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see whether he too were fully appreciating
the scenery.
`I expect you're used to it,' she said, speaking
her thoughts aloud.
`Does one ever become used to a spectacle
such as this?'
`It's fantastic, I agree. I could look again and
again.'
`So could L'
At just under half-way to Metsovo they
dropped steeply into a valley drained by the
River Arathos, which was below them, while
on the other side rose Mount Peristeri, its
lower slopes cradling one or two villages
where shep-herds wandered, minding their
flocks of sheep and goats.
`We soon have a deterioration in the road,'
Damos was saying, and almost immediately
they came to a part where a mountain torrent
swept right across the track in front of them.
The next part was hair-raising, with the
mountain on one side of a narrow track and a
precipice on the other - a sheer drop that
made Mary feel quite dizzy as she glanced
down, through the window of the car.
'Ooh. ..' she murmured, and Damos turned
his head to give her a fleeting look.
`Scared?'
She shook her head.
`No, not at all.' But her eyes were drawn to
the side again.
He laughed, and said after a pause,
`We're almost there. We drive down the
mountainside and come right into the
square.'
The village itself was built into the steep
mountainside and as they came nearer to it
Damos told her how the local folklore was
stronger here than in any other town he
knew.
`You'll notice that many of the inhabitants
wear the local costumes; they also speak two
languages, Greek and Vlach, a sort of Latin
used a great deal in the Pindus country.'
Damos drove into the plateia and found a
parking place. Then, taking Mary's arm, he
guided her towards one of the outdoor
restaurants where, to Mary's delight, a
charcoal brazier was burning brightly and
over it was
being cooked a side of lamb. Here indeed was
local colour
`You're getting the whole atmosphere of the
place here,' said Damos as they took a seat
at one of the tables. `Look over there-' He
nodded to indicate the direction and Mary
turned her head, to see three women in
native costume coming along the road. They
wore full flowing skirts and gay aprons, while
on their heads they had several gaily-
coloured kerchiefs arranged in what appeared
to be the most complicated way imaginable.
A short while later, when Mary and Damos
were strolling towards the edge of the town,
they saw one of the women again, this time
taking two goats up to the hill pastures.
`It's like being in another world.' Mary spoke
seriously, adding that it was wonderful to get
away from the hustle and bustle of modern
living. At her words Damos turned rather
sharply and said with a frown,
But you don't remember the hustle and
bustle of modern living. We're very leisurely
at Vannina.'
A slip. She felt her heart jerk uncomfortably.
`I was thinking of London,' she said, avoiding
his piercing eyes. `I didn't care much for it
when we were shop-ping there.!
'Of course,' he said, `I forgot you'd been
shopping in London.' A small pause and then,
an odd inflection in his voice, `Supposing you
found, one day, that you had to live in a city -
how would you feel?'
Dangerous ground. Yet at the same time
there was surely some underlying reason for
his inquiry.
`I prefer the quietness,' she said, and she had
to bite hard on her lip to hold back the
moisture fighting to escape from the backs of
her eyes. In a few days' time she would have
left the peace and tranquillity of the
mountains of Greece and returned to her own
country.
Damos said nothing, but from then on he
seemed almost morose. He was far from her,
thoughtful and
brooding. Was this day not to come up to her
expectations, then? However, later, when
they were having an early dinner at one of
the restaurants, he seemed to drop the
dejection that had fallen on him and his mood
was a revelation to her, being actually gay,
with laughter erasing the natural austerity of
his features, and the twinkle in his eyes
dissolving their hardness.
It was a magic, mystical setting, with the
local men taking their evening stroll, dressed
in black kilts of home-spun material, and with
curled-up toes to their shoes which were
embellished with pom-poms. Round the
men's waists were wide sashes and on their
heads they wore round tasselled caps. There
were no women on this evening stroll and
Mary wondered if they were too tired after
their day's work, for this was the East, where
women toiled and their menfolk took life
easy, sitting around in cafes all day playing
cards or chatting, while they drank ouzo or
some other local brew, bought with the
money their wives and daughters earned.
On the homeward journey both Damos and
Mary were quiet. She was thinking all the
while of the time - so very near now - when
she would tell Damos that her memory had
returned, and that she now knew he was not
her husband. She decided also to confess
that she had been to the house at Preveza,
and learned of his wife's existence. What
would be the ultimate outcome of all this
remained to be seen. If Damos ever did
obtain a divorce, and if at that time he was
anxious to marry her, Mary, then he would
come for her, to England, and bring her back,
this time as his lawful wife.
`But it will be a long time hence,' she
whispered brokenly. `He'll - he'll forget me
when I've gone,' she added inconsistently, for
her thoughts were scattered, flitting
chaotically from Greece to England, from her
family back to Damos, from drudgery to a life
of comfort and ease. And, unable to control
her unhappiness, she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]