The Goddess Of Love Read online

  “Then I will show you,” Mr. Thespidos said.

  He walked towards the door as he spoke and she could hear the Greek man coming slowly up the stairs.

  As he opened the door, she saw that he carried in front of him what appeared to be a large packing case.

  She stared at it in astonishment until in a voice that did not sound like her own she asked,

  “Is – is that how you – intend to take me – on board the – yacht?”

  “I knew that you were an intelligent girl!” Mr. Thespidos replied. “Actually you will find it quite comfortable.”

  He opened the lid of the packing case as he spoke.

  Corena could see that it was padded inside with what appeared to be a coarse cotton material with something soft beneath it.

  As she realised what he intended, she wanted to say that she could not be shut in there and perhaps suffocate from lack of air.

  He knew what she was thinking and said,

  “You will be able to breathe. We will drill holes along the top and sides and you will be comfortable because this is how we transport very valuable cargo from Greece!”

  From the way he spoke Corena was suddenly aware that he traded in the priceless antiques that he had previously claimed belonged to his country.

  He wanted to find out what her father and Lord Warburton were seeking simply so that he could sell it himself for a big price either in England or in Europe.

  She would be taken aboard in the packing case and Lord Warburton’s staff would believe that it was part of his baggage.

  It might therefore be a long time before he was even aware that it was on board.

  It was a clever idea and she could see exactly how Mr. Thespidos’s mind worked.

  Once they were well away from English shores Lord Warburton would feel almost obliged to take her to Crisa so that she could find her father.

  She was thinking of this as she stood staring at the packing case.

  Only when she glanced at Mr. Thespidos again did she realise that he had been watching her.

  “Are you going to tell me how clever I am?” he asked in a mocking tone.

  “I think it is a – horrible idea!” Corena cried. “Suppose nobody discovers where I am? I might die of starvation – if not from lack of air!”

  “You underestimate me,” Mr. Thespidos said complacently. “I have, of course, thought of that. There is a release catch in the box. It needs a little pressure on it because otherwise it might open before you are ready to reveal yourself.”

  Quite suddenly Corena was frightened.

  She felt to be shut up in a box and left to the mercy of a man who had already refused to help her was a fate so unpleasant that anything else might be preferable.

  “Please – ” she said, “I-I cannot do this – let me see Lord Warburton when he arrives – and plead with him once again to – take me as his – guest.”

  “And what if he refuses?” Mr. Thespidos asked.

  He knew that she had no answer to this and he went on,

  “No, I have made my plans and, you must admit, very cleverly. You will not be uncomfortable and, as you can let yourself out at any moment, there is no need to be afraid.”

  He smiled as he added,

  “Think how pleased your father will be to see you!”

  “You swear to me on everything you hold – sacred that I shall see my father when I – arrive?” Corena asked.

  “The moment you give me Lord Warburton I shall have no further interest in your father,” Mr. Thespidos said.

  The way he spoke ought to have been reassuring. Instead there was something horrible in the way he spoke Lord Warburton’s name, almost as if he mouthed over it.

  Corena was certain that he was thinking of how much he would enjoy having anyone so important and so rich in his clutches.

  Then she told herself that she did not want to think about that. It was her father who concerned her.

  She could not go on talking about it when the packing case gaping at her from the floor made her tremble.

  She moved back to the sofa and Mr. Thespidos said to the man, addressing him as ‘Paul’,

  “Take it downstairs and drill the air-holes as I have told you to do. Four on each side of the box should be enough and get a little more padding. We must make certain that the lady is comfortable!”

  He was speaking in English so that Corena could understand and he repeated it in Greek.

  Paul picked up the packing case and they could hear him going slowly down the stairs.

  “There is a washroom over there,” Mr. Thespidos said, indicating a door, “and I suggest, after we have had something to eat that you rest on the sofa. The night will pass quicker if you sleep.”

  He did not sound particularly concerned about her comfort.

  Corena wanted to say it would be impossible to sleep because of what lay ahead of her.

  She knew, however, that it would be a mistake to bandy words with him.

  Instead she walked into the washroom, hoping that there would be a mirror so that she could tidy her hair when she took off her hat and a basin that she could wash her hands in.

  When she came back into the office, it was to find that Mr. Thespidos was writing at his desk.

  He had removed his coat and waistcoat so that he was sitting in his shirtsleeves with his braces over his shoulders.

  She thought that it was very rude of him to treat her as if she was of no consequence, but there was nothing she could say.

  Instead she sat down on the sofa.

  A few minutes later Paul arrived with a tray on which there was food for her to eat, although it was not particularly appetising.

  At the same time Corena felt that she must keep up her strength.

  She therefore forced herself to eat some of the cold meat and the salad that went with it.

  She even accepted a glass of Greek wine that Mr. Thespidos poured out for her.

