Then, just when she’d decided that he’d gone for good, Darius turned her world upside down yet again. As she and Phantom headed for their morning swim he suddenly gave a bark of joy and charged onto the beach to where a figure lay stretched out on the sand. Fending off the dog, who was trying to lick him to death, Darius rose on one elbow and watched her approach.
‘Hello, stranger,’ she said when she could speak through her emotion.
‘I hoped you’d be here,’ he said as she dropped beside him. ‘I got back at three in the morning and came out here so as not to miss you. I dozed off for a while, but I knew someone would wake me. All right, Phantom, cool it, there’s a good fellow.’
‘Did things go as you’d hoped?’ she asked.
‘More or less. I averted disaster—until next time.’
‘You mean we’re safe—here on the island?’
‘You’re safe. This is the last place in the world that I’d give up. Now, I need to ask a huge favour from you, an act of friendship. It’s very important to me.’
‘Then consider it done.’
‘I told you Mary left me for another man, and they were planning marriage. Well, the date has been set, and I’ve been invited.’
‘To your ex-wife’s wedding?’
‘Yes, it took a bit of manoeuvring, but I managed it. I told her we should seem friendly for the sake of the children. They’ll be there so we’ll get some time together and they’ll know their parents are on good terms. You see, I really took your advice.’
‘I advised this?’
‘You said cunning was better than aggression, and it took all my cunning to manipulate myself an invitation. Mary finished by saying she completely agreed with me and she praised me for thinking of it. She even said I must be improving.’ He gave a self-deprecating grin. ‘And I owe it all to you.’
He spread his hands in a gesture of finality, his expression radiating such cheerful triumph that she chuckled and said, ‘You’re telling me that I instructed you in cunning?’
‘There’s cunning and cunning,’ he said. ‘Some kinds I’m better at than others. Manipulating share prices is easy, but—’
‘But a child’s heart is more complicated than a share price,’ she supplied.
‘You see how right I was to listen to you. The best friend and adviser I have.’
‘Stop buttering me up,’ she said severely, ‘and tell me what you want me to do.’
‘Come with me to the wedding, of course. How can I turn up alone when my ex-wife is marrying another guy? I’d look like a prat.’
‘And we can’t have that,’ she said in mock horror. ‘If the markets got to hear—’
‘All right, make fun of me. I wouldn’t put up with it from anyone else, but with you I guess it’s the price of friendship. OK, I’ll pay it.
‘And there’s another thing. I told you about my father and how he likes to control everyone’s life. His latest mad idea is to marry me off to Freya, my stepsister. Either me or one of my brothers, but at the moment it’s my head he’s trying to put on the block.
‘Luckily, Freya’s no more keen than I am. We get on all right, but that’s all. If I can convince my father that it’s not going to happen then he’ll turn his attention to one of the others.’
‘Poor Freya.’
‘That’s what I think. You’ll like her.’
‘But will she be at the wedding? And your father? Isn’t he furious with Mary for leaving you?’
‘Yes, he is. He’s even more furious because she managed to get a decent divorce settlement out of me, but he’ll want to see his grandchildren. They’re Falcons, which means that in his mind they’re his property. He doesn’t have much contact with them because they live in London and he can’t leave Monte Carlo very often.’
‘For tax reasons?’ she hazarded.
‘That’s right. He’s only allowed to be in England for ninety-one days. Any more and he’d be counted as an English resident and liable for English tax. He’s nearly used up his allowance for this year so he has to dash to London for the wedding, and get back very quickly.’
How casually he spoke, she realised. How normal he seemed to consider this. It was a reminder that his life was centred around money, just in case she was in danger of forgetting.
‘And your brothers?’ she asked. ‘Will they be there?’
‘As many as can manage it. They all like Mary, rather more than they like me, actually. And the kids are fascinated by them coming from so many different countries. To them it’s like a circus. So we’re all going to bury our differences, but you won’t send me into the lion’s den alone, will you?’
Harriet regarded him sardonically. ‘You really don’t feel you can face it without me?’
‘Definitely not. I’m shaking in my shoes at the prospect.’
There it was in his eyes, the teasing humour that linked with her own mind in a contact sweeter than she had ever known.
‘In that case, I’ll just have to come along and protect you,’ she sighed. ‘It’s a dreadful responsibility, but I guess I’ll manage.’
‘I knew you wouldn’t fail me. The wedding’s in London in two weeks’ time. It’ll be a civil ceremony held at the Gloriana Hotel, and that’s where the reception will be too, so I’ll book us in there. You’ll be my guest, of course, but we’ll have separate rooms, so don’t worry. Every propriety will be observed.’
Propriety. There was that word again. How often it cropped up in her mind with regard to this man, always implying the opposite.
Don’t go, said a warning voice in her mind. To him this is a matter of friendship, but can you keep it as mere friendship? You don’t even know the answer, and oh, how you wish you did! Stay here, keep yourself safe.
‘I’d love to come,’ she said.
OVER the next few days Harriet made her preparations, arranging extra hours for her assistant, notifying the lifeboat station that she would be away so that they could arrange a substitute to be on call. Her neighbour would look after Phantom, and she explained her coming absence to him with many caresses. He accepted these politely but seemed far more interested in the box of bones that had been delivered from Giant’s Beacon.
On the last day before their departure Harriet and Darius went for a final swim, frolicking like children, splashing each other, laughing fit to bust.
Harriet knew that at the back of her mind there was an unfamiliar aspect to her happiness. Part of her had been so sure that their friendship was over, but then he’d drawn her back in, seeking her help and her warmth again, and it was like a balm to her spirit. Suddenly all she wanted to do was laugh and dance.
As they raced up the beach she stopped suddenly and looked around.
‘My towel’s vanished. Where—? Phantom.’
In the distance they could see him tearing along the sand, her towel in his jaws, deaf to her cries.
‘He’ll be back in his own good time,’ Darius said.
‘But what do I do in the meantime?’
‘Let me dry you.’ In a moment he’d flung his towel