bland amusement.
“Peter!” Kate began, in a quiet voice. “We’re going to
Sussex for Easter.”
He looked vaguely at her. “Oh, that doesn’t matter!
There’ll be plenty of other workers there. But Kianthos—
what a chance! I’ll be in on the ground floor with this one. I’ll
get in touch with various people tonight, get them interested
...”
“I think that that should wait,” said Marc firmly. “I would
prefer you to keep the whole thing to yourself until you’ve
seen the temple. Then we can discuss it in the light of what
you decide should be done.”
“Right,” said Peter amiably. “It might be better to have a
definite plan in hand.” He jumped up, wiping his buttery
fingers on his handkerchief. “I’ll be off now. I want to do
some research on the temple.” He offered Marc his hand.
“Thanks very much. I am really grateful for this chance.”
Kate looked at him, seething, and, suddenly noticing her
again, Peter lightly kissed her cheek. “See you, sweetie,” he
observed vaguely. Then he was gone, banging the front door
behind him.
Unable to trust herself to speak, Kate went into the
sitting-room where she flung herself down into a chair and
brooded furiously. She might have guessed that Marc Lillitos
would get his own way. She could cheerfully have strangled
Peter at that moment. All he thought of was broken pots and
ancient bones. He didn’t care that she was in emotional
danger from this tank masquerading as a man!
The door opened again, and the human tank came in, and
stood, watching her.