Unknown by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page B

explained. ‘I'll just drop my clothes in the hut and then we’ll get going.’
    It took Frances a week to acquire a modest breaststroke. They were lucky to have a period of real summer weather, all too rare in Scotland. All her life Frances was to look back on those golden afternoons with nostalgia—the blue water and bluer sky, the flamboyant blooms of the rhododendrons, the frieze of waterlilies, and Gray Crawford, bare arid bronzed except for his trunks, his strong hands ever ready to support her when she threatened to sink, his low encouraging voice, his endless patience, which was surprising, for he was not a patient man. She had feared he would quickly become irritated with her feeble efforts, though actually they were not feeble at all. She had long arms and a good breadth of shoulder, and he instilled such confidence into her that she made fast progress. It seemed as if he were willing her to swim, so swim she did. At the end of the week he told her:
    'I have to go to Glasgow tomorrow, but you can manage on your own now. Don’t let it drop. Bring Caesar with you when you come to practise. He’ll guard you and pull you out if you get into difficulties, but you won’t. Swimming is something which once acquired you never forget.’
    They had come out of the water, and pulling off her cap, Frances let her hair fall about her shoul ders. It fell nearly to her waist, covering her like a cloak. She had wrapped her towel about her middle.
    ‘I seem to be forever in your debt,' she said gratefully. ‘You're very good to me, Gray, and I don't know why.’
    Why indeed should he concern himself with his dependents' home help?
    ‘It’s nothing,' he said lightly. ‘People who live near water should be able to swim, but if you really feel indebted to me,' he came closer with his eyes on her mouth, ‘there’s a graceful way of saying thank you.’
    Her heart began to race suffocatingly fast.
    ‘You mean . . . you’d like me to kiss you?’
    He laughed, amused by her naiveté.
    ‘I don’t usually ask, I take, but I’d like you to give.’
    It cost her an effort to raise her arms and put them around his neck. A kiss meant nothing, but she was strangely reluctant, perhaps because to her it would mean something. She had never been free with her kisses, even with Tony she had been reserved. But Tony had never been demanding; he had thought passion was something that should be restrained until after the wedding. Gray, she felt instinctively, had no inhibitions, and she might be starting what she could not control. The towel slipped from about her-—she always seemed to be in a state of undress when she contacted Gray—and as his arms closed round her there was only the thin top of her swimsuit between their bodies. He held her tightly against him, and her hair enveloped them, as their lips met m a long, close pressure. Her whole body seemed to melt into his, and she could feel the hard muscles of his thighs against her softer flesh. Then, almost violently, he pushed her away from him.
    ‘Thank you . . . Fran . . he said shakily. 'That was . . . very sweet, but . . . Oh, go and put your clothes on, girl, or I won’t answer for myself!’
    Feeling vaguely rebuffed, she ran from him into the shelter of the log hut. She was shaking, and her whole body seemed aflame. Gray Crawford was dynamite!
    When she had managed to compose herself, donned her clothes, and come out again, she found that he had gone.
    Dutifully Frances came again the next afternoon, but the sun went in and the mere seemed unbearably melancholy under a grey sky without his presence. Caesar too seemed to miss him, for he prowled along the water’s edge whimpering. The plaintive cry of a curlew added to her feeling of desolation. She stayed in the water for only a short while, as it was cold, and they returned together a disconsolate pair. She would not come again unless she could persuade Ian or Lesley to accompany her. The place was too empty when she