time, probably, to see him as a man. She won't be so badly hurt by this as you think." "She's badly hurt already." "I spoke to her myself this morning. She seemed much as usual." "That was habit. She was calm even when she told me about it." "It's the kind of person she is. Apart from nursing, she's not very deeply affected by anything." "That's all you know!" Katie was stung to retort. "I've ,; learned more about Jean Petiow in a month than you've troubled to learn in eight years. 'She's missed the bus,' you said, and thought that just about summed her up! I hated it when you said it, and now that I know Jean I hate it more. •• Both you and Dan are smug about not probing into people's private lives and their reasons for coming to settle in the Far East right away from their families, but it seems to me that's where you fall short of your own standards." "Steady," he said curtly. "You don't know what you're talking about." "I know all right. My father was one of those people, and J you would never have encouraged him to tell you about him- | self if he hadn't asked you to take charge of his money. But ^ he told Jean because they had much in common. You didn't | know that, did you, Tuan Forbes!" | He took a pace towards her. "Why the sudden flare-up? | Are you angry because we don't take kindly to being told that | we don't know how to handle our own affairs on Numeh? I ;| knew that Jean and your father were the best of friends and | talked a lot." j Katie was suddenly spent. "All right, let's leave it. I felt j driven to come to you, but I don't think I really hoped for J very much." J Simon's teeth snapped. "That's a sweet thing to say 1 Do yo suppose I haven't been wondering what we can do to keep.j Jean here with us? Do you think I've just been waiting fort 152

fov. to walk in and remind me of my obligations to someone who's worked so unsparingly for the island! Actually, what you've told me has cancelled out everything I thought of using as persuasion to make her stay. I could have dealt with anything else, but if she's really in love with Dan, it's best for her to get away." Katie drew in her lip and nodded. "I suppose I vaguely hoped to save the whole thing. She seems .. . right for Dan, somehow." "She took good care from the beginning that he should regard her only as a nurse." Katie looked at him, turned towards the door and said a little huskily, "There's nothing more to discuss, is there?" "I'm not sure," he said, and he was there, between Katie and the door. "If I let you go now you'll blame me for what's happening to Jean. Let's get it absolutely straight. She loves Dan; Dan's attracted to Lorina, so Jean would rather get out than wait and see what happens once Dan has realised Lorina doesn't want him." There was a moment during which he regarded her keenly. "Have you told me everything you know?" She shrugged, and turned so that she didn't have to face him. "Not quite. I hoped you'd take it differently, so that I could have mentioned it. But I don't think I should. It can't really alter the situation." "I'd rather know." "Jean would have told you if she wanted you to, know. She'd have told you . . . eight years ago." "I see." He paused. "I could ask Jean herself, of course." "Don't you dare!" she flashed at him. And then, looking at him, she knew he was capable of it, even though he might do it gently. She felt defeated and worn. "I don't seem able to manage anything at all in this place." "You're doing all right," he said a little grimly. "But I have to get the whole picture, if I'm to do anything about it. Not that I can hold out much hope. As I've said before, Dan has never seen Jean as anything but a nurse. A good sort, unexciting, dependable, humdrum." 153

Katie nodded, gazing down at the thick red carpet. "I know. But .. . but that's because she's always seemed almost old-maidish. If he ever bothered to wonder about her in the early days, he probably thought she'd had a mild little love affair and drifted overseas with some nursing unit. It ... it wasn't like that. Simon . . . she . . ." "Take it easy," he said quietly. "I want to know . . . and it's just between you and me." It came out quickly then. "Jean was married for two years. She was rapturously happy the whole time, and then her husband crashed in a plane during a test. She said she . . ; she sort of died." Though close to her, Simon seemed to be taking good care that he didn't touch her, but his tones were shocked and pitying. "Don't tear yourself to bits over it. It's all past. I'm glad you told me, though." "Don't you see." she hurried on, "that if Dan had known about it from the beginning he'd have seen her differently? Not as an unwanted, colourless creature but as someone who knew about love and marriage, someone who'd made a man ecstatically happy for two years and could have gone on doing it for ever. It would have altered his whole conception of her. Jean said she did want to tell him, but it was too late." "How - too late?" "She was caught unawares - almost. He'd been here three months when she began to ... to like him, and by then he had accepted her as someone who had put nursing before anything else. I daresay, in quiet moments, she imagined herself telling him, but the opportunity never came. No one else knew, you see, and it would have looked as if she were trying to get under his skin, throwing herself at him." "It seems to me," said Simon a little violently, "that it was about time she did assert herself! She must have been very young when the tragedy happened." "She married at twenty." : "The poor kid." He stopped, and thought. "Look here, you must leave it to my discretion whether I tell Jean that I know all this. Leave the whole thing with me - I won't I 154

involve you. I can't promise anything, but I'll do my utmost. One thing youll just have to accept; Dan's not likely to want to look at another woman if he loses Lorina . . . and if he did, Jean wouldn't want him on the rebound." She shook her head. "I know. That's why it might be better if she did leave. Only . . . it's such a pity." Simon was cool again. "Many things are a pity in this life, little one. I'll take you back to the hotel. Where did you leave the car?" "On the road under a tree." "Well use the Mercedes, and I'll send the other car up to you in the morning." "I don't mind driving myself." He said offhandedly, "I'll take you, just the same." That seemed to be the end of the talk between them. He drove out on to the road, turned towards Mondulu and accelerated to a speed which would soon carry them over the eighteen miles. The view ahead was bright and eerie. Palms against a moonlit sky, an occasional plume "of smoke, a monkey careering across the road, the skittering movements of giant fire-flies. They had covered half the distance when he asked, "Have you spoken to Lorina since I last saw you?" "No. I heard that she and Cherry might be with the Crawleys." "They are - it was best. Lorina knows my decision regarding your money." "I suppose she does." "Not very curious about her, are you? Yet she continually frets about you." Oh, sure, thought Katie wearily. "I'll see her if I come to your party on Saturday." "I'm giving the party for Cherry." He paused, and added non-committally, "I've invited Pete over just for the weekend." A real celebration, it seemed. Pete was to be forgiven for two days, which meant, presumably, that he had to be on hand to represent the Craven family when ... if an announ155

cement was made. She hadn't spoken, and he said probingly, "Pete was a complication, wasn't he? Or is that the type you're always attracted to - men of few scruples, adventurers, idlers?" Then, savagely, "You've chosen your brand rather early, haven't you? And you go to lengths to keep them. Have you written to the one in England, telling him the news was premature?" Katie gripped hard on the fingers of one hand with the other. "No, I haven't" "No courage? Would you like me to write for you?" "Leave me alone!" He didn't say anything more till they arrived at the hotel. He sat there in his seat, jaw taut, mouth thinned, his hands holding the wheel as if he wished it were something he could bend and hurt. He swung the car round in front of the lanai, got out as she did and came round to her side. Katie said quickly, "Thank you very much. If ... if you could possibly let me know about anything you're able to do, I'd be most grateful." "Very well." "And if you'd rather I stayed away from your party on Saturday ..." "I've had enough!" he bit out, and slid back into the car. It moved so fast that within a few seconds she couldn't even hear it. She drew a long, trembling breath and went to her bedroom. Thursday and Friday were quiet days, and cooler than of late. For Katie, the hours slipped past without her noticing much about them. She bathed, went out pearling with a Malay and two of the hotel guests, read a bit, tramped over the lower hills and lay snoozing in the shade. Once or twice she thought about Lorina, wondered just how she felt about the jaunt out here, which had brought her precisely nothing. By now she must have realised that if Simon was thinking of marriage. Cherry was his obvious choice. Was she waiting for Saturday, to discover how far the relationship between 156

