Dark inheritance (7 page)

"Take me to the harbour quickly," she gasped. "My boat leaves in a quarter of an hour!"

Far more quickly than she had climbed it they des
cended the wide road into Naples, but even so it was nearly ten minutes after sailing time when the taxi screeched to a halt in the harbour square. The white bulk of the ship loomed at the far end of the dock, and dropping a generous wad of lire into the driver's out
stretched palm, she raced along the quay. By the time
she reached the gangway she was too out of breath to
speak, and running up the wooden slope almost fell into Rockwood's arms.

"Where the devil have you been?" he demanded, and caught her in such a fierce grip that she winced. "Didn't you know we were due to sail at five-thirty?"

"I'm sorry," she gasped.

"Sorry!" He grated, and without waiting for further explanations propelled her none too gently to a more secluded part of the deck away from the curious stares of some of the crew and one or two passengers who had not yet gone down to their cabins to change for dinner.

"Now then." He pulled her round to face him. "Be good enough to tell me where you've been."

·To Pompeii."

"I see. And didn't you know the sailing time?"'

;|Yes, but I "

"Do you realize I practically had to go down on my
knees to the captain to persuade him not to leave without you?" he said harshly. "If the boat doesn't leave when the tide's right we can be stuck for twelve
hours. You were damned lucky the loading was delayed
or you'd have been stranded here without a penny." His fingers tightened on her arm. "I thought you went with some other passengers?"

"I did, but I was the only one who wanted to see the museum, so I left them and explored on my own. I'm sorry I've caused you so much inconvenience, but I honestly didn't realize it was so late." Her voice shook, partly with anxiety at nearly missing the boat and partly at the ferocity of his reception. "If you'll let go of my arm," she added faintly, "I'd like to wipe my forehead."

He released her so abruptly that she almost fell and he caught her again and thrust her unceremoniously into a nearby deck chair. "You're tired—and no wonder. I suppose you ran the whole length of the quay?"

"I'm afraid I did."

"Hardly to be recommended in this heat."

She leant back against the canvas. "I shall be all right in a minute if you'll just give me time to recover."

She closed her eyes and when she opened them again
it was to see Rockwood standing over her with a glass in his hand.

"Drink this, it'll make you feel better."'

Barbara sipped the liquid, making a face at its acrid taste. "What is it?"

"Some Vichy water with an aspirin dissolved in it."
He stood looking down into her flushed face, the curly
tendrils of hair clinging damply to her forehead
the nape of her neck, and his expression softened im
perceptibly. "I suppose you'd do it all over again if you could, even at the risk of missing the boat."

Her face crinkled into a smile. "This is the first time
that phrase has been applied to mc so literally. Yes, I would. How did you guess?"

"Because I'm beginning to know you."

She looked up at him in surprise. "I'm sorry if you were really worried about me.'.' She stood up and laid her hand impulsively on his arm as it rested against the ship's rail, "'It won't happen again, I promise."

He stiffened at her touch and moved slightly away. "I had no qualms for your safety," he said coldly.
"You're a level-headed young woman and quite capable
of taking care of yourself. But my aunt isn't of the
same opinion and I was afraid she was going to have
hysterics. It is your duty to keep her calm and not add to her excitement."

Barbara lilted her head back. "Really, Mr. Rock-
wood, your compliments become more back-handed the
longer I know you."

"I wasn't aware of having paid you a compliment."

She Hushed and turned away to pick up her handbag
and sunglasses. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go down to your aunt."

Barbara avoided Rockwood the whole of next day, and pleading a headache as her excuse for not going
up on deck, ordered lunch lo be sent down to her cabin.

Although she managed to avoid her employer during
the day, it was impossible not to encounter him at
dinner each evening, and she was studiously formal and
polite. But three days after the incident Rockwood followed her out on deck after coffee, and she was leaning on the rail watching the white trail of foam in the ship's wake when she heard his voice behind her.

"You shouldn't be out here without a jacket.|"

"Your interest in my health is quite unnecessary," she replied without turning her head. "I'm capable of taking care of myself."

"Those words have a familiar ring." His voice held a him of amusement. "Like most females you resent
being called capable. I wonder why. 'Helpless,' 'naive,'
'dependent', arc quite acceptable, but to suggest that they arc as capable as a man seems to put their backs up immediately, in spite of the fact that they arc sup
posed to be modern, emancipated women."

"I shouldn't think you'd have to try very hard to put anyone's back up, Mr. Rockwood.''

'Tact isn't my strong suit, I admit," he conceded, and moved forward to stand by her side. "We arrive at Athens tomorrow morning. I suppose you intend going ashore?"

"Certainly. I wouldn't dream of missing it."

He eyed her speculatively. "Does it really mean so much to you to see these places?"

"Do you really want to know, or are you just asking me out of idle curiosity?"

"I should really like to know,"

She was silent for a moment. Then she said: To be able to travel has always been one of my most cherished ambitions and one which seemed to be destined to remain just an ambition, because until I took this job I had very little hope of fulfilling it. Strange countries, strange people and different ways of life are as stimulating to my imagination as—as a
cordon bleu
chef is to a hungry gourmet"

"An unusual comparison, but quite apt," he mur
mured.

"Unusual or not, it's the way I feel. When I lived in London and travelled on the tube during the rush-hour I used to feel sorry for all the people hurrying from their homes to their offices and back again to
their homes at night, jostling and crowding each other,
strap-hanging wearily in the smoky atmosphere. I used
to wonder whether they ever realized the humdrum
monotony of their existence and longed to break out of it. or whether they were content to spend the rest of their lives scurrying to and fro to make enough
money to go on scurrying to and fro." She paused, then
went on reflectively: "But sometimes I felt they were better off than people like me, for although their lives
were so narrow and circumscribed they were probably
happier than I ever was."

