2012 Part 2

'It is a material woven only here,' Elithia replied. 'It will give you confidence to walk with pride in your body, and give you strength in your own self-belief. Her words made Penny feel again the indistinct feeling she had on waking, a feeling of things unexplained.

'That's amazing, who makes it? What's it actually made from?'

'Do not worry about it, we have other things to think about.' Elithia pa.s.sed her hand comfortingly over Penny's tight, round belly, and Penny forgot what it was she wanted to say, but the feeling of unexplained mystery remained, never to leave her. She felt she had always been on the Island. There was a vague memory of other times when she had lived elsewhere but it was too difficult to bring them to mind.

From then until the birth Elithia kept her busy with pre-natal exercises, sewing children's garments, and other maternal pursuits. Lucina on her return, visited her often and they walked together along s.h.i.+mmering beaches, while she talked to her of her plans.

'So you see how it is,' Lucina said one brilliant day, the Aegean light making the blue of the sea unreal. They were walking along the beach at Psathi. Penny picked grapes from a bunch in her hand and ate them one at a time enjoying the luxury of it all. Pretty whitecaps from the gentle surf scrolled at their bare feet.

'The olives on Ios are the best in the world. They produce the best pure virgin oil; but we are too lazy here to make anything of it. My women prefer to idle their time spinning in the sun. The men fish and spend their days mending nets and drinking in the tavernas. The olives are mine, I inherited them and up to now I had no interest in them. I need someone to work on my behalf, there is a fortune to be made from the oil and I would like to develop my business interests beyond that, but I need someone who will look out for me. I will of course help out myself from time to time and act as a proper partner.'

Penny contemplated her distended stomach. Although she wanted to have Alexis' child she did not feel cut out for motherhood. She was too young and had no desire to spend all her time caring for babies. Somewhere inside her was driving her to change things. To stop something happening. Her unexpected pregnancy had put all thoughts of the future from her. She knew nothing of olives nor of business but found she had listened with interest to Lucina's desire to develop her enterprise and felt that she would like to work with this fascinating woman.

'I'd love to do something useful to help but isn't this likely to get in the way?'

'Don't worry too much about that. I've told you that Elithia is an expert with children and births and all that kind of thing. She and Mnemosyne will care for the offspring, while we can get on and enjoy ourselves. What do you say? Lots of children are brought up quite satisfactorily by good carers while mothers do other things.'

Penny regarded her surroundings. While Psathi and the island was beautiful indeed, it was a place for a long holiday not for a real life of doing. Why not have these excellent women of Lucina care for the child while she got into the olive oil business?

'It's a deal!' and they shook hands.

The next morning Penny's waters broke and by lunchtime she was sensing the first contractions. Elithia always on hand, prepared the chamber and the helpers. Lucina was like a cat on hot bricks, fussing about, walking in and out, holding Penny's hand, panting with her between contractions. There was some pain during the contractions but it was not as bad as she had expected. She obeyed all the instructions given to her by Elithia but was distracted more than she liked from the business in hand by Lucina. Expectation was emanating from her. Lucina kept anxiously viewing Elithia in a way which seemed questioning to Penny and more than simple nervousness about the birth itself. Something else was going on, in which she was not involved. Even amid the pangs of childbirth Penny had the feeling of being only partially the focus of attention. A feeling of being used, of being a means to ends known only to Lucina and probably Elithia.

Just as these thoughts were clarifying in her mind she felt the baby come and pushed on Elithia's instructions until her face was puce with the effort.

'A boy!' exclaimed Lucina. 'We will call him Alexander!' She was more jubilant, if that were possible than the exhausted mother. She held the child high as if offering him the to the four corners of the world. At that very moment Penny was amazed to find herself pus.h.i.+ng again. She supposed it was the afterbirth coming.

Surprised, Penny was never ever to be sure about what she thought was happening. She was given no part in Lucina's triumphant celebration; and she felt an enormous sense of disappointment. In a moment caught from the edge of her awareness, from the corner of her eye she noticed something she was sure she was not supposed to see. It was almost missed as she went into what seemed like the throes of labour for the second and unexpected time. The arrival of the unexpected daughter, a twin, was so overwhelming that never ever could she be certain that what she saw was real or something she imagined in her exhaustion.