Simon and Cherry had progressed, before making any personal decisions? Katie tried to visualise herself taking the homeward trip with Lorina, and shuddered. She imagined a conversation in which she taxed Lorina with all her perfidies, and found herself shrinking away from the whole thing with distaste. But that letter from Charles . . . Thinking about it jarred Katie so much that the only remedy, was a long, determined walk. On Saturday morning Uncle Jake was unwell, and one of the residents promised to report his indisposition to the doctor in Kohti. Consequently, at about noon Dr. Willis drove up and walked through the lounge to the old man's quarters. The rugged doctor had smiled perfunctorily at Katie as he passed her in the lanai, but his offhandedness might be attributable to a busy Saturday morning. When he came out again she stood up and moved towards him. "How is Uncle Jake?" "He'll do, but he's much too fat. How are you, Katie?" "Fine. You look a bit tired and overworked." "When I'm quite sure I can trust Larry with everything I may take a break. Aren't you lonely out here at Mondulu?" "No. If it were a permanent arrangement I might be, but as things are I'm making the most of it." She added impulsively, "You do look tired." "I expect I need my lunch." He was moving away towards his car when she asked, "Are you going to Simon's party tonight?" "I'll probably look in. See you there, Katie." He drove away and she sat down again. She conjectured about him for a few minutes and then, because he had taken it for granted that she would be at the party, she took the matter out and examined it. Quite desperately, she didn't want to go. Jean wouldn't be there, and the only women guests she would know fairly well were Lorina and Cherry Craven. Cherry sent horrible-little pains along her nerves, and Lorina . , . well, when she saw Lorina there would have to be unpleasant talk. Katie felt she wouldn't be able to face it. And she was even less fit to face Simon again. 157

Katie dressed, that evening, in the blue silk she had worn before several times. It suited her, added darkness and lustre to her eyes and gold lights to her hair, but it was unspectacular. Just a nice dress on a passably nice girl. She used a spot of perfume, got out the black Chinese silk stole and walked through to the lounge. And there, Larry Brendon, immaculate in a white dinner jacket, good-looking but still slightly snooty about the lifted nose, was standing close to the open door. His smile was pleased. "Good evening, Katie, I hardly seem to see you at all these days. Shall we have a drink before we leave?" "You drink and I'll smoke," she said. "Well sit just inside." He ordered dry sherry, gave her a cigarette and took one himself. She put a question and got him talking about his tour, the first he had made. Then she asked if he were off all the evening. "With luck, yes," he said. "Dan insisted. He's not in a very good mood, but he was keen for me to have the time absolutely free." ; Casually, she queried, "How is he taking Jean's decision , to leave?" The young doctor looked genuinely bewildered. "He's said nothing whatever about it to me. I don't understand it. You'd think he'd agitate for more pay for the nurse, do anything to persuade her to stay. It's terribly difficult to get a white nurse to settle in these places. They usually marry." "He'll miss her tremendously if she goes." "We all will. The funny thing is that no one seems to have | talked to her about it. Of course, she gave a full month's | notice, so there's plenty of time. But she must think that no | one cares." | "Simon cares." j He grinned. "But Simon is full of his own affairs. He's j losing Miss Craven for a few weeks, and isn't able to think a of much else till she goes. I saw them together this morning '§ in town - after Miss Carew's ship had gone. Cherry was | 158

clinging to Simon and smiling up into his face as if he were the most adorable man in the world. I wasn't a yard away, but they didn't even see me!" Katie had gone cold. "Did you say . . . after Miss Carew's ship had gone? Lorina?" He nodded. "Of course. Didn't you go down and see her off?" Katie pressed out her cigarette, bit on a dry lip. "No. I didn't know she was leaving. She . . . she didn't even send me a goodbye note." "That's odd. I had a horrid feeling you might be going, too, just as suddenly. She only decided yesterday, and it was quickly arranged that she go on today's freighter as far as Macassar and change on to a passenger ship for Singapore. From there she'll travel by air." "Good lord" said Katie blankly. And then the full impact of his news smote her like a blow from a large fist. Lorina had gone, and no doubt taken with her the travellers' cheques which were rightfully Katie's. For convenience, the whole of the cheques had been made out in Lorina's name, but half the money was definitely Katie's; she had saved it from her allowance over the past year or so. And now, apart from the few pounds with which she would pay her hotel expenses, she hadn't a bean till Simon handed over her next quota. She had to stay on Numeh at his pleasure, and at his expense. "Not upset about it, are you?" Larry asked anxiously. "I don't know what I am," she said, gathering the stole. "Let's start out. If we're early you can take your time." When they reached Simon's house it was ablaze with lights, both indoors and out. There were a few cars along the drive, a number of people meeting and taking first drinks in the lanai and the lounge, which was wide open to the night. Music came from somewhere, light stuff that was necessary without being noticeable. Simon met them, nodded companionably to Larry, said a polite "Good evening, child," to Katie, and had them served by one of the white-suited waiters. They were absorbed into 159

a group, though Katie did not speak. She put on a smile and a look of interest, but heard not a word. Nor did she think very clearly. Lorina was gone; Lorina, who had been her ,l closest friend and only relative ever since her father had died. | Here on Numeh, through Lorina's machinations, they had become parted, and as if friendships, even unhappy ones, did not mean a thing, their relationship had ended without a syllable between them. It was unbelievable. Larry led her into the dining room, where numerous candles flickered on the long glittering table. The walls were brilliant with flaming fans of gladiolus and Malay roses. The servants moved softly, bringing the many enticing courses: iced melon flavoured with wine, cold fish rolls in cucumber aspic, roast chicken and pork, souffle potatoes, green peas, salad and fruit and cream mousses. At Simon's right hand Cherry scintillated. The Major made a speech, there was a toast of some sort, and a general movement - the ladies into a bedroom to repair their complexions and the men for a breath of air outside. It was in the bedroom that Katie had her sole contact with Cherry that evening. The amber-eyed young woman was applying lipstick when she saw Katie's rather pale image in the mirror, and turned. "Hallo there!" she said happily. "Must be ten days since I last saw you. What have you been doing with yourself?" "Just holidaymaking." With an effort Katie added, "I hear you're going to Singapore to say goodbye to your mother." The dark curls danced. "Such a bore, but she's been a dear to me. She doesn't care for the Far East, but because I was keen for it last year she brought me to see Pete. Then when I wanted to come back again she sweated it out a second time, though I could not get her past Singapore. She's married again, and is going to live in a house on the Riviera." "Sounds marvellous." "Yes," she conceded, "but I like Numeh." She put her head on one side and decided her reflection was as near perfect as she could make it. She turned. "Everything has happened just right, you know. That cousin of yours gave me 160

