A Gift for a Lion

• CHAPTER ONE
  
• CHAPTER TWO
  
• CHAPTER THREE
  
• CHAPTER FOUR
  
• CHAPTER FIVE
  
• CHAPTER SIX
  
• CHAPTER SEVEN
  
• CHAPTER EIGHT
  
• CHAPTER NINE
  

Harlequin Presents edition published July 1977


ISBN 0-373-70695-2


Copyright © 1977 by Sara Craven.

Sun, Joanna thought drowsily. Golden, glorious sun. She sighed luxuriously, pillowing her head on her arms. Oh, but it was good to be here, away from Father's disapproval and Aunt Laura's bleat of 'But what will people say…?'

Joanna grinned to herself at the thought of what Aunt Laura would say if she could see her now, stretched at her ease on the deck of the
Luana
, the top of her bikini unfastened to complete the perfect tanning of her smooth back, with a makeshift towelling screen to shield her from the gaze of everyone else using the tiny Mediterranean harbour of Calista.

The
Luana
had dropped anchor there on the previous evening, but neither Joanna, nor her cousins Mary and Tony Leighton or Mary's fiancé Paul, had possessed sufficient energy to go ashore. They had simply eaten on board and turned in. But in the morning the boys had decided to go ashore for supplies and to see what entertainment Calista might have to offer and Mary, who appeared, Joanna thought a little disdainfully, to live in Paul's pocket, had immediately volunteered to go with them. Joanna, however, had refused.

Calista might be picturesque, with its white houses and gaily tiled roofs crowding almost to the water's edge, but it was also definitely scruffy, she had decided, and the harbour, with its bobbing boats of every shape and size, smelt.

Also, if she was honest, it was in many ways a relief to get away from Mary's constant chatter and enjoy a couple of hours of absolute peace and relaxation. Joanna suppressed the thought, feeling guilty. After all, if Mary had not agreed to come, Joanna herself would have been denied the trip. However modern and forward-looking her father might have been on the bridge of his ship or in the world he now controlled from his eyrie in a Whitehall office block, he was quite mediaeval in his view about what decent girls did or did not do. And in his book a decent girl did not go off alone on a Mediterranean cruise on a sailing boat with a single man, even if he was her cousin and in every likelihood her future husband as well. Hence the invitation to Paul and Mary to accompany them.

It was only too likely that Tony, who had been summoned for a private interview with her father before the trip, had also received a stern lecture on the kind of behaviour Rear-Admiral Sir Bernard Leighton expected from anyone escorting his only daughter. Certainly he had emerged from her father's study very red around the ears, Joanna thought, her lips curving slightly at the memory. At any rate, Tony's behaviour towards her had been circumspect in the extreme, and Joanna had been content for this to be so. She found Tony's tentative lovemaking very pleasant, but not wildly arousing, and she felt as long as he did not try to rush her into anything, they could probably achieve a very satisfactory relationship in time.

Sometimes she even wondered wryly whether Tony was not just a little in awe of her, but she was not so sure that this was such a bad thing. One thing she had decided quite a long time before, and that was that freedom and independence were essential in marriage. Tony, she was certain, would never try to dictate to her or dominate her in any way, and this was one of the reasons that made marriage to him seem so attractive. Joanna had lived with one dominating male—her father—already, and while she had never experienced any real difficulty in twisting him round her finger to obtain anything she really wanted—this cruise, for instance—it was often a wearing and time-consuming process. Joanna's next permanent relationship was going to be an altogether easier affair, she decided, smiling sleepily.

'Ahoy,
Luana
!' It was Tony's voice, and she hastily fumbled with the strings fastening her bikini top before sitting up. Mary scrambled aboard from the dinghy first. Her face was flushed and there were beads of person her nose. She was carrying two bulging straw baskets. Joanna watched her with slight compunction. Poor Mary hadn't had much of a trip so far. She didn't care much for sailing and had been violently seasick when they ran into some bad weather in the first few days. She was by no means an expert swimmer either, and tended to blister in the very hot sun. In fact, Mary was never happier than when she was below decks in the tiny galley preparing food for the four of them. She and Paul were marrying in the autumn, and Mary had been taking a
cordon bleu
course in preparation.

When she saw Joanna, she gave one of her irritating little shrieks. 'Oh, Joanna I You haven't gone to sleep and got burned, have you?'

'No, of course not.' Joanna tried to keep her irritation out of her voice. It's a glorious day. Is there anything interesting ashore?'

'There was a sort of market,' Mary said. 'Lovely fresh vegetables. I might do gazpacho for supper.'

'It's not exactly a tourist's paradise,' Tony complained. He threw himself down on the deck cushions beside Joanna and unbuttoned his shirt. 'There are a few bars for the locals and one that does duty as a night club, and that's your lot. Shall we push on somewhere else?'

'Oh, I rather fancy the night club for a change.' Joanna said lightly. In truth, she would just as soon have taken the boat elsewhere, but some imp of perversity made her gainsay Tony to see what his reaction would be.

He leaned forward and brushed her shoulder lightly with his lips.

'Right then, love. The night club it shall be, though I suppose I shall spend the evening protecting you from the local lechers.'

'I can protect myself.' Joanna protested, a little pettishly, and he smiled at her.

'I've brought you a treat. Would you believe—an English newspaper?'

