The Theotokis Inheritance (7 page)

Now Helena did look up at Oscar, horribly conscious of the dark, unfathomable expression in his eyes—and unable to ignore the sinking of her own heart.

‘Oh… I see,’ was all he said casually, taking the tray from Helena and going out before her to the kitchen. ‘Did you tell Callidora that I would be back in Greece tomorrow?’ he added.

‘I didn’t tell her anything,’ Helena said.

Presently, up in her bedroom, Helen undressed
slowly and got ready for bed. She had been plunged from a sense of unbelievable pleasure and well-being to feeling acutely depressed. Depressed and insecure.

Because there was so much she knew about Oscar—and so much she didn’t know. Not any more. Nor was she ever likely to know.

At around midnight, Oscar came up the stairs to bed. More than anything in the world, he wanted to make love to Helena. Now. And it wasn’t just romantic passion that was torturing him. He longed to hold her close to him, to protect her… She had looked so defenceless down in that field earlier in the day, so unutterably vulnerable. So hotly desirable. And there had been a few moments, later, as he’d dried her toes, when he’d recognized that special look in her magical eyes that had told him all he needed to know.

Going past his own room, he walked softly towards Helena’s door and stood for a moment, listening. The only sound he could hear was her gentle breathing, and very carefully he opened the door just wide enough to look inside.

She was lying on her back on the bed, one slim leg carelessly over the side, her arms raised above her, her hair fanning out loosely on the pillow. She still had her underwear on, the rest of her clothes and the duvet were scattered on the floor beside her.

Unable to resist going closer, Oscar went inside and stood looking down. She was deeply asleep, a pale moon reflecting light on the skin of her slender neck, on the rounded curve of her naked thigh. Her long eyelashes swept her cheeks, her lips were slightly parted,
her breasts in the lacy bra rising and falling gently with each breath.

With his blood rushing and almost overcome with need, Oscar swallowed hard, then stooped to pick up the duvet. Very carefully, he placed it over her, gathering the folds up around her neck, tucking them in gently. He paused for only a second before turning to leave.

‘Kalinihta, agapi mou,’
he whispered.

O
N
M
ONDAY
morning the new silver-blue car arrived and, although Helena had felt annoyed at Oscar taking what she saw as an unnecessary step in buying it for her, she had to admit to a feeling of pride as she drove it for the first time. And, of course, he had been right. She was obviously going to need some form of transport while she was here, either to go into Dorchester for fresh supplies or, more importantly, to get her to any future job she may have to find. Helena frowned as she remembered her feeling of hopelessness at not being able to drive away on Saturday afternoon and she also remembered how she’d felt when she awoke to find Oscar’s quizzical eyes gazing at her through the open window. It was a huge stroke of luck that he’d happened to be in the UK, she thought—had her guardian angel been at work again?

By the end of the week, Helena had settled into Mulberry Court with no problem. Louise popped up to the house fairly frequently, to do the sort of tasks she normally did, and Helena enjoyed helping her sometimes—and chatting about the past.

But what was mostly on Helena’s mind was listing all the valuable contents of the house. Although she’d
been aware of Oscar taking some notes the other day, she wanted to catalogue everything herself—for her own satisfaction—and to start thinking about eventually taking some of it away with her, even though that thought made her shudder. It was here, in this house, where everything truly belonged, not split up and sold off—it would almost feel like vandalism. But she had to be realistic, she realized that. Quite apart from her figurines, which she kept peeping in to look at, there was so much expensive stuff here and it all had to go somewhere. And as for the library with hundreds of Isobel’s books, she thought, looking around her now… A lot of them would find their way into her new home—wherever that turned out to be.

She looked pensively out of the window for a moment. She’d have to find that special job in London first, then probably rent somewhere on a short-term let while she looked around for a permanent home. But she wouldn’t know what to look for until she knew what her resources might be… Until they sold Mulberry Court next year.

She bit her lip. She did not want to think about the financial aspect of all this, had deliberately shut her mind to it until the day came. Being here, now, was all she needed because, apart from the cottage she’d shared with her father all those years ago, this was the place she would always think of as home. It always made her feel so comfortable, so welcome, so wanted. And she certainly felt no anxiety at the thought of sleeping here by herself, as Oscar had thought she might.

She’d received numerous calls from him since he’d gone back, which was something of a surprise. Now
that he knew she was keeping potential squatters at bay and that she’d settled in, surely there was no need for him to keep checking up? But she freely admitted that she looked forward to hearing from him, hearing his voice, and yesterday he’d said he was making arrangements to come back to the UK, probably within a few days. Helena hugged herself as she thought of that. Although she knew that her renewed feelings for Oscar were causing her to tread on dangerous ground, it couldn’t do any harm to enjoy being with him again for just the brief interlude which fate had decreed. It didn’t have to mean anything to her—not anything serious, she assured herself. In fact, she’d make sure it didn’t. She’d grown up in the last ten years, had taken a few knocks and was quite ready for a few more if that was what life decided. Until then, it wasn’t a crime to enjoy being in the company of the most handsome man on God’s earth, was it? The only ‘crime’ would be if she let herself get carried away. And she would not let that happen this time. She was going to just live for the moment.