some uneasy moments, but she is out o£ fhe way, thank goodness, and I don't have to worry about leaving Simon for a couple of weeks." Katie found the courage to ask, "You're not ... becoming engaged before you go?" "Not officially. My mother has still to furnish her house, and we thought it might be a good idea for her to give a house-warming and an engagement party at the same time, You see, it will be several weeks before Simon is free to come to France." Someone called her, and she tacked on brightly, as she left, "Pete couldn't make it this weekend, but he sent you his love. Seems the old boy has decided to take up residence in Paris, so I shall have a family on the Continent that I can visit whenever Numeh gets me down!" Half-heartedly, Katie used compact and lipstick. For some time after the others had left she stayed in the bedroom which had once been Lorina's and tried to pull her disordered thoughts together. The new sense of let-down, she now realised, was the result of hearing that Pete would not be here this weekend. Unconsciously she had looked forward to his sane cynicism, and now there was this new problem which he might have been able to help her to solve. She couldn't approach anyone on Numeh for the loan to get her back to England. Pete would have understood and obliged. There was one way of getting in touch with him, of course - a boat from Mondulu. But would he trust a boatman with money? Would he understand, and give her credit for knowing what she was doing? Kate put on the smile and went out to the lounge, met Simon's watchful glance and walked out into the lanai and took coffee. Later she danced with Larry Brendon and one or two others. Dan tamed up, looking grim and conventional, and he stayed exactly half an hour, during which time he exchanged only a word of greeting with Simon. Apparently he was disliking Simon, and no wonder. At a little after midnight people began to leave. Larry Brendon was given the job of taking home some people who lived near his quarters, and Simon mentioned, within Katie's 161

hearing but not directly to her, that he would be driving Miss Howarth out to Mondulu himself. So that, she thought, was why he had made no attempt to speak privately with her this evening. She was quivering a little when he put her into the front seat of his car and closed the door. The moon was right overhead now, the shadows short. The breeze had stilled, the night scents were warm and familiar, but there was no sweet intimacy about sitting in the car with Simon and driving through the night. She sensed a cold mocking malice in him. He said, "You'll have gathered that Lorina has left Numeh." "Yes, from Larry." "I would have told you this evening, if he hadn't. She decided yesterday that she wanted to leave, with no fuss at all." "Lorina decided?" "Yes. I think I can honestly say she did - after we'd had a talk. It's what-you wanted, isn't it? " "I don't know, I'm sure; I'm so muddled. I never thought Lorina would sail away without leaving even a message." "You can't have it all ways. We were acting for Jean, weren't we?" • "Will it help/do you think?" He lifted his shoulders. "Who can tell? Dan is a bit hipped, of course. He hasn't said as much but he thinks I'm at the root of it." She said despondently, "We haven't done much good, have we - Lorina and I? I can't think of one thing for which you can be glad we came." "No?" He let it pass. "Apart from Dan, I don't believe Lorina has done much harm. Unwittingly, she showed me a few things, and she's certainly taught you how much her friendship is worth. You'd never have discovered that if you'd stayed in England." "I would. It would have taken me longer, that's all. What about Jean?" • "We're only tnree-parts through the month. I told her we 162

could only accept her notice as from the end 'of the month, which gives us about five weeks. When Dan settles down she may decide it was a storm in a teacup." "She won't," said Katie, "She'll be too afraid it could happen again. When you're in love with someone who doesn't return it you just have to get out of their life." "Do you?" He sounded impersonal. "That strikes me as defeatist. A day or two ago you thought it defeatist, too. You wanted Jean to have her chance." "I still do, but Dan looks as if he'll never be interested in anyone else - not for years, anyway. It seems strange when he knew her such a short time but he must have idealised Lorina." "That's right," he said laconically, "and that's his weak spot. You'd better go on leaving it to me, little one. I don't intend to do anything at all till Dan is more accustomed to the sudden blankness in his life." "Don't be sarcastic at his expense! It may seem funny to you that a man should suffer over a woman, but to Dan the pain is very real." "You're awfully soft about some people," he said curtly, and with finality. For about five miles neither of them spoke. Then Katie, from the midst of rather desperate conjecture, asked baldly, "What do you expect me to do now that Lorina's gone?" As though the subject had been in his own mind, he answered at once, "You definitely can't go on as you are. You know I haven't liked your living at the hotel, don't you? So it won't surprise you that I'm making other arrangements for you." "I'm going to England." "To what? No relative worth mentioning, no home? Perhaps you're hoping to put matters right between the man in Morbay and yourself?" "I'll please myself what I do." "Not entirely. For one thing, you can't leave Numeh till I give the word. And by the way, I forgot to ask Lorina for those travellers' cheques of yours. Too bad." 163

"You're mighty clever, Mr. Forbes," she said in a choked voice, and thereafter stared out of the window. When he stopped at the lanai of the hotel she would have slipped out and run inside before he could move, but his hand shot out and held her wrist. "Listen to me, Katie," he said in tones of steel. "I've let you go on staying here at the hotel because in a way it was best that you should be apart from the others. There's been too much going on that you wouldn't have understood. But with Lorina gone, the set-up has changed. Cherry leaves in a couple of days, and there's no reason at all why you shouldn't stay with Major and Mrs. Crawley, settle in for a bit, get to know people and try to forget your indiscretions. Mrs. Crawley is fond of girls . . ." "I'm going home!" "Not till I lift the ban on your leaving. Even if you had the money, there's not a ship that would dare to take you against my will. I'm sorry, but you're so headstrong that I had to do it." She stared at him, breathing hard. "You mean I'm a ... a sort of prisoner?" "Oh, come, it's not as bad as that. Since you came, you've had the hell of a time and given hell to a few others as well. Let the whole thing simmer for a week or two." Huskily she said, "You're good at that, aren't you - making your own decisions and pretending that time is taking a hand. But with me - the way I feel now - it won't work. Don't beg Mrs. Crawley to send me an invitation because 111 have to decline it. I refuse to leave the hotel until I'm allowed to leave Numeh!" Points of anger showed in the dark eyes, but his tones were level. "Why can't you be reasonable? I'm doing what I think is best for you." "I've heard that before. Let me go, Simon." But he kept taut fingers about her wrist. "At least go and stay with Mrs. Crawley while Cherry is still there. You may like it enough to want to remain a guest in the house." "While I have to stay on the island," she flung at him "I'll 164

live here at the hotel. £ don't want your interference, or even your interest. In fact, you can keep your blue car - I shan't use it again." His teeth went together. "Now you're being childish! All I ask from you is that you live normally for a while, and get to know everyone. The Crawleys will give you a good time and you'll forget your mistakes and the unhappiness over your cousin . . ." "Stop it!" Tears stung her eyelids and welled into her throat. She saw his dark angular face, felt his fingers loosening on her wrist, and knew a sharp longing that was anguish. "You don't have to do anything for me - nothing at all. I just want to be left alone, and given my freedom to go home." "You're staying till things are clearer. That's final!" She drew a breath that hurt, found that she could pull her hand away. He got out and opened her door, and she passed him without looking at him, went straight through the narrow front entrance of the hotel and along to her bedroom. Her head felt as if a hammer were beating at it, sweat had gathered in her hands and her legs had gone almost useless. It was the end, she thought dully. Tomorrow she would plan how to get away from Numeh, in spite of Simon. She had to ... or go crazy.