'Lord! How many days behind the times?' Joanna said as he handed it to her. She opened it at the social pages and cast a casual eye over the engagement notices, but none of her friends were among them. Engagements seemed to be going out of fashion, she thought. Trial marriages were the 'in' thing, but not, she was secretly relieved to acknowledge, where her father was concerned. She glanced dismissively over some of the items on the front page, ignoring the discussion between Paul and Mary on whether they should have a light or a heavy lunch.

'Anything interesting?' Tony squinted over her shoulder.

'The usual mess. Another big bank robbery in London. A row in the House of Commons over cuts in spending. Some Red scientist defecting from a conference in Venice.' Joanna tossed the paper to the deck. 'But it's all so out of date. World War Three could have started without us.' She looked impatiently at Mary and Paul. 'Oh, do stop it, you two. It's too hot for anything but salad anyway, and I hope you've brought some decent cheese.'

'Yes, o queen,' Paul muttered. 'Come on, darling. We'll get things started.'

Joanna looked after them as they disappeared down the companionway and there was a bright spot of colour in each cheek. Tony touched her arm gently.

'Joanna?'

She looked at him uncertainly. 'Is that what I'm like?'

He hesitated. 'A bit—but it doesn't matter to me, love, because I know you don't mean it. Having your own way over things comes naturally to you, somehow, and of course Uncle Bernard being as he is .. '

'What do you mean?' She stared at him.

'Well, darling, he is—Rear-Admiral Leighton. I know he has a desk job these days, but he does still give the impression of being on a quarterdeck somewhere supervising a keelhauling, and—sometimes—it takes some getting over.' His voice died away a little unhappily.

Joanna said tautly, 'I see.' She stared hard at the immaculate polish on her toenails. 'I'm sorry, Tony. I'll try and be a little less—regal from now on.'

He nuzzled her shoulder. 'I think you're perfect,' he whispered.

'Then you're a fool,' she said, but smiled, robbing the words of their sting. 'I think perhaps the queen had better make amends by helping with lunch.' She got to her feet, slim and lithe in the minuscule black bikini, but somehow the golden day seemed less radiant, she thought.

In her attempt to be amenable, Joanna not only helped Mary prepare lunch but insisted on clearing away and washing up afterwards, while Mary sat in the most sheltered corner of the deck with a selection from the stock of paperback thrillers they had found in one of the fitted cupboards in the saloon.

As she tidied the last of the cutlery away and wiped down the surfaces, Joanna could hear the murmur of voices from the saloon and guessed that Paul and Tony had got the charts out to plan the next stage of their trip.

Tony loved sailing, she thought, pushing a strand of bright auburn hair back from her damp forehead. It was a pity in many ways that he had no boat of his own. He had been loaned
Luana
by the senior partner of the firm of architects where he and Paul both worked. Both the partner and his wife were keen sailors and kept the boat moored at Cannes, spending as much of the summer as they could in the South of France. This year, however, they had gone to Canada, where their eldest son was being married, and Tony and Paul had been offered the use of the boat.

Joanna looked round with slightly critical eyes.
Luana
was fine for two, she thought, but definitely crowded for four. Not for the first time, she toyed with the idea of persuading her father to give Tony and herself a boat as a wedding present. They could spend their honeymoon on board, she thought, at the same time acknowledging that her father would not really approve of the idea. She could almost hear his voice— 'Behaving like a lot of damned hippies.'

His idea of a honeymoon would be a luxury hotel in Paris or Rome, she decided with amused impatience.

On the whole, he seemed quite pleased with the idea of her marrying Tony. His only complaint was that Tony had become an architect, instead of joining the Navy as his uncle had suggested, but eventually he admitted that at least this decision showed that the boy had some mind of his own. Tony must take after his father, Joanna thought, because both Mary and Aunt Laura were hardly strong characters. Her father had taken the whole family under his rather formidable wing when Anthony Leighton had died suddenly of a heart attack some years before. Mary and Joanna were only a few months apart in age, and Sir Bernard had arranged for them to attend the same school, apparently under the conviction that they would be ideal companions for each other. He had also hoped that Aunt Laura would provide Joanna with the mother she had lost while still a baby.

None of it had really worked out at all, Joanna thought ruefully. She and Mary had barely anything in common except the family name. Mary was inches shorter than she was and inclined to be dumpy, and she was some-times quick to show resentment of her taller, more attractive cousin. And while Tony had always appeared totally oblivious to the difference in financial standing between both halves of the family, both Mary and Aunt Laura had made no secret of their awareness that they were the 'poor relations' of the Leighton family.

In a way, Joanna was thankful that Mary had met Paul and fallen in love with him and settled her own future so painlessly. She would no longer feel obliged to see that Mary received the same party invitations as herself. Not that Mary had ever been particularly grateful for Joanna's efforts to broaden her social life. Joanna had gone through a fairly prolonged art college phase, before eventually recognising the limitations of her talent, and Mary had not approved of the circle of friends she had acquired as a consequence. Mary had an almost suburban horror of 'getting talked about', and Joanna admitted it was fair to say that some of the past exploits of members of her circle had enlivened the gossip columns of some of the less responsible daily papers, while she had grown quite accustomed to her own doings being highlighted in the social pages of glossy magazines.