'We will call this one 'Thea!' exclaimed Elithia, this time.

What she thought she saw and was not supposed to see, was Lucina suckling the baby boy at her breast as she turned her back on the struggling Penny. Her memory of the whole episode was however very vague, more dream than substance. But the image persisted. She had no expectation of twins but Elithia, apparently knew and made no attempt to disguise her pleasure, Lucina continued holding the new born aloft exulting and dancing with the first-born child held high.

It seemed thereafter to Penny that her life and that of her son was predicated on an unexplained mystery, like the letter from Greece, the death or non-death of Alexis, the arrival of a twin to Alexander. It only vaguely occurred to her that she had no part in naming either of the children. To none of this had she answers. All attempts at explanations from Lucina, Elithia, Mnemosyne or any of the others she met on Ios produced nothing satisfactory. Always they glossed over any real inquiry. The reward for silence and loyalty to Lucina was unbounded, total and fulfilling. Living with the mystery was more than compensated.

When she was fully recovered from her confinement Mnemosyne, or 'Nemmi' as the baby Alexander called her, became a nanny to the twins, and Penny was soon immersed by Lucina in the olive oil business.

'See, you will need something better to do than change nappies my dear,' Lucina had said a little over a week after the birth of the twins. Mnemosyne will occupy the children, let us now make plans for my little olive oil company.' Penny found the children charming and fascinating at a distance. Even had she wanted to play the doting mother she soon found Elithia and Mnemosyne quite got in the way and managed all the little things necessary for bringing up of babies. To her own relief, and she suspected to that of the others, motherhood was not something that came naturally to her. She did not need much persuasion to leave the daily care of the children to them. The babies thrived and for some reason seemed to adore her when she had the time to play with them. It was a perfect arrangement.

Penny soon discovered she found the idea of offspring more interesting than the practical and daily business of feeding and changing. She was pleased to keep her own s.p.a.ce. Thea seemed to need no maternal presence and Alexander received so much from Nemmi that any feelings of inadequacy were more than compensated and so she felt no pressing need to compete on such obviously unequal terms. Besides, the idea of developing a business with the powerful Lucina was more interesting than the daily ch.o.r.es of motherhood.

The company which Lucina called Joint National Oils (JNO) (the Roman form for Hera was Juno and Hera liked the joke) and which Penny always called 'the Firm', grew and grew from the first dozen or so caiques transporting olive oil of the highest quality from Ios to the mainland. Lucina provided the working capital and Penny soon proved an effective managing director. The two women revelled in the world of business. They used the element of surprise and an acute ac.u.men backed by the unscrupulous use of their femininity. Penny soon realised Lucina had access to information about rival Firms and supply systems from unknown sources and although she wondered about this, things were going too well and too fast to worry about how everything happened. There was simply too much to do.

It was not long before, as well as the olive oil business, she found herself running a large s.h.i.+pping company owned by Lucina's husband, Zarian Dodona of New York. Before most of their rivals were aware of this new power behind the company, they had been bought up or otherwise hung out to dry. It was not long before Ios became too distant a centre for control of the growing diversification of the European side of the business and within a couple of years of the birth of the twins Penny had set up an office in the City of London. She began by buying olive groves throughout Europe, diversified into other commodities, wheat, timber and coffee. Linked to Zarian's s.h.i.+pping company, she bought and transported anything that came from the earth. She bought into oil-rigs, refineries and petrol stations. There were few indeed who had any idea of the Firm's beginnings with the pretty caiques loaded with slick, green tins of extra virgin olive oil, which plied between Ios and the mainland. The sheer pace of the growth of this amazingly wonderful network of links kept Penny fully occupied.

Lucina's magical personality rubbed off on everyone, especially Penny who became truly married to the Firm, no man since Alexis could ever give her so much excitement or fulfilment. From time to time she slaked her s.e.xual desires, but never gave an inch of herself. She broke a few hearts and many an ego, but was truly married to the Firm.

Chapter 4.

Alexander Conway was feeling on edge as he waited for his twin sister Thea in the panelled entrance hall of the large house on East Heath road, Hampstead which gave onto the Heath, where they lived with their mother Penny and Nemmi, Alexander's nurse and mentor. While Alexander knew very well that Penny was his natural mother, Nemmi had been so central to his life that if asked who mattered most to him he would immediately have plunged into a dilemma and would probably have plumped for Nemmi.

