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She stared out at the panoraiant monolith of red stone that rose hundreds of feet into the sky frole Lord, she was hot, despite the straw sunhat Vito had insisted she wore She rubbed at the perspiration beading her face and suddenly realised that she felt pretty sick and giddy It had been an incredible cliiving thes

'Do you think I could get a drink of water?' she whispered

Vito stopped midstream in his conversation with the tiny wizened Buddhist priest in his saffron robes, re her of yet another unknown facet of his character that had lately been revealed He was not the crashing snob she had once assu on his o he had seemed very much that way

'You look terrible,' hespine

'The heat…'

He took her over to the shadows by the wall 'I shouldn't have brought you up here'

'I'll be OK in a minute' She was embarrassed by her own physical frailty Until she had come to Sri Lanka she had truly believed that she had the constitution of an ox But this wasn't the first time she had felt that she had overdone it The day before yesterday and the day before that she had had a sih on both those occasions she had contrived to conceal her weakness from Vito

He was taking charge, fussing over her Having sat her down on a step, he reappeared with a paper fan and proceeded to wield it ht wryly: big,poor weak little woman He liked to be needed, and she had never allowed herself to need hiht of Elena with her deliberately fluffy uilelessly fluttery, and decided that experience hadn't prepared him very well for a woman of independence

They es He took her into the shabby little cafe in the village and bought cold drinks 'We'll sit here for a while before we get back in the car,' he decided

'Sightseeing is hed ruefully

Vito tensed 'I suppose you miss your career'

The pretences she had put up now seemed so futile in retrospect 'It wasn't exactly a career'

'You never talk about it,' he remarked with studious casualness

'There's not a lot to talk about' She sipped at her drink

Dark colour overlaid his aristocratic cheekbones 'And naturally you blame me for that I kno much your career must mean to you If… I ive you whatever assistance you require to re-establish yourself in an appropriate position I have many contacts'

'Take it froh stiff lips When we part… Last time a cheque-book, this tiht as well have said… but he couldn't give her what she ust He hadn't touched her since that night He said goodnight to her after dinner every evening and went off to his computer terminal in the study he used as an office while she went to bed alone He stayed up to all hours, see to thrive on just a few hours' sleep Was the idea that she had had other lovers really that distasteful to him? Or was there a far less complimentary reason behind his unexpected restraint? It was perfectly possible that he no longer found her desirable Familiarity bred contempt, didn't it?

'Where exactly were you employed?' 'Nowhere you would know'

'Why are you being so secretive?'

'Look!' She took a deep breath and murmured wryly, 'I dropped out of university, Vito'

He surveyed her in disbelief 'You what?' 'I failed my exams'

'Failed?' he ejaculated with flattering astonishment

Baldly she issued the facts

'But why didn't you resit your exams?'