An eagle swooped Read online

  'People the world over are concerned with money.

  Here and especially in this particular region the farmer has the initial work of setting out his lemon groves, but after that he has nothing to do but water the trees.' He can then just sit back and spend his days in the catenation playing trik trak or cards, reaping from his lemons a couple of thousand or so per year.'

  'As much as that?' exclaimed Tessa, staring in astonishment. These farmers always seemed so poor.

  'Certainly as much as that. Lemons might be lying around all over the ground here, but look at the price of them back home.'

  'Back home?' Joe seized on that, forgetting about the lemons. 'You still consider England as back home?'

  'Oddly enough, yes.' he murmured reflectively, and Tessa would have given anything to know where his thoughts lay. Perhaps he was dwelling nostalgically on the wonderful times he had spent there with Lucinda when they were both so in love and their future lay spread out before them like an idyllic panorama of heaven itself. This was before Paul's love had turned to a hatred so powerful and all enveloping that it had brought out some latent evil and even twisted his handsome features into the black satanic lines which Tessa knew so well. 'I think it's time we made a move,' Paul said some time later, and after shaking hands with the proprietor of the restaurant, they made their way to the car park.

  Joe had returned the hired car, for he had no need of it, and Tessa drove Paul's car back the way they had come, back along the quiet coast road, travelling east, towards Kyrenia. As usual, she had placed a scented flower on the shelf at her husband's side, and he now felt for the carnation and picked it up. He fingered it almost tenderly, and every now and then he wafted it before his face. There was a strange simplicity about his every movement, and he was far away, alone with the lovely thing he held in his hand. It was only aesthetic qualities with which he was concerned. Did this result from his blindness? Tessa wondered, her attention divided between the road ahead and the man at her side. She would never know, and she did not want to do so, for she would have found it oddly hurtful to discover that her husband was possessed of mercenary qualities.

  Eventually she turned off the main road and, cutting out the centre of the town, she took the Bellapais road, driving through the olives and carobs, through the lemon groves until, ahead, dominating the village square, rose the magnificent weathered arches of the Abbey. Then Tessa took the road up into the hills and the lights of the village twinkled up at them, looking rather like the reflection of the stars above. Takis had left on all the lights on the front terrace and when the lovely white villa eventually came into view it looked like some fairy palace nestling on its plateau amid the pine clad slopes falling away all around it.

  'I'm going to bed.' Immediately they entered the house Paul spoke. 'It's very late.' Absently he fingered the face of his watch. 'Good night, Joe. Good night, my dear.'

  'Good night, Paul.' She let him go, then with a nod of apology to Joe she followed him. A short while later she returned. 'His head; she faltered, her face white and rather drawn. 'He's holding it. These pains terrify me. What what explanation c can there be for them?'

  'Now, now, steady on, Tessa Just like a woman to dwell on something like a brain tumour. You've quite enough on your mind without an added anxiety like that.'

  'But why should he have them? They're very bad, I can tell, even though he doesn't say much about them.'

  He appeared not to be listening; a thoughtful frown lay across his brow and his eyes flickered oddly.

  'Those dark glasses he wears? Has he always worn them!'

  Tessa shook her head. 'It's only recently. I was so surprised when he said he wanted to buy some. He wore them only occasionally at first, but now he seems most uncomfortable without them .... Joe,' she quivered, noting his expression, 'do you think the headaches are something to do with his eyes!'

  He looked straight at her, and asked a question of his own.

  'If they are, you realize what it means?' She looked bewildered.

  'No ... no, I don't.' The French window was thrown wide open and Joe's attention now appeared to be on the night sounds coming from far down the hill slopes, sounds of crickets and frogs and the bray of a donkey tethered to a tree by the roadside.

  'Why should he suddenly ask for glasses, when he's been without them for so long?' he murmured at length. 'I do believe these headaches are something to do with his eyes.' He brought his attention back to Tessa. 'Have you ever suspected that he can see?'

  'See ... I' Tessa trembled all over. 'No, no, he definitely can't see oh, I'm absolutely sure of it!'

