Full Tide (6 page)

Lisa had not the heart to voice the suspicion in her mind: that Astra, secure in her own reputation and determined not to be outshone, had picked on
Jeremy Carne
chiefly for his good looks and the pleasure of playing with a younger man who would do as he was told. She would teach him enough to ensure that her own effect was by no whit diminished, and would generously allow him
his modicum of applause, but once her season was over he could slide back into the bushveld for all she would care.

Lisa could see that he was anything but gay about his good fortune. The knowledge that his mother and father would suffer shook him more than he cared to admit, yet the vision of himself in the most glamorous of professions was one he could not relinquish.

And who was she, thought Lisa, to judge his capabilities when she had not even seen him display them? If at the first trial he could put on a show which appealed to the expert Astra, he would probably turn out to be a satisfactory stage lover. Stranger things had occurred. He was as conscious of all the drawbacks as she; she had no right at all to dissuade
him.

Yet she felt compelled to point out: “The way I see it, leaving aside any consideration for your parents, is that you have to choose between a solid career for which you’re
,
already fitted, and a fickle one
.
You have a post awaiting you in Durban which you’ve admitted is far better than you’d hoped for, and you’ve the guarantee of six month
work with Astra. It’s clear-cut, Jeremy.”

He could not let it rest there, of course. Astra had
handled
him
with all her considerable cleverness; persuaded him, no doubt, that a man with his features was meant to use them. One couldn’t really blame Jeremy if he found himself yearning to try his luck behind the footlights.
T
hey parted soon after that,
Jeremy to take
a
sea water
bath and relax in his cabin
and Lisa, to collect Nancy and watch the first brave swimmers in the pool.

Jeremy came to dinner looking pale and interesting.
Like many other men he had donned a white evening jacket as a concession to
t
he warmer atmosphere, and the sleekness of his hair allied with the sombre shadow in his eyes made him appear older and more responsible. His compliment for Lisa’s white frock was sincere but restrained. He was acting already, she thought, and doing it rather well. His first lesson with Astra had been completely successful
.

They strolled
on deck,
found chairs in the wind-screened deck lounge and drank coffee and liqueurs
.
Tonight the stars were bright, and a moon, invisible from where they sat, cast back shadows in angular patterns over the afterpart of the ship.

Jeremy said
, “
I’m going to sleep on it and not make any decision till it’s unavoidable.”

“Very wise,” she answered. “And while you’re thinking , it over, don’t forget that one of these days you may want to take a wife.”

“I’ve always told myself I wouldn’t marry before I’m thirty. It used to be my ambition to marry where money is.”

“Wise again, perhaps,”
she said, smiling
.

Lisa was watching a couple who had appeared from the lounge and halted in an angle of the rail. No mistaking the fact that Mark was doing most of the talking, but Astra gave the impression of being a willing listener. She gave a low laugh and shook his arm as she made some response. Lisa imagined the faint,
autocratic grin which he was doubtless bending upon his companion, and her heart contracted, though it shouldn’t have done, so. She had no proprietary rights in that grin. But she did wish it wasn’t the custom for the Captain to be sociable with his passengers; only then she herself would never encounter him.

Jeremy turned his head and saw them. “Oh, oh,” he murmured. “Astra’s amazing, isn’t she? I expect the big sea-dog will hitch up with someone like her. They’re different from us, Lee, both of them. In their set one doesn’t need the thing called love. One changes one sophisticated relationship for another, that’s all. Then they get married and share a flat on the few occasions when they happen to be in the same place together. I don’t suppose they ever get really intimate ... only physically.”

“They’ve known each other for years,” she threw at him quickly. “If they were attracted they’d have married before.”

“Don’t you believe it, my pet. Both were probably ambitious, and now each of them has reached the top. They’ve nothing left to conquer but marriage.”

Jeremy’s diagnosis was too close to Mark’s expressed sentiments. Lisa had the conviction that the young man was learning more than the art of speaking and posturing
from Astra Carmichael. Or perhaps he had picked up a good deal while kicking around London without an anchor.

The couple by the rail had begun to walk back again.

Trust Mark to stay well on the right side of convention.
He must have cast a glance into the open end of the
deck lounge and seen the two who had it to themselves, for he spoke to Astra, and their steps veered. With Astra preceding him, he came to their corner and
g
ave a slight, ironical bow.

“Good evening. I’ve just been hearing, Ca
rn
e, that you have a spark of what it takes to carry a man to fame.
How fortunate for you that you should be travelling with Miss Carmichael.”

By now Jeremy was standing. Under the cool satire of Mark’s glance, his composure began to warp.

“I think so, too,” he managed, with a show
of nonchalance. “It’s been an amazing day for me.”

Astra placed slim fingers with bronze-red tips upon his wrist. “Then you’re happy about it
now? I was half afraid
that your Lisa would not approve, but, after all, she’s only a shipboard companion, isn’t she?”

This last was murmured in a tone calculated to make Lisa go hot. In addition, Mark was regarding her with a mocking intensity, which was confusing, to say the least.
A
nd more than anything Lisa hated to be bait
e
d. Considering that she seethed, she answered for
Jeremy
with
admirable control as well as a show of spirit.

“I think if I were Jeremy and had an excellent post awaiting me in Durban, I’d refuse to give you a definite answer till the end of the voyage. And if I agreed then to join your company I’d insist on a two-year contract.” This small bombshell was received in heavy silence.

Jeremy was somewhat stunned by
L
isa’s quite unpre
c
edented temerity. Astra was gathering her forces, and Mark, naturally, remained the amused, aloof spectator.

