"Beware the beast" كيف احيا معك بالانكليزية Anne Mather

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BOTH January and February were wet months, and the winds which swept

the island from the north-west kept the temperature well below normal for the

time of year. The rain did not fall as it did in England, for days on end, but came

in torrential downpours which could soak one in seconds. Roofs streamed,

waterbutts overflowed, and paths were turned to muddy quagmires. The island

looked different beneath its pall of water, but Charlotte had come to like it in all

its guises.

She walked every day, exercising the spaniel bitch which she had named Suki.

Suki demanded a lot of attention in those early weeks, and Charlotte was glad of

her company. She had never trained a dog before, but it was a challenge, and in

no time Suki was properly house-trained, and less likely to tug on the lead when

she went walking. Her undemanding affection was a salve to Charlotte's bruised

emotions, her antics a constant source of amusement. Even Maria was not

immune to the appeal of those wide brown eyes, and the animal became a

favourite with all the servants.

Charlotte spent most of her time in or around the villa. Since Alex's

departure, she had seen little of Eleni, and she knew the old woman blamed her

for what she saw as the breakdown of their marriage. On the rare occasions

Charlotte had made the trek across the island, she had been made aware of Eleni's

disapproval, and in consequence their relationship lapsed. Charlotte was sorry

about this. She genuinely cared for the old woman. But perhaps she was right.

There was no point in getting involved when in six months or so she would be

leaving the island for good.

To help pass the time, Charlotte began spending part of each day in the

kitchen, encouraging Cristof to teach her the preparation and cooking of Greek

dishes. At first, he was not enthusiastic, but gradually, as he became interested in

his subject, the lessons became a regular thing. Charlotte learned how to prepare

an egg and chicken soup, which Cristof told her was a national dish, she made

moussaka, and her own favourites, loukmades, which were little balls of dough,

fried, and served with cinnamon and castor sugar, and melted in the mouth. She

also learned a little more of the language, and presiding Cristof spoke slowly

enough, she could almost understand what he was saying.

The worst times came at night, when she wandered restlessly about the

corridors of the villa, dreading the moment when she would have to go to bed.

Doctor Leonides, the Faulkner family physician, now made regular visits to the

island to check on her health, and he had given her some tablets to help her sleep.

But something inside her rejected that artificial sedition. Instead she read, often