Unknown (6 page)

‘This way,’ said Nicole. Written in gold lettering across one window in the arcade were the words Comtesse Nicole de Speville, Institut de Beaute. Behind them the area was tastefully dressed. Shaded hibiscus-pink, apricot, gold and cinnamon chiffon had been carefully draped to accommodate a long string of gleaming pearls. Next to the chiffon was a huge flacon of perfume and more pearls in an open black shell. Two brilliant blue Foo Temple dogs were reflected in an antique mirror.

‘I think you will enjoy working in this glamorous place,’ said Nicole, and Jade’s excited eyes flickered round the reception area of the salon, which they had just entered. This section of the salon was decorated with ancient Chinese, Japanese and Indian furniture. Carved temple good-luck charms were adorned with hibiscus-red Persian silk cushions which contrasted magnificently with the black wood.

Glancing about her, Nicole said, ‘I bought these chairs from Laurent Sevigny,’ and, at the sound of the name, Jade’s senses quickened.

‘They’re absolutely beautiful,’ she said, a little breathlessly.

’According to Laurent,’ Nicole went on, ‘they bear all the carvings of the ancient Chinese designs on them ... phoenix, lotus and temple dragon.’

‘He sounds like an expert on the subject,’ Jade answered.

‘Yes, he is, but then he needs to be.’ Nicole’s bright blue eyes were on Jade’s face, and then she said, 'Look at this exotic bronze dragon incense burner, and over here on this carved base is a brass incense burner. I put them all in here. To me it is worth it, for it brings glamour to the Salon.'

‘It’s very exciting,’ Jade replied, her thoughts on the exciting Laurent Sevigny who had made it perfectly clear that he was ‘feeling his way with her’.

‘Over here ...’ said Nicole, ‘a Japanese cabinet. In it, as you can see, flacons of perfume from France ... all with their gold cords. The perfume is sensuous and mysterious and I must let you have some as a gift. I happen to know that Laurent is attracted to it.’

‘And—Marlow?’ Jade felt it her duty to say.

'Ah ... Marlow.’ Nicole was silent for a moment and then went on, ‘The paintings are my own. It is my way of relaxing. Marlow, of course, is a sculptor.’

Jade’s eyes widened. ‘Marlow—a sculptor? I didn't know that.’ The idea that the tough Marlow was a sculptor completely surprised her, just as the fact that he was a hunter had shocked her.

Turning, Nicole said, ‘I am surprised. You didn’t know this? That the man you are here to marry carves in his spare time?’

‘No.’ Jade was somewhat put out at the accusation in Nicole’s voice. ‘It’s just—well, on the sheep station Marlow didn’t carve, that’s for sure ... I mean,’ she found herself floundering, ‘I didn't see him carve anything. He seems so—hard—to be bothered about Addling round with sculpture, that’s all.’

‘Marlow is very sensitive. The craft of wood-carving has literally become a part of his nature, setting him free to express his thoughts, which is one of the rewards of the life of a sculptor—or an artist.’ Nicole's voice still held accusation.

After a moment fade said, ‘And yet Marlow hunts. He hunts down animals.’

‘What has that to do with it?' Nicole’s voice sounded slightly harsh now. ‘As a hunter Marlow is well-known on the island. As a sculptor he is becoming well known in certain circles.’

‘Well, fine.' Jade allowed the fact that she was peeved to show. ‘That’s just fine with me. I’m pleased he's becoming well know through something as beautiful as wood-carving.’

‘Let us get back to the reason as to why we are here,’ Nicole said shortly. ‘Already, Jade, there is a waiting list for you ... the beautician from London.’

‘That's nice to know.’ Jade’s eyes went to the wide Moorish arch beyond which was the hairdressing salon. Several women sat under dryers, reading. To one side was the restful, rose-tinted mirrored and dimly lit salon where facials took place; the waxing, eyelash implants, manicures and pedicures.

The day was progressing. She was fitted for the hibiscus-pink shifts she would have to wear and then, selecting one ‘off the peg’ to go on with, she went back to her room overlooking the coral reef and changed into it, ready for her first facial. Then she ate lunch on the terrace, immediately in front of the clinic, and when Laurent Sevigny spoke she almost jumped and looked up at him through tinted lenses, characteristically shaking back her hair. ‘Oh, hello,’ she said, confused.

