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as well,” she said. “Suddenly I don’t feel like dancing any more.”
    “You’re not annoyed with me?” Wesley fell into step beside her.
    “Of course not. You weren’t to know how I’d feel. I shouldn’t have argued with him.”
    “So long as we’re still friends.” He tucked her arm in his. “You had me worried when you showed concern for Ashley. You’re not falling for him, by any chance?”
    “As if I would!” scoffed Lorna. “You know what I think of his type.”
    “Who was this Margo he mentioned?”
    “Oh—some actress he once knew who I’m supposed to look like,” said Lorna lightly.
    “Didn’t you say your sister’s name was Margo? The one whose wedding you’re going to?” He tilted his head to look at her.
    “Er—yes. Strange, isn’t it?” Lorna had forgotten that she had told Wes about her sister.
    “And wasn’t she an actress?”
    “As a matter of fact she was.” Lorna bit her lip wondering if Wes had guessed the truth.
    Suddenly he grinned and squeezed her arm. “Your secret’s safe with me. Ashley’s the man who jilted her, isn’t he? That's why you dislike him?”
    Lorna nodded dumbly.
    “Why don’t you tell him? Perhaps he’ll stop bothering you if he finds out who you are.” „
    “I daren’t. He doesn’t know how upset Margo was and she wouldn’t thank me if he found out.”
    Wesley shook his head. “Can’t understand you. If it were me I’d give him the facts straight—but,” he shrugged, “you must do as you think fit.”
    They reached Lorna’s cabin and she paused, her hand on the door. “A few more days, then I shan’t see him again. I can stick it out that long.”
    “Where’s he going? Any idea?”
    “None at all,” and then as a sudden thought struck her, “You—you don’t think he’s going to Verva too? But no—he would have said when I mentioned the island.”
    Even so the thought persisted at the back of her mind as she prepared for bed. It was strange Ashley hadn’t said where he was going. In fact he had told her precisely nothing about himself. Everything she knew was either through Margo or the newspapers. What if he was going to Verva? Perhaps he had discovered Margo’s whereabouts and was on his way to see her. Then she realised that had he been going to find her sister he would have flown straight out, not taken this roundabout route which she had chosen in preference to an air flight. He must be going somewhere in South Africa, she decided at last, although she wouldn’t feel completely happy until she found out for certain. It would be the last straw to find that he was also going to Verva, and if they arrived together Margo would never believe that Lorna hadn’t told Ashley where she was.
    The following day Ashley did not appear for breakfast and although Lorna wondered what had happened to him she was not unduly worried. It made a pleasant change to eat alone. If yesterday was anything to go by, she thought, their mealtimes would be one eternal conflict. Whenever they met they argued and so far as she was concerned it would be better for both of them if they never spoke again. He had done nothing to try to dispel her opinion of him and she still regarded him as an undesirable sort of person with whom to become closely acquainted.
     
    Lorna was resting after a strenuous game of tennis when Fay dropped into the chair beside her.
    “Phew, it’s hotter than ever, if that’s possible. I don’t know how you stand up to it.”
    Lorna smiled. “Hark at old age talking! How’s the headache?”
    “Better now, thanks. I think it was the heat and the noise. How did you get on with Ashley? The last I saw of you you were dancing very close together.” Fay smiled mischievously. “You looked so intimate I was afraid to disturb you. Have you forgiven him?”
    “Not likely, but I couldn’t escape without making a scene. I wish you’d spoken, I would have left with you—then he wouldn’t have got knocked down.”
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