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CHAPTER X THE next day, though, was Sunday, a day when the islanders worked or not, as they pleased, and white folk went fishing, played golf down at Kohti, visited friends or simply lazed. In desperation, Katie went pearling again, but when the haul of oysters was heaped on the beach she didn't stay to watch them opened. She found she couldn't stay anywhere for long. Uncle Jake was still unwell in bed, she had little in common with the other residents and was too restless to be a good companion, anyway. She was relieved when night fell, and after a light dinner and a walk she could go to bed. She read fitfully, felt sick and benighted, and put out the light. The night seemed a year in passing. Next morning she took a jaded look at the blue car and then asked one of the residents who was going into Kohti if he would give her a lift there and back. He agreed, drove her into the town and told her he would pick her up at twelve outside the government buildings. Katie walked through the bamboo-covered bazaars, watched vendors lining up their guinea corn and melons, limes, papaias, cassava and peppers. Out in the sunshine again she decided, suddenly, to go along to the clinic. It was a hot, tiring walk, but she arrived in the cool white corridor just as tea, without milk but floating a slice of lemon, was being taken into the office. And in the office she met Dan. He looked up, gave her the offhand smile as he rose. "Larry Brendon has been told to call at the hotel this morning, to find out how you're faring," he said. "Simon's orders." "Bother, Simon." She found, to her surprise, that she could say it almost nonchalantly. "May I have some tea?" "Have this. They'll bring me more." "I'd rather wait and cool off. Am I in the way?" "No. You don't come often enough. We're through with 166

the first batch of out-patients. From now on it'll be just stragglers." "Good. I need to sit down." She leaned back and said casually, "Now that I'm alone here I feel sort of abandoned. I wonder if Lorina will write to me from Singapore?" "I wonder." Non-committal, she thought; he'd reached the second stage. Momentarily, Katie questioned how she had learned so much about this love business. She said earnestly, "You saw Lorina more than I did during the last couple of weeks. Why should she go off like that, without telling me?" "I don't know, Katie. It was all very sudden. I didn't know she was leaving till the night before." "But did she want to go?" "She said she had to, but hoped she'd be able to come back some time." A typical Lorina statement. "She won't, of course," Katie said, quivering a little at her own daring. "There was a man in England she liked very much, and I expect she'll marry him." "Possibly." Katie had come to a full stop. Fortunately Jean came in then, followed by the porter with another cup of tea. Jean smiled at Katie, laid a couple of case cards in front of Dan. She seemed about to turn and go, so Katie said quickly, "Isn't it your tea-time too, Jean? Have this one, and I'll wait for the next. I mean it. It's cool and soothing sitting here." Jean looked at Dan, began to move away, when he said, "Of course, Jean. Sit down and talk to Katie. I wanted to look at that hernia, anyway." He got up and went from the room. Jean remained on her feet, pale, composed and smiling a little, albeit sadly. "Match-making, Katie? Don't bother. He's sunk." "He looks better than he did on Saturday." "It wouldn't be right for him to get over it too quickly." "Don't you talk to him about it?" 167

"Heavens, no. By the way, why did Lorina depart so suddenly?" "To make an exit, maybe, since it was inevitable anyway. She must have seen that . . . that Cherry Craven was the chosen one, and got out purposely before the party. I feel a bit strange about it, but it's a good thing she's gone." "For Dan's sake, yes. It's funny, but I find myself feeling a little hard about it now. I'm just not caring." £ There were a good many years between Jean and Katie, but Katie was reacting in a similar manner - or trying to. Just not caring. "You're definitely going when your notice period is up?" "Oh, yes." "What has Dan said about it - your leaving?" "Almost nothing." On the point of confessing that she had broken confidence, Katie hesitated. It couldn't do any good, and enough trouble already weighted the air. She sipped the tea Dan hadn't tasted; Jean got through hers quickly and moved towards the door. "I'll come out and see you soon," she said. "Perhaps at the weekend." And she went from the room. Katie finished the tea, wandered out and saw Dan talking to one of the Malay orderlies. She murmured goodbye to him and went out into the blanketing heat of the street. At twelvethirty she was on her way back to the hotel, and feeling so depressed that she couldn't face lunch. Instead of eating, she went down to the beach. The pain became almost tangible, a long thin lancet touching an open wound with exquisite precision. Katie had never imagined anything like it, never conceived of a pain so shattering. It was there most of the night, made her hollow-eyed in the dawn, and determined when the sun was up. She went out, to find Uncle Jake once more installed in his favourite chair. "Hullo," she said. "Feeling better?" "Yes, but they won't let me eat. Seven hundred calories and vitamin pills every day for two weeks, the doctor said. I'd 168

rather die full up." "But think how well you're going to feel afterwards!" He shook his head. "No one is interested. Where do you go today?" "That depends," she said cautiously. "I'd rather like to take a trip to one of the islands, if it can be arranged." "By freighter? You'll have to enquire in Kohti." "I don't want to go far. A motor-boat could make it." ."There aren't many on the island. Mostly prahus and outriggers that the Malays build themselves. There certainly isn't a motor-boat at Mondulu." "Don't people ever visit the other islands?" "They go from Kohti. The Malays at Mondulu go over to Valessa and Bemba, but they use outriggers and don't care what time they get back." "How fast do they travel?" A shrug. "If they're going for themselves they take all day. If they're paid, they do three or four miles an hour. Valessa is ten miles and Bemba is a bit more." "For me, it would make a pleasant day's trip, wouldn't it?" "You'd be bored." "I don't think so. How do I go about finding someone to take me?" He shook his head. "Beats me why you should want to spend a day at sea with a couple of Malays. But I'll find someone if you really want it. Are you tired of pearling?" "A bit." "You won't find the other islands as interesting as Numeh. They're just palms and a bamboo settlement in the bay." "It'll be a change, anyway. Please arrange it for me. Uncle Jake." "I'll do it, but don't blame me if you have a bad day." It was all settled v/ith surprising ease. The old man called a,waiter and gave him a long wheezy harangue in Malay. The waiter nodded and went away, and presently came back to explain that everything was ready. The mem had only to take the sandwiches and flask which he had had prepared and go down to the beach. Which, after collecting some money, a 169

coat and some cigarettes of a good brand that she knew were unobtainable on the other islands, the mem did. They moved slowly, so that Numeh took a long while to become a fringe of green on the horizon. They paddled into a haze, where the sea was like genfly-heaving molten glass, and progressed so sluggishly that Katie went sleepy. It seemed a long, long time before the sun came through again, and there was land ahead. She looked at her watch and found it was twenty minutes past twelve, leaned forward and spoke to the Malay. "Is this Bemba?" He nodded cheerfully. "Bemba. It is Bemba!" His limited English halted him there. He paddled hard, shouted to his son to do the same, and within ten minutes they were grating over sand, to the mild astonishment of a number of islanders who were lounging or working there. Katie stepped from the craft and swayed slightly. She said, "Ask v/here I can find Tuan Craven, please." He caught the "Tuan Craven," and blithely approached an aged fisherman. They had conversation which lasted far longer than Katie thought necessary and the Malay reported back, briefly: "Mem follow man." The old fisherman took a long time and many jokes to get to his feet, but he made it, bowed with the utmost charm to Katie and indicated the way towards the back of the beach, where a thatched roof was visible above the eternal palms. They reached a house in a small clearing, a square bamboo dwelling, thatched with palm leaves and set in a fairly tidy garden. The heat in the clearing was torrid, and Katie wondered how Pete could work there; but perhaps he did his painting outdoors. The old man bowed again and made a sign for her to open the door. She did so, and looked into an engagingly ram-shackle room which held a divan bed at each side, one of them made up, a few rattan armchairs, a table with four rattan dining chairs pushed under it, a bookshelf, a cabinet of some sort, and a coloured grass mat. There was no sign of Pete himself, and when she turned round to try 170