He loved the house, more so since his sixteenth Birthday when Penny had arranged for JNO to build his own separate bachelor pad over the garage. To give him his freedom, she'd said. He didn't think he needed freedom from anything. Penny said he needed his own s.p.a.ce away from Thea and Nemmi from time to time, where he could do his own thing. Have friends round and so on. He couldn't see it himself. With old Nems and Thi, around what use were friends? Nevertheless he felt grown up in the flat and could play his hi-fi as loudly as he liked. Above the garage he was aware of his beloved Triumph 600 below him, now amazingly and unexpectedly joined by the addition of his XK, an early birthday present from Penny.

Tomorrow he and Thea were eighteen and JNO was throwing a party at Markham Hall, the Firm's country house near Oxford. He didn't want a special party. Above all he didn't want to meet Lucina who appeared to have organised it. She always made him feel uncomfortable whenever he encountered her, which was fortunately not often. She kind of just loomed over him expectantly and made him feel utterly inadequate. She didn't seem to have this effect on Thea or Nemmi, but he thought his mother was nervous when her boss was around.

The baby from Ios was now over six feet and growing. Strong and supple he skied in the winter and last summer had begun rock climbing. He had his eye on sky diving but Penny was putting her foot down over that. He'd nagged her silly for the Triumph, and in the end bought it without her permission. The Jaguar, she said, handing him the keys, will get you in a vehicle with at least one wheel on each corner. Use it to get out and about with your friends. He had a problem understanding Penny's need to encourage him to make close friends, didn't he have loads of skiing and climbing companions? What if there was no one person with whom he had a close relations.h.i.+p? He couldn't think why that was such a big deal. Thea and or Nemmi were more important to him than anyone, except Penny herself whom he saw too infrequently. He didn't know she thought him socially unaccomplished nor did he realise she worried that the rich and good looking were too easily befriended.

His thick, fair, curly hair worn long to the shoulder had a tendency to fall across his face like a curtain, which necessitated a good deal of hair flicking with his hand. His stature, the halo of hair, the slow grace of his movements, together with his expensive clothes and the insouciance of the carefree had lately prompted second glances from pa.s.sing women. He was saved from conceit by a social naivety deliberately developed by Mnemosyne that artlessly prevented him from being aware of his affect on others so that he was not too much contaminated by mortal relations.h.i.+ps. She ensured it never crossed his mind that others might think about him at all.

He was pacing the hallway jingling his car keys fractiously from which dangled an enamelled Jaguar badge in red and gold. He wore skin tight driving gloves, and a brand new Harris Tweed cap, which, unsure of the right angle to suit his hair, he kept adjusting. Jeans, tee s.h.i.+rt, an unfastened leather waistcoat and cowboy boots, made up the rest. Under the peak of the cap a pair of very blue eyes and a finely chiselled nose sat below a wide brow. Finely drawn lips were moulded into a strong chin and muscular neck. It was no accident that Michaelangelo's David sprang to mind in many who saw him.

Themis, currently known as Thea, stepped lightly down the staircase, Her jet black pony-tail swinging. Even features, long legs, drawn hair, fine arms and general lightness of bearing made her resemble the perfect prima ballerina, a form of mortal woman she admired.

Spotting Alexander waiting impatiently in the hall, for a moment she thought she saw his father standing there and thought that at least he'd inherited some of the attributes of his ill.u.s.trious begetter. 'Relax Stirling Moss, you'll get to drive your stupid dream machine to Markham. There's plenty of time....and that hat's ridiculous.' Too often she was exasperated by how weak mortals were. Not just in body but in the paltriness of their brains and her impatience had begun to wear at her accustomed iron control.

Unable to get it to fit correctly Alexander threw the offending hat on the hall table, smoothed his hair back and grinned at her. He lifted his eyes and watched her descend. She'd gone sarky on him again. He was sure it wasn't him but you couldn't win arguments with Thea. Twins they may be but she had an unerring ability to always be right. She saw right through him as if his mind were encased in gla.s.s. Lately he thought she'd become a bit distant and sardonic towards him. He took her attention for granted and relied on her a great deal, so that her current att.i.tude foxed and upset him.

