'Oh, that's fine.' Jan sounded amused. 'That's plenty of time to
prepare a report for Mim. I assume that's why you're here.'
Juliet felt the colour steal into her cheeks, and her sister's smile
widened.
'Don't look so stricken,' she advised. 'Mim's very transparent, you
know, and you're not much better. And I don't mind-really. I
suppose I could have suggested it myself, but I've been so busy.'
She shrugged eloquently. 'Anyway, we'll put your case in the
bedroom, and then I'll make some iced coffee. We'll have it on the
balcony.'
The bedroom was also a large room, its single beds fitted with
quilted gold bedspreads. There were wild silk curtains at the
windows, and an entire wall was taken up with fitted wardrobes in
white and gold. The bathroom which led off the bedroom was even
more breathtaking, with a sunken bath and gold-plated taps shaped
like dolphin's heads.
Juliet shook her head helplessly as she gazed around her. Nothing
could have been further from the rambling Victorian semi-detached
house where they had been born and brought up, yet Jan seemed
completely at home in her exotic surroundings. It brought home to
Juliet as little else could have done just how much she and her sister
had grown apart. She felt alien and out of place in all this luxury.
'Do you like the apartment?' Jan sat down oh the padded stool by
the dressing table and gave her an amused glance.
'It's unbelievable!' Juliet picked her words with care. 'But where is
Maria? I thought you were sharing with her.'
'Oh, that didn't work out,' Jan admitted casually. 'But this place is
only temporary, I may say. I'm not a millionairess yet. There was a
cancellation over a lease and I was able to step in on a short-term
basis, at a reduced rent. I'll have to move in the autumn when they
find another permanent tenant, of course, but until then it's quite
pleasant to live in the lap of luxury.'
She was smiling as she spoke, and her green eyes fringed by
incredibly long artificially darkened lashes were fixed candidly on
Juliet's face, and why Juliet should be suddenly and certainly aware
that she was lying, she didn't know. But she had always since
childhood had this awareness when Jan was not telling her the truth,
and she felt herself frowning slightly. Then she pulled herself
together. They were not children any more. Jan was grown-up now,
and entitled to a life of her own, and secrets in that life. All that
mattered was that Mim was kept in blissful ignorance, and all Juliet
had to do was telephone her and assure her that Jan was well and
happy. Any doubts and uncertainties she might privately have she
would keep to herself.
'What's the matter?' Jan tilted her head back. 'You look very
solemn, sister dear. Did the flight upset you? Are you tired?'
'A little, perhaps.' Juliet shook out the dress she had unpacked from
her case and hung it away in one of the wardrobes. 'A shower
would be nice, I think.'
'Make yourself at home.' Jan got up restlessly. 'I'll go and see about
that coffee. Come back to the salotto when you're ready.'.
Juliet was thoughtful, as she allowed the water to trickle its blissful
coolness over her body. There was something definitely odd in Jan's
manner. Her welcome had been warm enough, more so in fact than
Juliet had expected, but there was something guarded in her
attitude.
'She's obviously afraid that I'm going to start prying,' she told herself
resignedly as she wrapped herself in one of the enormous fluffy
bathsheets. 'I'll just have to try and make it clear to her that I'm not
interested in her private life.'
She dressed, choosing a classic shirtwaister in cool green cotton,
and sliding her feet into heelless sandals. She scooped her coppery
hair back from her face and secured it at the nape of her neck with a
scarf that matched her dress. When she had finished, she decided
that she looked presentable enough, although she could not compete
at Jan's level of sophistication. She grinned rather ruefully at the
idea of even attempting to wear the cream silky trousers and the
daringly cut black halter top that so became her sister. She left the
bedroom and walked along the gallery towards the salotto, her feet
making little sound on the thickly carpeted floor. She could hear Jan
talking somewhere in a low voice and checked momentarily,
thinking that other visitors might have arrived while she was having
her shower, but then she told herself she was being quite ridiculous.