  One sip of it told her that it had a strong flavour of resin and so she refused to drink any more.

  She asked instead for a glass of water.

  Mr. Thespidos laughed and said,

  “If you are going to stay in my country for any length of time, you will have to get used to the taste of our wines!”

  He was mocking at her.

  She longed to reply that the sooner she was away from Greece and her father was safe the better she would like it, but she thought that it would be a mistake.

  Instead she went on eating, feeling that the food was utterly tasteless because she was eating not for enjoyment but simply to preserve her strength.

  Mr. Thespidos, however, ate heartily and drank most of the wine.

  Then he said,

  “Now we must settle down for the night and I suppose that you would not like me to kiss you goodnight?”

  Corena stiffened, but she decided that it would be undignified to reply.

  When he laughed, she wondered frantically what she would do if he should attempt to touch her.

  As if he knew what she was thinking, he said,

  “You are quite safe. I have one motto in life and that is ‘business first’ and tomorrow you will need your wits about you.”

  Corena continued with an effort to remain silent.

  There was a cushion on the sofa to rest her head and there was a rug, which Paul had put there when he came to take away their trays.

  She lay down, having first taken off her shoes and, putting her head on the pillow, shut her eyes.

  She knew that Mr. Thespidos was looking at her unpleasantly, but she was sure that he had spoken the truth when he had said that business came first.

  From his point of view, if she was hysterical or too frightened, she might after all, whatever the penalty, refuse to do what he asked of her.

  She could hear him moving about the room before finally the makeshift bed at the other end of it creaked.

  He turned out the lamp.

  It was then, for the first t
ime, that she relaxed a little and, when he began to snore, she recognised that she was safe.

  In the darkness she began to pray passionately and desperately for help.

  She was terrified of what the future might hold for her.

  Yet she had the feeling that Lord Warburton, however angry he might be when he discovered her, was preferable to Mr. Thespidos.

  She prayed for what seemed hours.

  Then, because she had not slept the night before, she fell into a hazy dazed slumber in which she was half-thinking and half-dreaming, but not really asleep.

  *

  Corena was awoken by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. The door was opened and she heard Paul saying in Greek,

  “It is half-past-five, sir.”

  One more gigantic snore and Mr. Thespidos woke up.

  Before he could speak to her, Corena rose from the sofa and went into the washroom.

  She locked the door, washed her face and her hands and tidied her hair.

  She thought it would be unnecessary to put on her hat and, when she went out into the office, she found Mr. Thespidos dressed in his waistcoat and tying the tie he must have removed before he slept.

  “There is something for you to eat on my desk,” he said as Corena came in, “and you had better eat it up. It may be a long time before you get anything more!”

  This was common sense, although Corena resented the way he said it.

  She found that what was provided was bread, butter and a hunk of cheese and to her relief there was a pot of coffee. She started to pour it out and then asked,

  “There is only one cup. Do you not want some?”

  “I will have some later,” Mr. Thespidos replied, “once I have taken you aboard.”

  “How do you – know they will – accept me?”

  “You leave that to me,” he said. “I have plenty of brains in my head.”

  She thought he leered at her as he spoke.

  Having poured out her coffee Corena forced herself to eat some of the bread, which was mercifully fresh, and as much of the cheese as she could manage.

  She wondered if she should suggest to Mr. Thespidos that he should give her a little food to have with her in the packing case.

  But she decided that if he had not thought of it, there must be some reason for her to remain hungry.

  Mr. Thespidos, having put on his jacket and hat, looked at his watch.

  “We must be moving soon,” he said. “Drink up your coffee. It will make you feel better.”

  Corena thought it made good sense.

  She quickly drank what was left in the cup and filled it half-full again from the coffee pot.

  She was just stirring in some sugar when she suddenly felt very strange.

  The room seemed to be moving around her.

  As she tried to hold onto the desk, her hand groped for it as if it would not obey her.

  Then, as she tried to ask what was happening, the words would not come to her lips.

  A darkness came up from the floor to cover her.

  Chapter Four

  Lord Warburton left his house in extremely high spirits.

  He had bade goodbye to Charles who said,

  “I only hope, Orion, that either you find your Aphrodite quickly or you give up the chase and come home. There is a great deal for you to do here, most especially with your horses.”

  “At the moment I am trying to win a greater prize.” Lord Warburton replied.

  “I would feel happier if your Aphrodite was flesh and blood for making you follow her all over the world!”

  “In which case I would undoubtedly not return for years!” Lord Warburton answered with irrefutable logic.

  Charles laughed.

  “I can see that you are intent on behaving like a Crusading Knight without actually hearing the cries of the damsel in distress or even seeing her!”

  Lord Warburton smiled.

  “The trouble with you, Charles,” he said, “is that you are romantic, something I gave up years ago and have never regretted it!”