She saw the effect on him and knew she was being unsubtle, but she had to wean him off her; both she and Mnemosyne were in danger of overcooking the goose. He was far too dependent on them. He'd soon have to stand alone and work out how to manage in the world with the knowledge he had from her and Mnemosyne. He was no Heracles. She knew his mind and the human self-doubt that lurked there. Add a G.o.dly arrogance inherited from his father and here were irreconcilable characteristics only he could manage for himself.

Thea walked past him into the sunlight of the half-moon gravelled drive flanked at each end by tall pillars, capped by stone b.a.l.l.s.

How self-a.s.sured she was, he thought. I wonder if I'll ever manage to be like her? He ran out after her to the door of the parked white XK150. Grinning, he opened it and doffed his non-existent cap like a chauffeur, his hair obscuring his face. He stood up and flicked it back. She folded herself elegantly into the low leather seat like a b.u.t.terfly. He loved the way she did that. He felt himself such an oaf beside her. Still grinning, he bowed deeply, indicating the length of the car with a flourish of his arm. He forced a smile from her. Thank the G.o.ds for small mercies he thought. He ran round the long bonnet and jumped over the door into the seat with one bound.

'Once an oaf always an oaf,' he muttered loudly so she would hear.

'Shut up idiot and drive,' she said.

'What's with you Thi? You're coming at me all elbows and knees these days. What have I done?'

She supposed she wasn't doing this properly and was out of her depth and she was annoyed with herself. Breaking off from him was proving very difficult, but the truth was she was no good as a person. Handling humans, it turned out wasn't her forte, not even half-humans. t.i.tans were not made for it and she ought to have known better than to try. At the time it had been more a question of whom you could trust rather than who would be the best candidate, so she'd volunteered under duress. If she'd known then what she knew now she could have chosen many deities who would have made a far better mortal than she. It was a good idea when she and Hera had discussed it before the birth, still, she supposed she'd manage well enough.

None of the women of Ios believed the boy would naturally have all the attributes necessary for his task merely by carrying Zeus' own DNA. If Zeus' plan was to have any chance of success he would need as much help as he could get. Hera had construed Themis' idea as an offer and jumped at it. How else could this babe understand how the G.o.ds managed in a modern world? She was very persuasive. He had to be inured in the memory of the old myths as well as current realities. He needed to take them for granted without being constantly surprised. Mnemosyne could deal with his education and Themis would ensure his general safety; to underpin him in case he slipped away from them into the purely mortal. To be born in human form and to grow like them would give her new insights into the mortal world and a closeness to Alexander unable to be achieved any other way. Well, she had managed eighteen years, but she really had no talent for the human. She kept telling herself the time spent was only a speck in the aeons, but by all the G.o.ds it was hard. She'd discussed it with Hera many times and at last they had decided she should break it off before she did something she'd regret. Alexander had his grounding, this was as good a time as any to loosen him from the ap.r.o.n strings. Hera would do it officially at a coming of age party. Rites of pa.s.sage or something like that. All adolescents went through it said Mnemosyne. He'd be officially separated from them both but all three of them would keep a watchful eye on him. They had someone in mind who would lead him on his mission when they finally revealed it to him and then by the G.o.ds, he'd need them nearby.

'You've done nothing, honestly, Alexander mou, it's me. I'm a bit....you know.' She patted his thigh in her effort to seem friendly and close. She found physical contact very difficult.

'Well I hope your 'you know' gets better before long. It's very upsetting.'

'Maybe it's this party.'

'Yeah, right, what is that all about?' He turned the ignition and fine white arrows on the black dials quivered into life, ready for ignition. He loved it, they way they jumped to attention with the current and then the roar of the twin exhausts. Beautiful. Awesome. He pressed the little black starter b.u.t.ton and touched the accelerator. The white beast throbbed into life and Alexander gunned the engine. Wow! He was Mr. Toad.

Conversation was going to be difficult on this trip, thought Thea. Nevertheless she had to tell him of their impending separation before they arrived and Lucina made her announcement.