"How young you are to talk like that, Miss Mans
field." He looked out at the dark water, the bony structure of his face thrown into relief. 'Those poor
people, as you describe them, probably have as many
unfulfilled ambitions and desires as their more fortunate
fellow human beings. It doesn't always pay to judge people by appearances, you know, and John Smith,
who probably looks as common-place as a potato, may
have the yearnings of a poet or the curiosity of an explorer."

Barbara regarded him with interest. "I can sec you've given some thought to the subject."

"At one time I was a rebel too; wherever there was an under-dog you'd find me defending him."

"And now?"

'The fire of youthful idealism has burnt itself out, I'm afraid. I've realized the uselessness of railing against Fate and accept whatever comes. But I didn't follow you out here to give tongue to my opinions. I was going to ask if you'd care to come ashore with me tomorrow."

"You needn't worry about my missing the boat again," she replied quickly. "I'll make sure I don't forget the time."

"So my invitation is refused?"

"It's very kind of you, but you needn't have
bothered." Then, seeing the sudden bleakness in his
expression: 'There was really no necessity for Aunt Ellie to ask you to look after me. It makes me un
comfortable to feel I'm a bother to you both."

"What has Aunt Ellie got to do with it?"

"But didn't she I thought she must have asked you to go with mc."

"No one dictates to me, least of all my aunt," he
said coldly. "I asked you because I thought you'd ap
preciate being shown Athens by someone who knows it.
But I can see I was too presumptuous,"

He turned away and was walking up the deck to
wards the companionway when she called after him.

The wind carried her voice away and whipped her hair into disarray as she turned her head, but she called his name again, and at the hatchway he looked back.

'What is it?"

She moved towards him quickly, her skirts blowing
against her thighs. "I didn't mean to be ungracious. If you really want to take me ashore tomorrow I'd be very pleased to go with you."

There was a short silence. Then: "Very well, be ready at eight. The Greek port officials come aboard then to give out landing permits, and unless they've changed their ways they'll be off again at eight-fifteen
—it's a case of first come first served and hang the rest,
so don't be late." And with a lift of his hand he dis
appeared below.

CHAPTER
SIX

BARBARA was up early next morning and when she left the cabin Aunt Ellie was still asleep. Although she did not like leaving the old woman on her own all day, the stewardess had promised to keep a kindly eye on
her, and another elderly woman on the cruise with a
middle-aged cousin had offered her companionship.

Barbara's first glimpse of Greece was disappointing,
for the boat was already anchored in the port of
Piraeus, which looked just like any other Mediterranean
port—in fact, even dirtier and more dilapidated than most.

Rockwood was already at breakfast when she went into the dining-room, and stood up to go almost as she sat down. "If you'll give me your passport I'll get your landing permit."

She complied. "Shall I meet you up there?" He nodded. "On deck in about twenty minutes." Equipped with sun-glasses and a floppy, wide-brim
med straw hat, Barbara went to join him as arranged,
and found him waiting for her impatiently. An impassive
Greek soldier guarded the gang-plank, but allowed them through when he saw their passes.

At the far end of the dock they were accosted by a
jabbering crowd of taxi-drivers, but Rockwood waved them peremptorily aside and went up to a small, dilapidated car standing on its own.

He spoke to the driver in a mixture of English and Greek and Barbara noticed the immediate deference with which the man answered him. There was some
thing to be said after all for being with a male escort, she thought, and she settled herself against the moth-eaten upholstery with a comfortable sigh.

"Have we far to go?" she asked.

"Not very. We drive through Piraeus first—not too prepossessing, I'm afraid, but necessary."

Rockwood had spoken the truth, for it was anything
but prepossessing—a straggling, summary area of mean
streets and squalid houses, the children running bare
foot over the cobbles. But the road became straight and
wide once they were out of the town, and to the left the land was fiat waste, to the right the sea, and ahead
of them in the distance loomed the twin hills between
which Athens was built, the silhouette of the Acropolis
rearing high above the city.

Buildings began to close in again upon the road, and presently they were in the suburbs of Athens itself, the houses no longer scrimpy and individual but the communal dwellings of the metropolis.

"I shall tell the driver to take us to Constitution Place first," Rockwood said. "It's the centre of the city and we can start our sight-seeing from there."

Barbara stared out of the window, faintly disap
pointed to find that Athens was much like any other city, although the brilliant blue sky and the frequent
use of marble gave it a distinction lacking in other
Mediterranean capitals.

With a suddenness that nearly threw her off the seat the taxi jerked to a halt on one side of a big square, and Rockwood helped her out.

"I think we'll have a cup of coffee and then you can take your bearings," he said, and led her to one of the many side-walk cafe's, where they sat down at a table on the pavement, shaded from the glare of the sun by a striped awning.

As they sipped their coffee Barbara surveyed the square. Most of one side was taken up by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the other three sides
enclosed a small park and were bordered by buildings
whose ground floors were mostly side-walk cafes like the one at which they were sitting.

But her eye skipped the unhappy mixture of shabby and new surrounding them and rose towards the flat, table-like top of the Acropolis, gleaming white in the morning sun.

"How beautiful it is," she sighed. "I can hardly be
lieve I'm here. Imagine it—me in Athens really looking at the Acropolis!"