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“It’s not what I think, it’s what I know.” Lorna spoke quickly, his patronising manner stimulating her temper. “Are you denying that you didn’t pick my questions out specially?”

“What do you take me for? I merely read them as they came.” His smile returned. “I really don’t see why you’re complaining. I thought you were jolly clever. You were up against some pretty stiff odds. Brains
and
beauty—some combination!”

It was Lorna’s turn to raise her eyebrows. What had happened to the great man that he should unbend sufficiently to praise her? And was it really true that he
had
taken the questions in strict order? After all, she wasn’t the only one to notice how difficult hers had been. Surely they couldn’t all be wrong? But if he was trying to get round her by flattery he could think again. She knew exactly the type of man he was. “Maybe I was mistaken,” she admitted at last, “but I’m not entirely convinced.”

“I’m sorry, but there it is. You’ll only believe what you want to, despite anything I say. You’ve made it quite plain I can do no right in your eyes.”

Lorna lowered her lashes. He made her sound thoroughly disagreeable, and although she had no wish to be friends she didn’t want to be the object of his scorn.

“I must say they serve delicious food on this ship,” continued Ashley, eating his coq au vin with relish, and acting as though there was nothing wrong between them. “I shall be sorry to leave her at the journey’s end.”

Realising it would be juvenile to carry on arguing when he was making an attempt to be friendly, Lorna nodded. “I agree. I’ve become very fond of her myself.”

“Tell me,” he paused a moment to look at her, “I’m inquisitive why a girl like you should be travelling alone. Are you visiting relatives in South Africa?”

Lorna carefully considered her reply. She must not involve Margo in any way. “I’m—er—visiting friends,” she said at length, “but not in South Africa.”

He frowned. “We’ve passed Madeira and don’t stop again before Cape Town. Then after Durban the ship returns to England.”

“I know. I’m going to the Seychelles Islands. I’m catching a plane from Durban.”

“The Seychelles, eh?” Ashley looked surprised. “How long do you intend staying? It’s very quiet there. I shouldn’t think it would suit you.”

“And how do you know what I would like?” retorted Lorna coolly.

“Don’t most young girls like a gay time?” he scoffed. “There’s not much night life on the islands. In fact there’s hardly any life at all. Mahe isn’t too bad, but most of the other islands live a hundred years behind the times. The inhabitants are mainly retired people who desire peace and quiet in their old age. You’ve hardly reached that state yet. How old are you—seventeen? eighteen?”

“I’m nearly twenty-one,” replied Lorna with dignity, thinking he was taking an uncommon interest in her affairs considering the way she had treated him earlier.

“So old!” His eyes twinkled, making him look suddenly younger. “I’d never have guessed. Which island are you visiting?”

“I really don’t see that it’s any concern of yours,” replied Lorna stiffly, “but if you must know, it’s Verva.”

“Oh ! Van Heerden’s place.”

“That’s right. Pieter van Heerden,” supplied Lorna, wondering how he knew, and wanting to laugh at his surprise.

“You know him?”

“Quite well. Actually I’m staying at his house.”

“I see."

There was a wealth of meaning in those two words which caused Lorna to retort angrily, “I don’t think you do. If you’re insinuating what I think, I’m afraid you’re entirely wrong.”

“Am I? Pieter van Heerden’s no stranger to me, and I happen to know that he wouldn’t invite a young girl to Verva without a very good reason.”

“Perhaps he has that reason,” said Lorna distantly, suddenly desirous of putting Ashley in his place.

“Perhaps he has.” Ashley’s reply was very faint and for a split second Lorna thought she saw a look of disappointment cross his face, but it was gone so quickly she knew she must have been mistaken. What reason could he possibly have for being disappointed? None at all as far as she could see.

Maybe she ought to have told him that Pieter was marrying her sister— But no—that would lead to more explanations and before she knew it she would be revealing her relationship to Margo. It also puzzled her that he knew Pieter, when Pieter himself had given no indication that Ashley was a friend of his.

For the rest of the meal Ashley remained silent, but Lorna found this infinitely preferable to their eternal confliction. Ashley’s coming into her life had certainly disrupted the peaceful interlude she had expected while on board the
Oceana.
Her life didn’t seem her own any more. Whatever she did he seemed to pop up out of nowhere to spoil it for her.

