Michael laughed with relief. He hadn't expected such instant acceptance. The old boy could still surprise him. He reached across the table to take Centaine's hand, and Centaine looked at Sean Court they with puzzlement. Thank you, General, but you know nothing about me, or my family. She remembered the catechism to which her own father had subjected Michael.
I doubt that Michael is intending to marry your family, Sean said drily. And about you, my dear. Well, I am one of the best judges of horseflesh in Africa, and that's not false modesty. I can judge a likely filly when I see one. You are calling. me a horse, General? she bridled playfully.
I'm calling you a thoroughbred, and I'll be surprised if you aren't a country girl and a horsewoman, and if you haven't got some pretty fancy bloodlines, tell me that I'm wrong, he challenged.
Her papa is a count, she rides like a centaur, and they have an estate that was mostly vineyards before the Huns shelled it. Ha! Sean looked triumphant, and Centaine made a gesture of resignation.
He knows everything, your uncle.
Not everything- Sean turned back to Michael. When do you plan to do it? I would have liked my father- Michael did not have to finish the thought, -but we have so little time. Sean, who knew truly how little time there was, nodded. Garry, your father, will understand. We want to marry before the spring offensive begins, Michael went on.
Yes. I know. Sean frowned and sighed. Some of his peers could send the young men out there with dispassion, but he was not a professional as they were. He knew he would never grow hardened to the pain and the guilt of it, sending men to die. He began to speak and stopped himself, sighed again and then went on.
Michael, this is for you alone. Though you'll learn of it soon enough, anyway. A field order has been issued to all fighter squadrons. That order is to prevent all enemy aerial observation over our lines. We will be throwing in all our squadrons to keep the German spotters from following our preparations over the next weeks. Michael sat quietly, considering what his uncle had told him. It meant that as far ahead as he could anticipate, the future would be an incessant and ruthless battle with the German Jagdstaffels. He was being warned that few of the fighter pilots could expect to survive that battle.
Thank you, sir, he said softly. Centaine and I will marry soon, as soon as we can. May I hope that you will be there? I can only promise you that I will do my level best to be there. Sean looked up as John Pearce came back into the garden. What is it, John? I'm sorry, sir. Urgent despatch from General Rawlinson I'm coming. Give me two minutes. He turned to his young guests.
Bloody awful lunch, I'm sorry. The wine was excellent, and the company was even better, Centaine demurred.
Michael, go and find Sangane and the Rolls. I want a word with this young lady in private. He offered Centaine his arm, and they followed Michael out of the small garden and down the cloisters towards the stone portals of the monastery. Only when she stood at his side did Centaine realize how big he was, and that he had a slight limp, so that his footfalls on the stone paving were uneven. He spoke quietly but with force, leaning over her slightly to make each word tell.
Michael is a fine young man, he is kind, he is thoughtful, he is sensitive. But he does not have the ruthlessness that a man needs in this world to get to the top of the mountain. Sean paused, and she looked up at him attentively.
I think you have that strength. You are still very young, but I believe that you will grow stronger. I want you to be strong for Michael Centaine nodded, finding no words to reply.
Be strong for my son, Sean said softly, and she started.
Your son? and she saw the consternation in his eyes, which was swiftly masked, and he corrected himself.
I'm sorry, his father is my twin, sometimes I think of him that way I understand, she said, but somehow she sensed that it had not been a mistake. One day I will follow that until I find the truth, she thought, and Sean repeated, Look after him well, Centaine, and I will be your friend to the gates of hell. I promise you that I will. She squeezed his arm, and they had reached the entrance where Sangane waited with the Rolls. Au revoir, Gn&al, Centaine said.
Yes, Sean nodded. Until we meet again, and helped her into the back seat of the Rolls.
I will let you know as soon as we decide the day, sir. Michael shook his uncle's hand.
Even if I can't be there, be happy, my boy, said Sean Courtney, and watched the Rolls purr sedately down the driveway, then with an impatient shrug, he turned and marched back down the cloisters with that long uneven stride.
With her hat and jewellery and shoes packed back into the soft leather bag, and with the fur-lined boots on her feet and the flying helmet on her head, Centaine crouched at the edge of the forest.
When Michael taxied the SESa down to where she waited and swung it broadside to the distant airport buildings, she sprinted out from cover, tossed the bag up to him, and scrambled on to the wing. This time there was no hesitation and she clambered up into the cockpit like an old hand.
Head down, Michael ordered and swung the aircraft on to line for the take-off.
All clear, he told her once they were airborne and she popped her head up again, just as eager and excited as she had been on the first flight. They climbed higher and still higher.
See how the clouds look like fields of snow, and the sunshine fills them with rainbows. She wriggled around in his lap, to look back over the tailplane, and then a quizzical look came into her eyes and she seemed to lose interest in the rainbows.
Michel! She moved again in his lap, but with deliberation.
Michel! No longer a query, and her tight round buttocks performed a cunning little oscillation that made him squirm.
Forgive me! He tried desperately to move out of contact, but her posterior hunted after him, and she twisted her upper body around so that she could place both arms around his neck and she whispered to him.
Not in broad daylight, not at five thousand feet! He was shocked by her suggestion.
Why not, mon cheri She kissed him lingeringly. Nobody will ever know, and Michael realized that the SE5a had dropped a wing and was starting a shallow spiral dive. Hastily he corrected the machine, and she hugged him and began to move in a slow voluptuous rhythm in his lap.
Don't you want to? she asked.
But, but, nobody has ever done it before, not in an SE5a. I don't know if it's possible. His voice was becoming weaker, his flying more erratic.
We will find out, she said firmly. You fly the aeroplane and do not fret yourself, and she hoisted herself slightly and began drawing up the back of her fur coat and the yellow skirt with it.
Centaine, he said uncertainly, and then a little later, Centaine! more definitely, and a little later still, Oh my God, Centaine!
It is possible! she cried triumphantly, and almost immediately she was aware of sensations which she had never suspected were harboured within her. She felt herself borne upwards and outwards as though she was departing her own body, and as though she were drawing Michael's soul out with her. At first she was terrified by the strength and strangeness of it, and then all other emotions were swept away.
She felt herself tumbling and swirling, upwards and upwards, with the wild wind roaring about her, and the rainbow-girded clouds undulating on every side, and then she heard herself screaming, and she thrust all her fingers into her mouth to still her own cries, but it was too strong to be contained, and she threw her head back and screamed and sobbed and laughed with the wonder of it, as she went over the peak and fell down the other side into the gulf, spinning downwards, settling softly as a snowflake into her own body again, and feeling his arms around her, hearing him groaning and gasping in her ear, and she twisted and held him fiercely and cried, I love you, Michel, I will always love you!