Perfect Freedom (27 page)

He was a strappingly handsome man, golden blond, blue-eyed, with gleaming white teeth. He immediately singled Helene out for his attentions though he wooed them all with easy charm. His manner and appearance were youthful but he quickly made a point of being almost forty. Helene blushed, suspecting that he did so to put them on an equal footing before launching a flirtation.

“Incredible that Mrs. Cosling should have a grown son, eh, Carl?” the married Englishman remarked.

“No, Harold, no. You English have no perceptions. No woman can be truly beautiful
unless
she has a grown son,” von Eschenstadt replied.

“I know what you're going to say next, Carl,” Mrs. Dianopoulou said, gazing out across the bay as if she could wrest secrets from the gathering night. “You are going to say that twenty years ago when I was already older than Mrs. Cosling is now, I was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen.”

“You are still beautiful,” the German declared gallantly, “but you are now also a mind reader.”

“I know you, my friend. You are incapable of talking to a woman without trying to make her feel that she has never been appreciated as you appreciate her.” Mrs. Dianopoulou looked at Helene. “It is my warning, Mrs. Cosling. I always warn women I introduce to Carl.”

“Now I won't be able to say a word to Mrs. Cosling without her suspecting my sincerity,” von Eschenstadt sighed. “No matter, I shall tell her that her husband is very handsome, that her son is most handsome, too. She can't question that.”

Mrs. Dianopoulou smiled serenely. “You see, he is incorrigible,” she said.

Helene remembered from the old days that some men couldn't discuss the weather without turning it into a flirtation and it had always annoyed her. Von Eschenstadt had a sort of devil-may-care
joie de vivre
that saved him from being annoying. While they drank and chatted, he was all meaningful glances, silent appeals, veiled challenges, as insistent as hands touching her, but she was enjoying herself as she had enjoyed that faraway morning with the admiral's family. She was recovering her social aptitudes and was able to parry his attentions lightly without completely discouraging them. It was fun being courted again though even Carl, in the presence of her husband and son, would know that it was only a game.

It was dark when servants with lamps lighted the party down over the rocks to two waiting boats. Robbie stood back and watched while the German helped Mrs. Dianopoulou and the English lady onto the first boat, keeping his mother at his side until last. He gave her a hand and clambered quickly aboard after her, followed by his father and the Englishman called Harold. The boat circled away, its motor popping, and the second nosed in with the boatman standing in the bow.

There was enough light coming from somewhere for Robbie to see that he was the same one who had brought them out, young and good-looking. Robbie had been instantly attracted to him but had been careful not to pay any attention to him in front of his parents. The boatman beckoned to him and held out his hand. Robbie picked his way over the last few rocks and made a leap for the boat. He grabbed the extended hand and was pulled down into the boatman's arms. The tenderness with which he was briefly held caused his heart to skip a beat. He felt a shock of recognition pass between them.

The boatman laughed and gave him a little hug and took his hand and led him to the stern and seated him beside the tiller as if he knew they belonged together. He returned to the bow and helped Johnny Metcalfe and the younger pair safely on board and came back and did something with the engine. They reversed and Robbie pulled the tiller toward him to bring them around, inaugurating a collaboration that they both seemed to expect.

The boatman patted his shoulder approvingly and dropped down beside him and put his arm around him and hugged him close. He put his hand on Robbie's where it held the tiller and moved it back and forth on the wood. He said something and laughed. An image sprang to Robbie's mind. Did the young boatman mean what he seemed to mean? Even though he couldn't see him clearly, Robbie had the impression that he was only a boy, probably about his own age. The boy lifted his hand from Robbie's and pointed at himself, leaning his face in close. “Theo,” he said.

“Theo,” Robbie repeated. Theo nodded vigorously and pointed at Robbie. Robbie said his own name.

“Roddy?” He pronounced it almost as if it were spelled with a “th” and Robbie didn't correct him. He liked having a special name for Theo. He replaced his hand on Robbie's and squeezed it as he shifted the tiller to alter their course slightly. “Roddy,” he repeated delightedly. They moved slowly and noisily out across the still lake. Stars pulsated in the sky. The lights of the town were strung out along the hillside like a fallen constellation. The arm held Robbie firmly as if it weren't going to let go. Robbie had an erection.

