Free Love is for Ever by Barbara Rowan

appeared quite unmoved. Dominic, whom Jacqueline found herself looking at in the midst of her acute embarrassment, developed all at once a faint curl to his lips, and as his eyes looked back at her she thought they were attempting to mock her again. She felt strangely disappointed.
    And when later she saw him disappearing into the darkness of the garden with Martine her disappointment was even more pronounced. She knew she was quite ridiculous, but it was disappointment.
    CHAPTER SIX
    A week later she found herself resting after a bathe on one of the golden beaches with Martine and Dominic. It was a very warm morning, but there was a faint haze over the sea, and the island inland was rather hazy, too. Later the haze would vanish, and it would be very hot, Dominic warned.
    Martine was wearing an enormous shady hat to protect her complexion, which she preferred matt and pale, from the harmful effect of the sun, and a rather startling beach suit which made Jacqueline’s neat white shorts and pale yellow silk shirt look very ordinary by contrast. But, nevertheless, when Jacqueline bestirred herself after gazing dreamily out over the sea, and looked round at the others, it was to find Dominic watching her with that curious, strangely absorbed look of interest which she had discovered more than once in his eyes during the past week, although his behavior apart from that was simply that of an extremely polite host, and any real attentions he had to devote to anyone were devoted to Martine.
    Jacqueline felt herself flushing rather absurdly under his look—a delicious, pale pink flush which looked enchanting rising suddenly under the light tan she had acquired—and she stood up rather abruptly.
    “If you’ll excuse me,” she said, “I want to go and find a hairdresser who’ll cut my hair really short for me. It feels far too long for this climate,” and she shook out the dark curls impatiently.
    Martine looked up at her with a kind of sleepy interest.
    “Juanita will do that for you,” she told her. “She’s marvellous at trimming and setting hair, and I wouldn’t allow anyone else on this island to touch mine.”
    “Ah; but yours is—well, it's very wonderful hair, isn’t it?” looking at it with genuine admiration. “You simply couldn’t take risks. But mine is just ordinary, and I don’t think I ought to trouble Juanita.” She thought secretly that with Martine an apparently long-staying guest in the Cortina household Juanita had more than enough to do acting lady’s maid to her, as well as her other duties, and she had no desire to impose on the Catalan girl’s good nature. “And, besides, I want to buy some stamps, so I’ll go now if you don’t mind.”
    She was quite sure they would both be secretly delighted when she had taken her departure, but perhaps because the spontaneous tribute she had just received to the quality and beauty of her hair had slightly touched Martine—or appealed to her vanity—the latter smiled regretfully, if languidly, and Dominic said quite firmly:
    “I can provide you with all the stamps you need, Miss Vaizey. There’s no need to climb up to the town in this heat, and Juanita can do all that is necessary to your hair.”
    But as he looked deliberately at it his look suggested that in his opinion it was very well as it was.
    “Thank you, but I do want to look at the shops.” She smiled at him gratefully nevertheless, and then turned to the natural stairway of rock which led up to the waterfront and put her foot on the first step. “adios,” she said smilingly, addressing them both.
    “Wait! I’ll drive you,” he exclaimed. His car was standing on the waterfront and he looked up at it, and then a little doubtfully down at Martine. “You don’t mind being left alone for a few minutes, Martine—?”
    “Of course I do!” Martine answered immediately. “And I’m quite sure Miss Vaizey agrees with me that there’s no need for you to drive her. If she insists on