complain, simply because it's traditional; you wouldn't expect it to be any different.'
'The girl we're going to see,' she began, 'Marita. Will she be resigned to a life of slavery, do you think?'
'She'll know what's in store for h er, yes,' he replied matter-of— factly. He slowed down to a crawl as two black-bearded priests started to cross the road.
'Kalimera,' they said together, lifting their hands as if in blessing.
'Kalimera sas,' returned Adam unsmilingly, and although he felt that Jill would understand the added word, he mentioned that it was a sign of respect which priests always got. 'Yes, I know,' she said.
A minute later an audible sigh of contentment escaped her, for she felt very happy and contented sitting here in the luxurious car, by her husband's side, and as her thoughts wandered, she went right back to where it all began, with her sister's folly and impetuosity in becoming engaged to Adam. How long ago it seemed since that night of fear when she had been kidnapped by two men who she truly believed were intending to murder her. And then the drive in the car and then the yacht, which she had been on only once since, the drive to the villa, the name 'Adam,' which had given her the clue to it all, to the mistake that had been made by the two men engaged to abduct Susie. They had recently been given full charge of the yacht, Jill had learned, and wondered what their reaction would be if and when she met them again. Propelled by a little imp of mischief, she said, turning to her husband, 'Could we take a trip on your yacht sometime, Adam?' Swiftly he turned, and it seemed that his whole manner had changed, that life suddenly entered eyes that had been brooding and dull.
'You'd like that?' Undoubtedly his voice was eager, and she answered without a second's hesitation, a happy note in her voice, 'I'd love it, Adam.'
'And what,' he said after a pause, 'about your ... young man?' Gilbert! She had completely forgotten his existence! 'Er. ... well, I meant when he has gone, of course,' she stammered.
A silence followed, with a surge of dejection intruding into her happiness of a few short moments ago.
'In another five weeks' time.' His voice was edged with irony, the cause of which was beyond Jill's comprehension.
'It's only four weeks now,' she corrected him.
'A month,' he said impassively, an d fell silent, concentrating on the bends in the road, the car climbing all the time. A few houses straggled along the hillsides, the well-tended gardens including a perivoli where figs and citrus fruits were cultivated. In the hedges wild roses flourished, their heady perfume drifting in through the open windows of the car, mingling with the intoxicating smell of rain-watered countryside, sharp and tangible. As they went higher, the vegetation became more sparse but the air was still heady with the fragrance of wild thyme, citrus, lavender and pine. Above the tree line, the rocky summits of the high massif which formed the watershed between the north and south of the island rose in stark outline. The awesome peaks, contorted by the fire that gave them birth, towered in rugged nakedness against the sapphire sky, but on the foothills below the tree line all was lush and green and breathtakingly colourful, with elegant cypresses, pencil— slim against the sky, olives with their silver-backed leaves fluttering in the breeze. Adam swung to his right and they were no longer climbing but cautiously negotiating a road that had been cut into the mountainside to link the several villages that nestled there. Every garden flaunted a luxuriant colour pattern, the pillars of their wide verandahs veiled with bougainvillaea vines, climbing passionflowers and honeysuckle. 'This is wonderful,' breathed Jill, and wished it could go on forever.
On their eventual arrival at the little mountain village of Ayios Andreas, they were immediately greeted by the bride herself, her parents, Ulysses and Thoula, her five brothers and two
'The girl we're going to see,' she began, 'Marita. Will she be resigned to a life of slavery, do you think?'
'She'll know what's in store for h er, yes,' he replied matter-of— factly. He slowed down to a crawl as two black-bearded priests started to cross the road.
'Kalimera,' they said together, lifting their hands as if in blessing.
'Kalimera sas,' returned Adam unsmilingly, and although he felt that Jill would understand the added word, he mentioned that it was a sign of respect which priests always got. 'Yes, I know,' she said.
A minute later an audible sigh of contentment escaped her, for she felt very happy and contented sitting here in the luxurious car, by her husband's side, and as her thoughts wandered, she went right back to where it all began, with her sister's folly and impetuosity in becoming engaged to Adam. How long ago it seemed since that night of fear when she had been kidnapped by two men who she truly believed were intending to murder her. And then the drive in the car and then the yacht, which she had been on only once since, the drive to the villa, the name 'Adam,' which had given her the clue to it all, to the mistake that had been made by the two men engaged to abduct Susie. They had recently been given full charge of the yacht, Jill had learned, and wondered what their reaction would be if and when she met them again. Propelled by a little imp of mischief, she said, turning to her husband, 'Could we take a trip on your yacht sometime, Adam?' Swiftly he turned, and it seemed that his whole manner had changed, that life suddenly entered eyes that had been brooding and dull.
'You'd like that?' Undoubtedly his voice was eager, and she answered without a second's hesitation, a happy note in her voice, 'I'd love it, Adam.'
'And what,' he said after a pause, 'about your ... young man?' Gilbert! She had completely forgotten his existence! 'Er. ... well, I meant when he has gone, of course,' she stammered.
A silence followed, with a surge of dejection intruding into her happiness of a few short moments ago.
'In another five weeks' time.' His voice was edged with irony, the cause of which was beyond Jill's comprehension.
'It's only four weeks now,' she corrected him.
'A month,' he said impassively, an d fell silent, concentrating on the bends in the road, the car climbing all the time. A few houses straggled along the hillsides, the well-tended gardens including a perivoli where figs and citrus fruits were cultivated. In the hedges wild roses flourished, their heady perfume drifting in through the open windows of the car, mingling with the intoxicating smell of rain-watered countryside, sharp and tangible. As they went higher, the vegetation became more sparse but the air was still heady with the fragrance of wild thyme, citrus, lavender and pine. Above the tree line, the rocky summits of the high massif which formed the watershed between the north and south of the island rose in stark outline. The awesome peaks, contorted by the fire that gave them birth, towered in rugged nakedness against the sapphire sky, but on the foothills below the tree line all was lush and green and breathtakingly colourful, with elegant cypresses, pencil— slim against the sky, olives with their silver-backed leaves fluttering in the breeze. Adam swung to his right and they were no longer climbing but cautiously negotiating a road that had been cut into the mountainside to link the several villages that nestled there. Every garden flaunted a luxuriant colour pattern, the pillars of their wide verandahs veiled with bougainvillaea vines, climbing passionflowers and honeysuckle. 'This is wonderful,' breathed Jill, and wished it could go on forever.
On their eventual arrival at the little mountain village of Ayios Andreas, they were immediately greeted by the bride herself, her parents, Ulysses and Thoula, her five brothers and two
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