  'Perhaps I shouldn't have put it quite like that. But don't you realize, Tessa, that the light must be bothering him ... and if the light's bothering him ... .' The rest was left unsaid, but the inference was clear. Tessa's trembling increased; she was in the grip of a fear even greater than her fear of the future. If Paul should ever see ....

  'The doctors in England; she stammered. 'They all said' his case was hopeless. I know he'll never see again.'

  In through the window flew a giant moth, to flutter round the centre light and cast darting shadows on to the walls and floor.

  'They could have been mistaken; it often happens.'

  His case was odd, to say the least. As I told you, he wasn't blind when he picked himself up and tackled those flames. His blindness resulted from the shock of believing Lucinda was burning to death in the car.'

  Too stunned to speak, Tessa just sat there, shaken by the revelation that she was taking all Joe said most seriously. She herself had wondered about Paul's asking for glasses; she had noticed him shading his eyes, had wondered at the chemist's expression as Paul talked to him of these headaches. And the medicine ... it had helped a little, Paul said, but now Tessa felt certain it had not helped at all. White, and still trembling violently, she looked across at Joe, her face stricken. 'If his sight should ever be restored, then it's the end for me. I've I've fought and hoped and prayed all for nothing.'

  Joe shifted uneasily. 'You'd better have a drink a strong one.' He got up and poured her a brandy from the bottle on the sideboard. 'Think I need one; as well. Of course,' he added, 'I could be all wrong probably am, but it's worth looking into '

  'No,' she interrupted frantically. 'No! I won't lose him!'

  Joe turned, the soda syphon in his hand. . 'You'd deny him the chance of seeing again?' 'Yes no—' She shook her head, scarcely able to think. 'I can't lose him,' she cried in sudden anguish. 'I can't!'

  'What makes you so sure you'll lose him? You are married, remember.'

  'Of course I'll lose him. It's Lucinda he's married so he can get a divorce without any trouble at all.' Ignoring her statement about divorce, Joe reminded Tessa that Paul hated Lucinda.

  'That's no reason why he should love me.'

  'I'll grant you that, but you've been damned good to Paul, Tessa, and he should appreciate it.'

  'He'll never love me—At home, he disliked me intensely, said I was running after him. What would he think should he ever know I used his blindness to get him for myself? He'd consider it the most reprehensible act, and he'd be right.' A haunted, desperate look came into her eyes. 'I don't want him to have his sight restored, because don't you see, he'd be more angry and bitter than ever at finding himself bound to me a girl he despised so, a a girl he s said was ugly—' ,

  'He never said that!' put in Joe sharply. 'He wouldn't.'

  'He said my eyes were the only things I had, you remember that.' The tears were released and for a while Joe let her weep, but when the sobs really began to rack her body he left his chair and put his arms around her.

  'Look, all this is unnecessary, because we haven't any proof that Paul will ever see again. For the present let's forget it. Once I'm home I'll make some inquiries—I know someone who's acquainted with an ophthalmic specialist—'

  'No!' she cried hysterically. 'I'm not having any interference in our lives. I've told you, I don't want Paul" to see not ever!' '

  Joe moved and sat down again and a silence fell on the room. At last Tessa took her handkerchief away from her eyes and looked across at her companion. 'Paul's my friend, Tessa,' he said quietly. 'I must make some inquiries about this man. With both treatment and operations he's been doing miraculous things. And I seem to remember—Now, wait a moment. Yes ... there was a case very similar to Paul's. A woman lost her daughter in an accident and the shock caused her to go blind and I do believe that in her case an operation wasn't necessary'; she responded to treatment. It could be the same with Paul, who knows?' Tessa mentioned the treatment Paul had after the accident, but Joe passed that off as he said firmly, 'It's my duty to' help Paul if I can.'

  'He's my husband The decision is mine!'

  'Drink your brandy,' he said soothingly. 'You don't know what you're saying. When you've had time to think this over and consider how a successful operation, or perhaps treatment, would affect your husband, you'll change your mind. It's his life, Tessa, and he must be given the opportunity to live it to the full.'

