The Desert Castle (15 page)

This was worse than Marion had thought.
‘
It
’
s very easy to confuse what is really a passing
infatuation
with the real thing,
’
she proffered hopefully.

Lucasta merely looked smug.
‘
Is that what happened to you when you were seventeen
?
’

‘
I don
’
t remember,
’
Marion said firmly.

Lucasta laughed.
‘
Meaning that you
’
re not telling me! I don
’
t blame you, darling Marion. You have enough on your plate just now
!
’
She eyed the elder girl with blatant curiosity.
‘
Is it infatuation with you?
’

‘
What
are
you talking about
?
’
Marion gasped, the cold, sinking feeling in her middle spreading down to her knees.

‘
I
’
m talking about Un
cl
e Gregory,
’
Lucasta drawled. She stood up, looking for all the world like a little cat grown tired of playing with the toy of the momen
t
‘
Oh, don
’
t worry about it! I s
houldn
’
t
think
anyone else has noticed—certainly not the great
man
himself!—but you do go soft inside every time he comes on the scene, don
’
t you? I recognise the
signs.
I feel exactly the same whenever I see Gaston.
’

‘
I like your uncle—
’
Marion began. How extraordinary, she thought, that anyone
’
s heartbeat should quicken over anyone as ordinary as Gaston Brieve.

‘
Oh, Marion!
’
Lucasta mocked her.
‘
Like? You
’
re potty about him! You don
’
t like
him
at all either. You
’
re too far gone to
like
him, nothing So simple! Men do complicate t
hings
, don
’
t they
?
’
She sighed heavily.
‘
Still, it
’
s nice to know that one doesn
’
t
h
ave to be seventeen to make a fool of oneself. You
’
re st
il
l at it at twenty-something and, if anything, you
’
re more badly smitten than I am
!
’

‘
I am not
!
’
Marion denied indignantly.
‘
And I do like your uncle. I like his books
!
’

‘
Do you
?
’
Lucasta sounded impressed.
‘
Do you
know, I like hearing about Gaston
’
s work too, and it
’
s the most boring thing imaginable! He works out stresses and strains by mathematics, and horrible things like that
!
’

‘
I liked Gregory
’
s books before I
’
d ever met him
!
’
Marion insisted with a blind disregard for the actual sequence of events. How terrible that she should lie about anything so stupid
!’
Well, before I
’
d met him properly,
’
she amended.

‘
I know, one look was enough
!
’

‘
It wasn
’
t, you know,
’
Marion contradicted her, feeling a little calmer.
‘
I disliked him excessively when I first saw him
!
’

‘
Good for you
!
’
Lucasta exclaimed.
‘
It must have been that that caught his interest because he doesn
’
t usually bother with the
hoi-polloi,
any more than my mother does, only he
’
s more polite about it. Not being rude, but you
’
re not in the same class as our Denise, are you
?
’

‘
No.
’
It was a murmur of despair, but Lucasta showed no signs of recognising it as such.

‘
Actually,
’
she
opined,
‘
you
’
re much better looking than Denise, and whole streets nicer, but Daddy
’
s money gives her a head start with Gregory. Well, I mean, who wouldn
’
t be flattered to have their bird flying in every week-end without fail and hanging on his every word
?
’

‘
It must be more than that! She
’
s very much in love with him—’

‘
Rubbish. Denise is incapable of loving anyone but herself, as anyone with half an eye could see. Only men never can add up where women are concerned. It excuses Gregory in a way. But if you can
’
t see it, you must be a fool
!
’

Marion felt the time had come to protest.
‘
Lucasta, I will not be spoken to like that. Even if I am a fool, I
’
d rather you kept the fact to yourself
!
’

L
ucasta gave her an exasperated look which
included
a certain affection that she herself found surprising. Like the rest of her family, she did not suffer fools gladly.

‘
Meaning that you hadn
’
t seen it,
’
she stated implacably.
‘
Do you deliberately go round in blinkers, or can
’
t you help it?
’

‘
Lucasta!
’

‘
Oh, Marion, really! And you were all set to give me a nice little lecture on the dangers of being impressionable and giving way to an adolescent infatuation over Gaston. Did you really
think
it would do any good? At least I see Gaston as he is, warts and all! I
’
m much less likely to get hurt
than
you are. You make me fed positively
old
!
’

‘
Lucasta, I don
’
t
!
’

‘
Old,
’
Lucasta r
epeated with ruthless candour.
‘
If you want Gregory you
’
ll have to do more
than
spend your time washing down his walls. Why don
’
t you stun him by staging some dramatic coup
?
’

M
arion
’
s sense of humour got the better of her and she smiled, her whole face lighting up with laughter.
‘
Are you mad
?
’
she demanded.
‘
Gregory wouldn
’
t turn a hair if I sat down at his table stark
naked.
’

L
ucasta giggled.
‘
He
’
s not easily thrown,
’
she agreed.
‘
You
’
d be far more embarrassed than he.
’

‘
Exactly
!
’
Marion said.
‘
So I think
I
’
ll
go on washing down his walls and leave the field clear for Denise.
’

‘
Pity,
’
said Lucasta.
‘
I
’
d prefer having you in the family. Tell you what,
I
’
ll
ask Gaston to bring somebody down for you this week-end with
him.
He says there are lots of spare males
hanging
round the site where he works.
’

‘
Thanks very much
!
’
Marion raised her eyebrows,
t
rying to look ste
rn
, but the legacy of laughter still lingered in her eyes.
‘
I shall be working
this
week-end. As it is, I
’
m never going to finish even these frescoes, let alone the main ones. It takes much longer
than
I had supposed.
’

‘
You can
’
t work all the time. You
’
re meant to amuse me too and, frankly, if Gaston and I have to have someone around, and at the moment that
’
s the way I want it, until I
’
m quite, quite sure that I want to take the next step with him, I
’
d much rather it were you than anyone else.
’

Marion tried not to smile.
‘
I
suppose I
’
m easily managed,
’
she put in.
‘
I may surprise you yet
!
’

‘
At least you won
’
t die of shock if you catch us
kissing
one another,
’
Lucasta said frankly.
‘
To hear Denise talk you
’
d
think
the end of the world had come
.
’

Marion began to look anxious again.
‘
It depends on the circumstances. I think most people in a Moslem country are more circumspect than we are at home. It wouldn
’
t do to upset them.
’

‘
Right,
’
said Lucasta.
‘
That
’
s exactly what Gregory said.
’
She made her voice sound passably like her unc
l
e
’
s.
‘
Do what you like, as long as you don
’
t live to regret it, but don
’
t shock the natives while you
’
re doing it.
’
She smiled suddenly,
‘
Poor Marion, you do like to worry about nothing, don
’
t you? Gregory trusts me to behave myself, and I
’
d do anything sooner than lose his respect, so you really don
’
t have to worry about me. You
’
d better try trusting me too.
’

‘
I do
!
’
Marion claimed, much too quickly.
‘
It
’
s only that you might not be able to help yourself.
’

‘
Dear Marion, that
’
s why I want you to come with us this week-end.
’

S
he looked at her, her eyes
half-closed
and considering.
‘
Of the two of us, I
’
d say you were the more likely to lose your head—which is another reason for sticking close to me
!
’

‘
But he
’
ll be away—
’