Follow a Stranger

thundered into life again, pounding in her ears. Her eyes

seemed darkened and aching. Her fingers curled

imploringly, held rigid at her sides, as she fought the

impulse to reach up and touch him.

Whatever happened, she must not let him guess what

that cruel, punishing kiss had done to her. As he drew

away, breathing hard, she kept her eyes and lips tightly

closed. After a moment she heard him walking away, his

feet crunching on the sand.

Tears began to trickle down her face. So now she

knew—what she had always known since their first

meeting. She loved him. But now she had been forced, by

her body’s treachery, to admit it to herself.

CHAPTER SEVEN

When the others came back she pretended to be asleep, and

let them wake her, so that her silence could be put down to

the drowsiness of someone suddenly dragged back to a

wakeful condition. She trailed after them, back to the villa,

dreading the first meeting with Marc, but when they

arrived they found Sophia busily supervising the laying of

the table, and she told them that Marc had taken Marie-

Louise to Epilison to visit Pyrakis.

Kate felt a pang of unbearable jealousy at the news. She

knew that Marc had only been reacting angrily, when he

kissed her, to what he believed to be her interference

between Pallas and Jean-Paul. The furious glitter of his

eyes had confirmed that. But she stupidly felt hurt that he

should take Marie-Louise to see Pyrakis so soon after

taking her there.

She went up to change for lunch and chose a plain green