Helena was in the utility room putting some of her clothes into the washing machine when Louise came in, obviously concerned about something and in a somewhat breathless state.

‘Helena… I’ve just had a phone call from Sarah, my cousin—and it’s not good news.’

Helena looked up quickly. ‘Oh—what’s happened, Louise?’

‘She’s just rung me now, from the hospital… she’s suffered a detached retina, poor thing. It happened all
of a sudden, apparently, They operated last night, and she expects to be home on Monday, all being well. But the thing is—she’s going to need someone to look after her for a week or so because she won’t be able to see for a while. And, quite honestly, I’m the only one available… I’m her only relation, you see. Sarah’s very proud. She won’t want to leave it up to neighbours, even though they’re all very kind.’ Louise frowned anxiously.

‘So when are you going—and have you found out the train times? I can drive you to the station,’ Helena said at once.

They went into the kitchen, and Louise sat at the table for a moment, looking up at Helena. ‘There’s a train at ten-thirty in the morning,’ she said, ‘but… I feel really upset at having to go, because it means I won’t be with you, Helena… It’s so nice having you down here again. It’s like old times.’ She frowned anxiously. ‘And of course I can’t say exactly when I’ll be back. It’ll all depend how I find things at Durham, and how well Sarah is going to recover. Everything takes that bit longer as you get older,’ she added. ‘But I’m going to really hate missing out being here with you, Helena.’

‘Oh, these things happen, Louise,’ Helena said kindly. ‘And don’t worry—I’m not returning to London just yet. You’re sure to come home before I do. And, in the meantime, Sarah needs you, so you must go.’ Helena went over to put the kettle on. ‘I’ll bring the car down to the cottage at nine forty-five, shall I. That’ll give us plenty of time to get to the station,’ she added, thinking that Oscar had been right in buying the car, after all.

‘The other thing that’s a bit unfortunate is that this weekend Benjamin won’t be here, either. He’s going to spend some time with his children—which doesn’t happen very frequently,’ Louise said, watching as Helena put out two mugs for the coffee she was making for them. ‘His ex-wife always makes it so difficult for him, and he’s such a good man, so reliable and kind,’ Louise added. She looked thoughtful for a second.

Helena nodded in agreement. ‘Oscar told me all about what happened to him,’ she added.

After a moment Louise said, shooting a glance at Helena, ‘Seeing Mr Oscar again is quite something, isn’t it?’ She paused. ‘Of course, he didn’t visit Isobel that much of late, but she knew the reason for that… She often mentioned his very responsible job, the long hours he has to work. But he was often around in the old days, when you were both youngsters, wasn’t he?’ she added.

‘Yes, he was always here for his holidays,’ Helena said casually. ‘I haven’t seen anything of him since, and of course the only reason for him being about now is because of the will.’ She brought the coffee over to the table and sat down, and Louise stirred hers slowly, watching the liquid swirl around in the mug.

‘Life’s a funny old thing, isn’t it, when you think about it,’ Louise said. ‘You never know how it’s going to turn out, or what’s going to turn up next.’

Helena could only nod in agreement.

At around midnight on Sunday, something—and she could not identify what it was—made Helena wake up and sit bolt upright in bed, her heart gathering pace.
What
was
it she had heard that had brought her rapidly from a deep sleep to an alert wakefulness?

She stayed quite still for a moment, then slipped from beneath her duvet and went across to look out of the window. Nothing. Only the whispering of a light breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees, the pale moon overhead half-shrouded by cotton wool clouds causing dark shadows to filter in and out of the night. But… something was different… Something had brought Helena swiftly to a state of tense alertness, and she knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep until she’d gone to have a look around.

She dragged on her dressing gown, a sudden instinct making her pause to take her mobile from her bag. Then, bare-foot, she left the room and went downstairs, treading silently along the hall. Hesitating, she pulled herself up for a moment. There it was again… and she knew now! It was coughing that she’d heard. Someone was coughing, someone was choking, and there was whispering… Then another smothered wheezy cough.

Although momentarily rooted to the spot, Helena didn’t feel frightened—and afterwards she would ask herself why she hadn’t been. She went into the kitchen and over to the window and stared out, the house security lights illuminating the scene all around.

Two men were there, wearing dark hoodies, one of them bigger than the other. They were crouching forward, attempting to force the back door to gain entry, totally intent on what they were doing.

