Crescendo

'Don't tease,' she said. 'What are you?'

'A man who doesn't believe in a word of it,' he re­torted.

'Where's the paper?' she asked.

Grandie glanced at Gideon with a hesitant face.

'I'm sorry,' said Gideon, grimacing. 'It's my fault,

I wrapped the remains of our picnic in it and flung it into the range.'

Marina looked into the impassive black eyes and she knew that he was lying.

Grandie went to the saucepan and took off the lid. A savoury steam rose into the air. 'Nearly ready,' he said. 'Are you hungry, Gideon?'

'Ravenous. I'll lay the table,' said Gideon. 'If you don't mind moving, my lady.' He bent over her chair and his cheek brushed hers. The black eyes smiled at her and Marina found herself smiling back, but with a reluctance she could not explain. She liked Gideon. He was very attractive, he could be very charming, but he was a liar and she could not fathom what was going on at all, only that what­ever it was, it was putting shadows under Grandie's tired old eyes and lines around his mouth, and some­how that look had only been there since Gideon arrived.

CHAPTER THREE

WHEN she woke up next morning the sun was streaming across the walls and she heard a black­bird somewhere in the garden telling the world that morning had broken. Leaping out of bed, she pattered on bare feet to the window and leaned on the sill, taking deep breaths of sea air, then glanced down at a movement and saw Gideon with his hands on his lean hips and the wind ruffling his black hair. At that instant he seemed to sense her presence and glanced up. She smiled and got a crooked smile back, his eyes warm.

'Come down, lazybones,' he called. 'I'm waiting for you.'

She felt no urge to hurry. Propping up her chin with her elbows on the sill, she threw back, 'It's too lovely a day to waste in rushing about. I'm going to take my time.'

'Come down or I'll come and get you,' he said softly, almost as though he were enjoying making the threat.

For a second she thought of challenging him to do just that. The glint in his eyes told her he knew what she was thinking. They observed each other, smiling, and he moved slightly, poised to come into the house and carry out his threat. Marina laughed. 'I'm coming,' she said, backing down.

'Wise of you,' Gideon advised her gently, grin­ning.

She moved away from the window and stood with her arms curved over her head, standing on her tiptoes, smiling. She felt as though her veins ran with new life. She wanted to burst into song. It was such a lovely morning, the world had been reborn. Marina was reluctant to move even now, cherishing the happiness which she had discovered inside her­self.

When she did come down she found the table laid for breakfast and the fragrance of coffee in the air mingling with the smell of bacon. Gideon turned and slid the dark eyes down her. He didn't say a word, but she knew he approved the thin yellow cotton dress with a pleated skirt and demure scal­loped collar. She walked forward and was going to sit down when he touched her bare arm gently. She turned to look at him in enquiry and his mouth grazed across her cheek and was gone. He moved to get the breakfast from the oven where it was keeping warm. Marina, very flushed, sat down. She was not surprised by the soft kiss, but one part of her mind warned her that she should not let him take it for granted that he could kiss her when he liked.

She had only known him for a day. It was a very short acquaintance. Her thoughts were confused because the brevity of their friendship seemed to have no bearing on the way they felt and acted. This puzzling familiarity persisted. Common sense seemed to have nothing to do with it.

'I thought we'd go for a drive,' Gideon said as he drank his coffee later.

'Where to?' She was excited at once. She had rarely driven in a car. She thought of the small yel­low sports car and her face flushed with anticipa­tion.

He shrugged. 'Does it matter? We'll just drive and see where we get to, shall we?'

She glanced at the door and he caught that look and smiled at her. 'Grandie won't mind.'

Sometimes he called her grandfather Mr Grandi- son quite formally as though he barely knew him. Other times he used the familiar nickname and she caught the echo of a casual familiarity. A small line etched itself between her brows, giving her smooth young face a troubled look, and Gideon gave her a quick, penetrating stare.

'Something wrong? You don't want to come?' He sounded curt and she responded involuntarily.

'Of course I do.' She smiled. 'I'd love to come.'

Gideon took quiet byroads out of the usual rapid rush of the traffic along the coast, avoiding towns and main roads, his speed keeping to a regular pace which gave them a chance to view the countryside. Marina got the distinct impression that he knew this coast extremely well. He seemed to know all these short cuts, weaving in and out of main roads, crossing them and returning to the timeless peace of the deserted countryside again without consulting any maps.

Glancing at his watch, he said: 'I thought we'd lunch at a pub. You won't mind a scratch meal? I know somewhere quiet where they do a bar meal sandwiches, sausages, that sort of thing.'

'It sounds fine,' she agreed.

They had not spoken much as they drove. Marina had been content with the wind rushing through her hair and the scent of the fields on either side. Glancing at him, she wondered if he were silent by nature or if he just had nothing to say to her. He seemed to enjoy being with her. Every now and then he looked sideways at her and his face had a smile on it which warmed her, yet he seemed to avoid conversation, keeping it on that impersonal level, rarely speaking of a