“But he’s shaken. I wish I knew why she’s come here. She’s dangerous.”
“A femme fatale?” Chloe asked skeptically. Was that how Louise saw herself? Or was she merely a spoiled, vain, heartless woman, angry at a man who had once loved her and didn’t any longer? Or did he? Passionately Chloe wished she knew.
Dominic was waiting for them in the library, and drew up a chair for Chloe. He had a lot of plans and drawings spread out on the big table.
“I don’t know how much Fairfax told you.”
“Only a general outline.”
“Very well. This is a plan of the dig, as far as we’ve gone. You see, we’ve partly uncovered a Stone Age temple or sanctuary, probably the most perfect of a number that have already been opened up on the island. Here, you see...” He talked brilliantly. He was keen and enthusiastic and completely master of his subject. His voice seemed to lay a spell on Chloe. Time stood still...
It was nearly two hours later when she went upstairs to bathe and change for dinner. The sense of tension and excitement Dominic had roused in her was still tingling in her veins.
When she looked at herself in the mirror she saw that her eyes were very bright, her color high. She gave an uncertain laugh, surprised at herself, not altogether pleased. She promised herself to keep her emotions, in future, under better control.
When she went down to the dining room, she found Mark and Louise already there—Louise in a swirl of billowing, jewel red skirts, with a mink cape swinging from her arm. It looked as if she planned to go out.
“A martini, Mark, my dear. I die for one.”
Taking his arm, she drew him away to the table on which glasses and bottles and ice were set out.
Dominic came in a few minutes later and went over to the fireplace where Nibblu, the manservant, was putting on fresh logs. He gave Chloe a smile when she looked up from a miniature she had picked up from a table.
“My English grandmother,” he said.
His eyes took in the quiet elegance of her full-skirted, dark silk dress. They lingered for a moment on her shining hair and the long, smooth throat, unadorned with jewelry.
Chloe gently laid the miniature down. “She must have been a lovely girl.”
“She was a reigning beauty of her day. Her portrait hangs in the hall.”
She longed to hear more about the slender beauty whose gray eyes were so like his own, but he had already left the subject.
“Let me bring you a glass of sherry.”
“Please.”
He had no sooner brought it than Louise joined them. As usual she took charge of the conversation.
She seemed quite to have forgotten her annoyance with him. At dinner she talked with her usual vivacity, nonstop. She was amusing, malicious, even scandalous about people she and Mark knew, but Chloe had never heard of. Dominic listened politely. Once Mark caught Chloe’s eye and gave her his indecorous wink.
When they had had their coffee Louise rose, her skirts swirling alluringly. “How long do you mean to go on toiling, my poor pet?”
“Impossible to say.” It was Dominic’s voice that had an edge to it now. Chloe saw how Louise’s eyes narrowed, how her lips twitched as if with some secret resolve. Her look was wickedly feline. But she waved a careless hand. “Enjoy your homework, my dears,” she said mockingly, and left them.
Dominic left the salon after her, to pay his usual after dinner visit to his mother. He found her in a difficult mood.
“Where is Louise?”
“Off to the Felicia, I fancy, to meet some friends she made on the voyage out.”
“A good riddance. And the other girl, Chloe Linden? Do you like her, Dominic?” Searchingly the restless, brilliant eyes studied his face for the answer.
“I think she’s going to be very useful, mother.”
“Useful! What do I care if she’s useful or not? She’s young, charming, unusually pretty. Well bred, too—I made sure about that. Have you got water in your veins? Can’t you think of her as a