questioning her companion he had gone. She stood there in the room, a little disturbed but not really worried. She placed her small picnic on the table, and walked about the room. A rustling outside brought her quickly to the door. A middle-aged woman was there, a swarthy woman in a cotton frock and with iron-grey hair pulled back into a knot. "Good day," she said in heavily guttural tones. "I am the wife of Heinrich, the trader. The old man told me there was a mem who wished for Mr; Craven." "Yes. Is he somewhere near?" "He went off three days ago with a friend, the captain of a cruiser. He should be back today, but with Pete one never knows." "This house was open." The woman nodded and smiled. "One has no reason to lock the doors. If I can help?" "Do you think it's worth my while to wait?" "If you have journeyed, yes. Perhaps a few hours. If he is not here by four I should say he will not come till tomorrow." "I'll wait, then," said Katie. "Thank you very much." "You would like food? You can eat with us." "It's very kind of you, but I brought some lunch with me. I'll be quite comfortable, thanks." The woman waved towards the trees at the left. "We are there, along the path, if you should need us. I wiU tell the old man that your boatman must wait." She gave another halfsmile and walked away. Katie v/ent inside and sat down, felt a pulsing all over her body and reflected that the German woman must be tough, to live here. She ate a sandwich which tasted like sawdust, drank sweet black coffee and smoked one of the cigarettes she had brought for Pete. And she slept. It was nearly three when she awoke, and the whole place was quiet. There was not even the sound of Malays or the scamper of a monkey. Once more Katie inspected the room. She opened a half-obscured cupboard and found that that was where Pete kept his canvases, each wrapped separately 171

in a polythene bag. From the ceiling of the cupboard hung his one good lounge suit, also shrouded in polythene. She went into the kitchen, found it neat but poorly finished. A long galvanised bath stood up in the corner like a sarcophagus and a regiment of ants was moving into an almost empty food cupboard. She heard one of those eerie sounds and came back into the living room, to find a dark-skinned youth staring at her coat, which hung over a chair-back. His English, she was happy to discover, was quite extensive. "I am the houseboy of Tuan. Craven," he told her. "Each day I come at this time to see if he has returned." "He hasn't, I'm afraid. Do you think he'll come today?" "Not knov/, mem. I stay till dark, and if he not here, I go back to my people." "I come from Numeh, and have to return there. I very much wanted to see Mr. Craven." "Perhaps wait another hour?" She nodded. Without being asked, he went out and drew a jug of cool clear water from somewhere, brought it into the room and placed it beside a bowl, a towel and some soap. Katie washed, felt refreshed but anxious and nervy. If she couldn't see Pete, her trip had been wasted and she was lost. Not quite, though. She could leave a note for him. This boy seemed very straight and trustworthy, and he would pass on a message intelligently. Whenever Pete did return, he would receive it, and act. She called the boy from the kitchen. "If Mr. Craven were coming you'd see the ship, wouldn't you?" "Not know, mem. The man would come in any boat, perhaps with a fisherman. There are many canoes and prahus about the island." "I must go back to Numeh this evening." "Mem come in motor-boat?" "No, in an outrigger." As far as his smooth features could manage it, he looked staggered. "Must go back in daylight in an outrigger, mem. Now!" 172

Katie was beginning to see that for herself. "Ill write a letter from Mr. Craven and leave it with you. Will you go out and find my boatman, and tell him to make ready?" He murmured an eager affirmative and ran out across the clearing. Katie found an old account of Pete's, thought for a long moment and began to write on the back of it. She was halfway through her request when the houseboy returned, followed by the son of the Numeh boatman. The younger boy looked glum and kept his head lowered. The houseboy said, "The father of this one is bad. He drink too much tuak and is unable to waken. Drunk I" Katie's heart, anything but buoyant just now, sank to the depths. "What can I do?" "Many out there have drunk too much and I do not think I can find the mem a good boatman." "Just try . . .please!" Then she was alone again, trying to phrase the letter. She finished it and sat back, her hot fingers against burning eyes. She tried to think of things which were a long way from Numeh; about Morbay, where it was cold now, and where Charles Kain waited for Lorina. Odd things came to mind, such as Lorina's beautiful dresses, for which Charles Kain had advanced the cash. Presumably he had regarded the loan as an investment in the guest farm. She thought of those years since she had first become aware of Lorina as her nearest relative, and of the fact that Lorina had never talked about her own sister and brother-in-law; she hadn't talked about them, of course, because she hadn't really known them, and discussion might have proved it. Lorina would be home within a day or two. What would they decide, she and Charles? Would she, Katie, ever want to go near them again? Katie shook her head. She had to start again, something quite new and which could not, by any flight of fancy, remind her at any time of Numeh. Dan Willis, that morning, had got through a record number of out-patients and gone to his own house for a cup of coffee at eleven. He looked up his diary, decided there were three 173

calls he should make before lunch but that they could wait till noon. He was dropping a few phials and dressings into his case when the bell rang and someone entered the house. He looked up as Simon appeared on the threshold. "Good morning," he said. "I'll ring for some fresh coffee." "Don't bother, Dan. There's a couple of things I want you to sign, that's all." Simon sat down near the desk, took a sheaf of papers from an inner pocket. "First, there's the demolition of the last communal house. I've just heard that the new quarters are ready. But those people are like children; they won't start to move their goods till they see a notice signed by you and me. Here it is." Dan sank down behind his desk, drew forward the typed sheet and signed it. "We've accomplished something, Simon." "It's a start, anyway. Just one thing more for your signature, though you don't have to sign it if you don't want to." Dan pulled the second form closer, said idly, "Since when have you become your own office clerk?" "I had the things on me," Simon said smoothly, "and happened to be passing. Would you care to sign that thing, along with the rest of the Health Committee?" Dan read, showing no expression. "Seems fair enough. Jean has earned every penny of the bonus. Bit early with it, though, aren't you? She still has a month to go." "I thought we'd get it sealed and hand it to her; she might like to know it's coming. Can you improve on the wording?" Dan read again, bent closer. "There's a typing error. Mrs. for Miss." "It's not an error," said Simon, riffling through papers as if he were interested in something else. "Jean's been married." "Married? Jean?" "Her resignation brought it to light." He shrugged. "There was bound to be a strong reason for her burying herself in nursing down in the South Seas. I understand she lost her husband after a couple of years marriage. Hard luck, but she's stood up to it well, hasn't she? I'll sign that thing myself and leave it with you. You're her boss, and it's only right that . 174

