Waves of Fire Read online

  ‘Sister Reeves,’ began Lydia without preamble as she took a chair opposite to Shani, ‘about last evening. Your manner with me was abrupt to the point of rudeness. I would have you remember that I have a certain measure of authority at the hospital and, therefore, respect must be extended to me.’

  Your father has authority, yes,’ Shani owned readily, her temper rising. ‘But as for you—’ She stopped and shrugged, moving her hand from the table as the coffee was placed before her.

  ‘I’m afraid your head is becoming a little swelled by the interest your boss takes in you,’ snapped Lydia. ‘But for your own good I advise you not to take that interest seriously. It’s entirely professional.’

  Shani’s eyes glinted; she felt an almost irrepressible urge to blurt out the whole truth, just for the pleasure of witnessing Lydia’s amazement and consternation, but instead she casually remarked,

  ‘It would almost seem you had grounds for that assertion?’

  ‘I have,’ declared Lydia on impulse. ‘Mr. Manou and I are practically engaged. In fact,’ she added, lowering her lids to veil her expression, ‘I believe we shall be announcing our engagement immediately on

  his return from Cos.’

  The stupid girl, thought Shani with contempt. All this was wishful thinking; Andreas might be interested in Lydia, but he was still adamant regarding his marriage. Again Shani felt the temptation to tell this girl the truth, but all she said was,

  ‘From that I could infer that you were going away together.’ For the first time in her life she was behaving like a spiteful little cat, Shani told herself, but this woman did bring out the worst in her.

  ‘We probably shall be,’ came the swift retort, but Shani knew the words were rashly spoken and that already Lydia regretted them. Nevertheless, while on the one hand it would appear that Andreas had not yet agreed to take Lydia, on the other hand the girl still believed there was a possibility of his doing so.

  Lydia and Andreas together for two weeks....

  Not much debating and uncertainty after that. Driven, by some force stronger either than caution or conscience, Shani called at her husband’s house and told him she had changed her mind and was willing to accompany him to Cos. He had been sitting alone, but there was no sign of a book or newspaper and Shani knew instinctively he had been deeply engrossed in thought. But at her words, breathlessly spoken even before he had invited her to sit down, his face cleared miraculously and with the disappearance of the tired lines he once more became inordinately handsome. ‘What brought about this change of mind?’ he asked a few minutes later as he handed her a drink.

  Naturally she could not tell him, but even as she thought of Lydia Shani did begin to wonder if she had been wholly influenced by the conversation at the taverna. Perhaps she would in the end have succumbed to her undeniable longing and allowed her conscience to

  go hang.

  ‘I like the idea of a visit to Cos,’ she murmured, shyness creeping over her.

  His brows lifted quizzically.

  ‘That’s the only reason?’

  ‘Andreas,’ she whispered, ‘you do mean it’s as friends?’ She clasped her glass; he relieved her of it and, placing it on the table, took possession of both her hands.

  ‘It’s as you want it, my dear.’ He looked steadily into her eyes. ‘I’m to have your company for two whole weeks; I must not ask for more.’

  She bit her lip, amazed to discover herself fighting the tears. Could it be that he loved her? How odd that the idea had never previously occurred to her, she mused as with a flash of memory She heard her father say, after describing how he had fallen in love with her mother on sight, ‘And it will be the same with you, Shani. The man will come one wonderful day; he’ll see you, and know that you are his.’

  She looked at her hands, held lightly in those strong brown fingers, her heart beating far too quickly as she grappled with this new idea, repelling it, refusing to accept it as, a revelation. It was not love that had prompted so callous an ultimatum — how could it be? Desire, the primitive urge to possess - this only had been in his mind on that fateful day. If he had loved her he could have told her so, and courted her in the normal way; there was no necessity for that dastardly act of compulsion. And if he loved her now he could still tell her so— But no, he could not, believing as he did that she desired only her freedom so that she could marry someone else. But he did not love her, so why these musings? His desire, though, had obviously waned and as she again returned her gaze to his the tumult within her died and she smiled at him serenely.

