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  'Of course, Daddy.' She walked across the hall into the study, shutting the door behind her. 'I hope it won't take too long. Alan's calling for me just after seven, and I have to get ready.'

  `Young Trevor?' Her father pursed his lips slightly. 'I didn't know that you were seeing him.'

  `Well, he's only just rung up,' Lacey said, a little puzzled. 'There's nothing wrong, is there, Daddy? I've been out with Alan before and you've never objected. After all, I've known him all my life.'

  'Yes, of course.' Sir James rubbed his chin in the way that Lacey knew meant that he was upset and worried, and her heart lurched anxiously for him.

  'Daddy love, sit down,' she begged. 'I hope you haven't been overdoing things.' As she spoke, her eyes fell on the whisky decanter on his desk and the used glass beside it, and she gave a little cry of distress. 'Whisky in the afternoon—Daddy! You know what the specialist said.'

  'Damn the specialist,' Sir James said roundly. 'If I need a whisky I'll have one, arid that's all there is to it.'

  Lacey sighed inwardly. She knew it was imperative not to argue with him or allow him to become upset, but at times he made this very difficult.

  'Anyway, I haven't asked you in here to discuss my daily habits,' he went on, his temper still dangerously near the surface. 'Something has happened this afternoon that it's only right you should know about at once, as you'll be the person most nearly affected.'

  `It's all right, Daddy. I know what's happened.' Lacey

  felt uncannily calm. 'I'm sorry everything went wrong last night, but I honestly don't think it would ever have worked. He's—he's the wrong sort of man ...'

  'What in the world are you talking about?' her father said testily. 'I thought everything went well. I must say, Lacey, I was damnably proud of you. Perhaps that dress was a little extreme—but I dare say you and your stepmother know more about that than I do.'

  Lacey stared at him, her lips parted. 'But Daddy, it was a failure—a total disaster! I didn't convince Mr Andreakis for a minute. He knew I disliked him and he went out of his way to humiliate me.' She swallowed nervously. 'He—he even tried to make love to me.'

  'A not unnatural reaction under the circumstances,' Sir James said drily, but Lacey realised incredulously that he was smiling. Then he had known after all what Michelle intended, she thought despairingly.

  She moved towards him. 'Daddy, what I'm trying to tell you is that he knows that last night was a put-up job, and that I was only trying to get round him for your sake. But it didn't work. Vernon–Carey can sink as far as he's concerned, I know that. You don't have to shield me from the truth ...'

  Her voice tailed away in bewilderment in the face of her father's open amusement.

  'Oh, my dear Lacey! No wonder Andreakis finds your innocence such a delight.'

  'My—innocence?' Her heart was thudding queerly and painfully. 'What do you mean?'

  'We've had a long talk this afternoon, Andreakis and I.' He came over and stroked her cheek affectionately. 'A long talk. I don't think you need to worry about Vernon–Carey, my dear. There'll be no shortage of confidence once the word gets around that Troy Andreakis has become a member of the family as well as the board.'

  'A member of the family?' she repeated, numb with disbelief at the terrible realisation that was beginning slowly to dawn on her.

  'Oh, I know he hasn't spoken to you yet. But he's acted correctly according to the customs prevailing in his own

  part of the world. Arranged marriages are still very much the thing in Greece, you know.'

  'I don't understand.' She was lying, willing the truth away, refusing to accept the unmistakable implication in her father's words.

  'Oh, come, my dear.' He smiled at her fondly but with a slight trace of irritation. 'I'm sure I don't have to spell it out for you. Besides, Andreakis himself would prefer to do that, I have no doubt. He has asked for you to become his wife in return for a major investment in Vernon–Carey and a seat on the board.'

  The room swam dizzily in front of her, and she had to seize the back of a nearby chair for support. She heard herself cry Out No!' and her father's face darken angrily.

  No? Are you completely mad, girl? He's offering us all a lifeline and you want to throw it back in his face!'

