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hammers worked ' overtime inside it. `Carl ... I-'
`Save it!' he snarled. `You'll talk when we get home!'
In no time at all they were at the villa, and Carl brought the car
to a grinding halt on the wide, semi-circular forecourt. Opening
the door with trembling fingers, Sarah managed to get out of
the car, amazed that her shaking limbs would carry her.
`Inside!' Carl's grip was fierce on her arm as he roughly urged
her forward.
`You've no need to worry,' she stammered. `I'll .. . n-not try to
r-run away.'
`You'd not get far!' She was propelled up the steps. He opened
the door with a key and she was thrust into the hall, almost
losing her balance as she went staggering forward while Carl
closed the door. `Upstairs,' he ordered. `I warned you that
you'd regret it if you tried to escape, and by God, you will
regret it!' His eyes smouldered as Takis suddenly appeared. He
said something to the servant, but Sarah was not interested.
She was scarcely able either to walk or to breathe for the
terrible, physical ache of fear possessing her.
She reached the bedroom and went in as Carl flung wide the
door. She heard the click as he closed it and knew the hopeless
despair of being imprisoned for life.
For a long moment Carl stood there towering over her, his
whole attitude one of merciless domination.
`And now,' he hissed through his teeth, `you can explain how
you managed to get one of my servants to help you.'
Sarah heard the venom in his voice, saw the fire in his black
pitchblende eyes, and for a few seconds her fear was so
crushing that her instinct was to apologise, to adopt an air of
guilt and contrition, to plead with him for mercy. But even as
these thoughts flitted into her brain, something seemed to
snap, releasing a deluge of anger which rose to submerge her
fear.
What right had he to adopt this attitude of dominance?-treating
her as if she were one of his downtrodden, subservient Greek
women who had been steeped in the tradition of male
superiority! What sort of a jelly-fish would she be to cringe
before him and beg for mercy! Never! He could kill her first!
`Well,' he rasped, `I'm waiting.'
"Then you can carry on waiting!' she flashed. `I don't know if I
shall tell you anything.'
`You . . .' He took a step forward, then stopped, obviously taken
aback by her unexpected response. `By God, you will explain!
Yannis would never have taken a risk like that unless you'd
agreed to pay him well. Where did you get the money?' he
demanded, taking another threatening step towards her.
`Where, I say!'
'It's none of your business! I've always warned you that I'd
escape if I could, and this business tonight must have
convinced you that you haven't closed every avenue of
escape!' Her own anger was revealed
in the eyes that flashed fire at him, her courage in the erect
way she was now holding herself, her head lifted high.
`I never reckoned on one of my servants letting me down.'
Although his voice still vibrated with the fury possessing him, it
seemed less virulent-in fact, Sarah was sure she detected an
oppressive note, and
guessed that the disloyalty of his servant was upsetting him
almost as much as the action of his wife in trying to escape.
She had come very close to success; another twenty minutes
and she would have been on board the boat which Carl must
have guessed was waiting in the harbour, brought there by
Yannis.
The sense of failure must be strong within Carl; he was having
to admit that he was not infallible, had no foolproof way of
preventing her escape. The very fact that she had managed to
enlist the help of one servant made it logical to assume that
she could enlist the help. of another.
That these-or similar-thoughts were troubling him was proved
by his next words,- spoken with even less sting in his voice
than before. `What did you bribe him with? He was obviously
ready to lose his job here, with me. I know his family needs
money for dowries, but you haven't that sort of money to offer-'
`How do you know I haven't?' interrupted Sarah, her
indignation stronger than her caution. `You don't know what
I've got.'
`You didn't bring that sort of money out with you from
England,' he asserted, shaking his head. `It would require
thousands. . . .' His eyes suddenly lit on her handbag which she
had dropped onto the stool in front of the dressingtable, and
before she had time to guess at his intention, he had leapt
forward to snatch it up. She watched, fascinated and with fear
returning, as he took the bag to the bed and turned out the
contents. The bracelet was wrapped up in a tissue paper, so it
was ignored at first while he examined what was in the purse
and then opened up the small leather wallet in which were her
traveller's cheques.
`There's nothing much here.' He turned to look at her. 'You'd
already paid him?'
She shook her head.
`No ... I ... no, I hadn't paid him.'
'Then how ...?' His eyes returned to the bed and, even more
fascinated than before, Sarah watched him unwrap the paper
to reveal the bracelet, gleaming in the light, its pristine beauty
having been fully restored by the care with which Sarah had
cleaned away the dirt from every crevice.
She watched him examining it, saw the wonderment in his eyes
and knew that for a few admiring seconds he had forgotten
everything except the exquisite object he held in his hand. At
last he looked up.
`Where did you get it?' he asked, and now his voice was
miraculously free from anger, the aesthetic value of the object
having closed his mind to all else.
`From a grave,' she admitted, there being nothing else she
could say.
`A grave?'
She nodded. `I mentioned antiquities, and you said there were
temples here. This tomb's on a hillside, and it's Mycenaean.'
She was becoming more and more composed with every
minute that passed. It seemed that the bracelet was, for the
present anyway, taking Carl's mind completely off the matter of
her attempted escape. She realised that she would have to
disclose everything about the finding and the working of the
site, and supposed that the knowledge of her secrecy would re-
arouse his anger, but she did not care.
He had got away long enough with domineering over her, and
she had come to the end of her endurance. For although she
had to admit to being in his power, she had no intention of
regarding him as her supreme master.
`How do you know the tomb's Mycenaean?' His dark eyes lifted
to hers, puzzlement in their depths.
`I've been digging, along with two young men, Nico and Patios
Palisides.' She stopped as his expression changed. `You know
them, obviously. Well, they were here on vacation from the
university.' She went on to tell him everything, from the
moment she had suspected the presence of a chamber tomb
till the moment when she had gone up there on her own after
the departure of the two youths and found the bracelet. `It
proves the grave was robbed,' she added finally.
Carl had listened with the deepest interest all the time, and as
she watched him she saw the last of the fire die in his eyes.
`You were doing all that and never said a word to me.' To her
amazement he seemed more hurt than angry as he added,
`Why were you so secretive?'
'I wanted to make sure it really was a grave before I asked you
to bring in the archaeologists.'
`I see . . .' He paused a moment; and then: `These two young
men-surely they thought it strange that you could spend so
much time away from your husband?'
`I told them the truth, Carl-that you spent most of the day in
your study.' Sarah was beginning to feel drained and guessed
that Carl was affected in the same way. His eyes were brooding
as they returned to the object in his hand, and the slight droop
of his mouth gave strength to Sarah's suspicion that he was
depressed.
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