‘I am surprised to find you eating here,' he said, ‘for you, of course, cannot possibly be on a diet. You are too slim for that.’ His eyes went over her.

‘I—er--keep to a diet, for all that,’ she found herself stammering, in view of what had taken place outside her door, the night before, and the fact that as she responded to his kisses he had humiliated her by releasing her and walking away.

‘What
is
that?’ He sounded amused. ‘A stuffed tomato?’

‘Yes. I could have had fish and a salad,’ she glanced at three women, wearing short pink robes supplied by Nicole, who had chosen this for lunch, ‘but I didn’t feel like it.’ She watched him as he pulled a chair from the table and sat down opposite her.

‘Why are you eating here, in any case,’ he asked, ‘and not in the main section of the hotel? You are not a client.’

‘I will take my breakfast here, and my lunch.’ She wondered what he was doing here.

‘I was looking for you.’ He spoke with characteristic authority.

‘Oh?’ She tried to keep her voice polite, nothing more, and turned away from that strange green gaze of his to look at people splashing about in the pool. The French instructor was calling out instructions to a tall girl with flaming red hair and piped music was being carried away on the sea-breezes. The fronds of palm trees rattled and the sigh of filao trees could be heard.

Laurent’s eyes went to jade’s legs which she had crossed to one side of the table, as she intended to sit back now and sip her pineapple juice. When she moved them slightly he said, ‘No, don’t move them. I was admiring your smooth gold tan.’

‘From the Australian sun,’ she told him. ‘I’m off to a good start. At least I didn’t arrive on your heavenly island looking like a pale ghost.’

‘It is a logical conclusion,’ he said, his eyes on her face again, ‘that you are completely rested and settled in.’

‘As you can see....' she bowed her head, and kept her voice light. Then she watched his tanned fingers go to the hibiscus which was arranged on the table. He touched the blooms without knowing that he was doing it.

‘Do you see what is written on the card?’ jade asked, mainly to make conversation.

‘I know about that,’ he said, barely glancing at the ornate gold lettering which read: Please do not eat the hibiscus. ‘What I am interested in is—what time do you finish here?’

‘Finish here?’ She sounded frankly amused. ‘I finish here late this afternoon—fiveish, I believe.’

‘After which time you are free to do as you wish.’ It was a statement, more than anything else.

‘Well, yes. As I
wish.'
She placed emphasis on the word, in an endeavour to make it clear that her wish was not that she be the victim of his ‘feeling his way’ with her.

‘I am having a few people to my chalet for drinks,’ he told her. ‘I want you to be there.’

Although her reaction was one of swift excitement it was followed by anger. ‘You make it sound like an order,’ she commented.

‘I have learned one thing,’ his smile was faintly mocking, ‘that when a woman shows anger, it is because she is tempted. I will come for you before anyone else arrives.’

‘That’s nonsense,’ she retorted. She watched him lift the card and study it. ‘And did you,’ he asked, ‘eat any of the hibiscus?’

‘No,’ she said shortly. ‘I’m very switched off by hibiscus. I don’t eat them. I get high on yellow roses, though.’

‘In that case, I will see to it that you are supplied with yellow roses every day. You, of course, are an English rose, although you are tanned by the Australian sun. At the moment you do not look very English.’

‘No?’ She shook her dark hair from her cheeks.

‘No. You look very much a part of our island in the sun.’ He stood up. ‘I will call for you, Jade.’

‘How do you know I’ll come?’ She looked up at him.

‘Because the idea of having drinks at my pink chalet enchants you ... among other things.’

‘You don’t have to call for me,’ she said, ‘I can walk there. After all, it’s not far ... merely a walk beneath the palms and through the hibiscus with paving stones to guide me, all the way.’

‘So?’ He smiled down at her. ‘You have already found this out for yourself?’

‘You pointed it out to me,’ she said quickly, and felt her cheeks flush, because she had, in fact, found this out for herself ... before lunch.

He went on looking down at her, green-eyed and considering, and she got the faint drift of sandalwood spray cologne for men.

'I'll—I’ll be in the lounge, just off the pool,’ she told him, ‘and what time—seven?’

