Stars Over Sarawak (17 page)

 'You can't just dismiss him like that,' she protested. 'He came here to see me — to have a holiday with me. I shall have to go about with him until he leaves.'

 Silence. Roanna's pulse tingled with a sort of exquisite fear. Carl said in a very soft voice,

 'Andrew might not mind his fiancée running around with another man, but I'm not Andrew. My fiancée will be asking for trouble if she so much as looks at another man.'

 'That's all very well,' she said, trying to be brisk. 'But what are we to do with him.?'

 'Hand him over to Malcolm.'

 'Malcolm?'

 'I'll give him a couple of weeks' leave. Surely Andrew will have had enough of Borneo by then?'

 'Yes, perhaps he will. After all, it isn't the sort of place one would normally choose for a holiday, is it?'

 Carl made no reply to this, but asked if she could be perfectly happy here, and when she gave him the most satisfactory answer that she could be happy anywhere in the world so long as he was with her he went on to tell her about his rubber estate and the type of house in which she would live.

 'It sounds wonderful,' she breathed. 'Shall I really be living in such a charming house?' It struck her that she would have to return to England quite soon to settle her affairs, but she knew that Carl would be going with her.

 'You will, my love. Tomorrow I shall take you to see it and we can make plans together about any changes we would like. And tomorrow also we'll make arrangements for our marriage.' He looked down into her eyes, eyes aglow with happiness. 'Beloved,' he whispered tenderly, and drew her to his heart.