Wealth of the Islands (29 page)

“
I—I
’
ll never speak to you again!
”
she threatened, badly frightened.

“
Won
’
t you?
”
There was a touch of grimness about his mouth that made her tremble.

“
You don
’
t understand—
”
she began helplessly.

“
I think I do,
”
he answered.
“
I wish I didn
’
t.
”

She sat down heavily, on the bank of the creek, because her legs refused point blank to ca
rr
y her any longer.
“
You see,
”
she said quickly,
“
I
’
m not a young girl who—who—
”
She broke off, not knowing how to continue. She wished he wasn
’
t so tall, towering above her like some giant, and she wished he wouldn
’
t smile at her.

“
You look pretty young to me!
”
he remarked.

“
Yes, but—
”

“
But there was Michael!
”
Gregory sighed.

She looked up at him mutinously.
“
Yes,
”
she said,
“
there was Michael.
”

He went on standing there, not really looking at her at all. His eyes wandered over the
Sweet Promise
and he half-frowned at the sight she presented.
“
You know,
”
he said at last,
“
when I first met Michael, I felt sorry for him. I used to wonder what kind of a woman it was that he had married, that she wasn
’
t right there beside him, sharing things with him.
”
He saw she was about to protest and silenced her with a gesture.
“
That was at first,
”
he said.
“
Then I tried to get to know him better, but there wasn
’
t anyone there to know. He had charm and good looks and, for all I knew, a nice family who worried about him. And he had a wife.
”

“
It was your fault I wasn
’
t here with him!
”
Helen informed him.
“
It was
you
who wouldn
’
t have any women around!
”

“
That wasn
’
t strictly true,
”
he contradicted her.
“
I wouldn
’
t employ a married diver on a job like this—
”

“
But Michael
was
married!
”

“
He didn
’
t look very married to me,
”
Gregory observed.
“
I thought at first it was your fault, but it wasn
’
t, was it? It was his. He shouldn
’
t have married anyone. He didn
’
t know what it was all about
!”

Helen studied her hands.
“
Nevertheless, I married him,
”
she sighed.

Gregory squatted down beside her.
“
You know what Miss Corrigan says it was
?”
he asked her.
“
Calf
love! You weren
’
t married, my love! You may have gone through a ceremony and thought yourself in love with him, but if that
’
s your idea of marriage, it isn
’
t mine!
”

“
You make it sound so
cheap
,”
she said.

He put his arm round her.
“
Do I? I don
’
t mean to. I
’
m ju
s
t trying to point out that it was a charming idyll, not a marriage!
”
He looked at her anxiously and was surprised to discover that she was smiling.

“
And that it
’
s over?
”
she suggested audaciously.

“
Yes, I suppose so.
”
He sounded almost apologetic.
“
It is, isn
’
t it?
”
he almost pleaded with her.

She nodded.
“
It never really began,
”
she admitted.

She was ready for him when he kissed her. She allowed herself to be pushed back against the muddy grass and she welcomed the sheer, solid strength of his body against hers. He smelt nice too, she thought. He smelt so masculine and different from herself. And then he kissed her gently on the lips, almost as if he were afraid of her. But the next kiss was decidedly better. She put up her arms and held him closer, and he wasn
’
t gentle at all.

She was shaking when he released her. She sat up quickly and brushed the hair out of her eyes. Gregory looked mightily pleased with himself and, she thought, he had something to be pleased about. If he had wanted t
o
prove his point to her, he had certainly succeeded!

“
I think we
’
d better go and get the coffee,
”
she said hastily.

He grinned at her.
“
Not until you
’
ve said it,
”
he answered, shaking his head.

“
Said what? Oh,
that
!”
She chuckled.
“
Why should I?
”
she added recklessly. But then she could afford to be generous, she thought, as she caught a glimpse of the faint uncertainty that was still in his eyes.
“
I love you, Gregory de Vaux,
”
she said.
“
I love you more than I can say, more than life itself.
”

He was startled and then more pleased and flattered than she could have thought possible.
“
Oh, my dear
!”
he said brokenly,
“
that
’
s more than I deserve. I thought perhaps you were attracted, and that attraction might carry us until I could make you love me—
”

This time it was she who kissed him, kissing away the words that were so lacking in his usual self
-
confidence.
“
You did make me love you,
”
she told him in a whisper.
“
Only I was too stupid to see it was love. All I knew was that I wanted to be with you. You—you weren
’
t very gentle, were you
?”

“
I didn
’
t feel gentle!
”
he retorted.
“
I could have wrung your neck for being so obtuse!
”

She chuckled.
“
I
’
m surprised you didn
’
t,
”
she said comfortably.

He kissed her again.
“
Woman,
”
he said,
“
it may surprise you, but your time may come! Waiting for something I want doesn
’
t come easily to me!
”

She ducked out of his
restraining arms and stood up.
“
No,
”
she said thoughtfully,
“
I can see it doesn
’
t. But you will wait, won
’
t you? It
’
s going to be too lovely a thing to be together to have any regrets about anything.
”
She hit her lip anxiously.
“
Do you mind?
”

He stood up too.
“
Darling, I do love you
!”
he said.

The afternoon was almost over when they had finished working on the
Sweet Promise
.

“
Will you brew up some more coffee?
”
Gregory called down to her through the hatch.
“
I
’
ve done about all I
’
m going to up here
!”

Helen laughed. She knew it was no more than an excuse for him to come and join her in the saloon, but she went and made the coffee all the same. She liked to watch him, as much as he did her, and though
s
he protested several times during the afternoon that they would never get the
Sweet Promise
ready to put to sea again at the rate they were going, it was just talk, for they had all the time in the world ahead of them.

“
What are you going to do now?
”
she asked as Gregory unpinned the plan of the sunken frigate and put it away in a drawer.

“
We
are going for a trip through the Islands,
”
he answered.
“
When we get tired of that, I might buy a lagoon and farm green turtles for a living. Would you like that?
”

“
Could you?
”
she said.

“
Why not? If I net over one of their breeding beaches, I
’
d get thousands in a single season. It
’
s the birds that get them all as the newly hatched turtles run for the sea. It should be a very paying proposition.
Besides,
”
he added,
“
I like turtles!
”

She nodded. She didn
’
t care much what they did as long as they did it together.
“
Did you hear something?
”
she asked him suddenly.

“
Do I smell coffee?
”
Miss Corrigan
’
s voice shouted up to them from the bank.
“
May I come aboard
?”

It took the two of them to heave her up the side and to help her across the sloping deck and down below. Miss Corrigan sat down thankfully in the saloon and smiled at them both with real pleasure.

“
I wanted to thank you,
”
she said earnestly,
“
for your help with
the
islanders last night. In fact, we all want to thank you. Just as soon as we
’
ve cleared up a bit, we
’
ll have a party,
”
She looked at them more closely.
“
I
’
d say you
’
d better get married at the same time,
”
she added dryly.

Gregory and Helen exchanged amused glances.
”
“
We intend to!
”
they said.

Miss Corrigan
’
s dewlap quivered wildly.
“
Well, that
’
s a mercy!
”
she said fiercely.
“
Now, where
’
s that
coffee?”