Stormy Haven (2 page)

“
Third-rate, but
I
love it. One day I
’
ll—
”
She interrupted herself sharply.

Stephen guessed that she had suddenly seen the incongruity of standing in an Aden street beneath a merciless sun, and expatiating upon her youthful desires to a stranger. The animation had died from her expression.

An Arab wearing an old burnoose stood beside them, indicating with a stained forefinger the trinket that still lay in her hand.

“
You buy, master?
”

“
How much?
”

“
Two pound ten—English.
”

Stephen didn
’
t argue. His notes were jubilantly accepted. He smiled sardonically into the wide green eyes and carelessly closed her fingers over the sides of the carved amber.

“
It
’
s yours.
”

“
But I couldn
’
t take it. I don
’
t know you.
”

“
Stephen Brent, geologist. How do you do, Miss Paget. Does that square things?
”

“
I
’
d rather not have it, if you don
’
t mind.
”
She was not distressed, merely stating a fact.

Exasperated, he took her elbow so that she had to move on with him.
“
Put it away. It
’
s no different from buying a child a toy.
”

“
That
’
s rather unflattering. And anyway... would you buy a child a toy?
”

“
What do you mean by that?
”

“
Only that I don
’
t think you would. You don
’
t strike me as the sort of man who
’
d like children.
”
She was walking quickly, to keep up with him.
“
I don
’
t believe you like anyone very much.
”

“
You
’
re absolutely right,
”
he said crisply.

They had reached the dock and he stood aside to allow her to ascent the gangway steps in front of him. They reached the familiar deck.

“
I
’
m going to the lounge for a dri
n
k. Will you come?
”
he said, in a tone calculated to impress upon her that she was unwanted.

“
No, thank you. I must find my cousin.
”

Stephen paused, a cold glint in his eyes.
“
Did you come from England?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
Where did you pick up the
Tjisande
?
”

“
At Marseilles. Elfrida fancied the journey across France, but it was too much for her. She isn
’
t particularly strong. If you
’
ll excuse me, Mr. Brent,
”
she finished hurriedly.

But it was too late. The tall woman in white tailored silk was level with them. A lovely woman with curling, silky black hair and dark eyes, firm, creamy skin and fine, mature curves. Stephen would have said she was a sight stronger than this other pale little thing, who was now so completely eclipsed.

“
Why, Melanie!
”
exclaimed Elfrida.
“
I
’
ve been worried about you. Did you have any trouble?
”

“
No, not a bit.
”
The girl turned to Stephen without looking at him.
“
This is Mr. Brent
...
Mrs. Paget. Mr. Brent showed me the best shop for curios.
”

“
How good of him.
”
Elfrida slanted at him her almo
n
d-shaped glance.
“
Are you one of our ship companions, Mr. Brent?
”

“
All the way to Mindoa,
”
he told her. It seemed that Melanie was not so truthful as those candid eyes would suggest; or maybe there was an element in the relationship between these two that forbade complete honesty. You could never be sure what one woman thought about another.
“
I
hope you
’
re fully recovered?
”

“
Thank you, I am. I
’
ve never left England before, and the foreignness and rich cooking in France upset my nerves.
”

Stephen said,
“
Will you share a table with me at lunch?
”

“
You
’
re very kind.
”

He bowed.
“
I
’
ll arrange it. Your young cousin has been tired out by the heat
.
She needs a rest.
”

“
Don
’
t bother about Melanie. She always looks dreamy and pale. We
’
ll see you later, then, Mr. Brent.
”

CHAPTER TWO

Melanie had followed
Elfrida below, to the large cabin they shared. It was blessedly cool; the air conditioner roared gently and the short red curtain billowed away from the porthole, admitting a strong, warm breeze.

At the shipping office in Marseilles, Elfrida had insisted on two separate cabins
—
until she had seen the ship
’
s plan and realized that Melanie would be given an apartment as luxurious as her own. That, as she had pointed out, was unfair and too expensive. It was more satisfactory to commandeer three parts of a double cabin; in any case, she was too unwell to be left alone all night.

Melanie could make no demur of any kind, for was she not the unfortunate little cousin who had first been given a home and had this astounding opportunity of seeing some of the world? Not that she was ever anything but grateful to Elfrida. She might be a bit unhappy sometimes—what parentless girl isn
’
t
—
but she was passionately thankful that Elfrida had decided to bring her on this voyage.

Elfrida was her cousin by marriage. Melanie remembered the wedding when she was twelve or so; her cousin John, home from Mindoa and blazingly happy. He wasn
’
t going back, not he. He had settled with Elfrida in a Mayfair flat, and for a long time had been inexpressibly contented. Then rifts became apparent; he could not get used to living in the noise and hurry of London, but Elfrida would not move out of town. He wanted children, and she didn
’
t. She was extravagant and the income from the Mindoa plantation was gradually dwindling. By the time he had to return to the island he and Elfrida had reached the point of estrangement. He had no option but to go without her. For six months he had slaved to increase production, and then he had died.

After that, Elfrida had been first a charming widow and afterward a popular hostess and woman about town. John
’
s final burst of energy had brought her income back to a high level for a while, and she had had sophisticated good times with fortune hunters who were less wily than she.