  Charles knew that this was true, but he merely laughed and teased Lord Warburton until he declared,

  “I shall find it a relief to be by myself in the yacht and to be able to sit reading Sophocles, who made a great deal more sense than you are making now!”

  “I am sorry for you,” Charles replied, “and all I can remember of Sophocles is that he said ‘many marvels there are, but none so marvellous as man’. I suppose that is what you are thinking you are at the moment!”

  “If I had something hard near me I would throw it at you!” Lord Warburton replied. “At the same time I hope you have noted that Sophocles was praising men not women!”

  “You are hopeless! I wash my hands of you!” Charles exclaimed.

  The two men were still joking when, after an early breakfast, Lord Warburton set off to the same railway junction that Corena had travelled from the day before.

  There was a First Class carriage reserved for him. There was another in a Second Class coach for his valet and the Courier who always travelled with him to see that everything was perfectly arranged up to the moment of his departure.

  He was, as it happened, much looking forward to being at sea again and engaging in further trials for his yacht.

  The Sea Serpent, as he had named it, was fitted with a great number of gadgets that he had invented himself.

  Although few people realised, Lord Warburton had a mind that sprang easily and masterfully from one subject to another, despite the fact that his main interest was Greece.

  Because he expected perfection in everything he did, there was nothing that aroused his interest more quickly than the knowledge that some new mechanical device would be an improvement to his yacht.

  Similarly for his farms new and useful vehicles or pieces of machinery were ordered immediately.

  If he found a mistake in a book he was reading, he wrote at once to the publishers to point it out.

  As he thought about The Sea Serpent, he was quite certain that, before he reached Greece, he would be able to think of some improvement that would make it even more outstanding.

  Actually that would be hard, for every shipbuilder and every prospective owner who saw it was amazed at the many innovations it contained, which were lacking in the yachts belonging to other people.

  “How the devil did you think of anything so useful as the way you have built your galley?” the Duke of Melchester had asked him.

  “The old one obviously caused much waste of time and inconvenience for the chefs compared with what I have designed,” Lord Warburton replied.

  The Prince of Wales was equally impressed with the comfort of the cabins when Lord Warburton had taken him on a short trip earlier in the year.

  “One thing there can be no argument about, Warburton,” he said, “is that you live like a Lord!”

  They had both laughed at this.

  Lord Warburton, however, knew that there was a great deal of truth in what the Prince of Wales had said.

  He, however, thought with satisfaction that he would have no guests on The Sea Serpent on this voyage to Greece.

  He had found that it was always a mistake to take a lady aboard unless he could be absolutely certain that there would not be the slightest ripple of the waves as the yacht passed through the Bay of Biscay.

  As it was impossible to ensure this at any time of the year, he had decided long ago that if he went abroad by sea he travelled alone or else with only male companions.

  Women were always seasick, which inevitably led them to whine and complain.

  What was more, if the sea was really rough, they declared that they were frightened unless they were in the safety and security of his arms.

  In the train Lord Warburton read the newspapers, but he was all the time thinking about Greece.

  Perhaps this time, by some miracle, he would find the statue of Aphrodite he had heard of, but had never been completely convinced of its existe
nce.

  Yet his friend, a man who was extremely knowledgeable, but who was growing old, had written to tell him of the rumours.

  They were of a statue answering the description of the one he was seeking.

  It was believed that she was somewhere in Delphi, perhaps near the Temple of Athena Pronaia.

  Lord Warburton would never have believed such a rumour coming from anyone else, but his friend, who was called ‘Koukali’, was different.

  He never exaggerated and never, as long as he had known him, had he raised hopes unless there was some real chance of their being substantiated.

  Lord Warburton remembered that Koukali had on several occasions spoken of astrologers and clairvoyants in whom he was interested.

  For the first time it struck him that the information about the Aphrodite might have come from them rather than from a more reliable, or perhaps it would be fairer to say, some more material source.

  If this was the case, he had an uncomfortable feeling that he might be setting out on a wild goose chase.

  There had been so much digging recently in Delphi that it was hard to believe that anything had escaped the notice of the French or the English.

  But, of course, one never knew.

  He remembered finding some years ago at Delos, near the cave Sanctuary of Apollo, a small but quite exquisite marble hand of a child.

  It was extraordinary that it had been there for all those years, but no one had discovered it before. He had brought it back to England with him and had it set up on a special plinth in Warburton Park.

  Whenever he looked at it, he felt that it had waited for him for all the centuries that had passed since it had been carved.

  It had been meant by some Power, which controlled such matters, that it should eventually come to him for safekeeping.

  He was well aware that it could have been found by one of the ‘sharks’ who had discovered that selling pieces of Greek statuary was an easy way of making money.

  It might then have been sold to someone who might not have properly appreciated it or been able to display it as artistically as at Warburton Park.

  ‘Perhaps something like that is waiting for me now!’ he told himself.