'Away from Aphros?' he said, losing his head.
'All over the world!'
He was suddenly swept away by the full force of her wild, irresponsible
seduction.
'Anywhere you choose, Eve.'
She triumphed, close to him, and wanton.
'You'd sacrifice Aphros to me?'
'Anything you asked for,' he said desperately.
She laughed, and danced away, stretching out her hands towards him,--
'Join in the saraband, Julian?'
She was alone in her room. Her emotion and excitement were so intense
that they drained her of physical strength, leaving her faint and
cold; her eyes closed now and then as under the pressure of pain; she
yawned, and her breath came shortly between her lips; she sat by the
open window, rose to move about the room, sat again, rose again, passed
her hand constantly over her forehead, or pressed it against the base
of her throat. The room was in darkness; there was no moon, only the
stars hung over the black gulf of the sea. She could see the long, low
lights of Herakleion, and the bright red light of the pier. She could
hear distant shouting, and an occasional shot. In the room behind her,
her bed was disordered. She wore only her Spanish shawl thrown over her
long nightgown; her hair hung in its thick plait. Sometimes she formed,
in a whisper, the single word, 'Julian!'
She thought of Julian. Julian's rough head and angry eyes. Julian when
he said, 'I shall break you,' like a man speaking to a wild young
supple tree. (Her laugh of derision, and her rejoicing in her secret
fear!) Julian in his lazy ownership of her beauty. Julian when he
allowed her to coax him from his moroseness. Julian when she was afraid
of him and of the storm she had herself aroused: Julian passionate....
Julian whom she blindly wanted for herself alone.
That desire had risen to its climax. The light of no other
consideration filtered through into her closely shuttered heart. She
had waited for Julian, schemed for Julian, battled for Julian; this
was the final battle. She had not foreseen it. She had tolerated and
even welcomed the existence of the Islands until she began to realise
that they took part of Julian from her. Then she hated them insanely,
implacably; including Kato, whom Julian had called their tutelary
deity, in that hatred. Had Julian possessed a dog, she would have hated
that too.
The ambitions she had vaguely cherished for him had not survived the
test of surrendering a portion of her own inordinate claim.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account