  'I—I can't help it.' Lacey was crying now, the tears spilling endlessly down the pallor of her face. 'You can't make me do this, Daddy—please! Promise him anything else—anything he wants—but not me. Please—not me!'

  'He doesn't want anything else,' Sir James thundered, then stopped abruptly, making his way rather unsteadily to the nearest chair and half collapsing into it.

  'Daddy, you're ill!' Lacey rushed to his side, her own misery forgotten in anxiety for her father.

  'What do you expect?' He closed his eyes, waving her away from him. 'We're offered a solution to all our worries and for purely selfish reasons you decide instead to plunge us all into ruin and chaos.'

  Lacey knelt beside his chair, the words beating and reverberating in her brain. 'Ruin and chaos—selfish—a solution.' But at what cost to herself? she thought, a huge sob rising in her throat.

  'You don't understand,' she said unsteadily.

  'You're damned right, I don't. Good God, you get the sort of offer that most girls only dream about, and you don't want to know about it. What have you got against him?'

  She stared unhappily at the carpet. 'He's a stranger. And—he frightens me.'

  There was a pause, then her father stirred restlessly.

  `Well, naturally, you'll be given time to get to know him. He's not a barbarian. As for frightening you,' he gave her a shrewd glance, `he's well aware of your youth and—inexperience. He'll make allowances, I'm sure.'

  Will he? she thought, remembering with despair the hardness of the mouth that had crushed hers, the cruel strength of his hands and arms.

  `But why me?' She stared appealingly up at her father. `He must know a dozen girls in Greece who would make him a suitable wife—who would understand this—arrangement.'

  `Ah, but he isn't wholly Greek,' her father said slowly. `His mother was an American, and this is one of the reasons

  `Yes?' Dry-eyed now, she prompted him.

  `He has a young sister, half American like himself. When their mother died, she left a letter asking her sister to bring the little girl up in California. Andreakis' father agreed reluctantly—but it was not a success. According to Andreakis the girl has been allowed to do as she likes, spoiled beyond reason by this aunt. There was a court case some time ago and Andreakis managed to gain the custody of the the girl, who's about fifteen now. She had tried to run off and join some sort of commune and he was able to prove that the aunt was not exercising proper control. Consequently his sister is now coming to live with him at his villa on Theros.'

  `She has my sympathy,' Lacey said bitterly.

  Her father snorted impatiently. 'It's not your sympathy he wants, it's your companionship. He feels that someone of your age might be able to bring more influence to bear on the girl than an older woman who might try to be too restrictive and rigid.'

  Lacey touched his sleeve eagerly. `But if that's all he wants, a companion for his sister, couldn't I just be that? I'd willingly be that, until she's old enough to marry the man he no doubt has picked out for her,' she added bitterly. `Surely I don't need to marry him myself.'

  `Don't be a fool.' Sir James looked down at her coldly. `That isn't the only reason he wants to marry you. You're

  not blind, Lacey, nor do you suffer from false modesty, I should hope. You're a lovely girl, and you're going to be a beautiful woman. It's perfectly natural that he should want you for himself.'

  She controlled an involuntary shiver as the realisation of what being the wife of a man like Troy Andreakis would entail came home to her.

  `I need time,' she said dully. 'Time to think.'

  'Well, of course.' There was a pause, then he said rather awkwardly, 'I'm sure I don't have to repeat, Lacey, how important
this decision is for us all. Not merely your stepmother and myself, but for the bank as well. A great many people are depending on your answer, my dear. I wouldn't suggest any course of action that I didn't think would be for your good as well. After all, you have no career to think of, and you are bound to marry eventually. For my part, I would be thankful to know you were being so amply protected and provided for now that I can no longer guarantee to do so for very much longer.'

  She looked at him, startled. He had always been so dismissive about his ill-health. This was the first indication he had given her that he knew just how precarious his health was. But she knew better than to irritate him by probing further. She got up slowly.

  'I'll think about it, Daddy,' she said very quietly. 'But I must have time. And now I'd better go and get ready. Alan will be here soon.'