  ‘I’m really looking forward to it — now that I’ve made up my mind.’

  He kissed her hands and let them go.

  ‘We’ll have a wonderful time ... a time to remember.’

  The hotel was on the sea front, high above a golden beach - a lonely beach, it being too late in the year for tourists in any large numbers. Shani’s room, next to her husband’s, faced the sea, and a tingling of excitement swept through her as she stared out of the window. Placid and enticing lay the blue Aegean while in the distance, half hidden by a purple mist, lay the mountains of Turkey, with glistening here and there a cluster of village houses, white against the tree-clad hills. They had arrived only that morning, and although it was early October the sea was warm and inviting and Shani fell eagerly in with her husband’s suggestion that they should begin their holiday by spending the first day on the beach, giving them the chance to ‘unwind’, as he put it. He was down on the sands already, on the private stretch of beach that ran from the hotel to the sea.

  ‘You couldn’t have unpacked,’ she said on eventually joining him. ‘You didn’t have time.’

  ‘I left the boy doing it. Didn’t you ask the maid to do yours?’ He lay on his side, looking up at her from behind dark glasses.

  ‘It was a man. I couldn’t very well ask him to unpack for me’

  ‘Of course you couldn’t.’ He got up, tall and lithe and very brown. A surgeon must always be in perfect condition, and Andreas certainly gave the impression of health. ‘Ready for a swim?’

  She nodded, and let her wrap fall on to the large towel Andreas had spread out on the sands. Seconds later they were in the water.

  ‘It’s wonderful!’ She was in a dream, living in a world far distant from reality. But then hadn’t she read somewhere that Cos was a small piece of paradise itself? And for two whole weeks she would dwell in this paradise. She meant to enjoy it, to laugh and be happy with her husband ... the husband she no longer feared.

  After lunch they returned to the beach, and in the

  This pleased Lydia, but always there was a puzzled

  After lunch they returned to the beach, and in the evening they dined and danced at the hotel. All windows were thrown wide open and through them drifted the breeze, warmed by its passage over the sea and perfumed by oleanders and jasmine growing in the

  hotel gardens below.

  It was two o’clock in the morning when at last Shani reluctantly admitted to being tired.

  ‘Good night ... my lovely wife.’ Lightly Andreas kissed her brow and without another word he left her, entering his room and pushing the door to behind him.

  Shani was still at her own door when the latch

  clicked into place.

  The following day they went up to the Asclepion by taxi, but what few visitors there were seemed to have bicycles and when Shani remarked on this Andreas told her that cycling had always been popular with visitors to the island.

  ‘The roads are all so good, as you can see, and as they’re lined with flowering trees and shrubs I should

  imagine it’s quite pleasant to cycle.’

  ‘Do they hire them?’ she asked, and he nodded, his eyes kindling with amusement as he awaited what was to come. ‘Could we ...’ She shook her head. Andreas on a bicycle! ‘You wouldn’t like it, of course.’

  ‘On the contrary, I should thoroughly enjoy it. One doesn’t often have the opportunity of such healthy ex
ercise.’

  ‘Shall I wait?’ asked the taxi driver on reaching the

  archaeological site.

  ‘I don’t think so; we’ll be here a long time.’ Andreas turned to Shani. ‘Must I tell him to come back or shall we walk? It’s up to you.’

  ‘It’s not really far, and it’s downhill. Let’s walk, shall we?’ How natural it all was — Andreas casually consulting her and she stating her preference. Just like a normal; married couple, she was thinking, and as she smiled to herself Andreas happened to glance down at her.

  ‘What was that for?’

  ‘What...?’

  ‘The smile? You know what I'm talking about.’ Her eyes were suddenly lowered evasively, but a gentle hand under her chin brought her head up again. ‘I w-was thinking,’ she stammered.

  ‘About what?’

  A little self-conscious laugh, and then a shrug of resignation.

  ‘I was thinking we sound really married.’

