A Mortal Sin by Margaret Tanner Read Free Book Online Page B

several others over a crust of bread. “Hope he wins.” When she looked beyond the bird and saw the boat, her excitement was tempered with trepidation. Don’t be so foolish, a large paddle-steamer like this wouldn’t sink.
    Paul laughed. “Seems to be doing all right for himself.” He parked the car at the ferry terminal. “Do you want to go on the inside deck?” he asked, feeling carefree. He wouldn’t think of the social chasm that divided them. England, with all its high society requirements and restrictions, was thousands of miles across the sea. As was Hitler and his Nazis. He suddenly wondered why he thought of the German Chancellor. Perhaps it was the article he’d read in the newspaper over breakfast about Jewish refugees streaming into England with harrowing tails of persecution, and people disappearing into concentration camps.
    She took off her hat and the wind whipped strands of hair across her face. “No, let’s stay here, I love the breeze.”
    They found a spot along one side of the ferry, and he deposited the picnic hamper under the seat. The laughing, chattering crowd jostled each other good-naturedly for the best viewing positions.
    The women wore colorful frocks, the men casual trousers and open-necked shirts. Daphne felt as excited as the rest of them in the carnival atmosphere. For this one day she would be selfish and not think of the patients being admitted to the hospital suffering illness as a result of malnutrition, or the black clouds building up over Europe.
    The water, greenish blue in the distance, sent up little white spurts as the waves nudged the sides of the boat, but then it foamed as the big wheel started turning. Daphne leaned over the rails and Paul wrapped his arms around her waist, and they stood like this for a time without speaking.
    “I hope I’m a good sailor.”
    He laughed. “Haven’t you been on a boat before?”
    “Only a row boat, nothing as big as this, and on the open sea too. Will it get rough?”
    “I don’t know, but if you start turning green, I’ll shove you overboard,” he threatened.
    She tugged at his hand often as she pointed things out. Paul probably thought she was juvenile, but she couldn’t contain her excitement.
    “How old are you?” he suddenly asked.
    “Eighteen.”
    “Jean’s told you a lot about me, so she’s probably mentioned that I’m twenty-four.”
    “Yes, she did tell me your age. I asked her.”
    The blue sky dazzled in the sunlight, the almost white sand shimmered in the heat as they left the boat. I should have bought my bathers, she thought. What would Paul look like in his swimming trunks? Butterflies whirled around in the pit of her stomach.
    Around a rocky point, Paul selected a secluded spot for their picnic. Obviously selfish in his newly found attraction, he wasn’t prepared to share her with anyone else, which suited her because she didn’t want to share him, either.
    She enthusiastically demolished the hard-boiled eggs, cold chicken, ham, and fresh rolls prepared by Ian’s housekeeper. “Ah, beautiful,” she sighed. “Makes me feel drowsy.”
    She packed everything neatly back in the hamper. Hand in hand they sought relief from the heat under the shelter of some trees.
    Paul lay down first and she hesitated for a moment before doing likewise, so they were both stretched out flat on their backs. Resting her head on his arm, she lay quietly, closing her eyes to better savor his scent and the male heat emanating from his body.
    Suddenly he rolled on to his side, moving his arm to connect with the one that was cradling her head, and she trembled.
    “It’s all right.” His warm breath fanned her face. He gave a sudden strangled groan, and covered her lips with his own. “Open your mouth for me, Sunshine.”
    She obeyed the husky, somewhat muffled instruction, and almost immediately felt the thrust of his tongue as it probed the innermost depths of her mouth. His leg came over to cover hers and she was