Suddenly the woman hit him. Marina sat up, stiffening, feeling as though the blow had been at herself.
Gideon moved sharply in reaction. For a second his hand was raised as though he were going to hit the woman back. He bit out something with his mouth moving fiercely, barely parted, the words pushed through his taut lips.
Then he turned on his heel and walked away. Marina looked back down at her linked hands. Gideon climbed into the driving seat and as he did so Marina distinctly heard running feet on the pavement. She looked up and Gideon started the car. The woman was coming towards them, her racing feet clicking on the paving stones. The car slid out into the traffic and she halted, hands clenched at her sides.
Marina picked up the emotions eating her and shivered. They were not all directed at Gideon. Some of that bitter feeling was aimed at her, and she shuddered away from it, looking away.
Gideon drove without speaking, his face in profile, as sharp as a newly minted coin, his jaw and cheekbones locked tight in rage. Marina stared out of the window and knew he would not tell her what that had all been about. A silence hung between them like a veil through which she saw darkly.
Marina could guess at some of it. It had been very obvious, even to her inexperience, that the woman was in love with Gideon, that at some time in the past there had been a relationship between them, and the way the woman had pressed herself against him as she kissed him, warned that the relationship had been intimate. Gideon's coldness, hardness, suggested that there had been some sort of quarrel and that althou
gh the woman still cared for him Gideon was angry with her. Just angry? Marina pondered, remembering the look on -his face, the white shock, when he saw the woman at first.
Whatever was or had been between them, it had left a residue in Gideon which marked his face now with anger and some harsh emotion. Jealousy? she thought. Had the other woman been unfaithful to him? Did that explain the brooding darkness in his face as he drove?
Although Marina had not been able to see much of her face, she had picked up beauty in the movements of the body, the shape of the mouth and the confident, alluring smile she had given Gideon as she kissed him.
Gideon was not a boy. He was a man who was almost twice Marina's age and obviously he must have had affairs in the past. It was none of Marina's business and she was angry with herself for sitting here with a heart like lead and a sense of depression. She had only known him for two short days. What business was it of hers? He had told her nothing of his past life and she had no right to care that that woman had kissed him so passionately.
She concentrated on the hedges swishing past. They were back in the quiet countryside and she guessed they were headed for Basslea again. Gideon had not spoken for so long that when he did speak she jumped and looked round at him, startled, her eyes wide.
'I'm sorry I spoke sharply just now,' he said, his dark eyes probing hers.
She looked away. 'It doesn't matter.'
'It does,' he said harshly.
She shrugged. 'I realised you were upset about meeting your friend.'
He laughed shortly. 'She's no friend of mine.'
Marina did not respond to that, although her heart lifted a little at the anger in his voice.
'She seemed very disturbed,' she offered, aware that she was trying to get him to talk about it and ashamed of her curiosity but unable to stop herself.
Gideon didn't answer, though. He drove with his eyes intent on the road ahead and the dark anger was visible in his face again. After a moment, he said, 'I'm sorry I spoke to you like that, though.'
It was her turn not to answer. She was suddenly invaded by anger, guessing that he was patronising her, regretting that he had spoken to her in anger because ever since they met he had been very careful of her. He had treated her like a child and he was treating her like one now.
She knew that he was watching her obliquely and she turned her head away because she did not want him to know that she resented his attitude to her.
The rest of the drive was accomplished in silence. As he stopped the car, he turned and put a hand over hers. 'Are you angry with me?' His tone pleaded gently and she had to look at him.
'Of course not,' she said politely. 'Why should I be?'
'I can't explain,' he broke out roughly. 'Will you forgive me for speaking to you like that?'
'I said I did,' Marina reminded quietly, and pulled her hand out from under his before she got out of the car.
She did not turn towards the cottage. She moved away towards the cliff and Gideon came after her in his long stride, catching her arm.
'Where are you going?' There was that odd hoarse anxiety in his voice and she saw sweat on his forehead.
Frowning, puzzled, she said, 'For a walk.'
'We should get back to Grandie,' Gideon told her, his hand tightening round her arm.
'You go,' said Marina in an uneven voice. 'I want to walk.'