Conveniently His Omnibus(56)

He had even been tempted to refuse to allow his grandfather to meet her, rather than subject Saskia to any possible hurt or upset, but there was no way he wanted his grandfather to think that he was hiding Saskia from him because he feared she would not be good enough for him. Not good enough! She was too good, too wonderful...too precious...

His final act before heading back to the bedroom had been to tell Athena to leave the island immediately.

‘Don’t bother to try and persuade my grandfather to allow you to stay. He won’t,’ he had warned her truthfully.

Now he hesitated before going into the bedroom. He could see Saskia standing waiting for him, and his heart rocked on a huge surge of longing and love for her.

She looked as radiant as a bride, her eyes sparkling, her mouth curved in a smile that was a cross between pure joy and a certain secret, newly discovered womanliness. She looked...

She looked like a woman who had just left the arms and the bed of the man she loved.

But the moment she saw him her expression changed; her eyes became shadowed, her body tense and wary.

Helplessly Andreas closed his eyes, swamped by a wave of love and guilt. He longed more than anything right now to close the door on the rest of the world, to take her in his arms and hold her there for ever whilst he begged for her forgiveness and for the opportunity to spend the rest of his life showing her how much he loved her.

But he had his responsibilities, and primarily, right now, he had to fulfil the promise he had just made to his grandfather that he would introduce Saskia to him.

For his grandfather’s sake he trusted that the older man would remember the promise he had made that he would treat Saskia gently.

As Andreas crossed the room and took hold of her hand Saskia shrank back from him, terrified of betraying her feelings, knowing that she was trembling from head to foot simply because of the warmth of his hand clasping hers.

She knew that he was bound to make some irritated, impatient comment about the role she was supposed to be playing, but instead he simply released her hand and told her in a low voice, ‘I’m sorry to have put you through this my...Saskia...’

‘It’s what you brought me here for,’ Saskia reminded him brutally, not daring to look at him. Surely she must be imagining that raw note of remorse in his voice.

As they left the room the pretty little maid who looked after it came in, and Andreas paused to say something to her in Greek before following Saskia into the corridor.

It was only natural in the circumstances, Saskia knew, that Andreas should take hold of her hand again and close the distance between them, so that when they walked into the cool, simply furnished room that gave out onto the main patio area they did so with every outward appearance of a couple deeply in love. But what was surely less natural, and almost certainly unwise, was the sense of warmth and security that she got from being so close to him.

To try and distract herself from the effect Andreas’s proximity was having on her, Saskia looked to where his sister and mother were standing talking to an elderly white-haired man Saskia knew must be Andreas’s grandfather.

As they walked towards him he started to turn round, and Saskia could hear Andreas saying formally, ‘Grandfather, I’d like to introduce Saskia to you.’

But Saskia had stopped listening, her attention focused instead on the familiar features of the man now facing her. He was the same man she had seen in the street in Athens, the man who had seemed so unwell and whom she had been so concerned about. He didn’t look ill now though. He was smiling broadly at them both, coming forward to clasp Saskia’s free hand in both of his in a grip heart-rockingly similar to that of his grandson.

‘There is no need to introduce her to me, ’Reas.’ He laughed. ‘Your beautiful fiancée and I have already met.’

Saskia could see how much he was enjoying the shocking effect of his announcement on his family. He was obviously a man who liked to feel he was in control of things...people...who liked to challenge and surprise them. But where that trait in Andreas had angered her, in his grandfather she found it almost endearing.

‘You and Saskia have already met?’ Andreas was repeating, frowning heavily as he looked from his grandfather to Saskia.

‘Yes. In Athens,’ his grandfather confirmed before Saskia could say anything. ‘She was very kind to an old man, and very concerned for him too. My driver told me that you had expressed your concern for my health to him,’ he told Saskia in a broadly smiling aside. ‘And I have to confess I did find that walk in the heat plus the wait I had for you to return from the Acropolis a trifle...uncomfortable. But not, I suspect, as uncomfortable as Andreas was, arriving at my office to discover that I had cancelled our meeting,’ he added with a chuckle.