On the busy route out of London, Alexander gave most of his attention to getting used to the car, he liked the fact it was in perfect condition. He was disturbed though. He couldn't see the need for the great fuss of a party at Markham. This didn't feel like a celebration of coming of age, more like a coming out. This was to tell the world about him and Thi and he wasn't sure why it was necessary. He couldn't think of any other reason why all these dignitaries he didn't know had been invited.

He drove confidently but too fast and particularly on corners he wasn't sure whether he was in control or the car. It was noisy with the hood down but conversation was possible as the throaty exhaust burbled through the North Western London suburbs.

'Mum's behind this I suppose Thi?' he shouted above the wind noise. 'What's this need to show us off for?' He dropped a gear, pulled out and pa.s.sed a bus, just. He turned to her. 'How's that for acceleration?'

'I'll talk to you when you've got this thing under control. I hate you in it and more than that, I hate me in it!'

'Scaredy cat. It's perfectly under control.'

'Idiot!' Although she had no need to be scared for herself, she was more worried about him, there was no way he could die now.

'So she's behind it?' he repeated his question.

'I'm not sure, maybe it's got something to do with Lucina?' Thea replied, in clumsy attempt to prepare him.

'So that's it! I thought there was more to it. Lucina's behind everything it seems to me. Interfering battleaxe. She's always there somewhere poking her nose in.'

'You should have more respect.'

'Yes, well...I suppose.'

They were silent for a while. Alexander gunned the car on the those parts of the A40 where it was possible to make hay with the no limit sign. He slipped in and out of lorries and the slower cars, which was all of them. It was a glorious day in early summer and the wind whistled through their hair turning Alexander's into medusa snakes waving around his head. Thea poked her pony tail into the neck of her blouse and held onto it through the fabric.

'Ear'oling, they call it Thi,' he shouted above the din.

'Prat!' she yelled back.

They were doing eighty and accelerating. Alexander decided he'd got the hang of this 'ear'oling' technique.

'Slow down Alexander, I'm not convinced you're used to the speed of this monster, and I want you to get there in one piece if you don't mind.'

Alexander laughed and slowed down to sixty. 'At this speed it feels like we've stopped,' he smiled.

'Good. I want to talk to you and while you're going like a bat out of h.e.l.l I can't concentrate.' She'd never get used to the modern world of machines. Which were the cause of most of the world's problems. Thank the G.o.ds Hephaestos dealt with that department. 'Forty would actually be better.'

Alexander laughed again and slowed once more. 'Okay now?

'Thanks. That's healthier. What I wanted to say was that I won't be going to Cambridge.' Better to spit it out, she wasn't any good at going round the houses.

'What!' Alexander nearly drove onto the verge in his surprise as he negotiated a tricky right-hander. Thea grabbed lamely at the wheel in an attempt to straighten them up. 'I think you'd better stop altogether Alexander.'

'Just say that again. It's alright I'm in control of the car.'

'I said I'm not going to Cambridge.'

'That's what I thought you said,' he was silent for a moment. 'So that's it. That's your little 'you know' is it? What's brought all this on? I was looking forward to going up with you. I'd been making plans for us.' He concentrated on the road for a while and as he came up behind a lorry on a series of 's' bends he was forced into third gear and the slow pace of the vehicle in front. A driver whom Alexander had cut up earlier came up behind them and gave the 'V' sign.

Thea didn't reply immediately. Forced to go slowly they proceeded in a difficult silence. Thea allowed him to think through her bombsh.e.l.l. She knew him as well as she knew herself, probably better as she didn't spent any time on such nonsense. He knew she read his thoughts. She was ahead of him in all aspects of their growing up. She knew things before he did and when he found the going difficult she smoothed the way. She was always near enough to watch out for him. They had never been great talkers as children. They just did things.

'But we've never been apart before,' he said finally. He was deeply shocked. Separation from her was unthinkable. Fear welled up in him, anger quickly followed.

Thea followed his thoughts which at the same time as his feelings were going back and forth through memories. Why to people have to do this sort of thing? It was simply undisciplined. Why can't they just know how things are, like she did and get on with it? Lacking the desire to stop him, she let his mind wander as it would.

