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And it wasn’t just her who thought so Even as Theoout the long three-seater sofa in the sitting room behind them

‘I’ll sleep on that,’ he told her

That idiotic eistered what he intended, and again Vicky tossed it aside and stamped on it Hard Very hard

‘Thank you,’ she said stiffly

‘Not at all,’ said Theo His voice was formal There was an inflexion in it she did not pick up

Their sleeping arrangements set the tone for the rest of the honeyovernhtseeing tours—and continued thereafter when they returned to Athens, to take up residence in the huge Theakis mansion in an exclusive district of the city There, they hardly ever saw each other, and Vicky was grateful The house was so large it was easy to keep out of his way, though she was always relieved when he went off on business to other parts of Europe or, better still, farther afield to America

It was quite difficult enough coping with the bizarre situation she was in without hi Theo Theakis was just that much easier when he wasn’t around

Not that it solved her other problem—boredom The main occupation of the social circle she found herself in see with each other, neither of which Vicky took pleasure in Shopping seeant, and because of the prurient envy and resent was out of the question She would have happily spent ht now, as was understandable, his pri off the corporate raider now that he had accepted the financial support of Theakis Corp Besides which, she was also worried she e was

To pass the time she explored Athens, and all the cornucopia of ancient sites in this region of Greece She also, inspired by discovering the heritage of her father, started to learn Greek, struggling with the difficulty of the alien script to get to the language it e Greek history, art and philosophy Then there were concerts, opera and the ballet to divert her, and she becaular at the theatre Back at the Theakis ood two hours a day in the pool, swi the ym

But that, as it turned out, was the easy bit of her e Much, much worse was the time—far too much of it!—when Theo was back in Athens and they had to take part in what see round of social activities She didn’t want to, but it was, she conceded, all part of the show that was the purpose of their e in the first place

But being part of a ‘couple’ with Theo was a highly uncomfortable process She felt eyes on her, curious and critical, only adding to her feelings of acute self-consciousness in the role she was being required to play It was the reason, she knew, that she was so particularly stiff in her h she was forced to buy ridiculously expensive clothes for such occasions, she always chose styles that were above all discreetly understated—outfits that did not eure, or ht draw disdainful looks from the chicly sophisticated women from whom Theo Theakis selected his sexual partners, but what did she care?

Her concern was si Theo Theakis Constantly at her husband’s side, conscious all the ti presence beside her, wasit impossible, quite impossible, for her ever to relax

The hardest occasions, she came to realise, were those when she had to play the role of Theo Theakis in his house, entertaining others It see awareness of him, to put her in an oh-so-visible position where she was indelibly linked to him Bride of a

Help yourselves! she wanted to shout at them

And especially one of them