you should hand it to her." As if the subject were finished with, he took a letter from among the papers. "Picked up some mail from the ship this morning. Rather interesting." "Oh, yes. You saw Miss Craven off, didn't you? Did a crowd collect?" "The usual. Tears and champagne. This4etter, though it's about Lorina Carew." • •• Dan didn't move or show any expression. "From England? " Simon nodded. "It'll probably seem cold-blooded to you, but because I had a certain degree of responsibility towards Katie, I put a London agent on to enquiring about Lorina. He turned up a few interesting facts. For one thing, Lorina isn't Katie's cousin; she's her aunt." Dan sounded a trifle throaty as he commented, "Really?" "And that's not all." Simon broke off and said disarmingly, "On the whole I didn't dislike Lorina; you can't blame any woman for using her own particular brand of artillery, can you? I'm a man, and I certainly use mine." -And then, looking down again at the letter, "For ten years .she never saw Katie. In fact, she might never have bothered to see her again if she hadn't heard about William Howarth's' death and the estate. The solicitor got in touch with her because Howarth had given Lorina's name, without mentioning her relationship, as Katie's next of kin. Lorina skated up to London in no time at all." "A little involved, isn't it?" "No, it's very simple. Lorina gets wind of money, of which she has never owned very much; she hears the amount of the allowance and calculates that there's a capital amount of about six thousand. Not much to some people, but quite a hunk of money to someone who's a good business woman and just pining to own a business of her own. She gave up her position in the north of England and got the job at Morbay, saw the old owner was failing and began to dig in, meanwhile keeping a cousinly eye on Katie, who was at school. Katie grew up, and as far as Lorina was concerned she left finishing school at a lucky time. The owner of the 175

guest farm had died and his wife had no wish to carry on. As you know, if I'd parted with Katie's capital when they first asked, neither Lorina nor Katie would have come to Numeh." "What are you thinking?" asked Dan woodenly. "That it would have been better if you'd given in?" "Not at all. I'm glad I met Lorina. And don't try to kid me you didn't get some fun out of her being here too, you old reprobate." Simon shoved the letter into his pocket and stood up. "Well, I'll get along. After lunch I'll be going to Mondulu; I find I've a few pungent remarks to make to young Katie. See you later, Dan." He went out with his usual long stride, and Dan sat on at his desk, hunched a little, and unsure what it was that had moved in with his misery. Was it just a touch of relief? He was not an imaginative man, but there had been times recently when he had found himself living with a pearly skin and titian hair, green eyes and delicate hands. But when you thought of them belonging to someone who had ... It was almost impossible to believe; yet Simon had it there, in cold type. Katie's aunt, with an eye to the legacy. That might have been endurable if there were no evidence of cold, selfish planrung. Had she gone away empty-handed? Dan didn't know; perhaps soon he wouldn't even care. He got out the bottle of brandy, found a glass and poured a shot. But before he could add water he heard the main door open again, and Jean came in. She stood there, just inside the room, looking at him with impersonal enquiry. There was a | sudden silence. '| Then she said, "Simon told me to come - said you wanted me." •| Dan put down the glass, pushed a rather unsteady hand | over his hair. "It could have .., waited. I didn't ask him to J

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~'. : | |

send you." | "Oh, I'm sorry." J "Don't go!" Dan drew a breath. "I expect Simon intended | me to give you this today." He held out the bonus notifies- | tion. "It may seem generous, but it isn't really. You'd been | voted a bonus even before you resigned." The letter was in .5 176 „ "

her hand when he added, "Why did you never tell me you'd been married?" Colour leapt into her cheeks, her eyes were bright with distress. But she let several seconds elapse before answering, and by then her tones were almost even. "I might have told you if I'd thought you'd be interested. It didn't concern anyone here, so I kept it to myself." "But it's the sort of thing that helps one to understand another person - a little confidence in others and perhaps a little dependence. How is anyone to know you, if you hold back something so vital?" "At first," she said quietly, "the secrecy was necessary, for my own salvation. Then it became part of me. It doesn't matter now, anyway. Ill write a letter of thanks to the Health Committee." Once more she moved as if to go, and this time he said abruptly, "Sit down, Jean. We've never really talked about this resignation of yours; I felt I couldn't think about it because it seemed too unreal. You can't just walk out on a job to which you've given so much." "You can do anything," she said, "if it becomes imperative. I'm not the type to take a step and then regret it." "Do you mean it wouldn't cause you any pain to know you were sadly missed for a very long time? We're so used to each other, we can almost tell what the other is thinking . . . in medicine that is. The other side is stunted, because you didn't want anyone to pry." He threw out his hands. "I'm no good at putting things into words; I make a hash of it. At the moment, all I can say is that I want you to withdraw your resignation - just let everything go its own way for a bit." ^ She looked down. "I don't know. I think I might be happier if I started all over again, somewhere else." "You loved him very much - your husband?" he asked quietly, as he came round the desk. "Yes." "But it was many years ago." "We were rather alone, and I suppose I clung to the mar177

riage for too long after it ended. When you love someone as I did the loss is frightful." Dan sighed. "Yes, I should say it is - worse than anything I've ever experienced." Jean glanced at him. She saw a rather painful smile, indecision, wordlessness ... all of them strange from a man like Dan. She moved, gave him a half-smile. "I'd better get back on duty." "Jean . . ." he hesitated. "I haven't any right to ask this question, but I'm going to; it's been on my mind. Was it Numeh you wanted to put behind you - or me?" Her smile froze and she made no reply; he said, "I'm a good doctor, Jean, but no judge of women. Strange women, that is. I want to know about your marriage, all about it; and I want to know how you're feeling now . . . about men. Just be a little patient with me. At the moment I wouldn't dare ask anything more." Jean's eyes were luminous, her mouth quivered. She felt him take her hand, knew that for the present it was as far as he could go. But the sense of release was tremendous. She squeezed his fingers, turned and fled. Dan stood very still for some minutes. Then he turned to the desk and picked up the drink he had poured, took it over to the wash-basin and swilled it down the drain. He wouldn't be needing that kind of pick-me-up, after all. Katie walked round and round Pete's house both indoors and out, for at least an hour after the houseboy had departed on his quest. Once he had come back to report that he had so far been unsuccessful, and then he had hurried away again, and Katie was alone in that equatorial heat which drew all moisture from her body. Dusk came, early and sudden. A host of night insects stirred, the birds became raucous and quarrelsome. Katie imagined spending a night alone in this teeming palm jungle, and broke into a cold sweat. Surely there would be a light somewhere to guide her? She stood still and peered among the greenness; it was impenetrable. 178