He was three. He had decided to race the cars on his tricycle on the main Archway Road, it was she who led him back unscathed, apart from skinned knees, although the tricycle was a twisted wreck and the car driver in a state of shock. Throughout school she sat next to him, refusing to be parted from her twin. While many teachers wanted to separate them on principle, somehow Thea always managed to get her way. People found it hard to argue with Thea. She could out-talk any adult as soon as she had language. She was no match for other children who soon learned to give her the room she needed for herself and her brother. Alexander grew up fully protected from untoward experiences. He did as he pleased but Thea was always one jump ahead of him and saved him from the worst consequences of his actions.

Talking about Lucina made him think of Ios. As a growing child he had almost no memory of los save for an image of sunlight on water and a sense of a strong presence which was actually that of Lucina and which stayed with him subliminally, ill-defined; but potent. Maybe it was Lucina, who was behind his strong resistance to being told what to do by figures in authority. Nothing Thea did stopped that unhelpful trait. It got him into a lot of trouble, from which Thea always rescued him. He never talked, even to her, about a feeling he had of strings tugging him towards something and against which he felt a need to resist. To counteract this undertow, he did his utmost to go in the opposite direction. He needed both of them around him to feel right about himself, to keep him on track. They helped him with all his dilemma's, so why didn't he talk to them about this particular feeling? He just felt alone with it somehow. He couldn't explain. Nevertheless, being anywhere without them both alongside him, was unthinkable.

When Thea saw he had finished his thinking she interjected, 'it's time we went our separate ways for a bit. I don't mean for ever, and I'll not be far away from you. But it's time we lived away from each other. You can't have me around all the time.'

'But I'll get into such terrible trouble if I'm left alone,'Alexander interrupted, aghast. 'You know I can't manage on my own.' He pulled into a layby without signalling and really upset the man in the car behind. He stopped the powerful car without noticing him and turned to her in earnest. 'This is ridiculous Thi. You can't just sod off and leave me on my own. I mean what'll I do?'

'You'll do what every other young man at Cambridge does, enjoy yourself and perhaps learn something in the process. You know what gets you into trouble by now, you can't have me running after you any more. Anyway, I'm going to join the Firm. Lucina thinks I'll do better there than going to university.'

'Oh that's it! Oh yea, I get it! You usually think for yourself Thi. Don't you be influenced by her too! Christ Thi, you'll hate the Firm. Stay with me. You've just got to come up with me and that's all there is to it!'

As so much of his mother's time was absorbed in the Firm, she banked on the fact that his antipathy to it, would ensure that he wouldn't give up Cambridge and attempt to follow her. She allowed him another of his mind wanderings since she saw he was on the verge of tears.

They had grown together. Mnemosyne, whom he called Nemmi, gradually took over the task of their upbringing from Elithia who was more wet-nurse and nanny than mentor. From Nemmi they learned speech, the naming of things and the importance of understanding the myths of history. His life with these people had given him his early knowledge and understanding of the basics of how the world worked.

From his mother, he had unconditional love. He adored her. But nevertheless, he felt she did not fully understand Thea and Nemmi as he did, and that concerned him. He wanted them all to get on together. He just knew he did not want to have to fend for himself. Clearly Lucina was somewhere behind everything making waves and he didn't ever want to face her, without Thea beside him. Twins were different from other children. There was little need for friends. The other children seemed small and weak, with silly interests. Thea fulfilled him. Now she was thrusting him into the midst of ordinary people to fend for himself. How was he going to fit in? He had the feeling his mother also knew about Lucina too, but it was something they never discussed. He was with her for too little time to raise difficult issues. He waited impatiently for the little time they had together. He lit up in her presence and they felt uncommonly close. Absence, made his time with her magical. He cherished babyhood memories of being held close and receiving a warmth not given by Nemmi or Thea. His mother's humanity enfolded him differently from the focussed care he received from the others. He was never able to define the complexities of this feeling. It was a rainbow of many colours. Most of this contact was pure pleasure, but not all. As a baby, Alexander felt the tension behind her attention. The child desperately wanted to share this with her but had no way of expressing that which he did not understand himself. Throughout his childhood and now in late adolescence, he avoided asking awkward questions and she allowed him freedoms which he could not explain, but which much later he knew as the consequence of her guilt for not dealing with the issue with him. She too seemed to know things she could not explain. He would stretch childishly towards her and even as she came to him she withdrew something infinitesimal, but significant. As a child it made him feel bad about himself and he wanted earnestly to bridge the gap, but she was too often absent and he did not know what to do when the opportunity arose. Nowadays this inexplicable dissonance was under strict control for safety. When at times she became angry, he recognised her anger was not directed at shortcomings in himself, he sensed her feeling of inadequacy and his heart went out to her.

