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'I've seen those too.'
'The Alhambra on a night like this, when the moon ] is full?'
'Another exceptional experience.'
Faun looked a little doubtfully at him.
'Am I being a bore?' she wanted to know, then was relieved to see him
shake his head.
'Certainly not.'
'Travel is a marvellous educator, isn't it?'
'You have an inquisitive mind, Miss Sheridan.'
She reflected on Ingrid's paucity of knowledge about this present
environment, on the inane questions she would sometimes ask, and
the absurd remarks she would make. How could a man like Clive
Tarrant be satisfied with such a girl? Still, Faun thought, he was not
really interested in the girl's cultural propensities, but only in her
physical attractions.
'I suppose I take after my father,' she remarked at length, looking
about her and wondering how far Clive intended to walk. The moon
was still bright, but clouds were gathering rather swiftly. 'My mother,
too, is always eager to learn.'
'What did she do before her marriage?'
'She was a ballet-dancer.'
'A ballet-dancer!' Clive's glance automatically swept Faun's slender
figure. 'You're an interesting family.'
She shrugged slightly.
'I suppose we are a little different from the normal run,' she agreed,
but with an edge of modesty to her voice.
'Two pilots, an engineer and a ballet-dancer. Your mother sounds as
if she might be the odd one out.'
'If you mean that she's timid, or anything like that,' said Faun with a
laugh, 'then I must disillusion you right away. Mother bosses us all,
and that includes my father.'
'You don't resent it, obviously.'
A lovely smile lit Faun's eyes.
'We wouldn't have her any other way. She's usually right, you see,
although we don't always admit that she is. Regarding my
appointment with your firm, she said--' Faun stopped abruptly, aware
that she had been speaking without thinking.
'Yes?' prompted her companion, coming to a halt and glancing up into
the darkening sky.
'Oh er nothing.'
The shadow of a smile crossed his face.
'I'm most curious to hear you finish what you were saying, Miss
Sheridan.' His voice was soft but insistent, his manner compelling.
Faun, unwilling to cause friction between them, shook her head
vigorously.
'I'd rather not, Mr Tarrant.'
'Perhaps I can guess,' he said musingly after a pause. 'I've an idea your
mother would have warned you that you'd not be able to compete
with the male applicants.' So smooth the tone, so confident the man
was of having made a correct guess. 'Tell me, what had she to say
when, after that first interview with my personnel manager, you were
told that the job couldn't be given to you because of my attitude
towards women pilots?'
'She said she'd warned me; then advised me to forget all about it. It
wasn't the only job of its kind, she pointed out.'
'But it was the particular job you wanted, you told me.'
'Yes, it was. I'd heard of the firm, and of the luxury air limousines you
use. I've enjoyed working for a large company but have always
wanted to join a smaller, more select airline.' She spoke seriously,
stating facts in the way she might state them to someone who was not
the boss of the firm about which she was talking. Clive became
thoughtful, slanting her a glance now and then, in between casting a
look up at the sky. 'I don't understand your attitude, Mr Tarrant,' she
could not help adding. There's absolutely no reason why a woman
can't make as efficient a pilot as a man.'
'I was in a plane piloted by a woman once,' he told her, still in that
reflective tone of voice. The trouble we ran into was nowhere near as
dangerous as that which you encountered, but she panicked. As luck
would have it the co-pilot had the sense to take over immediately;
otherwise we'd have crashed into the side of a mountain.'
'I expect a man could have panicked in similar circumstances,
though.'
'I shouldn't think it very likely.'
'Well, we're arguing about something we'll never be able to answer. I
still maintain that women can be as good as men.'
Clive said nothing. Faun turned her head and looked up at him in a
thoughtful way, for she sensed a certain bitterness about him and
wondered if his mind had switched to his wife. Faun now gained the
impression that Tie had suffered at her hands and also at something
his aunt had done to him. He had been bitter when mentioning the
divorce that had taken place between her a/id his uncle. He spoke
presently, murmuring almost to himself,
'I suppose my dislike of women goes deeper than--' and then he pulled
himself up, his profile set in forbidding lines. Strangely this did not
deter Faun from saying, as much to her own surprise as to his,
'You've had a raw deal at some time or another?' Her heartbeats
quickened as she waited, noting the mask-like expression that had
covered his face. He would resent such a pertinent question, she felt
sure, and waited uneasily for his censure. But whatever he had to say
was never voiced as Faun suddenly found herself falling, having
caught her foot in some roots. Clive sprang forward, hands
outstretched, and caught her just as she would have gone headlong
into the patch of stinging bushes. She felt his arms about her, strong,
protective as they helped her to regain her balance. She felt the
hardness of his body against hers, his cool fresh breath on her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]