The Daughter of Night (19 page)

Somehow she drove herself towards the bathroom, almost feeling her way upstairs, and remembering what Demetrios had called her practical approach, she took her own advice and swallowed a couple of aspirins with a drink of water from a tooth mug, then splashed cold water all over her face.

Gradually the pain receded and anger began to take the place of misery. One bad thing she had done, and that was for a good cause, but him—if she'd been physically capable of strangling him, she'd have done it. He was nothing but a cheat—she hated him—as soon as she saw him tonight, she'd tell him exactly what she thought of him and walk out,
and
she wouldn't need to be paid for doing it. He could take his magnanimity and strangle on it! She didn't want a penny, she wouldn't touch a coin or note of his filthy money.

But she'd wait for all this until the party was over and Katy was in bed and asleep. Poor little Katy, what chance would she have with parents such as this, a scheming woman and an adulterer? She shivered again and felt the headache growing to unbearable proportions.

Better to go and fetch Katy now so that they would be back in the house when Demetrios arrived. Looking in the bathroom mirror, Hester swore, every bad word she could think of, intoned like a litany of hate, and when she had exhausted her vocabulary, she went downstairs and out into the fresh air, got into the Mini and drove steadily to the school.

'You're late, I thought you were never coming, has Papa arrived yet? Did he make you late?' Katy was dancing with impatience at the school gates.

'No to both of your questions.' By this time, Hester was in command of herself. Swiftly she manufactured an excuse. 'Some bother with the barbecue—I had to fetch fresh charcoal from Esher. Sorry about it, but I wanted it to be perfect. Little things like that would have spoilt your party, we'd have had to cook your burgers under the electric grill in the kitchen.'

Katy nodded understandingly. 'And you're sad because Papa hasn't come home yet. I expect he can't help it, the plane might have been delayed—it often happens.' She spoke with all the experience of a well seasoned traveller and Hester could have kissed her for being so blessedly normal.

'Everything's ready for you, darling.' Her lips twisted in a mockery of a smile, but Katy was so happy, so excited she surely wouldn't notice. 'What frock are you planning on wearing?'

'No frocks,' Katy said firmly. 'We've talked it over, me and the other girls, and we're going to wear jeans and tops so we won't be cold when the sun goes down and one of them—the girls, you know—is going to bring some extra records for the hi-fi. It's going to be a wonderful party! Thank you so much, Hes, for arranging it for me and for the burgers and barbecue and everything.'

At home, Katy's first call was on her puppy and she came back to the kitchen, carrying him and puffing under the weight.

'I think Papa's going to be surprised when he comes and sees him, don't you, Hes? He's grown an awful lot in two weeks.'

'So have his puddles,' Hester answered darkly. 'And that reminds me, he's left one in the conservatory, you'd better clear it up before your guests arrive. You don't want them sloshing through one of his miniature lakes! Filthy beast, aren't you?' She fondled the pup's ears and Katy went off happily, carrying a sponge mop and a bucket of clean water, with the culprit following her closely.

When they had gone, Hester set about her final preparations, arranging the tables on the patio and taking out the boxes of food, but even being busy couldn't stop her thinking, and she wished she had Mia with her. At least she could have shared her troubles. She had asked Mia down for the weekend, but her foster-sister had refused point blank.

'It's not as if you were on your own, Hes,' Mia's voice had come cool and clear over the phone. 'You've got the little girl with you and she's bound to tell her father.'

'So what?' At that time, Hester had been belligerent.

'So, you'll have to explain who I am, and then that'll lead to more explanations. You'll end up telling him about Flo and how you spent the money you had from him. He'll think we're sponging off you as soon as his back's turned. No, love, I won't come unless he's there and invites me himself!' And that had been that. Mia might not be a blazing, vital personality, but she was as obstinate as all get out when she had an idea firmly in her mind. So there was nothing to do but sweat it out herself—on her own, meanwhile giving the appearance of bright normality for the sake of Katy and the other girls.

She succeeded better than her wildest dreams. Nobody suspected a thing, not even Katy, when at half past nine, Demetrios had still not arrived. She was disappointed, it showed in her huge dark eyes, but she was also phlegmatic. These things happened. Katy was proud of her father and she had wanted to show him off to her friends, but it was not to be, and there was always another time.

By half past ten, the house seemed quiet after the uproar of the last three hours. All Katy's guests were gone, ferried home by obliging parents who perfectly understood that Hester couldn't manage seven little girls by herself, and Katy had gone off to bed, tired but happy. Hester employed herself in getting the house straight, and although it was probably bad for him, Katy's pup dined off bits of beefburger, abandoned pieces of buttered rolls and all the crisps and peanuts that remained uneaten. As a second course, he polished off a large amount of melting ice-cream and she put him to sleep in his packing case bed, grinning as he hiccuped. He was much more fun than a waste disposal unit!