His thoughts were interrupted by Thea who determined this had gone on long enough and was leading nowhere. 'Lucina will announce my going into the Firm at the party. Now's a good time. Surely you can see that?'

Alexander did not answer and Thea kept her counsel, not wis.h.i.+ng to provoke him any further. He was obviously upset. They sat staring ahead for a long while. Then Alexander restarted the car, and with scarcely a glance over his shoulder accelerated into the traffic and sped away too fast for safety.

This was unbelievable. He thought he knew her. He felt let down and betrayed. He glanced towards her from time to time. She had been a bit aloof these last months. Maybe she'd been preparing him for this? He braked late and hard to stop the car ploughing into the back of a van that was maundering along at fifty on the blind side of a bend. He pulled out and overtook it by flattening his foot in second gear and left tyre tracks on the road. He swore at the hooting of a car he almost forced off the road on the oncoming side. Thea was scared, as immortal she knew she would walk away from an accident, but would he?

'Is this what you want Thi?' He eventually shouted over the noise of the wind and the engine.

'Yes it is! It's not the end of the world you know. Life goes on. Okay? And slow down for the G.o.d's sake!'

They finished their journey in an awkward silence justified by the noise of the wind.

Markham nestled in a vale in the Oxfords.h.i.+re Cotswolds. Alexander approached it through the winding main street of Wotton End, turned left at the fork by the church, narrowly missed a bus shelter near a culvert on the corner below the entrance to Markham House. He gunned the car noisily through the high, ornate iron gates and they rattled over the cattle grid. The drive flanked by ancient plane trees rose steeply and turned at its apex in a tight right hand bend which suddenly revealed the house at the bottom of its low valley, edged by the lake. As stately piles go Markham was unremarkable architecturally but it was elegantly set. Built in the eighteenth century for a local merchant adventurer whose s.h.i.+ps actually came in. Modernised by JNO it was in proportion and comfortable. It was not yet the brain centre of JNO's European operations but was used as the place where the background work was done while Penny fronted the London Office. Markham had shooting in season, equestrian facilities and a golf course for the exclusive use of the house. It also boasted a helipad, a lake and trout stream.

Alexander, spinning gravel from the rear wheels, pulled up outside the main entrance. Thea unfolded herself and stalked off. Alexander handed the car keys to a young man in the grey-green livery of JNO and followed in her wake, feeling quite shaken.

There was no one in the side hall, and unsure which room he'd been allocated, he checked the board in the door keeper's office to see if he was in his usual room at the side of the house.

'Yes sir? Can I help you?' A soft, slightly husky, female voice behind him spoke and he turned to face a young black girl of about his own age, dressed in the familiar JNO olive livery. He'd never seen her before. She was simply stunning. He didn't have time to observe her properly, other than to think she was the most perfect thing he'd ever seen, when Penny bore down on him.

'Ah. Alex you're here then, I thought I saw Thea come in just now. Oh yes this is Marina. She's new here'. I'm training her. Marina smiled and they shook hands. Her grip was Firm and her hand warm and dry. She came up to his shoulder and he felt like picking her up and sweeping her away. Her hair was braided with silver beads and she wore the livery like a second skin. It was a faultless fit revealing a perfectly proportioned body. It was as if other women were merely reasonable attempts at getting the model right but this was the work of a master.

'Your room key sir,' she handed him a small silver key with a JNO fob. He smiled, she didn't. He saw the number, it was his usual room.

Penny grabbed his arm and steered him through into the crush-hall, a smallish, comfortable ante-chamber to the grand main hall where a carved staircase mounted impressively to the upper rooms under a long mullion window with stained gla.s.s panels. Under the stairs was a sofa, easy chairs and a table with carved legs. Penny sat down and he sat opposite her on the sofa. He also watched Marina walk past, cross the main hall and go through into the rooms beyond.