“I see,” said Astra
in a drawl. “You’re militant on his behalf. How nice for you, Jeremy, to have Lisa already your
s
trong
admirer. It should encourage you, because our audiences have a fair sprinkling of young women whom
y
ou might convert into adoring fans. But you are by no means a fool about women; yo
u
know us very well.
”

Before any kind of rejoinder could be slipped in, she inserted a hand into the crook of his elbow. “You and I have had an exhausting day, my dear, but there is just one tiny point I’d like to discuss with you. Shall we go to the reading room?”

It was accomplished smoothly and efficiently, like
a
stage
exit. Jeremy went o
ff
resigned but not reluctant, with Astra easting over her shoulder a warm, silky smile. Mark was looking at Lisa and smiling, too; but his was neither a pleasant nor a triumphant smile. It did not reach his eyes.

“Come with me,” he ordered crisply.

“With you?” she echoed.

“Yes, to a place where we shan’t be interrupted.”

“What can you possibly have to say to me that can’t be said here?”

“You’ll find out. This way.”

He did not touch her as they came to the companion down to the lower deck, but indicated that he would go first and she was to follow.

“Take your time,” he said. “You’re not a sailor.”

Lisa had no idea where she was being taken. Here, the deck was narrow and deserted, and she looked back to discover that the lights of the promenade deck were above and infinitely far away. He unlocked a door, pushed her into a dark cavern and snapped shut the door behind them before switching on the
l
ight.

Lisa blinked and gazed about her. It was a snug little cabin with book-lined walls, two leather armchairs, a Shiraz rug and a couple of odd tables. The light was a Chinese vase lamp with a tasteful rose and cream silk shade.

“Is this your den?” she queried, unable to suppress the delight in her voice.

“Yes.” He sounded terse. “I have two cabins on the bridge, but this is where I get away from it all, or entertain a friend.”

“It’s cosy, like a lounge in a flat. What heaps of books you have.”

“I didn’t bring you here to debate literature.”

“I realize that. Have I infringed one of your nautical rules and regulations?”

“I expect so—passengers invariably do—but I haven’t been told about it.”

“Then would you m
i
nd telling me what you
did
bring me here for?”

“Sit down,” he bade her. “You won’t like this, but it has to be said. Want a drink to help you through?”

“I’ll have one if you think I need Dutch courage.”

He mixed drinks at a low cabinet, brought Lisa a lime
an
d soda splashed with
gin, and sat down with his whisky. There was a tranquility about this cabin which lulled Lisa into believing that nothing painful could happen here.
The only sounds were the flapping of the curtain at the window and the perpetual wash of the sea. One might be on a houseboat in one of the lovelier parts of the Thames.
On a houseboat
...
with Mark.

Her throat went dry and her eyes became soft and bright. She didn’t want him to talk, and even Mark, now that they were settled, seemed disinclined to hasten the moment of approaching the point
.

CHAPTER
FOUR

At
length
he set down his glass and opened a box of cigarettes. When their two were lighted he hitched his trousers and crossed his ankles, he narrowed his eyes at her through the smoke.

“Do you mind my being personal?”

“Would it make any difference if I did?”

“Possibly not.” A pause. “What exactly is your connection with Carne?” he asked.

“We’re friends of two days and a bit,” she answered lightly.

“On a ship that’s equivalent to a month’s ordinary acquaintance; by now you must know all the fellow’s hopes and despairs. Not growing fond of him, are you?”

“I like him. He’s good company,” she said frankly. “What are you getting at?”

“Nothing complicated. I think you should realize that if y
o
u try to set Carne against Astra you’ll be awfully sorry. For one thing he isn’t worth the trouble, and for another it would be a losing battle. Astra’s bound to get what she wants.”

“You talk as if Jeremy hadn’t a will of his own.”

“
Has
he one?” he queried sarcastically. “I’ve seen his type so often,, philandering with every women they meet but always looki
n
g out for themselves. I could even give you an exact description of what he’ll be like at my age; dissipated, charming and maybe married to a disillusioned woman. Outwardly, his sort have the blithe spirit so admired by young women, but underneath they’re cowards. They want a lot more from life than, they have the pluck to get, so they batten on someone else’s courage—usually a woman’s. The fair Jeremy is desperately anxious that you shall back up this new ambition of his.”

“Isn’t that natural? He hasn’t bothered to make friends with anyone else.”

“That’s what I’ve been pointing out,”
he
replied patiently. Then with a trace of sharpness, “You’re dead against his teaming up with Astra, aren’t you?”

Lisa tapped ash into the beaten metal tray. Irrelevantly she noticed the formal Indian pattern and wondered if
he had
bought it in the land of its origin. He must have
been
to many countries, seen many exotic sights;
h
ad
he
s
een
them alone? She had to stir herself to reply.

“It hasn’t anything to do with me.”

“You’re right; it hasn’t,” he said abruptly. “Then why make it your business? During those two or three minutes up on deck I could see that Carne is caught up in this brilliant plan. He can, visualize himself in a series of
romantic predicaments with Astra; the idol of the gallery, the handsome glamor-boy.” His tone became shrewd. “Is that what gets you—the fact that he’ll have to make -stage-love to Astra Carmichael,
and
maybe practise in private?”

“No, it isn’t,” she told him firmly. “Seeing that you’ve learned so much about Jeremy, you’ll be aware that he’s
b
een studying engineering at his parents’ expense. He’s not a real actor
.
”

“How can you be sure of that? Astra says .he’s a remarkably good pupil.”