  'Do you still intend to spend the evening with him?' Her father gave a swift frown. 'I hardly think that's wise.'

  'Because my prospective bridegroom might object?' Lacey gave a little wintry smile. 'My promise to Alan was made before I knew anything about this, and Mr Andreakis is a great believer in promises being kept, so he should understand.' She bent and gave her father a light kiss, before leaving the room.

  Outside the study, she leaned against the closed door for a moment, shutting her eyes. Time, she found herself thinking. Time to consider, yes—but also time to escape.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  `Bur that's barbaric!' Alan declared. 'I've never heard anything like it in this day and age. You're surely not going to go through with it.'

  Lacey bit her lip, thankful that the restaurant was only half full and that no one was really within earshot of their small alcove table. She wished she had chosen a less public spot to warn Alan about Troy Andreakis' plans for her future, but he had been so obviously full of schemes of his own for her entertainment that she had felt it was only fair to tell him and not allow him to build up his hopes too much. In any case, she was not altogether sure that she wanted Alan to monopolise her so completely. She could not visualise their relationship ever deepening, on her side at least, into anything other than the pleasant, undemanding companionship they shared now.

  She had also the problem of only being able to tell Alan half the story. There were so many facets of the situation that had to remain taboo to outsiders, the Vernon—Carey involvement being the main one.

  'I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do,' she said, staring at the patterned weave of the white tablecloth. `I—I shall have to think it over very carefully, of course ...'

  'I don't see there's anything to think over.' Alan gave a short laugh. 'It may be the Greek way of arranging things, but it's not ours. I'm surprised your father even mentioned it to you. He can't want you to marry a complete stranger—someone of a different nationality, a different culture even.'

  `He's only half Greek.' Lacey attributed her defensiveness to the implied criticism of her father in Alan's remarks. `His mother was an American.'

  Alan shrugged. 'Maybe so, but that doesn't explain why he thinks you're the person to help keep this sister of his in line. I should have thought a strict Greek sister-in-law would have been a far better bet. I mean, what notice is she going to take of someone your age?'

  `Probably none.' Lacey's tone was wry. 'But I suppose he feels I might be more of an influence than a Greek girl who would probably disapprove openly of everything she did and put her back up at once.'

  Alan gave her a narrow glance. `If it wasn't so crazy, I'd , say you were seriously considering this. You certainly seem to be weighing up the pros and cons.'

  Lacey sighed. 'I promised Daddy I would think it over, but that doesn't mean my attitude has basically altered from what it was when he first mentioned it.'

  `Then you're definitely going to turn him down,' he said hopefully.

  Lacey bent her head. 'It's not as simple as that, Alan. Please don't ask me to explain, but I should need a very good reason to refuse.'

  `I should think you had at least a dozen.' Alan stared at her. 'Heading the list,' he counted off on his fingers. 'You hardly know the man—and what you know, you don't like. I would have thought that was enough. After all, his money can't mean anything to you.'

  Not to me, no, Lacey thought bitterly. But it means everything to Vernon—Carey, and that seems to balance out anything else.

  ·She said listlessly, 'Perhaps when he knows me better, he'll change his mind anyway.'.

  Alan snorted. 'And perhaps he won't. He's not a fool. I—I don't think any man would ever change his mind about wanting you, Lacey.'

  `Oh, Alan,' she said helplessly as his hand covered hers.

  `I know it's much too soon,' he said, his colour heightened. 'I didn't want to rush you into anything, but when I heard you were coming home for good, I couldn't help thinking... I've always thought, Lacey, that one day it might be—you and me. And if your father knew that, it might make a difference.'

  `That's very sweet of you, Alan,' she said gently. 'But I can't take advantage of you like that. You're only just twenty after all, and you have years before you need think of getting married. Besides, what would your mother and father spy?'

  `Oh, well,' he said with an assumed nonchalance. 'I'm sure they would soon come round. They're very fond of you, Lacey.'

  `Yes, but hardly fond enough to accept me being foisted on them as an unwanted daughter-in-law,' she pointed out, and knew she had not imagined the fleeting expression of relief that came into his eyes.