By now, Helena’s tongue had dried and her pulse was racing, yet despite that she knew she was feeling amazingly calm, almost detached. It was like watching
a scene being played out in front of her, she thought fleetingly. Then she saw one of them push the hood away from his face and she frowned, peering to take a closer look. This was not a
man
, she saw at once; it was a young boy with pale unshaven features, and he was in the midst of a very bad asthma attack. Helena recognized it at once because Jason had been a sufferer, too.

Relaxing her tense shoulders and as if in sympathy, Helena drew in her own breath deeply, then stepped forward and released both inside locks, throwing the door open wide.

‘Allow me to save you the trouble, gentlemen,’ she said pleasantly. ‘What is it you want?’

Driving rapidly in the direction of Mulberry Court, Oscar’s expression was dark, the thought of what might have happened to Helena sending icy shivers right down his spine. It had certainly been enough to bring him back from Greece at the earliest possible moment.

Three days earlier he’d learned from Helena that Louise had gone to Durham to look after her cousin, and then Helena had added, almost airily, that there’d been night-time intruders at the house. Which, for once in his life, had left Oscar speechless.

He’d pressed her for details, but Helena had refused to elaborate, saying that it had all been dealt with. But that hadn’t satisfied Oscar and he couldn’t wait to return and find out more—and convince himself that Helena was all right, that nothing bad had happened to her.

Now, it was Wednesday evening as he drew up to
the entrance of Mulberry Court. As he got out of the car, Helena opened the front door to greet him, smiling brightly.

She was wearing a long, swirly black skirt almost down to her toes, teamed with a flimsy peasant-style top, and she’d brushed her hair out loose so that it fell halfway down her back. Oscar stared down at her, his eyes forbiddingly dark. Her small stature made her look so defenceless as she stood framed in the doorway and he gritted his teeth. It hadn’t been such a good idea for her to stay here by herself, he thought, even though it had been what she wanted.

‘Hi,’ she said carelessly. ‘Good flight?’ With a slightly sinking heart, Helena recognized that familiar brooding look on his face. She knew that she was going to have to face an inquisition about Sunday night. Maybe she
should
have acted differently, she thought. What if, thanks to her, the place had been ransacked, all the valuable contents whisked away, never to be seen again? That possibility would obviously be the most important thing on Oscar’s mind when she eventually tried to explain.

With only a brief response to her enquiry, Oscar went up the stairs carrying his large luggage holdall and business equipment. In his room, he washed the dust of the journey from his hands and face, then took a clean shirt from his case. He’d brought enough of everything with him to stay much longer this time—to stay as long as it took—and work would carry on much as usual, thanks to the current high-class technology at his disposal. But, for once, he had much more personal
things on his mind… For once, he was not putting the company first.

Presently, down in the kitchen, he watched as Helena prepared the supper she’d said she would be making for them. Reluctantly tearing his gaze away from her, he glanced around him briefly. He was tired, and suddenly the long cushioned sofa at one end of the room seemed particularly inviting.

The scrubbed wooden table was set with two places and there was a jug of water and a bottle of wine. As Helena brought over a large serving dish from the oven, she said lightly, ‘Although I’ve watched Louise do enough cooking here over the years, I obviously had no reason to do much of it myself.’ She smiled up at Oscar quickly. ‘I hope you approve of gammon cutlets with pineapple and salad… and our own little new potatoes which Benjamin dug for us this morning.’

She put the rest of the meal in front of them, then sat down. ‘I’ve really enjoyed preparing it,’ she added.

Oscar pulled out his own chair and sat down. ‘It all looks… excellent… Helena,’ he said briefly. ‘Thank you.’

As she carefully passed the plate to Oscar, it was impossible for Helena to ignore the somewhat uneasy atmosphere in the room as they made desultory conversation. As she helped herself to one or two of the buttery potatoes, she gave him a sidelong glance—and realized that he’d been looking at her. She looked away again. Then, ‘I wonder just who will be sitting here next year,’ she said. ‘They’re going to be very lucky, whoever they are.’ She paused for a moment, putting down her fork. ‘I hope they turn out to be nice people
…I mean, people worthy of Mulberry Court. I hate to think of strangers taking over… it’s going to feel all wrong—and they’ll never love it as we do,’ she added.

They ate in silence for a few moments, then Oscar said, without looking at her, ‘Now, you’re going to tell me
exactly
what happened here the other night, Helena.’

Well, she’d been waiting for the interrogation, she thought, so she’d better get it over with. She finished her meal, then stood up and went over to make the coffee.

‘It was nothing—not really—’ she began over her shoulder.

Before she could go on he interrupted harshly, ‘It was not “nothing”,
Heleena!
It was something…’ and, trembling slightly, Helena heard the tantalizing, marked inflexion of his mother tongue, the sound that always made her weak at the knees. ‘I cannot bring myself to believe that you handled it yourself, that you didn’t call the police when you knew intruders were trying to gain entry to Mulberry Court! What on earth were you thinking?’ He almost spat out the words.