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  ‘Hello, Robert,’ she greeted him awkwardly. ‘I—I— have I disturbed you?’

  Robert stared at her as though he couldn’t take his eyes from her. Silently he stood aside, and she entered the functional hotel bedroom. There were no carpets on the rubber-tiled floor, only a plain bedstead covered with a patterned spread, an old-fashioned dressing table and wardrobe, and glass sliding doors which opened on to a wrought iron faced balcony. Robert’s clothes were strewn all over the bed, and a suitcase was half open on the floor. Sophie took in all these things in those first few second, her faculties sensitised by an acute awareness of him behind her.

  Then she turned. He was standing by the door which he had closed, and she sensed he was as tense as she was. ‘How—how are you, Robert?’ she asked tremulously.

  ‘I’m much better, thanks,’ he replied evenly, touching his scarred cheek with a probing hand, ‘As you can see, it’s still quite a mess.’

  ‘It’s not important. So long as you’re all right.’ Sophie dismissed the question in his voice.

  ‘How about you? You’re looking—pale. I expected you to look fit and healthy.’

  Sophie glanced down at her toes. ‘Oh, I’m all right. I—er—I’ve been working…’

  ‘Have you?’ He hitched the towel more firmly about his lean hips. ‘I go to Canada to work in six weeks.’

  Sophie shifted from one foot to the other. ‘So they didn’t sack you?’

  ‘No.’

  They might have been strangers exchanging news. Sophie clasped her hands together. ‘My—my father said—you wanted to see me.’

  ‘Yes.’ Robert raked a hand through his hair.

  Sophie moved restlessly. ‘Well, I’m here.’

  ‘I know it.’ Still Robert made no move towards her. He drew a deep breath. ‘I wanted to tell you about Emma.’

  ‘There’s no need-‘

  ‘Yes, there is.’ Robert’s voice had hardened slightly. ‘I believe she’d told you we were living together—in London?’ Sophie nodded and he shook his head. ‘It wasn’t true. She shared a flat with two other girls.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter-‘

  ‘It does.’ Robert clenched his fists. ‘I also have to tell you that we never slept together.’ His mouth twisted ,as Sophie caught her breath and half turned away.

  ‘Oh— she wanted me to. But I knew I wouldn’t have been the first, and certainly wouldn’t be the last. I didn’t love her—all I could think of was you. So I knew she couldn’t be pregnant by me—and yet you immediately believed her story. That was what hurt and disillusioned me.’

  ‘But she said — ‘

  ‘I can imagine what she said. She thought if she could cause a rift big enough between us, I’d go back to her.’

  ‘Between—us?’

  ‘Oh, God! Of course, between us,’ he groaned, and reaching for her hauled her into his arms. ‘I don’t know whether this is why you’re here,’ he muttered burying his face in the scented hollow of her throat, ‘but by God, I can’t hold out much longer, Sophie…’

  Sophie shivered as she slid her arms around his smooth waist. His body was firm and slightly moist, and she yielded against him completely. ‘I thought you’d never get round to it,’ she whispered provocatively, against his mouth.

  He drew her down on to the bed. The towel slipped away, and there was nothing between her and his hard, demanding flesh. It was wonderful after all the days and weeks of pain and humiliation to feel his weight bearing her down, his mouth exploring every inch of her face, seeking the hollow between her breasts, caressing her with conscious possession.

  But at last he pushed her away and lay flat on his back, his arms behind his head, just looking at her with lazy abandon. ‘Oh, Sophie,’ he murmured, half amused, half self-derisory, ‘look what you do to me!’

  Sophie leant on her elbows beside him, stroking the muscular lines of his stomach.

  ‘So what are you going to do about it?’

  His eyes darkened. ‘What do you want me to do about it?’ He turned towards her.

  ‘Could you bear to see my face when you wake up every morning of your life? Or should I allow you to go to university like your father hoped you would, and have plastic surgery in your absence?’

  Sophie flung herself upon him. ‘You—you wouldn’t force that upon me, would you?’

  He half smiled. ‘Sophie, all I want is you. I love you.’

  ‘But you sent me away when I came to see you in hospital,’ she reminded him softly, her lips caressing his scarred cheek.

  He turned his mouth to hers. ‘Don’t remind me!’ He sighed. ‘Sophie, that night in your bedroom when your father exploded his bombshell and you believed him, I—I nearly went off my head. Then—when I came back that following weekend and found you prepared to leave for Corfu, I just wanted to escape.’

  ‘From life?’ she asked, unsteadily.

  ‘Oh, yes.’ He shook his head. ‘I admit, the accident was my fault. It wasn’t until afterwards I realised how selfish killing myself would have been. Then, when you came to see me, when you told me that you’d marry me whatever Emma’s condition—I felt angry, furiously angry. I wanted to ask you why you couldn’t have said that in the first place, given me a chance to explain…’ He paused. ‘But after you’d gone that evening, I began remembering how convincing the ‘parents could be. I recalled how I had behaved when you came home from school. That was why I asked to see you again. When I found you had come back here, I lost all hope.’

  ‘Oh, Robert!’ She buried her face in his neck. ‘And now?’

  ‘Now?’ He lifted her up to look at him. ‘Now I’m here – ’

  ‘Thanks to Mrs. Tarrant.’

  ‘Yes, thanks to Mrs. Tarrant.’

  Sophie frowned. ‘What did she tell you about me?’ Robert smiled then. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know!’

  ‘Tell me!’

  He studied her appealing face. ‘Well, she said you were fading away for love of me!’

  His tone was light, but his eyes were solemn. ‘Was that the truth?’

  ‘Don’t you know?’

  His smile widened. ‘Oh, yes, I think I do now.’

  ‘Can I come to Canada with you?’

  ‘If you’ll marry me first.’

  Sophie nodded eagerly, then she sighed. ‘Your mother—she might not approve even now. She wanted you to marry Emma’

  ‘Emma went out of favour weeks ago, as I’m sure you know.’ Robert rolled over, imprisoning her beneath him again. ‘She’ll get used to it. The months we have to spend in Canada will give her time to adapt. And we could always make her a grandmother, which would give her something else to think about…’

  ****THE END****