Then she heard a shout. "Katie! Katie!" Her name yelled with all the strength of a man's throat and lungs. Pete, she thought thankfully, and yelled something in reply. The shout came again, and she swung round quickly and ran back along the path she had followed till it forked, took the right turn and ran again, down a twisting lane ... and straight into the arms of Simon Forbes. He steadied her, held her till she could breathe freely. Then he let her go and stared at her in the light of the hurricane lantern he carried. His eyes were like hot coals, his mouth so tight that a muscle jerked at its corner. "God," he said, in a voice gone hoarse and depthless. "I was afraid you'd gone too far to hear." "Oh, Simon," she said weakly, and dropped her face into her hands. He didn't touch her again, but said with an effort, "You're aU right now. We'll go back to the house. Follow close behind me." His manner put stiffening into Katie. She lifted her head, and when he moved she moved after him, in the swinging glow of the lamp. It was not far to the house, no more than a quarter of a mile, and when they reached it Simon led the way inside and placed the lantern on the table. He let a glance slide over her, quickly, comprehensively. Her hollowed eyes were unnaturally bright, and her despondent stillness and tilted chin had the awkward charm of youth. He looked past her, at the windows in the bamboo wall. "I suppose you thought I was Pete," he said abruptly. "I ... I heard my name, and naturally assumed it must be Pete." "Sorry to have disappointed you. I met his houseboy and heard that you were waiting here for a boat to take you back to Numeh." "Did ... did you come to see Pete, too?" "I knew he wasn't here." "Oh." Katie managed to keep her tone utterly unemotional 'Why did you come?" "At about three o'clock I went to the hotel. Old Dorfling 179

told me you'd gone out for the day in an outrigger, and hoped to touch at one of the islands. I guessed what that meant." "Yes, I suppose you did. You followed because you knew I wouldn't find Pete here. Made a mess of things, haven't I?" His direct stare, even though it appeared to be trained on something behind her, was disconcerting. "I suppose you'll throw something if I say I'm sorry?" "No, I hope you are - very sorry. I've never been so frantic in my life as I was on the way here." His voice went firmer and slightly metallic. "It was a pretty low thing to do - to come to Pete for help behind my back, but then your scruples are hand-picked, aren't they? You don't bother with too many of them. You'd use Pete as you've used others." Quietly she answered, "That's a beastly thing to say. I've been as open with you as I could." "You're not curious as to why I went to the hotel this afternoon? " Her breath came a little shakily. "I suppose I am, but everything has been so ... so frustrating just lately that I'm half afraid to question anything at all. Did you go there to see me?" He nodded. "Had some bits of news for you. They don't seem very important now. In fact they can wait till we get back to Numeh." He had shifted slightly, so that he could read Pete's name on the outside of the note she had written. He reached and picked it up, opened the old bill she had used and read the several lines of writing. Without a word he tore the note into many pieces and dropped them on to an ashtray. "How would you feel," he asked curdy, "if I said you can leave us just whenever you wish - tomorrow, if you like?" "I don't know how I'd feel, but I'd go." "Without a single regret?" "Of course there would be regrets. In spite of everything, I've liked Numeh and some of the people." "Thanks a lot." He paused. "We've an hour or so in the motor-boat in front of us, so maybe we'd better get a few 180

H things said right here, after all. Take a seat, Katie." | "I'd rather stand." g "Very well." He sounded cold and uncompromising, took j. a,closely-typed sheet of paper from his pocket. "Read this; J| ws ^om a very reliable enquiry agent in London." [Hesitantly she took the sheet, and after a brief glance at ' him, began to read. But she hadn't gone far before her colour drained away and she looked at him again. "You've been spying!" "You're absolutely right," he said coolly. "From the beginning, I didn't quite trust that sweet cousinly business between you and Lorina, and you confirmed my suspicious when you g said that your father had written to Lorina asking her to take j care of you. I happen to be aware that your father never | once thought of Lorina Carew as any kind of guardian for | you. You see, I was the one who mentioned your next of kin, | and he reluctantly wrote Lorina's name in the contract." I She said quickly, "But Lorina herself told me ..." S"She did? Then she lied. I expect she lied about other things which aren't mentioned in that report, but it's fairly comprehensive, and very revealing. She's mercenary, selfish | and without a heart. She influenced you . . ." j "You know nothing about it," Katie exclaimed. "About my | side of it, I mean. And whatever Lorina has done, I think it | was pretty despicable to put a detective on to her affairs in I England, and then frighten her out of Numeh with the | report!" | "You're wrong, little one. The report reached me this mom; ing. And I might mention that Lorina went aboard willingly ^ and happily, even if she did omit to say goodbye to you. j That's all you need know." I After a short silence, Katie said, "Shall we eo now?" "No." I She bit at the inside of her lip, and tasted blood. A little desperately she murmured, "I can't think why you wanted to keep me on the island. You dislike me, your opinion of me couldn't be much lower, arid yet you insisted that I stay, and ; even go to the Major's house." 181

"I think you're young and impressionable. A few weeks of living in an ordinary happy household with an older woman who happens to like young women would be something you've never experienced, and wonderfully good for you." "You mean that you . . . you really wanted me to stay, even though you believed . . . knew unsavoury things about me?" "I think that back in England you were still adolescent, that you were flattered and persuaded by an older man." A nerve moved in his jaw. "How old is this Charles Kain?" The suffocating tightness came back into Katie's throat. "About thirty-five . . . but, Simon, it wasn't anything like you thought it was. Now that I'm sure you're not ... not falling a little in love with Lorina . . ." "For the love of Mike!" "Well . . . there were times when I thought you were, and anyway, I didn't want to ruin your impression of her. But, just so that you won't think quite so badly of me ... that letter you thrust at me was Lorina's." He gazed straight down into her eyes, and for moments it seemed as though he might go on doing it for ever, with anger and enlightenment, relief and more anger flashing through his own dark eyes like a firework display. "It adds up," he said, not very clearly. Then he gripped her arms. "Why didn't you tell me at the time? I had a right to know!" "Lorina had said it was mine. What could I do?" "Why, you little idiot," he said violently. "I've had the devil of a time since I read that letter and thought it was yours! At night I've paced round the house like an injured tiger, telling myself that you'd been caught up in something that you didn't even understand . . . hoping it was as mild as that, and not some horrible intrigue of which you were fully aware. I decided that if I kept you out here you'd revert to type . . . become as sweet and unsophisticated as you must have been before you met that scoundrel in England. And now you confess, as innocently as if you've no conception whatsoever of anyone's feelings, that the man is Lorina's, 182

I that you're the cousin who was to be ditched. Katie," his fingers tightening on her arms, "I could hurt you!" She winced, and trembled. "I couldn't let Lorina down. Oh, I know she wasn't so careful about me, but however things have tamed out, it's still true that I was terribly glad to have someone belonging to me. You see, Charles had written that he'd managed to get an assignment for some journal or other in Singapore and was flying out almost at once It didn't suit Lorina, and after thinking it over she decided that the only thing that would keep him in England was a cable saying that we'd been successful. Well ... it worked." Simon wasn't able to say anything more just then He slipped an ana round Katie and held her, not very tightly but with a closeness that nevertheless made her feel faint And y, presently he picked up the lantern, kept an arm across her j shoulders and compelled her to walk with him into the night. I They went slowly, trod over the worn roots of vine and fern until they came to the beach, where fishing-boats and » Simon's outboard motor-boat were in sole possession There | was not even a late fisherman in sight. Where a group of ; half a dozen palms grew from the sand, Simon halted His voice was carefully quiet. "One of the reasons I came to the hotel this afternoon was to tell you about Dan Willis and Jean. I rather prided myself on a small test which may turn out quite successful." She felt lightheaded as she asked, "What was it?" "Jean had earned a bonus. The Health Committee increased it as she'd resigned and I took the notification and had my own secretary type it out, addressed to Mrs. Jean Petiow. I took it in for Dan to sign, in his capacity as Health Officer I knew that if he really eared about her going he'd notice the Mrs. He did." "Oh, I'm so glad!" "That's not all. I showed him that report on Lorina He didn't quite know it at the time, but the two together were a knockout blow. It'll take him some time to recover, but I don't think Jean will leave, after all." "That's . . . that's the best possible newsl" 183

