It was a clear night. The sky shone vast and eternal above them, illuminated by stars and a large phosphorescent moon. All was quiet except for the low rumble of the engines and the sound of the bow cutting through the water. The air was balmy and a warm wind blew over the ship, carrying with it the fresh smell of the sea. George walked out onto the deck by the same door as before. The woman was standing in the same place, staring out into the darkness. He hesitated a moment, uncertain how to ignite a conversation. He didn’t want her to think his attentions were motivated by pity. He pulled his cigarette packet out of his breast pocket and tapped it onto the palm of his hand. While he played for time the woman remained oblivious of him. He cupped his hand round the cigarette to light it, then exhaled into the wind. For a moment he thought she had noticed him because she lifted her hand to curl a wisp of hair behind her ear and turned her head in his direction. But she didn’t see him. The wisp of hair danced disobediently about her cheek, reluctant to be restrained.
He stepped lightly across the deck and leaned as she did on the railings. ‘May I join you?’ he asked, turning to look at her. She straightened and glanced at him with an imperious look on her face.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ she replied in a soft American drawl. Then, in response to his quizzical frown, she added. ‘I noticed you watching me earlier.’
‘I’m sorry if I was intrusive.’
She shrugged. ‘You couldn’t possible have been. I was deep in thought.’
‘You just looked sad,’ he ventured boldly. She was clearly irritated by his compassion.
‘What do you know?’ She glanced at him disdainfully. ‘You’re just a boy.’ George was affronted. She couldn’t have been that much older than he was.
‘A boy who has lived more than most men.’ He returned her stare with the same arrogance.
‘Really?’ She sounded intrigued. ‘Now you’re inciting my curiosity as I have incited yours. That is why you have come to talk to me, isn’t it?’ He was lost for words. ‘Don’t worry. You’re not the first.’ She chuckled bitterly. ‘I have a funny effect on men. At first they look on my face with admiration. It is truly beautiful when one only sees it from this side.’ She touched her flawless cheek. ‘But then their admiration dissolves into horror when I turn. It’s a game I often play. It amuses me.’
‘Does it?’
‘Oh, please, spare me the pity. I’m a grown woman,’ she snapped. George wouldn’t usually persevere with such a rude person, but his instincts told him that her fury was not directed at him personally, but at life or whatever had done that to her. However, that was the one question he felt he couldn’t ask.
‘Have you come on your own?’ he said instead.
‘You should know the answer to that yourself. After all, you’ve been watching me, haven’t you?’
‘Only this evening. I hadn’t seen you before then.’
‘How funny. I saw you on the first day. In a world of your own. If anyone looked sad, you did.’
‘To tell you the truth, I am a bit lost. I’m starting a new life in Argentina.’
‘The war’s been too much for you?’
He nodded. ‘Something like that.’
‘I know how you feel. I suppose I’m the same.’ She sighed. When she looked at him her expression softened. ‘I’m running away, too.’
‘What are you running from?’ he asked, pleased that he had managed to warm her up a little.
‘Oh, life. My old life, that is. Shame I can’t run away from this.’ Her fingers ran across the scar. ‘It’s there as testimony of something I’d much rather forget.’
‘Do you want to talk about it? After all, I’m a complete stranger. You know, in the war I opened up to people because I knew I’d never see them again. Told them my innermost secrets. Dead now, most of them.’
‘So your secrets are safe then?’ She smiled and George noticed she had a lovely, warm smile.
‘Some of them.’
‘You don’t look old enough to have so many secrets.’
‘Neither do you.’
‘Oh, you’d be surprised. Anyway, if I were to tell you my secrets you’d have to jump overboard afterwards. You look like a mighty fine swimmer to me, so I think I’ll keep my secrets to myself, if you don’t mind.’
‘What were you doing in England?’
‘I can’t tell you that. That’s part of my secret. You don’t want to die, do you?’ She grinned at him, the brittleness in her expression now completely gone.