Melanie had learned all this in the past few months. Until just before last Christmas her own life had been unexciting. She had attended a boarding school and gained so many distinctions in piano playing that she had been offered a temporary position with the school as junior music teacher. Vaguely, she had wanted other things; to have done with the school atmosphere, to plunge into the exciting world, to meet people with strange backgrounds and enthralling personalities. Not so very long after her eighteenth birthday the miracle of miracles had happened. Elfrida had come to the school.

In effect she had said winningly,
“
Hello, Melanie dear. I
’
ve been thinking about you a great deal lately. It
’
s awfully hard luck for a girl of your age to have no home, and I
’
d like you to come and live with me. I
’
m poor now, you know—I can
’
t even afford a maid, but I
’
m sure you
’
ll help me to keep the apartment neat till the lease is up, and have
p
lenty of spare time to learn shorthand, typing, or something.
”

There had never been any chance that Melanie would refuse this offer of freedom in the outside world. As it happened, she had not trained at the commercial school because as soon as she was installed at the apartment the trip to Mindoa was in the air. Elfrida, cool, suave and mistress of her emoti
o
ns, was nevertheless uneasy about the future. A rich husband was the solution, but she had unwisely cultivated the wrong set. Finally, she had come to the decision to travel across France by way of Paris and the Riviera and make the trip to Mindoa. It would take money, but the possibilities of such a venture were enormous. She had heard that even on Mindoa considerable wealth existed
.
Melanie, who was ordinary and modest and a wonder with her needle, might be exceedingly useful.

Elfrida underestimated her young relative
’
s intelligence. Melanie had discovered that as long as Elfrida had her own
way in all things she was extraordinarily easy to get along with. She had also learned that unusual situations were best handled by leaving the older woman to take the initiative. Which was why she now sank into a chair at the foot of her bed and bent wordlessly to unstrap her sandals.

Elfrida sat on the side of her own bed and spoke musingly.
“
Your Mr. Brent is handsome. How, exactly, did you meet?
”

“
He sort of
... butted in. I suppose I looked pretty raw.
”

“
You always do, my dear. I rather thought that one of these days some nice man would pity your youth and enter our circle.
”

“
He didn
’
t pity me, and he
’
s not particularly nice, either.
”

Melanie bent lower over her shoe. In an awful flash of realization it had come to her that before long Elfrida would demand to know what had become of the two pounds filched by the taxi driver. Oh, heavens, what could she do? Tell the truth and call down upon herself scorn and another of Elfrida
’
s nervous collapses? Pretend the things had cost more? To stall the moment, she said,
“
Mr. Brent isn
’
t likely to trouble us much. He doesn
’
t care for women.
”

“
It was he who invited us to share a luncheon table,
”
Elfrida reminded her.
“
Seeing me may have changed his ideas. What does he do?
”

“
He told me he
’
s a geologist.
”

“
Sounds stuffy, but he looked dangerous—not to you, of course. He
’
s twice your age. He
’
s probably a specialist in his line and fairly well-off. Ah, well,
”
she signed luxuriously,
“
he
’
s going to Mindoa, so in time we shall know all. Show me the native things you bought.
”

This was it. Melanie stepped into slippers and
carefully opened the small parcel. Elfrida exclaimed. The tiny black bowl was sweet and the ivory temple quite breathtaking. In something of a panic Melanie extracted the amber carving from her bag.

“
That
’
s the best of all!
”
was Elfrida
’
s comment as she took possession of it.
“
Did you have much change from the five pounds?
”

Melanie emptied out her bag, recalled with a further sinking of the heart the several shillings she had desperately tossed among the beggars. Upon the bedspread she laid twenty-five shillings belonging to her cousin and her own last ten shilling note. The money was scooped up, dropped negligently into a purse.

“
Maybe I
’
ll feel fit enough to go ashore myself at Bombay,
”
observed Elfrida.
“
We
’
ll prevail upon Mr. Brent to show us the town. And now we
’
d better get ready for lunch.
”

Stephen, when they met him at the opening to the lounge, had paid them the compliment of changing from his bush shirt into a beige drill lounge suit. With it, he wore a brown silk shirt and matching tie.

Elfrida liked his height and the proportionate width of shoulder, and the lean hips that are inseparable from a perfect physical condition. His hair, thick and springy, was nearly as dark as her own, and his face—with those steel-grey eyes that had made her dub him
“
dangerous
”
and the high-bridged, arrogant nose—was attractively contradictory at the moment, for a smile slightly softened the hard mouth. There was a suspicion of cynicism about the man, which might mean that he had sought their company purely as an antidote to boredom. But if that were the case it was up to her not only to dispel the boredom but to sharpen his appetite for the tonic.

Melanie hated that meal with Elfrida and Stephen. She was accustomed to her cousin
’
s idiosyncrasies but she had never before experienced anything resembling Stephen
’
s mocking worldliness. She felt that he knew all her secrets and was amused by them, that he compared her with Elfrida for his own private amusement. He aroused in her a completely unfamiliar sensation—a cold yet quite intense brand of anger.

When the dessert was brought she asked them to excuse her. Elfrida said,
“
Why, certainly, Melanie,
”
but Stephen looked across at her speculatively.