  His eyes opened wide.

  ‘We are really married, my dear,’ came the gentle but firm reminder. ‘I said this holiday would be a time to

  remember, and I intend it to be just that. But it’s only a truce, and if when it’s over you still want your freedom we shall be right back where we began.’ He released her chin, but she continued to look at him, her eyes large and round, her lips parted and faintly trembling. ‘You’re my wife, Shani. I’ll never let you go.’

  So the softness, the hints of amused indulgence she had encountered since leaving Cyprus were only a small part of his make-up. Basically he was inflexible and adamant, a man whose traits of mastery would ever be invincible. She must never forget that, he was telling her.

  ‘Come,’ he said, taking her hand and giving it a little squeeze, ‘whatever is to face us in the future can be dealt with when it comes. For the present — no hint of disunity must mar one moment of this holiday.’ Whatever is to face us in the future ... Shani’s heartbeats quickened, for she grasped a subtle warning in those softly spoken words.

  ‘Andreas ...?’

  ‘My dear?’ His fingers were strong round hers as he steered her leisurely towards the hospital of Hippocrates, for the most part reconstructions, and some columns that had been re-erected after having been brought hurtling down by the natural tremors of the earth. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she smiled. ‘Nothing at all.’

  A short while later as they wandered on to the Sanctuary of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing and medicine, Shani asked a trifle anxiously if Andreas was conversant with the history of the site, as there appeared to be no guide available. ‘I know a little,’ she added, ‘but not enough to say what everything is. ’

  ‘I think I know most of the history. Between us we should manage. I like to avoid guides if possible, because where you get guides you automatically get tourists.’

  As with all the Greek sanctuaries the site was superb, the shrine having been built in the sacred forest of Apollo, four centuries before Christ. All around were giant cypresses and palms, oleander bushes and shrubs of the scarlet hibiscus, while in the far distance was the tree-dotted plain sweeping down to the Strait of Halicarnassus, and beyond that could be seen the purple shores of Asia.

  ‘There are three levels,’ Andreas told her as they began mounting the steps. ‘The top one was built first, so we’ll begin there.’ Still retaining her hand, he seemed to be supplying gentle assistance, even though Shani did not require it. More wide stone steps led up to the Temple of Asclepius, ancestor of Hippocrates and himself descended from Apollo the sun-god.

  ‘I can’t differentiate between myth and fact,’ complained Shani with a frown. ‘If Asclepius was a god and Hippocrates a man then how could they have been related?’

  Andreas laughed.

  ‘They weren’t, but the ancient Greeks liked to think they were. And as there was no one to argue the point it was generally accepted that Hippocrates was a descendant of the god of healing. Remember, Hippocrates’ methods were so new and revolutionary that the ancient Greeks would automatically attribute supernatural powers to him.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so. And what’s so incredible is that his ideas, introduced over two thousand years ago, are

  accepted today.’

  ‘Fresh air and simple food, healthy exercise and plenty of rest-’ He shook his head. ‘You’re absolutely right, his methods were very twentieth-century in tone.’ They fell silent, both musing on the life of that venerated man who by his genius and intuitive skill gave to the world the ideal physician. One of the discoverers of the fundamental truth - the most vital and significant principle that within the human body there exists a natural physician employed in the task of preservation -- Hippocrates was ever conscious of the fact that the success of the physician depended on the assistance of this vis-medicatrix of nature.

  ‘He was the first man to overcome witchcraft and superstition.’ Shani murmured her thoughts aloud, but Andreas seemed not to hear and she lapsed into silence again, thinking of the growth of the hospital and of how stricken people travelled from all parts of the ancient world to be cured in this environment of isolation and peace. Hippocrates himself studied at the Asclepion, later becoming a wandering physician, increasing his knowledge and scientific skill before returning to his native island of Cos.

