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Then, shaking sentimentality aside, she ran down the steps and walked towards the Customs building.
It was soon over. The officials smiled at her warmly with the inconsequence of Frenchmen faced with an attractive female, and she emerged feeling flushed and a little more confident to face what was ahead. She looked about her, unable to dispel a faint surge of excitement. The air smelt so deliciously of the perfumes of the flowers mingled with the tang of the sea, while the heat of the sun was warm upon her back. She wondered where she would find the car which she had hired in advance and which was to be awaiting her here at the airport. There were plenty of cars about as well as the buses waiting to take passengers into Marseilles.
The young man from the plane emerged and walked casually across to join her. Dio
‘ Yes, monsieur? ’
‘You are being met, mademoiselle?’ he queried, and Dio
‘Thank you, no.’ Dio
Fumbling in her bag, Dio
Dio
‘Oh – oh, thank you,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I – I must have dropped it when I took out my sunglasses, Thank you.’
The young man smiled. ‘It was my privilege, mademoiselle,’ he responded politely. ‘However, I could not help but notice you are intending to stay in Arles. A beautiful city. I live quite near there myself.’
Dio
The young man frowned. ‘Are you sure I ca
‘Oh, no!’ Dio
The young man listened attentively and then sca
It seemed he knew what he was talking about, and as he took charge of her cases Dio
‘Perhaps we shall meet again, mademoiselle,’ he remarked lightly, as she bade him goodbye and thank you. ‘I am often in Arles and I should be most happy if you would allow me to buy you di
Dio
She drove away with his saluting silhouette visible in her rear view mirror and wished with a desperate feeling of inadequacy that she had been only a tourist after all.
She drove west from Marseilles, and then turned north, following the road to Arles across the great Plaine de la Crau. This was a rather desolate area, bare and uninviting, and only in places was some attempt at cultivation being made. She remembered that once Manoel had told her that in legend Hercules was supposed to have come up against a race of giants on this plain and had called on Zeus to help him. The god had rained down rocks and stones and saved the hero from death, but ever afterwards the area had been littered with the rubble from the battle.
Manoel!
A quiver ran through her. For the first time since leaving London she had allowed thoughts of him to invade her mind and it was devastating what even a thought could do to her. She stretched out a hand searching for her handbag and finding it. Extracting a pack of cigarettes, she put one between her lips and lit it with trembling fingers. She did not smoke much, and only when she was under strain, but right now she needed something.
It was after six by the time she reached Arles, and she felt travel-stained and weary. She drove straight to her hotel, checked in, and after refusing anything but a sandwich, which they agreed to send to her room, she went straight upstairs to take a shower. Afterwards, she dressed in a silk housecoat and seated herself by her window overlooking one of the small squares to eat her sandwiches and drink some of the excellent coffee which the proprietress had thoughtfully provided.
A breeze stirred the branches of the plane trees, and several youths cavorted about on bicycles beneath the windows, but it was very peaceful and relaxing, and Dio
She thrust the half-eaten plate of sandwiches away, as memories came to pain and disturb her newly found peace. What if he refused to see her? He might very well do so. After all, he was not to know the truth, of that she was determined.
She poured another cup of coffee and held the cup between her two hands, cradling its warmth against her palms. She must go over in her mind what she had to say to him. It would not do for her to be disconcerted by any question he might ask. She must have her story so clear in her mind that she would not make any mistakes.
She sank back in her seat, replacing her empty cup in its saucer. Reaching for her handbag, she extracted a leather wallet and opened it. From inside she withdrew several photographs, looking at them tenderly.
The small boy whose image gazed out at her with trusting sincerity touched a chord inside her and she felt the unaccustomed prick of tears behind her eyes. It was a long time since she had allowed herself the luxury of crying. She wondered what he was doing now, whether he was behaving himself for Clarry.
On impulse, she bent her head and touched the pictured lips with her own. ‘Good night, Jonathan,’ she whispered huskily, before putting the photographs back in the wallet and securing it in the larger of her two suitcases. Just in case, she thought regretfully.
In the morning she was awakened by the brilliance of the sun forcing its way through the curtains at her window. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was and she wondered why Jonathan’s cot was not in its usual place beside her bed. But then as consciousness returned with pressing awareness the reality of her surroundings enveloped her.
Thrusting the depression which seldom left her aside, she slid out of bed and went to the window, drawing aside the curtains and looking down on the square. Some children were playing in the little formal garden in the centres, chasing a ball and shrieking with delight. The sight caused a sharp pain in the region of her heart and she drew back from the window and went into her bathroom.