'Six-thirty,’ he said. ‘I want you to myself for a while.’ Jade went back to her woman’s world of masses of silk and fine cotton curtaining in shades of hibiscus-pinks, apricot and cinnamon-gold, plunge-pools, avacado-green tiles and subterranean sounds, saunas, towels and powder, beautiful Creole girls trained in the art of massage, arches and louvred doors and exotic potted plants, and her mind was full of Laurent Sevigny.

The salon she was to work in offered tranquillity with its rose-tinted mirrors and subdued lighting.

Although she had performed this kind of work in London and, for a short time, in Australia, there was a touch of unreality in it now. It was difficult to believe that she was on this island with Its vivid sunsets, palms, beautiful beaches and the sea almost every colour in the palette, depending on the mood of the weather. What was even more difficult was the fact that she had come to the island to marry Marlow Lewis, a man she hardly knew. After her marriage it had been arranged by them in their letters that she would keep on with her work as a beauty therapist.

While she continued to work with oils and creams her mind kept flitting away to Laurent Sevigny. At the moment the upturned face of her client was very still, the eyes closed. Like most women who had booked in at a plush health clinic, she was alone, although, from what Jade had gathered, there were a number of couples with weight, health or tension problems who were making this their holiday at the hydro. Suddenly the lips moved. ‘That's heavenly,’ the woman said. ‘Do you know, you have a marvellous touch?’ The eyes remained closed.

‘Thank you,’ Jade murmured politely. ‘I’m pleased you’re enjoying your facial.’

‘In fact, I'm enjoying my entire stay here. I
did
have a slight weight problem, but nothing serious.' The eyelashes fluttered. ‘What I did need, though, was human warmth and contact. My marriage is cracking up and I decided to get away. I hopped on a plane and came here. I’d heard so much about it. You see, I married a man so much older than myself.’

Jade felt herself tensing at the words.

‘He’s become so—so set in his ways. I notice it more than ever now that the children are teenagers. I was just thinking a moment ago as you worked on my face that your kind of work is unique, really, because you’re working with—well, let’s say
unique
material—that is, human material. I guess we all have problems—the women who come here. Some of them are lucky—they come with their husbands and make it a kind of holiday, but not all of us are so fortunate. However, at the end, I guess you could say we go back to whatever it is we’ve left, ready to cope again.’

‘You should go back feeling much more relaxed,’ said Jade. ‘That should help.’ She did not know what to say, but in any case, she thought, she was here to listen, after all.

While she went on working and, in view of what her client had told her, she thought about Marlow. After the plane crash in which Jeffrey and Elisa had been killed, she and Marlow had turned to one another for consolation. She could see that now. When Marlow stated that he wanted to quit Australia for Mauritius, she had felt sheer despair and loneliness, and then he had written from the island, asking her to marry him, and with her grief and loneliness to guide her, she had written back, accepting. At a later date Marlow had mentioned the clinic and had suggested that she might well like to work there. Comtesse Nicole de Speville, he had written, looked forward to her application. Well, she had made application and here she was, to find that Marlow was away on a business trip. He had written to say that he was going away to a sugar congress and unfortunately Would be away at the very time she arrived in Mauritius.

While she dressed for drinks at Laurent's chalet she felt frustrated and disturbed because she could not visualise Marlow while she tried to think about him.

When Laurent Sevigny joined her in the open-air lounge he said, 'I find you very beautiful.’ His strange green eyes went over the white spaghetti-strapped frock and sandals she was wearing. ‘Does that disturb you?'

'Well ....' she hunted around in her mind for something flighty to say in order to show him that she didn't really care one way or another. ‘I don't look visibly upset, do I?' She laughed lightly. ‘I suppose every girl likes to appear beautiful. On the whole, though, I'm reserved to flattery.'

‘I was paying you a compliment,’ he told her. ‘It is an accepted part of the gallant, velvet-hatbox type of gentleman, I believe.' His eyes mocked her.

How did your day go?’ he asked, as they walked in the direction of his chalet.

‘Very well, actually. I’m very excited about everything.’

‘Even your forthcoming marriage to the great hunter Marlow Lewis?’

Deciding to ignore his remark, Jade stopped walking to say, ‘Don’t those clouds look hand-tinted? It’s all so beautiful. It's a wonderful island.'

‘And yet,' he sounded sad, ‘there is poverty on the island as well.'

‘I couldn’t help noticing all those starving dogs on our way from the airport,’ she said, shuddering a little. ‘I was quite horrified. Why don’t they
do
something about it?’