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him. 'You have visited any Greek islands before?'
Bill shook his head.
'As a matter of fact, this is the first time I've been away from my own
country.'
George and Vidas exchanged glances; Judi wondered if the captain were
considering it strange that he should have married a girl whose father
obviously had not two pence to rub together. She also wondered if George -
or any other of Vidas's friends and associates - knew of the disease that was
so soon to prove fatal. She did not think so; Vidas was not the man to confide
his private affairs to others. Who were his friends? Up till now she and he
had lived quite alone, desiring no one else to share their lives, but she felt
sure that, somewhere, there were men whom Vidas could call his friends.
True, he had appeared a lonely man when first she had got to know him, but
this was, she felt sure, a result of what the doctors had told him. Prior to that
he would have friends with whom he passed his leisure time. On learning of
his fate he would naturally withdraw - at least, thought Judi, that was what
she herself would have done, and so she could quite easily imagine her
husband doing the same.
'You'll like Serifos,' George assured Bill, smiling the smile which charmed
all the females on board, whatever their ages happened to be. Vidas later told
her that all captains of these cruise ships had to be handsome; it was ail an
important part of the tourist attraction. On some islands he could mention,
Vidas had continued with a teasing smile, lovers were even provided for the
women from the Scandinavian countries where the men were notoriously
cold.
'Lovers?' blinked Judi, disbelieving. 'You're not serious.'
'Greece, my dear, is the most love-conscious country in the world. Greece
also desperately needs tourists. Add the two together and there evolves a sort
of "lover" service. I believe the name given to these handsome youths whose
business it is to keep the ladies happy is "parrot boys". This is because they
all follow the same pattern in their method of approach. They appear on the
beaches in their scantiest attire and parade before the fair Scandinavian
beauties. Then they take the ladies home.'
'It sounds revolting!'
Vidas had only laughed at Judi's outraged expression, telling her she had
been so sheltered in her tiny West Country village that she was practically
ignorant of what went on in the world, but then he added, his expression a
mingling of gravity and thankfulness,
'But stay as you are, my dear innocent little wife, because this is the way I
found you, and this is the way I want you to be, always.'
Always.. . . The one word had seemed to wrench the very heart right out of
her. For it was abundantly clear that even though he knew he would not be
with her, he wanted her to remain just as she was.
'What is the meaning of that faraway expression?' Vidas's quiet voice
brought her from her reverie and she laughed and said that she was miles
away. 'Where?' he then asked, noting that the captain and Bill were talking
together. 'Where were you straying without your husband? I demand to
know.'
'I wasn't without my husband,' she almost whispered. 'I was thinking about
those lovers '
'Good heavens, why?'
'Which islands are they on?' she wanted to know, but her husband shook his
head. 'Oh, please!'
'All right, then, Rhodes is one.'
'Lovely Rhodes? What a shame!'
Vidas laughed, and as this brought attention to himself he and Judi could no
longer continue their own little private conversation.
'Tell me about Serifos, Captain.' Judi was shy all at once as she put the
question to the captain. 'Is it a rocky island? I understand from Vidas that
most of the Greek islands are rocky.'
'That's quite true.' A smile for her and a request to call him George, and then
he continued, 'Serifos has two high rocky mountains and deep ravines, but it
also has very fertile plains and, like all the islands, lovely beaches where one
can swim and fish.' George talked a little more about the island, but then he
got up and asked Judi to dance. Everyone looked, as they always did when
the captain danced, but in spite of not having gone out a great deal, Judi was
in fact a very good dancer, having been taught from an early age by her own
father. At fourteen she won a medal for her dancing and another a year later.
George remarked on it and she flushed at the praise. Vidas pretended to be
jealous when, on their return to the table, he rose and took his wife into his
arms.
'What flattery was George pouring into your ears to bring about that blush?'
he demanded with mock sternness.
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