  There he built a splendid temple to the god of healing and soon his hospital was famed as being the first medical faculty in which students could study medicine scientifically. Under his direction the Asclepion became a temple of art as well as a place of healing and worship, the great doctor’s theory being that the equilibrium of a man’s inner world was fundamental to his health. So by Hippocrates’ direction artistic creations were introduced to supplement, and harmonize with the natural beauties of the site. Bronze and marble statues embellished the grounds, the most magnificent being the statues of Asclepius and Apollo, and the beautiful Aphrodite of Apelles. Through his teachings and revolutionary theories Hippocrates laid the foundations of scientific thought that was to influence medical men all over the world two and a half thousand years later.

  ‘He was certainly a wonderful man.’ Andreas’s belated response to his wife’s remark came at last. ‘Just think even his oath survives, sworn by every graduate in medicine.’

  The Hippocratic Oath. . . . Mentally Shani repeated some of the sentences. ‘The regimen I adopt shall be for the benefit of my patients according to my ability and judgment, and not for their hurt or wrong, and never shall I do harm to anyone. I will prescribe no deadly drug that may cause death though it be asked of me. I will preserve the purity of my life and my art...’ Shani glanced up at her husband. His eyes were narrowed against the glare as he picked out what was left of the famous Temple of Asclepius. So tall and straight ... clean and healthy both in mind and body.

  Could such a man indulge in an affair? Was Lydia really that sort of a friend, as some of the staff at Loutras believed? Shani already doubted this, and

  now-----‘I will preserve the purity of my life’. Greek he

  might be, and amorous by nature, but as she watched him, lost in a mental reconstruction of the ancient scene, Shani could not believe he would ever for one moment forget that oath.

  ‘Just look at these steps—’ He let go of her hand as he gestured. ‘Black marble.’

  ‘They’re beautiful. They must have brought the marble from a great distance.’

  Andreas shook his head. The metamorphic rocks of the island’s mountain range contained deposits of this very attractive type of marble, he informed her, adding, ‘They were lucky, as marble was so important in the days of this magnificent architecture and statue-building.’

  Apart from the steps, a few traces of a portico and several columns, nothing remained of the wonderful Doric Temple of Asclepius, and Andreas spoke sadly of the island’s many earthquakes.

  They wandered about the ruins, mere vestiges of a long-decayed splendour, picking out foundations of what could have been do
ctors’ houses and nurses’ apartments.

  ‘Did the patients have to pay for their treatment?’ asked Shani as the thought occurred to her.

  ‘No. But in the Temple of Asclepius there was an altar of thanksgiving. People placed money in the box provided. The money was for the god, but of course it went towards the upkeep of the hospital.’

  On the next level was a little Ionic temple, relics of a Roman villa, and part of another great temple. Shani had stopped to gaze over the enchanting landscape and when, a little ahead, Andreas turned, it was to see her standing there, looking small and lovely against the gleaming white marble of the tall Corinthian column. Six other columns rose in splendour to become outlined against a flawless Grecian sky, while framed between them in the near distance were the graceful tapering cypress trees, unswaying in the stillness of the perfumed air. ‘Stand still,’ he said, bringing out his camera. It clicked; Andreas smiled his permission for her to move and she came up to him. He closed the camera case with what seemed quite unnecessary care and for some obscure reason a lump rose in Shani’s throat. She tried to read his expression, but his face wore its customary impassive aspect and his eyes were hidden behind the dark glasses he had just a moment ago put on.

  On the lowest level, which they presently reached on descending the wide staircase, the healing spring still gushed forth as it had in Hippocrates’ day, and as they were by this time thirsty and hot they both drank from its sparkling waters. Andreas dried her hands, and then his own, and she suddenly felt close in a way she would never have believed possible.

  ‘Tell me when you’re tired, Shani, won’t you?’ They were at the foot of some ancient narrow steps, having halted, neither quite certain if it were permissible to mount them, as they were some distance from the main buildings on the site and seemed to lead only to a wooded enclosure. ‘I can go on and on, but you - I don’t want you to get tired.’ A hint of concern in his voice that could not be missed, and a tenderness in his eyes as he looked anxiously at her.