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‘You ed pretty well’ His riposte was dry

His eyes rested on her They were still impassive But they were veiled—veiled in a way she had not seen before

‘I’ll be honest with you—your reaction surprised me I’d realised how alien the whole concept of a dynastic e was to you, and when I realised that hat Aristides wanted as part of our financial arrangement I was very sceptical that it could ever ith sos as norlish temperament would actuallycomposed and forether before ourwith it However, even within the te you found it hard to get your brain around Then there was the whole business of adapting to life in Greece, having not been brought up there You didn’t speak the language well, you were feeling your way into being Mrs Theo Theakis, with a life and lifestyle you weren’t used to So I gave you time—it would have been stupid to do otherwise Besides, I was so busy at ith Aristides’s co my own affairs in order Time is always the scarcest resource for me, Vicky I knew froer co to happen to reat deal of tiave you the space you needed to make the adjustments you had to make’

He shifted his weight slightly, his fingers beneath his head flexing at his neck

‘Besides, though you were half-Greek, your nature was English That was obvious Obvious not just in your appearance, but in your taste and behaviour All those understated clothes you wore! Very elegant, very restrained Just like the way you conducted yourself You didn’t get emotional, you weren’t demonstrative, you never picked up on any of the darts thrown at you by the likes of Christina Poussos And you never picked up on so else, either’

For a second so brief she thought she ined it, the veil fro lashes, it had coain

‘I have to tell you, appalled as you e would not be a sham in one respect You said just now that I would have married anyone as Aristides Fournatos’s niece for the reasons I married you, but that isn’t actually true I would never have married a woman I did not find sexually attractive It would not have been…kind…to her to do so But you, obviously, were sexually attractive It would therefore be perfectly possible to have a non-celibate e However, as I’ve just said, I knew I needed to allow you ti reed on By then, you will appreciate, I had been celibate for longer than was usual for me So I was…keen…to remedy that situation’

It wasn’t icy water that was seeping into Vicky as she listened She had seen Theo arctic with fury, had felt his freezing anger strip the skin from her bones

But this—this orse This was Theo being a man of his class, his wealth, his circle, his nor it was time to have sex with a woman he’d always intended to have sex with, whoe with on any other basis other than that she was sufficiently sexually attractive to him to warrant it

He went on speaking That saht, discursive tone

‘So that is what I set about doing It was very sinal to you that the time had come to do ould both enjoy I had realised in those initial weeks that I would actually enjoy it inally assu that your Englishness—all that understated, under-e And as I proceeded with “ a move” on you, as you phrase it, it beca to want you really very much Even if we had not been ht an affair with you Being married to you, in fact, merely added yet another layer of…allure…to you It presented le finger on you And then, I’nificant contribution to my condition’

He looked at her, and somewhere very deep at the back of his eyes she could see so that started, very slowly, to turn her inside out

‘You resisted me Avoided me Blankedit on purpose? A feminine manoeuvre? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care It wasn’t relevant anyway Because there was only one place you were heading for Only one place I wanted you to be And I got you there Of course I did There was no possibility of anything else You wanted ot you to the island, was there waiting for you, and I took you to my bed’

There was soe in his eyes

‘If you had simply stayed there none of this would have happened, you know We would have done what I had assu ould do We would have had a e, and then, when it was no longer necessary for us to be one our separate ways That was my intention’