Free The Beads of Nemesis by Elizabeth Hunter

on your decision now.”
    She looked down, veiling her eyes with her long lashes. “I’ve said I want to marry you,” she said quietly. “Isn’t that enough?”
    “I hope it will be - for you,” he answered.
    She looked up at him then, the colour creeping up her cheeks. “I don’t know what you mean?”
    He gave her a little shake. “I could beat you when you pretend to be obtuse!” he growled at her. “Don’t count on my being patient with you forever! One day I’ll make you say it, all of it! You make a mistake if you think you can lead me by the nose for long! I am a man, and I won’t play second fiddle to any chit of a girl. Is that clear enough for you?”
    She nodded. “But you did promise that you’d pretend to be in love with me while we’re here - Pericles, please - ” “Yes?”
    But she couldn’t go on. “You promised!” she said again. His eyes narrowed and she was once more afraid of him. “I didn’t promise to pretend anything. I promised to save your pride.” '
    “But it’s the same thing!”
    “No, yineka mou, it’s not the same thing at all. Come on, we’d better go down to the others.” He opened the door for her and stood back to let her pass. “By the way, did I tell you that I like your dress?”
    She made a humble gesture with her hand and was surprised when he captured it in his own. To hide her pleasure, she rushed into speech. “You said you liked green. I put it on for you!”
    He bent and kissed her cheek. “Very pretty, pedhi, but it’s the words I want, and it’s the words I mean to have!”
    It was strange to be married. Stranger still to find herself the equal of her stepmother and no longer the lesser loved daughter of the house. Morag enjoyed herself. She made the most of every moment of it from the time she walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, for once the centre of his attention, right up to the last goodbye from the last of the guests.
    True, it was a peculiarly solemn moment when she promised to love, honour, and obey him for the rest of her life, but the look in Pericles’ eyes had started a blaze of hope that had stayed with her all day and even now had not quite died away.
    “Happy, my dear?” her father asked her, easing himself out of his coat with a sigh of relief.
    “Very happy!”
    “You’re a lucky girl. I don’t mind telling you now that I was a bit worried about you and David. He didn’t strike me as being your type -far more in Delia’s line, if you know what I mean?”
    “No, I don’t,” Morag said, frowning.
    “Bit flashier in her tastes than you,” her father rejoined. “He would have ended up with her - if he hadn’t already. You’re like your mother, and Delia is very like hers. I’m a lucky man to have known both. Don’t misunderstand me, darling, my second marriage is a very happy one. One could not hope for the same generosity a second time such as your mother had. Is that what this Greek man has seen in you?”
    “He’s only half Greek.”
    Her father chuckled. “He looks Greek, and I daresay he makes love like a Greek. Did you tell him the truth about the David business, or did he guess?”
    Morag gave him a quick glance. “I didn’t think you knew!”
    “I didn’t know. I thought it likely, no more than that. I should have spoken up, I suppose. I didn’t know what to do! I’m glad you’ve found someone to look after you. Too many people were ready to take advantage of you and you would have given them all everything you had. Pericles looks as though he knows how to keep you well in hand. I think you’ve chosen well there!”
    Morag looked at him as though she had never really seen him before. “It was a lovely wedding, Daddy,” she said. “Thank you for that.”
    “It was the least I could do. Ah, here’s Delia. Did you enjoy the wedding too?” he asked his stepdaughter.
    “Heavens, no! I thought it was rather pathetic, actually. Morag may think she’s got Perry where she wants him, but