Free Beware of the Beast by Anne Mather Page A

retorted coldly. "Never forget that !"
    "Do you think I could?"       
    Charlotte would have left him then, she was on the point of thrusting back her chair and rushing back to the bedroom, when his hand descended on her wrist, holding her in her seat with sheer strength.      --
    "Don't go," he said, and his tone was quietly commanding. "All right. If you'd rather not spend the rest of the afternoon with me ..." He shrugged. "I won't force you."
    Charlotte stared at him with a mixture of pain and compassion. She was reprieved - but was that what she wanted?
    She didn't understand the chaotic turmoil of her emotions. When he released her wrist, she rubbed the bruised flesh almost absently, and she was still there when Tina came to clear the plates away.
    Curried eggs and salad comprised the main course, and Charlotte pushed hers round her plate with a feeling of im patience towards her own indecisiveness. What was wrong with her now? Did she actually gain some enjoyment from these periodic skirmishes with the man who was now her husband? Was she actually sorry that he had withdrawn from the battle?
    When the meal was over, Alex rose to his feet. "If you'll excuse me," he said. "Dinner is at eight. No doubt I'll see you then."
    Charlotte looked up at him. "Yes," she said, in a small voice, and with a brief nod he left her.
    For three days, Charlotte only saw her husband at mealtimes. They were long days, lonely days, when she seldom ventured far from the villa. She ate breakfast in her room, and after wards either sunbathed on the patio, or went down to the beach to paddle in the sea. She had not swum yet, nor had she encountered her husband again as she had that first morning.
    Lunch was invariably at two, and afterwards she rested on the bed with one of the books taken from the library which Maria had taken much delight in showing her. Then afternoon tea was at five, served on the patio, for which Alex did join her, and dinner was at eight. This meal was over by about nine or half past, and although she knew that Alex went into the lounge and listened to music at this time, he never invited her to join him. Consequently, she was in bed by ten most nights, although not always to sleep.
    Occasionally she saw Vittorio and Dimitrios about the villa. She had learned from Maria that the Santos brothers lived in the village over the headland, but as Alex was supposed to be taking a holiday, their presence was not often required.
    It was, for Charlotte, an almost solitary existence. The words she and Alex exchanged over lunch and dinner could scarcely be termed conversation, and her only speech was with the servants.
    Then, on the morning of the fourth day, she had an un expected visitor. Casually dressed in cotton pants and a halter top, she was sitting on the patio reading when Sophia came to announce that Kyria Eleni Faulkner had arrived and was awaiting her in the saloni .
    " Kyria Eleni ?" Charlotte echoed in confusion, getting up hastily from the padded lounger she had been occupying, dropping the aerosol container of lotion she had been using to prevent her skin from becoming burned. "Who —who is that?"
    Sophia's dark eyes were faintly hostile, as usual. " Kyria Eleni ? Ine yaya ," she exclaimed, as if Charlotte should have known this without asking. "The - grandmother, ne ?"
    "Alex's grandmother," breathed Charlotte, under her breath. Of course. Alex had told her his grandmother lived on the island. But what was she doing here? Now? And where was Alex?
    Stopping Sophia as she was turning away, Charlotte asked: "Do you - do you know where - where my husband is ?"
    "Ochi, kyria ."
    Charlotte, even with her small knowledge of the language, did not need Sophia's shaken head to tell her that she did not.
    "Oh, very well," she said shortly, dismissing the girlIand taking a deep breath, walked into the villa.
    Eleni Faulkner was an intimidating figure. Tall, taller even than Charlotte, she was not a slim woman, and her