Her skirt was fairly short and, as he followed her up the little flight of stairs to the restaurant, he found himself staring at her legs. She would not have stood a hope of being taken on in a dancing chorus. They were much too short and sturdy. But, all the same, they were perfectly proportioned, with neat ankles and medium-small feet.
When the head waiter brought the menu, she chose Scampi Newberg, to be followed by a woodcock. As Robbie liked scampi and knew that in Greece at that season woodcock was excellent eating, he followed suit. But his prolonged glance at Miss Stephanopoulos's nylon-clad lower limbs had acted on him like a red light. He knew that he must not let this go any further; so, as they broke their caraway-seed-sprinkled rolls, he said:
'You say that if your father throws you out, you would have to become a night-club hostess. But, since you are qualified for a secretarial post, why shouldn't you get a job in an office?'
She made a little grimace. 'I trained at a secretarial college, but that is quite a while ago. And I've never had a job, so my shorthand would be too slow now for me to get a decently paid one. But I could soon work it up if you wanted me to, and my typing is quite good. I can see, too, that you are the sort of man who needs a lot of taking care of, and I should be very good at that.'
Robbie responded only with a slightly nervous smile as she went on: 'There's another thing. My father is certain to ask the help of the police to get me back, and it would be fairly easy for them to trace me if I were working in an office here. About the only hope of my keeping my freedom would be to go underground and take a job in a night spot down at the Piraeus. But, of course, for me to disappear into the wilds of the Peloponnesus with you would be the perfect thing. That's why-'
'D'you think your father has already put the police on to you?' Robbie interrupted to ask, a little anxiously.
'Oh no. He will be away on business until Monday, and he can't know yet that I've left home.'
'How did you manage that?'
'Mother gave way to my pleading. She's a darling, and although she hated letting me go off on my own, she realized that it was the only way to save me from terrible unhappiness. Unfortunately, she's too weak to stand up to father, but her parents were English, and she doesn't at all approve of girls being forced into marriage, like this, just because one of their father's beastly old friends has a lot of money or influence.'
From the first, they had been talking in Greek, and Robbie's Greek was nowhere near as perfect as most of his other languages because, instead of learning it from records and tutors, he had picked it up by conversing with people of all classes. It had, however, struck him that the accent of his charming companion was somewhat unusual, and he said:
'You are half English, then. Have you ever been to England?'
'Not since I was a small girl, so I don't remember much about it. But English was my first .language, and I still speak it with mother when we are alone. My father and mother met some years before the war, when he was the representative in London of a Greek shipping line. It wasn't till it looked as though England was about to be invaded that he brought us back here to live; and, of course, he couldn't then foresee that Greece would be over-run a year later.'
At this, it crossed Robbie's mind that, as his Greek was by no means perfect, it would be a decided advantage to have a secretary who could speak English, as he could then explain to her the more unusual words in his manuscript. Battle-axe Papayannis might not, whereas this girl definitely . . . Sternly he put the thought from him, but only for it to be followed by another. He had entirely overlooked the fact that, if he had a secretary who did not understand English, she would find it next to impossible to type his manuscript at all.
Miss Stephanopoulos broke in on this disturbing thought by asking: 'When do you propose that we should leave Athens?'
Startled, he stammered: 'But . . . but I haven't said I'd take you. I can't, you know; really. I . . . I've as good as promised the job to someone else.'
'As good as!' she repeated angrily. 'That doesn't mean a thing. You must take me. You said you would before we came up to lunch. You can't go back on that now.'
T said no such thing. I-'
'You did! You did!' Suddenly her voice changed to a high, pleading note. 'Oh please, please! You are my only hope of getting out of Athens. If you don't, any awful thing that happens to me will be your fault. You will have deliberately thrown me to the wolves. But rather than-'
'Hush!' Robbie implored her in a hoarse whisper. 'For goodness sake, keep your voice down. People at the other tables are staring at us.' But she ignored him and, tears of desperation welling up in her blue eyes, she hurried on:
'Rather than let that happen, I'll go down to the beach and swim out to sea and drown myself. And I thought you were so nice, so understanding. Mother has always told me that English gentlemen are the most chivalrous in the world. But that isn't true. You're just mean and horrid.'
Wittingly or unwittingly, she had hit Robbie on his soft spot. Like a pricked balloon, he caved in and said hastily: 'All right; all right. You've no need to cry. Please don't. People will think I've done something awful to you. Since you're in such a mess, I'll get you out of it.'
Like April sunshine after rain, her face lit up again. That's sweet of you. I knew you would the moment I saw you.'
'I hope your driving is better than your shorthand,' he said, a little glumly.
'Oh, I drive quite well; and I suppose over long distances we'll be taking it turn and turn about. What make of car have you?'
'I haven't a car. I'm hiring one from a garage. As a matter of fact, I don't know the first thing about cars so I can't even tell you what kind it was that I chose when I went there this morning.'
She regarded him in astonishment. 'Does that mean you can't even drive a car?'
He nodded. 'That's it. There will be no turn and turn about. The driving will be entirely up to you, and I'll not be able to give you any help if we have a breakdown, either. It's taking on quite a lot, and a girl like you must have some friends to whom she can turn when in trouble; so perhaps you would like to reconsider it.'
'Certainly not.' Her jaw hardened, and the momentary hope Robbie had had of escaping from this disturber of his peace flickered out. With another of her bewildering changes, she became extremely practical. 'I may not have a willowy figure, but I was given staying power as a compensation. I'll keep on driving you for as long as most men could. As for friends, of course I have friends; but none who could take me in and hide me for any length of time. It is true that I had a lunch date that I put off to meet you. But only with a girl who would have let me share her flat for a few nights, if I became absolutely desperate.'
'I see. How about money? What sort of salary do you want?'
She shrugged. 'Anything that suits you. Your advertisement said "all found", so all I'll need is a few pence to powder my nose. About this car, though, I think I ought to give it a trial run before we set off.'
'That's a good idea. When we've finished lunch, I'll give you a note to the garage telling them to let you take it out this afternoon.'
'Thanks. And when do we start?'
'Tomorrow morning, if that's all right with you.'
'The sooner the better, as far as I am concerned. That is, after I've had a chance to say good-bye to mother and collect my clothes.'
'Perhaps you'll bring the car round to the British Embassy in the morning, at about ten o'clock, then?'
'Yes, sir.' Her teeth flashed in a sudden smile. 'Am 1 to call you that, or Mr. Grenn or . . . my handsome rescuer from an
awful fate?'