They were ushered forward by bowing servants into the interior of the bijou palace, and Diana gazed in pleasure at the delicate fretwork archways and the inlaid marble columns as they went up to the upper floor where the royal apartments were. There might be only one bedroom, huge though it was, but the day room—or whatever it might be called in Arabic—contained plenty of silk-swathed divans, which would, she hoped uneasily, solve the sleeping situation.
Quite how she would cope she didn’t know, but somehow she would. She must.
For now, though, what she wanted was a bathroom to freshen up in, and she was relieved to discover it was western in style. Even so, as she took a cooling shower she kept her water usage to the minimum, mindful that they were in the middle of a desert. Then she donned a calf-length, floaty, fine cotton flower-printed dress, draped a chiffon scarf over her hair and bare shoulders.
She found Nikos, also showered and changed, waiting for her by an arched colonnade that looked out on the wide room-length balcony. Lunch had been set out for them, and as they took their places, soft-footed servants unobtrusively waiting on them, Diana resolved that however inappropriate being in an Arabian love-nest might be for her and Nikos, they might as well make the most of this privileged stay.
Lunch passed congenially while they chatted in what had now become quite a comfortable fashion, on subjects roaming from the journey they’d had that morning to more intellectual consideration of the geopolitics of the region and the impact on world affairs and global economics.
Nikos was, as Diana already knew, very well informed, and she found it stimulating to discuss such matters with him. It struck her that he was a far more interesting person to talk to than most of her friends and acquaintances. He had a world view that they lacked, a broadness of opinion and a highly incisive intelligence. No wonder he’d come so far in his life.
I never find his company tedious, she found herself thinking.
So often when she was talking to people socially she was conscious of simply going through the motions—saying what was proper, most of it trivial but socially acceptable, anodyne, appropriate to the occasion. She could do it in her sleep, but it was hardly a mental workout. Exchanging views and arguments with Nikos was quite the opposite, and she found that she really enjoyed trying to keep up with him.
We get on surprisingly well.
The thought was suddenly in her head, lingering a moment, and then, as the leisurely meal ended, Nikos brought the subject round to themselves again.
‘So, how do you want to spend the afternoon?’ he asked her. His tone was easy, relaxed, his glance at her the same.
‘Camel riding?’ she suggested, with a hint of humour in her voice.
He nodded. ‘We must most definitely do so while we are here—but not in the main heat of the day. However, there’s a pool if we want it—though for me...’ Nikos flexed his long legs ‘...I wouldn’t mind a good workout after our long drive and this highly delicious lunch—there’s a gym here too.’
‘Well, why don’t you?’ Diana smiled amiably, then smothered a yawn. ‘I have to say that our early-morning start and that large lunch is making taking a siesta very tempting!’
And that was what she did, dozing peacefully for a good couple of hours or more.
The palace had been built long before air-conditioning, and used the ancient Arabian technique of maximising the up-draught of air through cleverly positioned open archways and slatted wooden windows to create a cooling effect.
When she finally arose, much refreshed, it was to be served with mint tea and tiny pastries, before going to change into her swimming costume and sarong and being shown down to the pool. It was situated in the gardens that stretched beyond the palace, away from the entrance they’d arrived at, bordered by a high stone wall and fronted by palm trees for total privacy.
The heat was beginning to ebb, she fancied, and once she was wet it was much cooler as she swam lazily around, feeling her loose hair streaming sleekly behind her. A sense of well-being eased through her. This really was a magical experience, and however inapplicable it was for her and Nikos to be here in the Sheikh’s love-nest it was not an experience she would ever have again.
‘So this is where you are.’
Nikos’s voice penetrated her consciousness and she looked up from her lazy circling of the pool to see him standing at the water’s edge. He looked even taller from this low perspective, and he’d clearly done a vigorous workout indeed. His T-shirt was damp, so were his shorts, and his muscles were pumped.
A moment later she saw even more than his shoulders, biceps and quads. He peeled off the damp shirt and chucked it, then yanked off his trainers. A moment later he was in the pool beside her, under the water, then surfacing in a flurry of diamond droplets, shaking the water from his eyelashes and grinning.
‘Wow! That feels good!’ he exclaimed feelingly. He looked at Diana. ‘Apparently the temperature will start dropping once the sun has set, and for that I shall be grateful.’ He quirked an eyeb
row in his characteristic manner. ‘Do you fancy some star-gazing later on? There’s a very fancy telescope up on the roof, I’m told, but even without that the show should be spectacular.’
As he spoke, he found himself thinking about Nadya for a moment. He’d never have made such a suggestion to her. She’d have looked at him as if he were mad, and then counter-suggested going to a fashionable nightspot instead, where she could enjoy being seen and admired.
He frowned inwardly. Had he really never noticed how limited Nadya was? She was a professional to the hilt in her work, but when it came to anything else—from astronomy to geopolitics—her eyes would glaze over.
Diana’s eyes brightened and sharpened—she listened and responded, sometimes agreeing, sometimes arguing a counterpoint, putting a different perspective and engaging vigorously, holding her corner, but open to new views as well.
She was open to the prospect of studying the night sky too. She was smiling enthusiastically at his suggestion, as he’d thought she would.
‘Oh, yes please!’ she said eagerly.
‘Great,’ Nikos returned, banishing the memories of Nadya’s time in his life, utterly irrelevant to him now that he had Diana.
Diana, who was opening the door to the next stage of his life with her impeccable background, her very own stately home, the upper-class world she had been born into and which he would now enjoy as her husband, the world she took for granted, the world he himself had had no right to. Diana would give him that and more.