  'I won't help in any way to arrange a consultation.' she said determinedly, although in quieter, more controlled accents. 'You needn't take the trouble to seek out this man, because I shall never take Paul to see him.' .

  'You'd condemn your husband to a lifetime of darkness?'

  'Yes! It's for his own good—'

  'Tessa, for heaven's sake! How can blindness be for anyone's good?'

  'You've just said we've no proof that he'll ever see again,' she parried desperately. 'It would be cruel to take him to this man and raise his hopes. No, I won't have him hurt.' That satisfied her, but only for a moment. A terrible weight was slowly building up within her, a weight she felt instinctively could reduce her to even greater misery a
nd despair than that to which Paul himself was condemning her.

  'True, we've no proof. True, Paul's hopes will be raised; and might just as quickly be dashed. Neverthcless, we have to give him a chance. It's our duty, Tessa.'

  'My first duty is to protect my husband from hurt,' she told him evasively. 'I'm not willing that he should have his hopes raised and then dashed 'again. He's had treatment and it failed. I'm convinced it would fail again.'

  'Tessa,' said Joe, rising and taking her glass from her trembling hand, 'let's go to bed. No one thinks clearly at this time of the night.' He put the glass on the tray. 'Off you go and try to sleep.'

  But she sat there far into the night, gazing out on to the distant sea; and the first rosy glow of dawn had touched the sky when at last she went to bed. Paul was in the other room, to which she had followed him earlier. She peeped in. Through the shadowed light escaping from the shutters she observed that he slept. But he appeared restless, for his breathing was heavy and uneven.

  Silently she left, her heart and mind in turmoil Was it possible that he would ever see again? 'She had heard that rest and special treatment or even another shock could prove effective in restoring loss of eyesight resulting from shock. And as Joe said, the doctors could have been wrong .... 'I won't let him know,' she whispered, looking in the mirror and seeing only the snub little nose and the high cheekbones that nature had not moulded so finely as her sister's. She did not see the lovely eyes, nor the tenderness and compassion reflected there; she did not notice the sweet and beautiful curve of her lips, or stop for a moment to think they could be as desirable as Lucinda's. 'No, I'll never let this specialist even look at him. I'm not losing my husband I'm not!' But she tossed and turned, rose from the bed and lay down again, her mind in complete disorder as her conscience fought with her heart. 'He's mine ... why should I run the risk of losing him? And why did Joe have to come here, upsetting our lives? He should mind his own business Duty he was not even a relative merely a friend. What right had he to talk about duty? 'It's I, Paul's wife, who shall make the decision.' Yes, only she had the right to decide. The right to decide. Tessa paced the room, then turned as Paul came in. He was in pyjamas and dressing gown, with his black hair falling in attractive disorder on to his forehead.

  'You're very restless,' he said, coming towards her with the aid of his stick. 'I've heard you moving about for the past hour or so. Are you feeling ill?'

  'No, it's just that I can't sleep. Perhaps it's the wine. You know it doesn't agree with me.'

  'Come here.' She obeyed and his arms encircled her.

  Where was the primitive embrace to which he invariably subjected her? Why weren't his fingers cruelly eating into her waist?

  'The wine, is it?' He kissed her ... and she knew. 'You're playing with me again.' She raised her lovely eyes and looked into his face. 'I beg of you don't. Not just now.'

  'Why not now?' Curt and cold his voice, but touched with an odd inflection. 'I'll play with you just whenever I like.'

  She sagged with resignation, and yet spoke to him pleadingly.

  'I'm very tired, Paul.' .

  He touched her neck and then her chin. His fingers moved lightly over her face, tracing a line from her brow to. her mouth. His own mouth was tight, with a hint of grey at the corners. He touched her nose, that snub little nose that was so unlike Lucinda's. Tessa held her breath. Paul had done this many times before, but in a perfunctory sort of way. as if without interest. But now he seemed most intent on what he did. At last he uttered a deep sigh which told her nothing. His mouth remained set and there was about him a harshness that seemed different from anything she, had known before. Roughly he pushed her from him.