  `I didn't think you'd agree at once,' he said. 'But at least it's an alternative if you get desperate. And if you should change your mind, you only have to tell me. I can't offer you the material advantages that he can, of course, but I'm not trying to buy you either.'

  That was true, she thought, but Alan did not know that she was for sale, and bitterness choked her again.

  They talked of other things then, as they drank their coffee, and later as they drove home in Alan's Landrover through the dark lanes—a coming party at the Faircloughs' and the point-to-point being organised by the local hunt. Safe, impersonal topics about which she could talk and laugh while her tired brain seemed to circle endlessly on the treadmill of her problems.

  There was no oblivion to be gained, even when Alan parked the Landrover on the broad gravel sweep in front of her house and drew her into his arms. Lacey went reluctantly, wishing that he had nbt insisted on the intimacy of an embrace, and remained passive under his kiss. But Alan did not seem put down by her lack of response.

  `Oh, Lacey,' he looked down into her face, 'you're so sweet.' And his lips crushed hers again, more fiercely. 'I think this is what sickens me the most. The thought of a man like that—with you!' He laughed almost savagely. 'I suppose that's the Greek side of his nature—the double standard. One code of behaviour for men, and another for women.'

  `Alan, please.' She tried to free herself as gently as she could. 'I—I don't want to talk about it any more, and anyway I must go in. It's getting late.'

  'Oh, all right,' he said, a little sulkily. 'I'll phone you tomorrow, then. After all, he doesn't own you yet.'

  No, not yet,' she said.

  She stood on the gravel watching the tail light of the Landrover disappear round the curve of the drive, then walked up the wide shallow stone steps that led to the front door and let herself into the house.

  It was dark in the hall, and quiet. Distantly she could hear a faint sound of music, and knew that her father and Michelle would be in the sitting room, doubtless watching television with their guest. Her lips tightened. She would not join them, even if she was laying herself open to an accusation of bad manners. She would simply slip quietly up to her room before anyone realised she was home.

  But just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, the hall was suddenly flooded with light, dazzling her and making her stumble slightly. She turned in alarm and saw Troy Andreakis standing outside her father's study, his hand still on the light switch.

  `You—you s
tartled me! ' Even to her own ears, her voice sounded high and unnatural.

  `You startled me,' he returned coolly. `That coat and all that pale hair—you're like a little ghost slipping into the house.'

  She flushed slightly. He must know that she was trying to avoid him, and yet he would not allow her to escape a confrontation between them.

  He walked unhurriedly across the hall and stood looking at her. In spite of the fact that she was on the bottom step, he could still look down at her, she thought with a flash of irritation. It was not merely the ruthlessness she sensed in his personality that troubled her, it was this physical power that he possessed and the knowledge that he had the strength to force her to his will.

  `Well, have you nothing to say to me, Lacey mou?' The dark brilliance of his eyes searched her face, pausing with suddenly sharpened intensity on her mouth, its soft rose blurred and smudged, she realised with something like panic, by Alan's ardour.

  Almost instinctively, she lifted her hand to hide her lips, embarrassed at the betrayal of smeared lipstick, only to find her wrist seized in a grip that bruised her flesh and forced an involuntary cry from her.

  `Do they stir your blood—that boy's kisses?' he said almost meditatively, but with a note in his voice that chilled her.

  `You have no right to ask that.' She tried unavailingly to pull herself free. 'I don't belong to you.'

  `Not yet,' he said softly. 'But you will do—isn't that so, pethi mou? That's why I have been waiting for you to return, so that you could tell me so.'

  `But I can't answer you now—not yet,' she said almost wildly. 'I must have time ... I told my father.'

  `Oh, I know what you told your father.' His eyes glinted dangerously. 'But I am not impressed by your excuses. You are not a fool and you have a simple choice to make. It's not time you need, but resolution.'

  `You're so sure that I'll agree.' She stared angrily at him.

  'As I said, pethi mou, you're not a fool.'