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wine. ‘Soon I’ll be the wife of a sugar farmer on this island.'
    ‘Since you didn’t question the foolishness of dining alone with me in my chalet in his absence,’ he said, ‘I gather this is of little importance to you.’ His eyes were mocking now.
    ‘I did question it.’ she protested.
    ‘And yet here you are.’ He laughed very softly.
    ‘Yes. here I am, and I've probably given rise to a whole lot of gossip.'
    ‘Gossip doesn’t bother me,’ he answered. ‘One day before Marlow gets back we will go on a champagne picnic. I will take you to a place where we will enjoy a superb Chinese meal, afterwards, in the authentic atmosphere ... and where we will be seen.’
    ‘Many things appear not to bother you,’ she observed.
    ‘I'll admit that is the case.’ He sat back and studied her.
    After the meal they went downstairs again to listen to music and sat on plump cushions which Laurent had carelessly thrown on to the carpet. When he bent his head to kiss her, her lips were more than willing and she knew that her trials with Laurent Sevigny were only just beginning. As her arms went around his neck she was quite resigned to the possibility of becoming yet another helpless victim. He kissed her sensuously and, once, while she opened her eyes to look into his face, the expression in his strange green eyes seemed to darken, as he made his calculations about her. What was it he’d said ... ‘I’m not interested in being faithful to any one particular girl.’
    And yet who was she to set such high standards? she thought, as a feeling of humiliation surged over her. ‘Let go of me!’ She struggled away from him.
    ‘You enjoy being kissed by me, no?’
    ‘Yes, but only for the simple reason that I've possibly had too many of your island cocktails and wine and because I must have taken leave of my senses. There! Now are you satisfied?’
    ‘It takes a lot to satisfy me,' he answered. ‘But come, I will take you back to the hotel now.’
    A mask seemed to have been fitted over his dark handsome face, hiding his thoughts. It was as though he had been watching a very boring play which had held absolutely no interest for him.
    On the way back to the hotel, Jade stumbled on a paving stone which was set into the lawn, but although Laurent caught her to him, he made no attempt to kiss her.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    When her phone rang the following afternoon Jade was in her room and, as she was new to the island, her eyes widened. She knew that it wasn't Nicole, for Nicole had left the clinic for her house on the slopes of one of those fantastically shaped mountains. Perhaps, she thought a little wildly, it was Marlow who had arrived back earlier than intended.
    It was Laurent Sevigny. ‘Right now, what are you doing?’ he asked. ‘I know that you are finished at the salon, of course.'
    ‘Right now,’ she said, after a moment and in a tight little voice, 'I'm preparing to swim in the pool.’
    ‘You are most welcome to use my pool at the chalet,' he told her.
    ‘The hotel pool will suit me fine—but thank you, all the same.’
    'About last night ’ he began.
    ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
    'Do you not wish to see Curepipe?’ Jade knew he was mocking her. ‘We did not discuss it before we parted and so I have phoned to make arrangements. We will leave soon after we have eaten breakfast together.’
    She allowed a long, astonished breath to escape her lips. ‘You’re not dictating to a person of limited intelligence,’ she said hotly. ‘Really, I decide these things for myself! As for breakfast .... well, I’m now making it a practice to eat breakfast here in my room every day, in common with some of the clients at the health clinic. I think you're looking at things from off-centre, don’t you?’
    'No,’ he replied easily. ‘It is my intention to change this routine, so far as tomorrow is concerned. I’ll meet you at eight at the hotel.’ Suddenly, his laugh came to her. ‘Oh, come, Jade. You