  'You're tired, are you?' His voice was so soft that she barely heard it, yet something in the tone sent a tingle down her spine. 'Then go back to bed and try to sleep.' He stood for a space as if gripped by some sort of indecision. And then he left her, returning to his own room, The latch clicked, echoing through the silence of the house ... and Tessa felt the presence of an even greater barrier between her husband and herself, experienced the hopeless sensation of being shut out of his life for ever.

  CHAPTER VIII

  IT was only four thirty in the morning, but Tessa was awake, standing by her bedroom window, looking out over the mountains. A dark mist shrouded the summits, and the sky was overcast. The whole dismal aspect suited her mood and she stood there a long while, staring at a landscape that had become featureless, half hidden as it was by the swirling haze of mist. The sun came up, but lacking its golden splendour. The disc of pearl rising so swiftly that its ascent was plainly discernible as she watched, sent slanting rays of dull light through the branches of the trees. Soon the mist and cloud would disappear; the rays of pearl would turn to gold and the whole landscape would gleam with incandescent colour as the sun rose higher in the sky. But for the present it reflected the bleakness within her and she moved away from the window, as if reluctant to witness the shining miracle that was to come. Taking her dressing gown from the bed, she put it on and went into the corridor. The door of Paul's room stood slightly open and she heard his even breathing as, pausing momentarily, she listened for some sound from within. Why had he taken to sleeping alone? Ever since the episode of the snake, it was, she reflected, trying to bring to mind any incident that would provide her with a clue as to the reason for this change in him. Before, she had been his woman' as a wife was termed in Cyprus; he had taken what he desired, and although he gave neither love nor tenderness in return Tessa had felt strangely close. For she herself had given much. Manifested in her response was all the love she felt for him, all the tender compassion with which her heart overflowed. Yes, she had been close, and it was that closeness which had kept her hope alive. But now. . . .

  She moved away, continuing along the corridor to take her shower, her thoughts still on this inexplicable change that had come over her husband. He had adopted a coolness towards his friend during the last days of Joe's stay, This too was unaccountable and Tessa could not help when Joe inquired as to the cause of it.

  'I can't think why he should be like this.' she had answered bewilderedly. 'He was so glad to meet you again, and I'm sure he's enjoyed your company up till just recently.'

  'Perhaps it's his condition.' Joe had said tolerantly. 'It's understandable that he'll be subjected to moods.'

  From the moment of saying goodbye to his friend at the airport Paul had become even more distant towards Tessa, and for the past fortnight he had scarcely spoken a civil word to her. In addition, he had become morose, and when he was not sitting in silence, a brooding expression on his face, he was in his room, lying on the bed, with all the shutters closed. As the days passed and he still remained apart she several times resolved to broach the subject to him, but always her courage failed her.' Clearly he did not want her and she felt sure he would have some wounding reply ready were she to request a reason for his loss of interest in her as a wife.

  In addition to this almost complete withdrawal, Paul now seemed possessed of some new hatred, and to her dismay Tessa's hopes began to crumble, almost conquered by despair. And yet she hung tenaciously on, for although her husband had drifted so far away from her during the past fortnight, there had been a couple of occasions when he had relaxed, sharing her interest and dropping his harsh and sneering manner.

  The first of these occasions was when they went up into the Troodos Mountains. They had planned to take Joe there, but time had run short and he had preferred to visit the, Karpas instead. Tessa had tentatively suggested they go on their own and to her surprise and satisfaction he had agreed.

  Paul had seemed profoundly sensitive to the air, whose clear crystalline quality had an intoxicating effect on them both. 'This is a wonderful place.' he declared as they sat having their picnic lunch under the shade of the pines. 'How high are we?'

  Tessa had the guide book; she scanned the page swiftly. 'We're not far from the summit of Mount Olympus, and that's over six thousand feet.'

  'There don't appear to be any people.' Paul took the glass which Tessa put to his hand, and had a drink. 'I've heard no voices other than ours.'