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mind?'
'Not at all.' They walked the short distance to where Duncan had left the car,
having decided to take the road to the west and visit a couple of towns on the
coast.
The road was fairly busy, for it was the height of the tourist season, but the
ride was enjoyable, for they passed through some of the prettiest country in
the Peloponnese. They made stops at the tiny villages and sometimes left the
car to walk around, under the shade of the trees.
'Men riding their donkeys,' Sara said disparagingly and with some heat, 'and
the women weighed down with those baskets on their heads. Oh, it makes
me so mad! Why do they stand for it?' Two women smiled at her, then went
on their way, their baskets overflowing with fruit and vegetables.
'It's their way of life,' Duncan answered mildly. 'I don't expect the women
mind.'
'But men are always on about their superior strength - why then don't they
carry the burdens ?'
'Well, if they can get away with it I don't altogether blame them,' Duncan
grinned, steering Sara towards a little cafe. 'Shall we stop for a drink?'
'So long as it's not ouzo,' she returned. 'I never want to see the stuff again!'
They sat outside, under the shade of a plane tree, drinking coffee and
watching the passers-by. There were the donkeys, the goats, the carts laden
with fruit or straw or even twigs of some sort. Along the rough unpaved
village street a black bull was tethered to a tree and in the roadway hens
scratched about for food. Two geese seemed about to draw near, then
changed their minds and went off to join the hens. Sitting on a doorstep
across from the cafe was an old woman, dressed entirely in black. She had a
pestle in her hand and she grinned toothlessly at them while at the same time
pounding away at whatever substance lay in the mortar on her knee. Sara
looked at her and shuddered. Then her fair head went high, just as on that
day when, up by the abbey ruins of St. Hilda at Whitby, she had declared
that she would have died rather than enter slavery. She would do the same
again. Yes, she would rather die than be that woman over there. That slave....
'What a life!' she said, noticing that Duncan's attention was also held by the
spectacle across the way. 'What has she to live for, tell me that? Her
husband's in the local taverna, with his friends, drinking and talking. They
never do anything, these Greek men, except lounge about all day.'
'You do feel strongly about it!' Duncan brought his gaze to Sara, and she saw
the amusement in his eyes. 'I'll bet they are quite contented with their lot.'
'Because they've known nothing else!'
'It was like that in England once.'
'Women won't ever learn,' snapped Sara disgustedly. 'Why do they let
themselves be stamped in the ground like that. Even if I'd been born a Greek
I wouldn't stand for it. I'd show my husband that I could hold my own!' 'Do
you show your husband that you can hold your own now?' he asked
curiously and, without giving her time to answer, 'I somehow don't think you
do, Sara. I had quite a surprise when I saw him. Why does he let you out like
this ? Is he not in love with you at all ?'
'What do you mean, at all?'
'It's obvious that he isn't madly in love with you, otherwise you wouldn't be
here with me.' Sara returned her gaze to the old woman and he went on after
a while, 'Are you in love with him, Sara?'
'That's too personal a question,' she objected. 'I've already told you, it's
difficult to explain.'
'It wasn't a normal marriage, evidently.'
'No, Duncan, it wasn't a normal marriage.'
'Adele ... where does she come in? You said you had your friends and your
husband had his. Is Adele ...?'
'Is she what?'
Duncan shrugged.
'Obviously she isn't your bosom friend, otherwise you'd have mentioned her,
so I presume she's a friend of your husband. And when a married woman
becomes friendly with a married man, there's only one conclusion to draw.'
Slowly Sara's head came round; she stared at Duncan speechlessly for a
while, as the significance of this news impressed itself upon her mind.
'Adele is married? How do you know?'
'Hayley told me. She was married very young; separated now, has been for
over a year.'
So that was why they had not married! That was the reason, and not, as Sara
had concluded, because Ralph did not particularly want marriage. And as
the truth flashed across her mind Sara gave a quivering little sigh. Only now [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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