‘You didn’t really think I’d allow my only grandson to marry a woman I knew nothing about, did you?’ he asked Andreas with a little swagger that made her hide a small smile. He was so very Greek, so very macho. She knew she should be annoyed, but he was so pleased with himself that she didn’t have the heart to be cross.

Andreas, though, as it soon became obvious, was not so easily appeased.

‘You decided to check up on Saskia—?’ he thundered, giving his grandfather a hard look.

‘You have definitely made a good choice, Andreas,’ his grandfather interrupted him. ‘She is charming...and kind. Not many young women would have taken the time to look after an old man who was a stranger to them. I had to meet her for myself, Andreas. I know you, and—’

‘What you have done is an insult to her,’ Andreas cut him off coldly, whilst Saskia stared at him in astonishment. Andreas defending and protecting her? What was this? And then, abruptly, she remembered that he was simply acting out a role...the role of a loving protective fiancé.

‘And let me tell you this, Grandfather,’ Andreas was continuing. ‘Whether you approve of Saskia or not makes no difference to me. I love her, and I always will, and there are no threats, no bribes, no blandishments you can offer that could in any way change that.’

There was a brief pause before the older man nodded his head.

‘Good,’ he announced. ‘I’m glad to hear it. A woman like Saskia deserves to be the focus of her husband’s heart and life. She reminds me very much of my Elisabeth,’ he added, his eyes suddenly misty. ‘She had that same kindness, that same concern for others.’ Suddenly he started to frown as he caught sight of Saskia’s ring.

‘What is that she is wearing?’ he demanded. ‘It is not fit for a Demetrios bride. I’m surprised at you, Andreas...a paltry plain solitaire. She shall have my Elisabeth’s ring, and—’

‘No.’ The harshness in Andreas’s voice made Saskia tense. Was he going to tell his grandfather that it was all a lie? Was the thought of Saskia wearing something as sacred to their family as his dead grandmother’s ring too much for him to endure?

‘No,’ he continued. ‘If Saskia wants a different ring then she shall choose one herself. For now I want her to wear the one I chose for her. A diamond as pure and shiningly beautiful as she is herself.’

Saskia could see Andreas’s mother’s and sister’s jaws dropping, as was her own at such an unexpectedly tender and almost poetic declaration.

Ridiculously tears blurred her eyes as she looked down at the solitaire. It was beautiful. She thought so every time she put it on. But for her to treasure such a ring it would have to be given with love. It was the commitment it was given with that made it of such value to a woman in love, not its financial worth.

But Andreas’s grandfather was brushing aside such irrelevancies, and demanding jovially, ‘Very well, but what I want to know now is when you plan to get married. I can’t live for ever, Andreas, and if I am to see your sons...’

‘Grandfather...’ Andreas began warningly.

* * *

LATER, AFTER A celebratory lunch and rather more vintage champagne than had perhaps been wise, Saskia made her way with solemn concentration back to her room. Andreas was with her, as befitted a loving and protective fiancé.

Outside the room Andreas touched her lightly on her arm, so that she was forced to stop and look at him.

‘I’m sorry about what happened in Athens,’ he told her, his brusqueness giving way to anger as he added, ‘My grandfather had no right to subject you to—’

‘In his shoes you would have done exactly the same thing,’ Saskia interrupted him quietly, immediately leaping to his grandfather’s defence. ‘It’s a perfectly natural reaction. I can remember still the way my grandmother reacted the first time I went out on a date.’ She laughed, and then stopped as she saw that Andreas was shaking his head.

‘Of course she would be protective of you,’ he agreed flatly. ‘But didn’t my grandfather realise the danger you could have been in? What if he had mistimed his “accidental” meeting with you? You were alone in an unfamiliar city. He had countermanded my instructions to your driver by telling him to keep out of sight until he saw him return to his own car.’

‘It was broad daylight, Andreas,’ Saskia pointed out calmly. But she could see that Andreas wasn’t going to be appeased. ‘Well, at least your grandfather won’t be trying to convince you that you should marry Athena anymore,’ she offered placatingly as they walked into the bedroom. She came to an abrupt halt as she saw the new cases Andreas had bought her for their trip in the middle of the bedroom floor. ‘What...?’ she began unsteadily but Andreas didn’t let her finish.