* * *

The
Oceana Ball
was being held that evening and Fay and Lorna had arranged to go with two of the junior officers, Keenan Seymour and Wesley Jordan. It was supposed to be one of the highlights of the journey and the girls had been deciding for days what they should wear. Lorna had eventually bought a new dress when they stopped at Madeira, a dainty delphinium blue gown in fine chiffon which clung softly to her slim young figure, enhancing her curves and falling into a misty cloud at her ankles.

She stood now before the mirror confident in the knowledge that she looked her best. Her eyes reflected the blue of the dress and her corn gold hair danced silkily about her shoulders. She had determinedly put Ashley out of her mind, intending to enjoy this evening to the full. As she gave herself one last critical look the door opened and Fay entered in a swirl of flame red velvet, which made her look more strikingly attractive than usual. She was followed almost immediately by Keenan and Wesley.

“Wow!” Keenan smiled broadly. “Aren’t we the lucky ones? You must surely be the two prettiest girls on board.”

“Hear, hear,” added Wesley, eyeing Lorna and Fay appraisingly.

“You don’t look so bad yourselves,” laughed Fay. “A uniform does something for a man—don’t you agree, Lorna?”

“Without a doubt,” picking up her silver evening bag. “I’m looking forward to tonight.”

Wesley took Lorna’s elbow as they walked along the corridor to the lift that would take them up to the ballroom. He was tall and slim, with sunbleached hair and a deep tan. She had danced with him on several occasions, finding him very good company without his becoming too serious. She supposed that with a job like his he knew the disadvantages of getting involved.

Keenan was as dark as Wesley was fair. His were the dark, foreign looks of a Spaniard, although he assured them he was English born and bred. He was shorter than Wesley, but still managed to stand a good three inches taller than Fay.

It was surprisingly dark in the ballroom, but Wesley took Lorna’s arm and guided her to a seat. “We won’t sit too near the band,” he said, “you know what they’re like once they get going, and we want to be able to hear ourselves speak.”

“Why the darkness?” laughed Lorna, stumbling over an outstretched foot. “Don't they want us to see who we’re dancing with?” wondering as she said these words whether Ashley would be present. She hoped not. She was looking forward to a pleasant uneventful evening.

“The lights will be turned on in a minute,” said Keenan. “You wait and see. Didn’t you know tonight was something special?”

Lorna had heard that the ball was different every trip but always a spectacular success. Suddenly the sound of soft pipes playing
Swan Lake
were heard from behind the curtains of the stage. A breathless hush fell over the expectant passengers as the silvery music grew louder. Then, pinpointed by a single spotlight, a dancer in a frothy white ballet dress pirouetted and leaped across the floor. She was young, thought Lorna, she couldn’t be more than sixteen or seventeen, yet she had the perfection and poise of an accomplished dancer. The music swelled as other instruments joined the pipes until the room was a crescendo of sound. As the girl reached the end of her dance the music changed and a further spotlight depicted the crystallised outline of a tree shimmering with hanging jewels. From behind the tree stepped another young girl, this time in a pink tutu. This happened again and again until the whole room was a kaleidoscope of scintillating crystal light and effortless dancing girls. As the music drew to its close the girls disappeared one by one behind their trees—until the room was once again in darkness.

For an instant no one stirred and then as the room was flooded with light, tumultuous applause broke out and the dancers, shy now that their performance was over, stood in the centre of the room.

Captain Faraday, a short burly character with a cheerful red face, stepped on to the stage and held up his hand. “I think you’ll all agree that that was really something. These young people are on their way to South Africa and I think there can be no doubt as to the sort of reception they will get.

“I doubt if many of you were even aware that we had a corps de ballet on board and I think we owe some thanks to their teachers for allowing them to stay up and put on this performance for us tonight.”

He looked at the girls whirling and laughing before him. “Well, girls, I think you can all feel justly proud of yourselves and we would like to thank you very much. But now it’s the turn of us older ones to dance —although I 'doubt whether we shall be as graceful as you.”

They skipped off happily and the band struck up the lilting strains of a Viennese waltz. Lorna turned to Fay, her eyes misty. “Wasn’t that absolutely wonderful? I feel like crying.”