"Is it?" He sounded a bit odd. "Supposing I give you a bit of information about myself now?" She drew slightly away from him. "Not now," she said quickly. "It must be getting late. I know it already, anyway." "You do?" rather sharply. "Then you tell me." "I'm tired, Simon." "You're not tired. You're afraid." It was true: the fright ran through the very marrow of her bones. She tightened, knowing it would have to be said. "All right. You're engaged to Cherry Craven. So what?" In a lesser degree, he reacted to this as he had reacted to her statement that the letter from Charles Kain had been addressed to Lorina. He stared at her, with an odd expression in his eyes, but this time there was no anger. "You believed the rumours?" he demanded. "I had no reason not to. She was a guest in your house." And then Katie realised what he was implying. Her mouth parted, and soft colour came back into her cheeks. "Aren't you?" she whispered. "Aren't you engaged to her?" "To Cherry? Does that mean you really believe I'm in love with her?" She looked away and said tremulously, "I'm too muddled to know what I believe. Only an hour ago I'd have maintained that you weren't capable of loving anyone really deeply. But . . . but you can be gentle sometimes, you were good to my father, and you've done all you could for Jean, Even though you suspected Lorina, you were kind to her." She looked up briefly and her breath caught. "Don't keep staring at me like that, Simon." ; "I can't help it," he said indistinctly. "I meant to be very objective about this. I was merely going to mention that I ,; love you very much, and that when you've had a spell of t normal living among us I'd ask you to marry me. No, that | isn't true. I wasn't going to mention marriage at all - only | that your happiness means a great deal to me. The whole '| damned scene seems to have gone cockeyed!" ,| But in the way such scenes will, it righted itself by the "| most simple means possible. She was in his arms, weak and | 184 '

J quivering and as near to tears as to laughter. He kissed her | gently, and not quite 'so gently, felt her arms slide up and i about his neck, and entirely forgot his prosaic intentions. The moon, still hidden by the trees, cast a whiteness over the sky and the beach, silvered the sea and blackened the palm fronds. A breeze rustled softly through the branches and passed away, leaving the whole exotic night still and benign. At last he said vibrantly, "This is what I hoped for but couldn't believe in. Don't ask me why I should fall in love with someone like you. Maybe it's a punishment!" "Simon!" "Could be, you know. I've never had much time or patience for young people. Children, yes ... and the mature. But the in-betweens, like you, have always irritated me. I think that was one reason I was so adamant in my letters to England; I was darned if I'd give in to an eighteen-year-old girl." ' "Nineteen!" "It's very young," he said soberly. "You think you love me, don't you?" "I know I do." "But you can't be quite sure till you've known me longer. It's different with me. I've been waiting for you. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if my decision to go over to England fairly soon wasn't something subconscious, prompted by your letters. I've known so much about you that I feel I understand you far better than you can understand me." "I'll understand you," she said. "I'll make it my life's work 1" "You'd better," he murmured, against her hair. "Are you happy?" "I'm in heaven. But I can't think why you should prefer me to Cherry?" He laughed. "My sweet litue Kate, you don't know the half about yourself. You think you're strong and independent, but at heart you're still a child, wanting to be loved and wanting to have somebody to love. That was why you clung to Lorina and wouldn't see her faults. I'll tell you something 185

you've never realised. If you hadn't had the foolish suspicion that I might fall for Lorina, you'd never have seen her clearly; you'd have gone on glossing her character. As for Cherry - she's a beauty on the surface and effervescence underneath. All she has that many others haven't is that slight accent." "But I'm not clever, or beautiful!" "You're clever enough, and to me, my darling girl, you're a glad sight all over. My honey-blonde, with golden skin and unique eyes." "That's nice," she said inadequately. "But what happened with you and Cherry? You've promised to visit her mother on the Riviera, and Cherry herself is coming back to Numeh, isn't she?" "That was her idea. I'm afraid I was a little abrupt about it this morning. I asked her not to come back, and told her I might not be going to Europe after all. Cherry's not dense; she just raised her glass of champagne and said airily, *I can take a hint, old man.' And that was that. She's not in love with me, or with anyone else - you can take my word for it." "But weren't you a little fond of her?" "Just a bit. I used to think it was time I married, and she was the most engaging thing I'd met in the last few years. But I'm certain I wouldn't have proposed to her before going to Europe . . . and then I'd have met you, anyway. So you have to marry me, Katie. It's written!" She clung to him. "I can't believe you've been so cruel accusing me of wanting Pete . . ." "No, it was Pete who wanted you. He still does, when he thinks about it. I believe that's why he refused my invitation to come over to the farewell party for Cherry. He cleared off with a friend instead. Meeting you was good for him, and it's probably helped him to decide to go to Paris. For me, your friendship with Pete was a shot of poison!" "Yet you tried to throw me at Larry Brendon!" He sighed. "That was near the start. Larry's the most stiffnecked youngster I've ever encountered; I didn't know they bred them any more. But I thought he would make an ideal 186

escort for you - from my point of view, that is. He would never dare more than words, and even those would be stereotyped and unromantic. And meanwhile, you and I could be getting to know each other in person. It v/as what I wanted and planned, but you upset everything. You preferred matey Pete, whom I wouldn't trust alone with any woman . .." "But Pete was marvellous!" "Because you happened to be you. Even after he reassured me I wasn't happy about it." He smiled. "That was why I commissioned the portrait of Lorina - to keep him too busy to paint you. By the way, he did finish it off and I think I'll send it over to Lorina." Katie backed slightly and looked at him. "What happened to her, finally? I've heard she was cheerful, that she didn't seem to mind leaving, yet she seems to have gained nothing." "She gained more than she deserved," he said. "It was lucky for Lorina that she left before that report arrived. I promised to pay for the guest farm if she'd give me her word - her official oath, with witnesses - that none of the staff would suffer in any way from the change-over. She thought I was mad, but accepted at once. She didn't know that I'd have given her anything she might ask for simply because she was the one who worked on you till you agreed to come out here." He paused. "I told her I was keeping you here, but beyond looking at me rather oddly she made no sign that it mattered. Do you think she'll marry the Kain man?" "Probably. I didn't like him." "You don't have to. They sound suited to each other." He nodded towards the boat. "We have to get back in time for dinner. The're expecting me at home." The word, applied to Simon's long, luxurious house, sounded strange. Katie realised, in a sort of tidal wave, that one day it would be her home, too, and she stumbled. He caught her close. "Worried, darling?" "No, only apprehensive." "Of living with the Crawleys or of marrying rne?" "Both, just a trifle. But . . . but you're Simon Forbes of 187

Numeh, and famous in the South China Sea. It's such a lot to live up to." "It's nothing at all. When the islanders know we're engaged they'll go wild with joy and fete you, and you'll grow into it all like one of our rare flowers." "Not a Rower of the Morning?" "That, too, with dew on your petals and a fragrance you get from nothing else in the world. Katie . . . my own," he said thickly, "I adore you." This time her raised lips met and almost matched his insistence. He kissed her with a famished passion, then firmly set her away from him, took her hand and nodded again towards the boat. "I won't be quite sure this has happened till I kiss you in my own house on Numeh," he said, "so the sooner we get there the better!" Katie said nothing. She sat in the boat, saw his arrogant profile as he pushed out and started the motor. Her heart sang of its warmth and wonder, her eyes shone with an intensity of love. Already she belonged to Simon.