He told himself that he was imagining things. Theo was simply being affectionate in a way that was permitted here. The other three passengers were dark shapeless forms only a few feet away. Robbie moved his thumb in a tentative caress. The hand on his waist moved up amorously along the side of his ribs, pressing him closer. Robbie slipped his free hand over onto Theo's thigh but didn't dare let it go exploring. Theo clasped it between his knees and brushed his mouth against the side of Robbie's face. Robbie turned and Theo kissed him quickly on the lips. Robbie was barely able to stifle a cry of incredulous delight.

They both drew back but Theo's arm remained around him and their fingers played provocatively together on the tiller. Robbie was breathing rapidly. He didn't see how they could go any further but they had declared themselves. They were making love to each other. It was perfectly simple and open and natural. Why couldn't everybody be like the Greeks?

They rounded a point and headed in toward a big, brightly lighted house set just above the sea on a wide terrace. As they drew closer, Robbie could see tables set out on the terrace with people sitting around them. Light began to dart and flicker into the boat and he gave Theo's knee a squeeze and reluctantly withdrew his hand. Their hands remained on the tiller but with their fingers spread out on it, touching but no longer holding each other. Theo continued to stroke his back down to his buttocks and up along his side. He surely had an erection too; Robbie longed to touch it before they were parted.

They approached a short jetty and Theo cut the motor. It was light enough now for Robbie to see his companion clearly. He was as young as he had thought and very handsome, with wide-set eyes and broad cheekbones and a marvelously expressive and mobile mouth. It was a northern face and his hair was light brown instead of the standard Greek black. Theo stood as they drifted in close to the jetty and he and Johnny exchanged a few words in Greek. Robbie's eyes were fixed on the swell of his crotch, startlingly bulky in tight cotton pants.

He started to rise but Theo put a hand on his neck and ran his fingers through his hair, keeping him beside him the way Carl (Robbie thought unexpectedly) kept his mother with him while he helped the others. When Johnny and the young pair had climbed onto the jetty, Theo gave his shoulder a pat and Robbie rose, finding the courage to let his hand brush against the splendor he had been admiring. A shiver of excitement ran down his spine; Theo wanted him. They stood close together, holding hands. Theo had wide shoulders but was shorter than Robbie. Their eyes met and Theo's mouth formed a suggestion of a kiss and his eyes filled with laughter and desire.

“Here? Later?” Robbie asked, pointing down at the boat. It had to happen, although he couldn't imagine how they would manage to be alone together. Theo laughed and nodded and waved toward the town. He exerted pressure on Robbie's hand and led him forward. He made a thorough loving exploration of Robbie's behind as he gave him a boost onto the deck. Robbie put his hand on the top of his head in a final caress as he jumped onto the jetty. They waved to each other and Robbie turned to Johnny Metcalfe. The two adolescents were mounting the steps ahead of them.

“I'd say young Theo rather fancies you,” Johnny said in a subdued voice.

“He seemed to want to hold my hand,” Robbie said in case Johnny had seen them.

“A friendly custom, if sometimes misleading. He's one of the Five Brothers. They enliven our days—our nights, too, as far as that's concerned—with their charms. Theo's the youngest. The others are all married. He's something of a celebrity in his own right. If you're interested, you'll doubtless find out why.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind. I have it only on hearsay. You'll doubtless find out for yourself. You're inclined that way? They're an extraordinary family. Not typically Greek. You run into these unexpected strains here that date back to before the Turkish occupation. There's Macedonian blood there somewhere. I like to think of them as descendants of the Great Alexander. I can easily see you as Hephaistion.”

Robbie blushed as he picked up the reference and began to like this mournful-looking young Englishman. “Is he going to be waiting for us after dinner?” Robbie dared ask.

“For you. Don't worry about that. Greek boys are very faithful when they find someone they like.”

“He made some sort of gesture toward town.”

