apply some balm to soothe the skin, and then you must rest. But first you must have a cooling bath to wash all this salt off.’ She clicked her tongue again as she examined Charlotte more closely, and when she saw the cuts and bruises on her legs from the rapid flight down the cliff she exclaimed softly in Greek. ‘What were you thinking of?’ she murmured, leading Charlotte out of the kitchen.
‘I’ve done a terrible thing,’ Charlotte admitted as Marianna led her down a shady passage.
‘You should know better than to stay out in the sun for so long.’
‘No, no—not that—something far worse,’ Charlotte said, needing to confess.
Marianna didn’t answer right away. Taking her into a small bathroom, she began to run the water, testing the temperature as it gushed into a large white bath. Then, straightening up, she planted her hands on her hips and levelled a look of concern on Charlotte’s face. ‘What have you done that is so terrible—apart from getting yourself badly burned by the sun? You had better say before I leave you. I can see it is eating you up inside.’
‘I tied Iannis up,’ Charlotte blurted.
Marianna looked suitably incredulous, but then, Charlotte noticed, she almost smiled. ‘You did what?’
‘I wrote an article about him,’ Charlotte explained, trying to make Marianna understand how serious it was. ‘He became very angry when he found out—so I tied him up.’
Marianna covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile, then, drawing her brows together in concern, she said, ‘And where is he now?’
‘He is coming after me—he broke free.’
‘Ah, I see,’ Marianna said, her lips turning down at the corners as she thought about it.
This was not the time to be contemplating a long, relaxing soak in the bath, Charlotte realised, going to peer anxiously out of the small window.
‘Come away from there,’ Marianna insisted. ‘This is no time to worry about Iannis Kiriakos. First you must do as I say, or you will suffer very badly as a result of this sunburn.’ ‘But what if—’
Marianna held up her hand. ‘You are safe here with me. This is my home. Iannis respects that. He will not see you if I do not wish him to.’
‘You don’t know what he’s like—’
Marianna raised her eyebrows quizzically. ‘I can assure you I do,’ she said. ‘I have known Iannis Kiriakos from the moment he was born.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘I was his nanny,’ Marianna said, her eyes brightening at the memory.
Charlotte looked at her as another piece of the jigsaw slotted into place. ‘And you’ll keep him away from me?’ she asked dubiously.
‘Believe me,’ Marianna assured Charlotte as she studied her face again, ‘I would not dream of allowing Iannis to see you tonight.’
Charlotte couldn’t wait to get to the mirror after Marianna left the bathroom. She was horrified by what she saw—especially as she had been so careful with her fair skin. For nearly four weeks she had been sensible, only to end up now looking like a bright red tomato.
‘You will sleep on your back,’ Marianna advised later in a bedroom, after she had applied some soothing balm to Charlotte’s burning skin.
‘But if Iannis should come looking for me—’
‘Leave Iannis to me,’ Marianna insisted firmly, closing the shutters before she went out. ‘Goodnight, and sleep well,’ she said, turning to smile at Charlotte. ‘And stop worrying about Iannis—about anything. You are quite safe now.’
Charlotte gusted a heavy sigh, knowing there was little chance she would sleep. But the white cotton sheets were crisp and cool, and the pillowcases carried a faint scent of lavender. She uttered one more sigh as she snuggled down, and then knew nothing more until the strutting general of the chicken run called his troops to order at dawn the next morning.
Coming slowly out of a deep sleep, Charlotte listened to everything carefully with her eyes firmly shut. There was a symphony of sound out in the yard that told her Marianna was giving the animals their first feed of the day. Once she had sifted through the various strands of sound Charlotte knew that the cottage itself was deep in silence.
Slowly the events leading up to her arrival at Marianna’s home seeped into Charlotte’s thoughts, spoiling the short, relaxing interlude she had been enjoying between sleep and consciousness. Putting her hands up to her face, she tentatively pressed her fingertips into the flesh. There was hardly any pain there now, and, opening her eyes, she sat up to reach for the small pot of balm Marianna had left on the table by the side of the bed.
Padding barefoot across the cool tiled floor, Charlotte examined her reflection in the small mirror hanging on the wall. Her face was still pink, but not red and shiny as it had been the previous night. There was a distinct improvement. Taking the lid off the pot and scooping up some balm, she tested it between her fingers. It was like a white chalky paste, but the smell was not unpleasant. Applying it thickly, she left two pink circles around her eyes. The effect was quite startling, but that hardly mattered. All she cared about was the soothing effect and the balm’s healing properties, and she could feel it taking effect already.
Returning the pot to the bedside table, she thirstily drained the last drop of water Marianna had left for her and then crossed the room to get some more.
She felt like a galleon in full sail as she hurried down the passage towards the kitchen. The nightdress she had borrowed from Marianna was like a tent, and just as concealing. Down to her ankles and high at the neck, it had long sleeves that finished in a neat buttoned cuff. ‘Voluminous’ wasn’t the word for it, she thought with amusement, swirling the skirt like a Spanish dancer as she pushed open the kitchen door.
She froze on the threshold. Iannis stood facing her in the centre of the room.
Iannis could never have been prepared for the way his heart lurched at the sight of Charlotte. He had given his word to Marianna that he would do nothing to alarm her; that had been his ticket into the house. But he was well within his rights to slap her with a lawsuit. She had betrayed him, led him on—tied him up! His hands balled into fists as he stared at her. With all her false bravado stripped away and her gauzy hair billowing around her shoulders like a shimmering gold cape she was mesmerising. But her face! He watched her hand fly up in consternation as he looked at her.
‘Where’s Marianna?’ Charlotte demanded hoarsely. ‘What have you done with her?’ Her heart was thundering. She had brought nothing but trouble to a woman she really cared about.
‘Nothing has happened to Marianna,’ Iannis said, more sharply than he had intended. ‘She is tending the animals. She knows I am here.’
As Charlotte stared at Iannis her thoughts were in confusion. There was so much history between them. They had packed a lifetime into such a short period. She was overwhelmed by feelings. And had she really tied him to a fender? For goodness’ sake! She was glad of the mask provided by Marianna’s balm—at least Iannis couldn’t see her face reddening beneath it. But then she remembered Marianna saying she would not allow Iannis to see her.
‘I