“It was terrific. I wonder how they’ve managed to keep it such a secret? I’ve seen those kids playing on deck many times, but no one told me they were ballet dancers.”

“It’s understandable,” said Lorna. “Their parents want them to lead normal lives, not be looked on as somebody special.”

“I suppose so,” admitted Fay, and then to Keenan, “Aren’t you going to ask me to dance?”

“If you can stand my size tens after what you’ve just seen, yes.” He rose and they drifted away. At that moment Lorna saw Ashley Ward walking towards her and in desperation turned to Wesley. “Come on, Wes, let’s join them before the floor gets too crowded.”

Out of the corner of her eye Lorna saw Ashley’s face harden. He knew she had seen him, but she didn’t care. Perhaps he would realise he wasn’t wanted. The next moment he was lost from view by the circling couples and Lorna concentrated on enjoying herself. Wesley danced well and she was able to relax, forgetting for a while her clashes with Ashley.

The next dance, a quickstep, she had with Keenan, followed by a mumba and a samba. Then Martin Douglas asked her for a cha-cha and the professor for another waltz.

“I didn’t have chance to tell you how well you did this afternoon, my dear,” he said. “You hurried away while I was speaking to Ashley Ward—charming man, don’t you think?”

“Er—yes,” said Lorna, wondering why his name always had to crop up and spoil her pleasure. “And I must congratulate you on winning. I believe you answered all your questions correctly.”

“Well now,” he beamed, his chubby face pink with exertion, or pleasure, she could not be sure which, “when you reach my age I expect you’ll know a lot more than you do now. I must say this—I wish some of my pupils were as bright as you. Don’t know how some of them get to university.”

“You flatter me, professor,” smiled Lorna. “I’ve merely got a good memory for facts.”

“Oh, dear me,” he said abruptly, his face now bright red, “I think I’ll have to sit down. Not used to such exertion, you know. I’m sorry, my dear, I did so want to dance with you.”

“Don’t you worry about me.” Lorna was concerned by the professor’s high colour. “Let me help you back to your seat.”

“Ah!” he said suddenly. “Here’s the very man, he’ll take over for me.” To Lorna’s horror he had spotted Ashley Ward and now tapped him on the back. “Ashley, my good fellow, finish this dance for me, will you? Can’t leave a pretty girl in the lurch like this.”

Lorna’s eyes met Ashley’s and held, the moment was fraught with tension while she willed him to refuse. All at once he smiled. “Of course, Charles. I’d be delighted.”

After making sure that the professor was all right he led Lorna on to the floor. She remained rigid in his arms, having no desire to dance with this horrid man and wishing she could have foreseen what was going to happen.

Unexpectedly he was an excellent dancer and their steps matched perfectly. By concentrating on her dancing and deliberately closing her mind to the fact that her partner was the objectionable Ashley Ward Lorna found herself relaxing, and by the time they had made a few circles of the floor she was really enjoying herself.

“That’s better,” said Ashley, lowering his head to look at her. “Is it such an ordeal dancing with me?”

“I didn’t want to, if that’s what you mean,” she retorted coolly.

“You made that obvious—but do I detect a slight unbending?” He smiled, his teeth appearing even whiter under the ultra-violet light, and unable to help herself, Lorna smiled in response. “I suppose so,” she admitted grudgingly. “You’re such an accomplished dancer I can’t help but enjoy it.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he grinned. “You feel so light and fragile in my arms, almost like those youngsters who danced earlier. I feel I could pick you up and carry you off with no trouble at all.”

“Indeed! Well, I hope you don’t. I like it here, thank you.”

“You do?” His arms tightened. “Now that
is
progress! I could have sworn a few minutes ago you would have liked nothing better than to leave.”

“You know what I mean,” she hissed, trying to free herself, but he only laughed and sliding his fingers through her hair pressed her head against his shoulder.

For just a second Lorna allowed herself to relax, feeling the hard leanness of him through his white silk dress shirt and the quickened beating of his heart. Then the irony of the situation struck her and she stiffened. It was bad enough dancing with the man who had broken her sister’s heart, but to actually let herself respond to his caress—it was sheer madness. He had had as many affairs as there were weeks in a year and she did not intend to become yet another of his conquests.