Demetrios called at half past eleven, brief and matter-of-fact. His plane had been delayed by engine trouble and had landed at Athens with more of the same trouble, then the passengers had been fed, a few at a time, into other planes bound for London. As the tourist season was getting into full swing, most of the planes could take no more than two or three people, so he had had a long wait before he was once again airborne. He was tired and didn't think it wise to drive down straight away, so he'd wait till morning—this was a call from a public phone at the airport, there were a number of people waiting to use it after him, so he would tell Hester all about it tomorrow—and with a 'Goodnight, darling', he had hung up.

Hester stared at the circle of perforated black plastic and nodded grimly, 'So that's your line, is it?' she enquired of the mouthpiece before she slammed the receiver back into the cradle, then she smiled grimly at herself and her own naivety. Had she expected any other sort of telephone call? Of course she hadn't! She was making a big drama out of nothing. The best thing she could do was to go straight to bed, get a good night's sleep and wake refreshed and able to cope.

The 'good night's sleep' was a washout. She lay staring into the darkness while her mind went round and round, getting nowhere. One part of her mind accepted Vilma's story, but a calm, sensible part of her dismissed it. Vilma was merely retailing a story which had been told to her and she probably believed it was the truth—there had been the vaguest hint of pity in her baby blue eyes.

By the time the grey light of the false dawn had pushed some of the night shadows away, Hester had arrived at an inescapable conclusion. Vilma had told her the truth. Athene was a beautiful woman with a smouldering passion beneath her calm surface—if she offered, it would take a saint to refuse her, and Demetrios was no saint. He and Athene had been lovers in the past and they'd probably be lovers again and Katy was the tie between them, a constant reminder of how it had been once and how it could be again.

And Demetrios wouldn't feel in the least guilty about it. If she, Hester, asked him, he would admit it without any shame, and in any case—she punched the pillows and closed her eyes firmly—she was going, and not because of Vilma's silly threat, which didn't frighten her a bit. She was going because it was the right thing to do. Demetrios, Athene and Katy belonged together, they were a family, whereas all she was was a bystander, somebody who had been drawn in by accident of circumstances. .

She would have a little sleep until half past seven, then she would do all the usual things and take Katy to school. When she came back, she would pack her clothes, wait for Demetrios, explain that she had to go and that would be that. She wouldn't be emotional about it either!

The morning light was cruel to her as she looked in the bathroom mirror after her shower. Her eyelids were puffy and there were violet stains beneath her eyes to tell of a sleepless night, but that sort of thing could be hidden and she went off to the bedroom and after dressing, set about concealing the evidence with a tinted foundation and a load of eye-shadow. She couldn't take the look of strain out of her eyes, but she could disguise it and did, so that Katy's sharp eyes didn't notice anything unusual when they sat down to breakfast.

'Your papa phoned last night, he'd arrived in London but he was too tired to drive down. He'll be here this morning.' Hester poured tea and strove for a calm approach.

Katy nodded while she spooned up cereal. 'He doesn't like driving when he's tired, he says that's when people have accidents,' she observed, looking up from her plate, and Hester caught her breath. For just a second, all resemblance to Athene was wiped from Katy's face and in it's place Demetrios looked out of her eyes and her mouth curved into his smile, thoroughly adult and understanding. 'Papa says we need never worry about him, he doesn't take chances.'

'I'll be taking a few, trying to get you to school on time, if you don't rush your breakfast a bit!' Hester rose from the table and as she passed behind Katy, she squeezed her shoulder with a fond hand. 'You're happy, dear? This is what you want?'

'Of course.' Katy pushed aside her cereal bowl and helped herself to toast. 'It's what I've wanted for a long time, ever since Miss Mungo gave me books about girls. A proper home, not living in hotels, and a papa who came home every evening so I could tell him what I'd been doing all day and have him help me with my homework,' specially the maths—I'm no good at that.' She sighed. 'I'm afraid I'm going to come bottom of the class, I don't understand algebra one little bit.'

'But you'll be top in French,' Hester comforted, 'You can't have it all ways.'

Driving back from delivering Katy to school, Hester rehearsed what she was going to say to Demetrios when he arrived. She had decided against slipping away unnoticed—that smacked of cowardice. She strung the words out aloud, trying them to see if they sounded right and gave the correct impression of dignity.

'Had you come home last night…' No, that wasn't any good—start again.

'While you've been away, I've been thinking'—that was much better—'and I've come to the conclusion that this bargain we made isn't going to work.' So far, so good—she wouldn't mention anything about Vilma's visit, that ground was too treacherous and she might find herself bogged down in emotional phrases like, 'I can't live with a man when I know he has a mistress whom he prefers to me'. Things like that were out! It had to be kept calm and practical.

She kept on mulling over what she would say, changing a word here and there while she swiftly packed her suitcases in readiness for her departure, and when everything was ready, she went across to the dressing table mirror and tried it out again—she had to be word-perfect.