She was also Jan's guest, after all, and she walked forward with
determination. But Jan was alone in the salotto, speaking on the
telephone. She was smoking a cigarette in quick, jerky puffs and as
Juliet watched she leaned forward suddenly, crushing the stub out
in a black onyx ashtray that stood by the telephone. As she did so,
she glanced up and saw Juliet on the gallery. She smiled and lifted a
hand in greeting, and her voice was pitched a little more loudly as
she went on talking. Finally with a gay 'Ciao, caro,' she replaced
the receiver in its rest.
'I'm sorry.' Juliet came rather awkwardly down the steps into the
salotto. 'Did I interrupt anything?'
Jan gave a smiling shrug. 'Just a phone call,' she said lightly. 'It
wasn't important. Now come and soak Up some of this sunshine
and tell me everything that's been happening at home.'
For the remainder of the afternoon, and the evening that followed,
Jan put herself out to be charming, and Juliet found herself
beginning to relax and lose that sense of intrusion that had
bedevilled her. They ate in the dining alcove which opened off the
salotto-cool slices of melon, followed by pasta in a rich sauce.
'Your cooking has improved beyond recognition.' Juliet took an
appreciative sip of the wine, and leaned back in her chair.
'I always loved Italian food. Fortunately it seems to love me too.'
Jan glanced down at her slim hips with satisfaction. 'If ever I show
signs of developing into a full-blown Italian mamma, I shall go on a
permanent diet.'
'No need to worry about that,' Juliet said with affectionate
admiration. 'I think you've put on a little weight, but it suits you.'
Her remark had been completely casual, and she was totally
unprepared for Jan's swift glare.
'What utter nonsense!' her sister snapped. 'I'm the same weight as
I've always been. Do you think, in my job, that I don't watch myself
like a hawk?'
'I'm sorry.' Juliet cursed herself inwardly for tactlessness, but Jan
had never used to be so touchy.
After a moment's pause, Jan smiled with an effort. 'I'm sorry too. I
don't usually blow up like that, but some of the girls I work with
can be such utter bitches.' She gave a rather unsteady laugh. 'I
suppose I look for the knife in the back from even the most
innocent remark nowadays. Thank the Lord I...' she broke off
suddenly.
'Yes?' Juliet prompted gently.
Jan shrugged. 'Thank the Lord I can always go back to England to
work if things get too bad,' she said nonchalantly, but again Juliet
had the uneasy feeling that that was not the remark she -had
intended to make. But the next moment Jan was chatting away
again, relating anecdotes about some of the famous people who
went to Di Lorenzo to shop for their clothes, mimicking some of the
rich women for whom she modelled, and Juliet's uneasiness passed.
As she lay in bed that night, listening to Jan's gentle breathing in the
next bed, tired, but too excited to fall asleep immediately, she told
herself that she was going to have a good time in Rome. Jan would
be working most of the time, but she'd promised to get some time
off that was owed to her to take her sister round some of the sights
and perhaps do some shopping, and the evenings, she'd said, would
be a different story.
While she had been clearing away the dinner dishes, Juliet had
seized the opportunity to telephone her mother briefly and reassure
her that everything was fine, and that she would write in more detail
during the next couple of days.
She had tried to hint to Jan as they were getting ready for bed that
Mrs Laurence needed the reassurance of regular letters, but Jan had
responded almost petulantly and Juliet had hastily dropped the
subject.
Probably when you were miles away from home and leading a
hectic working and social life, such obligations as letter-writing
tended to get overlooked, she thought. And Jan was certainly in
demand. The telephone had rung twice more during the evening,
and although Jan had not vouchsafed any information about the
callers' identities, Juliet had no doubt that they were men. There
was something intimate and caressing in Jan's voice as she spoke,
although Juliet could not have followed the conversation even if she
had wished to do so, as her sister always spoke in Italian.
But when you were as young and as lovely as Jan, there was little
wonder that men were in constant pursuit of you, Juliet thought, and
it was while she was wondering a little wistfully what it must be
like to be so sought after that she eventually fell asleep.
When she awoke the following morning, Jan's bed was empty,