No girl had ever before called Robbie handsome. He flushed to the ears, and stammered: 'Most . . . most people just call me Robbie. I ... Fd like you to do that.'
'Robbie it shall be," she cooed. 'And you must call me
Stephanie.'
The rest of their lunch passed very pleasantly, and somehow it seemed quite natural to him .that, before they left Floca's, he bought her a huge box of chocolates.
When she left him a few minutes later, he was, for a time, quite bemused. The absurd bow of blue veiling perched on the crisp chestnut curls had hardly bobbed out of sight among the crowd before he began to wonder whether the whole episode had not been one of his daydreams. It seemed almost impossible to believe that he had spent nearly two hours with a pretty girl and that, after the first ten minutes, his shyness had entirely left him. Of course, she had been looking to him to save her from a terrible situation, so the circumstances were exceptional. Even so, it seemed a miracle that he should have found his tongue to such a degree that he had kept her laughing happily through the greater part of a long meal.
For over half an hour, he wandered the streets aimlessly, savouring again snatches of their conversation and recalling the swiftly changing expressions of the golden-brown face, still so^ vivid in his memory. Then he gradually came down to earth and began to think about preparations for their departure. He was just about to turn back towards the Embassy, when it occurred to him that he had not yet had a chance to thank Luke Beecham for his sound advice, and that he also owed it to Luke to let him know of his new plan; so he made his way to the United Kingdom Petroleum Company's office.
It was just opening for the afternoon session, so he caught Luke coming in, and was taken straight up by him to his comfortable room on the first floor. As Luke closed the door behind them, he smiled and said: 'So all went well. I felt pretty-sure it would; and if it hadn't, I'd very soon have heard about it.v
Robbie grinned back. 'Yes, your "Masterly Policy of Inactivity" proved a winner. On the whole, too, H.E. behaved very decently. He said he couldn't let me stay on permanently at the Embassy, but gave me till the end of this week to pack up.'
Luke lit a cigar, perched himself on the corner of his desk, and said: T see. And where do you intend to go?'
Sitting down, and stretching out his long legs, Robbie divulged his plan for continuing his investigation, under cover of gather-lng information for his book, by making a tour of the places m which the Czech groups were soon to be stationed.
'But I thought you couldn't drive a car,' Luke remarked. 'Isn't that going to be an awful handicap?'
Robbie gave a happy laugh. 'I'm hiring a car and I advertised for a chauffeur-secretary. As a matter of fact, I've just come from giving lunch to the one I've settled on, and she's a jolly pretty girl'
Luke's brows contracted slightly, and he asked: 'Is that wise, Robbie?'
'Why? What have you got against it?' Robbie countered defensively. 'She's driven several makes of car, and can type my manuscript. What's more, she will make a very pleasant companion.'
'I don't doubt that.' Luke's voice was a shade cynical. 'But have you thought that your going off into the blue like that might lead to quite a nasty scandal?'
'I don't see why it should. In the places to which we're going, it's unlikely that we shall run into anyone we know. Anyhow that didn't seem to bother her, and it certainly doesn't me.'
'I suppose you have taken up her references?'
Robbie did not feel that he ought to divulge Stephanie's private troubles, which would have put the matter of references, even if he had thought of it, out of the question; so he shook his head. 'No. I didn't think it necessary.'
'But, my young friend, it is,' Luke insisted. 'You are a rich and eligible bachelor. Surely you realize that by taking an attractive young woman off with you to stay in a series of hotels, you are laying yourself open to blackmail. This girl will only have to say that you seduced her on a promise of marriage, and you'll find that you have landed yourself in the hell of an expensive mess.'
This argument came home to Robbie with sudden force when he recalled the photographs of enticing-looking ladies he had received in the post that morning. But again he shook his head. 'No, really Luke, I'm sure you've no need to worry about that. This girl is related to the Greek Foreign Secretary, Stephano-poulos, and she's highly respectable. Besides, although she is a good-looker, she's got her feet firmly on the ground. She's not at all a "come-hither" girl, but the practical type. Even if I tried anything on her, which I don't intend to, I wouldn't mind betting that I'd get a box on the ear. We shall be good friends, that's all.'
Luke shrugged. 'I wouldn't like to risk it. Still, it seems that you have made up your mind, and it's your affair.'
After a moment, Robbie said: 'Look, there's an idea which occurred to me while I was on the way here. As I've told you, my cover for this job will be collecting information for my book. Fortunately, there are ancient temples and things scattered all over the Peloponnesus, but it may turn out that one of these groups will start to operate in a place quite a long way from anything of that sort. If so, I'll require another kind of cover, and since they are supposed to be prospecting for oil, I don't see why someone else shouldn't too. I wouldn't want any pay, of course, but I was wondering if I could carry some form of credentials from you that would enable me to make all sorts of enquiries as though I were an oil man.'
Luke was silent for a moment, then he shook his head. 'No, Robbie. I'm afraid I couldn't do that. The snag is that, although you have no official connections, you will be acting as a secret agent. That has already led you into taking illegal action, and may easily do so again. If you were caught and had a document on you accrediting you to my Company, we couldn't laugh that off. It would be said that-United Kingdom Petroleum had abused its position here to cover espionage. If that happened, my chiefs in London might quite well give me the sack.'
Robbie's face showed his disappointment, but he said at once: 'I hadn't thought of that. If I had, I'd never have dreamt of suggesting it.'
'Wait a minute.' Luke gave a wave with his cigar. 'I believe I see a way to handle this. I could give you some of our cards. They are engraved simply with the name of the Company, this address and telephone number, and underneath "represented by . . ." followed by a blank space in which any member of the staff sent out on some odd job can write his name. You could use those for your enquiries. If you were caught with some of them on you, we should still be in the clear. There would be nothing to show that you were employed by us. I should deny all knowledge of your activities, and say that you must have either managed somehow to pinch the cards or had had them printed yourself.'
'That's marvellous!' exclaimed Robbie, jumping to his feet. 'Are you quite sure, though, that it couldn't possibly get you into trouble?'
'Quite certain. I'll give you a packet of cards before you go.'
For another ten minutes, they talked of Robbie's proposed programme; then, with Luke's good wishes for his success, and a packet of fifty cards in his pocket, he left the office.
With buoyant step he walked back to the Embassy, then cheerfully set to in earnest to sort out the things he intended to take with him. Yet, now and again, he felt a twinge of anxiety. He had still to break it to his uncle that, instead of returning to England, he intended to stay on in Greece, and he feared that Sir Finsterhorn might take that rather badly.
^ He had already learned that there were to be people coming both for drinks and a small dinner party at the Embassy that mght, so he expected that he would have to bottle himself up for the whole evening before a chance came for him to get the unwelcome news off his chest. But he was spared that by a piece of luck.