Free Spell of the Island by Anne Hampson

forgotten all about it. His manner was mostlyindifferent; he had not invited the girls to dinner after that one occasion.
    ‘We’ll go to Port Louis first,’ Louise had said earlier, and now she was driving towards it, having been there several times with Mrs. Winnick who, Emma gathered, was a charming woman, far more human than her brother.
    Soon after entering the sunlit city, Louise parked the car, and the first place she took Emma to was the palm-lined Place d’Armes, which was off the lovely main square and where Emma enjoyed sitting in a garden cafe and admiring the French colonial buildings erected in the eighteenth century.
    ‘I didn’t realise how very French Mauritius is,’ she remarked after having noticed some of the street names.
    ‘Neither did I before I came. The French claimed the island early in the eighteenth century and called it the Ile de France, and it became a prosperous French colony, so the language, customs and religion are still here, although English is the official language. It’s attractive, isn’t it—being so French, I mean?’
    Emma nodded her head.
    ‘Yes, I love it.’
    ‘Could you live here?’
    A pause. She wondered what Louise would have to say were she to tell her she could live here . . . as Paul’s mistress.
    ‘I guess it would be a very wonderful place to live—but not possible for me, so I shall have to be content with having another holiday sometime.’
    ‘I was thrilled when I first came. The Winnicks were super people, so kind to me. Mrs. Winnickused to take me with her quite often when she went shopping. They both treated me more like one of the family, and I always ate in the evenings with them.’
    ‘So it was very different when you went to the chateau of her brother.’
    ‘Yes, very different indeed. I suppose I was unhappy right from the start. I felt strange in Paul’s home. . . .’ She tailed off, and watching her expression, Emma knew just where her thoughts were.
    ‘You fell for Paul’s good looks and that made things much worse.’
    Louise nodded in agreement.
    ‘And I now realise, Emma, that I—well—began to push myself—’ She broke off, colour tinting her cheeks. ‘He hated being—how can I put it?’ Again she paused but then said deprecatingly but with perfect frankness, ‘Chased is the only word to describe how it was; I fully realise it now. And a man as arrogant and superior as Paul was bound to give me the brush-off, wasn’t he?’
    Emma was at a loss to find a response, for she had not expected Louise to open up like this and admit to having annoyed Paul—for that was undoubtedly what her conduct amounted to.
    ‘You seem to be getting over it,’ submitted Emma tentatively.
    ‘I’m trying hard,’ agreed her sister, managing to produce a smile. ‘Unrequited love is fruitless, and the sooner I can forget him the more comfortable life will be.’ Her lip trembled, but she soon pulled herself together.
    Emma said gently, ‘Come home with me, Louise. Mother will be so glad to have you back.’
    Louise nodded thoughtfully, while Emma held her breath.
    ‘It would be the wisest course, wouldn’t it?’
    ‘Under the circumstances, yes, Louise, it would.’
    ‘It’ll mean breaking the contract.’
    ‘So . . . what does it matter? If the Winnicks were coming back shortly, it would be different, but you say they’re not due back for almost two years?’
    ‘That’s right. I know they’ll expect me to stay on until they return.’ A sigh escaped her, and for a while the two sipped their coffee in silence. ‘They were so good to me,’ she murmured at length, almost to herself, ‘It’s not very nice of me to leave.’
    ‘In this particular case you have to think of yourself first,’ Emma pointed out practically, ‘I’m sure that if Mrs. Winnick were in possession of the facts, she would agree.’
    ‘Yes, I’m sure she would. But as she doesn’t know the facts, she’s going to think it was a dirty trick on my