it.’
‘I should have realised, but I can hardly believe it—even of him. Goodness knows what the atmosphere will be like between him and Janine now.’
‘You don’t need to worry about that. Mum’s going home. She says she needs to get away from him for a while. And I’m going with her.’
‘Must you?’
‘I can’t let her be alone now she’s so unhappy.’
‘I suppose not, but I wish you weren’t going. Ah, well, we’ll be finished in Egypt soon. Once we’re all back in England things will be better. We can meet and talk.’
‘I shan’t be in England for a while. I’m going to Monte Carlo with her.’
‘How long for?’
‘I’m not sure. Certainly until Amos comes home, and maybe a while after that if I think she needs me.’
‘But, Freya—’
‘Oh, look, Amos is waving at you. Perhaps you should go and talk to him.’
He seemed about to protest, but then he nodded and went over to his father.
Freya joined Janine.
‘You were both very quiet at breakfast.’
‘I’ve told him I’m returning to Monte Carlo and he’s furious with me. But I’m going anyway. My days of jumping to do his bidding are over.’
‘It’s news to me that you ever did jump to do his bidding.’
‘I tried to please him as often as possible. If I had to refuse him I did it gently, lovingly. But now I have to make a stand. I’m doing what suits me, and if he doesn’t like it he can take a running jump.’
‘Good for you. I’ll call the airport as soon as we reach Cairo.’
On the coach journey they sat together, while Jackson claimed the seat beside his father. Their words were inaudible, but Freya sensed that Jackson was trying to soothe him. She doubted that he was totally successful, but Amos’s scowl faded, to be replaced by a look that might have been sadness.
When they reached the hotel in Cairo Freya went straight to the reception desk and asked for a call to be put through to the airport. What followed took only a few minutes.
‘There’s a plane leaving for Nice tonight,’ she told Janine. ‘I’ve booked us on it.’
She heard Amos’s harsh gasp and guessed that he’d counted on having this evening to pressurise Janine into staying. But Freya knew her mother’s mind was made up. Suddenly everything had changed, making her stronger. Clearly Amos had also sensed that change, but he seemed unable to cope with it. Freya actually found herself feeling sorry for him.
Jackson and Amos came with them to the airport and saw them as far as Check In. Jackson drew Freya aside.
‘I wish you weren’t going,’ he said, his hands gentle but firm on her arms.
‘You’ll be better without me,’ she said. ‘I’m a distraction. It’s your first job with this firm. You have to give it everything.’
‘There’s only one thing in the world that can make me want to give everything. All myself. All my heart and soul.’
‘Don’t.’ She laid her fingertips over his mouth. ‘Not yet.’
‘Not yet? But perhaps some day soon?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said desperately.
‘But one thing you do know. I’m yours if you want me. Do you need to know more?’
‘I need time. Sometimes things seem so clear and sometimes everything’s a wild confusion. Please, Jackson.’
‘All right. I guess I can be patient as long as I have some hope. But don’t torture me too long. Please.’
‘Jackson, I don’t— I can’t—’
Their boarding call came from the loudspeaker.
‘I must go,’ she said quickly. ‘Goodbye.’
‘Goodbye—until we meet again.’
Together the two women walked away through Check In and on to the Departure Lounge. At the end of the corridor they turned and saw the two men still standing there, watching them from a distance.
Freya had an eerie feeling of history repeating itself in mirror image. It was only a few weeks ago that she and Janine had stood together in an airport, watching Amos and Jackson depart. There had been desolation in her heart then, although nothing like what she felt now. It was all so different, and she no longer knew what to think about anything in the world. Including Jackson. Including her own heart.
His words should have made her spirits soar. Yet to hear his declaration of love when she was walking away from him, perhaps for ever, had sunk her in despair.
I’m mad, she thought. Mad, crazy, stupid. And I have no idea what to do about it.
‘Are they still there?’ Janine asked, straining to see.
‘Yes,’ Freya whispered. ‘Still there.’
‘Oh, yes. Look how alike they are. It almost makes you believe in Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger.’
‘Don’t,’ Freya said with a shudder.
‘You’re right. Let’s put them behind us.’
When they had turned the corner out of sight the two men watching them stood for a moment without moving.
At last Amos spoke. ‘So that’s that.’
‘I wonder,’ Jackson mused, ‘just how often that really is that.’
‘I know this has got you down, but don’t give in to those feelings. Just because a woman goes away it doesn’t mean she’s abandoned you. Of course she’d like you to think so. It’s a power game. You’re supposed to go after her. And if you don’t, she’ll come back to you.’
Slowly Jackson turned his gaze on his father. ‘That’s what you really think, is it?’
‘Just remember, don’t be the one to give in. You’ve got to be strong. That’s the rule of life and the rule of love.’
‘Unless it backfires,’ Jackson murmured. ‘And what do you do then? Especially if she’s playing by different rules, and you don’t know what they are.’
Amos gave a snort of derisive laughter. ‘Women always play by different rules, and no man ever knows what they are. All you can be sure of is that they’ll trip you up if they can.’
‘Then I reckon we’ve both been tripped up,’ Jackson observed. ‘It’s time we were going.’
*