“I dare say he meant he'll be taking us all to the taverna later. We'll see some dancing. His twin brothers are famous dancers.”

They were going to see each other again. Robbie could get through dinner without the anguish of not knowing.

They found the older members of the party already seated at a big table when they climbed up to the terrace. They all exchanged greetings and the newcomers took the chairs left for them at the end of the table. Helene noticed that Robbie was looking particularly beautiful tonight, all vibrant and alive, rather as if he'd just fallen in love. She smiled fondly. That would happen one day soon. For the first time, she thought of it without dread. It would be rather sweet and exciting to watch him with his first girl. Something about the novelty and beauty of the evening engendered romantic thoughts. She turned back to Carl to answer some question about the house in St. Tropez. He had “placed” them very quickly. He knew of Stuart's father and other members of his family and had even met a cousin of Helene's late husband. He was now familiarizing himself with their house.

“It's so difficult to describe,” Helene said. “We lived in a little sort of cabin and then when we sold some land Stuart decided to build a showplace. I hope it isn't too showy but it
is
extraordinary.”

“Not extraordinary enough, I'm sure, to house the extraordinary beauty of its mistress.”

“Oh really, Carl. You're such a fool,” she said with flustered girlish laughter. She was astonished that they should be on such easy terms so quickly. She enjoyed looking at the handsome blond German. His smile rose in his eyes before it burst across his face in a way that was quite beguiling.

He leaned across the table to Stuart. “Your wife says I'm a fool because I tell her she is beautiful. Why have you kept it a secret from her?”

“For a while, we couldn't afford a mirror. It's high time somebody reminded her. It's something husbands sometimes forget to mention. I don't think I've been too remiss.” He smiled across at them. He had fallen in love with Greece. He hadn't seen Helene so playful and happy for years, momentarily freed from her doting absorption in Robbie. He liked Carl; he was a man's man, for all his elaborate flirtatiousness. He was pleased for Helene to have an admirer after the years of isolation. The evening had been given a mystic significance by the oracular presence of Mrs. Dianopoulou. She seemed to have accumulated into herself all the wisdom of the race. He felt as if she were about to give utterance to the ultimate secret. He listened attentively to every word she said, even if it was only to order dinner. More than anybody he knew, she struck him as being rooted in some timeless reality that had so far eluded him.

Robbie fidgeted with impatience. Why did he have to be here instead of with his friend? It was time to strike a blow for his independence. He couldn't spend every waking moment for the next month with his parents. He and Johnny talked about color and form and he began to find Johnny's long nose and almost total lack of chin more entertaining than depressing but he couldn't forget the handsome boy. They drank plentifully of
retsina
on top of the
ouzo
but instead of dulling his senses it inflamed his desire. Johnny seemed to understand and approve his interest in the young Greek, which reassured him. Things could happen here that might not anywhere else. But how? He was tied to his parents.

Halfway through the meal, Theo appeared at the top of the steps. Robbie wanted to let out a whoop of welcome. He was too well trained to give way to the impulse but he felt something happening in his face, as if a hundred lights had been turned on inside him. Their eyes drew each other as Theo advanced partway across the terrace and stopped. They beamed at each other and Theo pointed at himself and down below where the boat was waiting and nodded. Robbie nodded in reply and watched the boy turn and head for the corner of the house. Robbie glanced hastily around the table to see if he had been observed but everybody was engaged in conversation, Only Johnny smiled at him with mournful comprehension.

“My word,” he commented. “Anybody who can make you look like that should have you.”

Johnny had been right. Theo was here, watching over him, waiting for him. Robbie finished the meal in a state of almost uncontrollable excitement, in love with Greece, in love with Theo, almost in love with Johnny. He remained at a loss as to how he could free himself for the Greek boy but Theo would think of something. They had kissed. Theo would know how to get what he wanted.

When the party rose to go down to the boats for town, Robbie hung back, hoping they would divide up the same way as before. When he reached the head of the steps, he looked down for Theo and saw him waving at him. He waved back. He was keeping his boat clear of the jetty.