‘Justin!’ called William. ‘Look!’
He was pointing towards the wooded area below them in the gardens. He stepped back in shock as Justin sprang on to the balcony rail and proceeded to climb down the front of the house, clinging to the ivy. ‘Laura! Laura!’ he shouted, as he ran towards the woods.
William shaded his eyes to watch Justin tear across the gardens. In a long white dress and a wide-brimmed picture hat, Laura waited among the trees. Justin caught her in his arms and swung her round, her feet off the ground, her arms around his neck.
William made his way down the stairs and out through the big french windows, then strolled through the paved Japanese gardens, past the fountains, ferns and palm trees. ‘Justin?’ he called, but there was silence. He headed into the forest of tall pines. ‘Hello, where are you?’ he called.
‘Hello.’ It was a woman’s voice.
William turned to face her. She was standing in deep shadows between two massive fir trees, her hands resting on their bark. She was barefoot, and her dress was transparent so the light shone through.
‘Laura?’ said William shyly.
‘You must be William.’ Her voice was light with a hoarse quality.
‘I saw you from the balcony,’ he said, rather lamely.
As he moved closer, William noticed that she had threaded daisies between her toes. He felt like a schoolboy. ‘Justin has told me a lot about you,’ he said hesitantly, wishing he could think of something more interesting to say.
‘Did he?’ she said. He still could not see her face clearly: her long hair fell like a curtain, obscuring her profile.
‘It’s cold out of the sun,’ he said, looking upwards.
‘It’s nice and cool. Don’t you find it refreshing?’ She lifted one hand and brushed her hair off her face.
William was mesmerized by her incredible blue eyes. They were deep like her brother’s, but so pale and weirdly expressionless, that it seemed as if her thoughts were trapped miles away.
He felt awkward, and his body was covered in goose pimples. ‘I find it chilly,’ he said.
She cocked her head to one side. ‘Chilly? C’est quoi, chilly?’ Her accent was quite strong, unlike Justin’s.
Suddenly she moved towards him and slipped her arm through his. William’s heart lurched. Her perfume smelt familiar, of lilies. He realized she was very tall.
‘I’m hungry,’ she said, and her voice had no trace of an accent at all.
‘How odd,’ William said. ‘One moment you sound French and the next you speak perfect English.’
She laughed. ‘I was brought up in England, so if I wish I am English. But I can also be French.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘I think, for you, I should always be English.’
‘Yes... but you are a very good actress,’ he mused, then asked, ‘Have you ever been on the stage?’
‘Oh, no, I would hate to be constantly portraying other people. I’d lose myself. I have a hard time holding on to who I am anyway. Does that happen to you?’
‘I’ve never thought about it, but I suppose so. When I am in a good mood, I feel like I have more energy to deal with people, but when I’m in a bad mood, I feel inadequate and then I wish I could be my other self. Does that make sense?’
‘Of course, because sometimes it is hard to be confident. Do you envy people who are always confident?’
‘You mean like Justin?’
She looked up into his eyes. ‘Justin is not always confident. He may appear to be so, but I know sometimes he goes to a place of deep despair.’
William was interested, he had never considered that Justin might be prone to depression. ‘Sometimes he feels very lonely, so he hides. We are very alike.’
‘You feel lonely?’
She hesitated a moment, then shook her head. Her voice was soft and hardly audible. ‘I am alone if I am not with Justin.’
Her eyes brimmed with tears and he wanted to hold her, protect her, wrap his arms around her frail beauty. Instead he coughed and changed the subject. ‘Er, I’m hungry too. Shall we make our way back to the villa?’
As they broke from the darkness into the splendour of the gardens, he said, ‘It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Everything so alive, growing...’
‘Mmm,’ she said lightly, then, almost as an afterthought, added, ‘Everything but me.’
It was a disquieting remark, which played on William’s mind.
They walked in silence for a while. Then, wanting to make conversation, he said, ‘I’ve grown very fond of your brother.’
She smiled, ‘I adore him, I could not live without him.’
‘He speaks well of you.’
‘He loves me too much — but then I love him too much. Sometimes it leaves no room for anyone else. It has always been that way.’
‘Do you work?’ William changed the subject.
She frowned. ‘Has he not told you about me?’
‘How do you mean?’
She gave a soft laugh. ‘He obviously hasn’t, or you wouldn’t ask. It’s just that I have a frail constitution. I get very nervous of people. It’s silly, but I get agitated very easily and then... I get sick, just a nervous condition, but Justin looks after me, and Marta too. She’s like a mother, we love her.’
Her voice was soft, musical, and there was a childlike innocence about her that took his breath away. William recalled Andrew Maynard’s description of her, and could understand why the young man had been so drawn to these two creatures. The more time William spent with them, the more he, too, fell under their spell.
‘Lunch is served,’ bellowed Justin, from the first-floor balcony, and the moment was broken.
Laura picked at the food with her fingers. Often brother and sister ate from each other’s plates, sometimes popping morsels into each other’s mouths. The conversation revolved around the island: Justin described it all to her in minute detail, and told her how hard he had worked since she last saw it. Then he showed her the magazine articles. Laura watched him intently, and at one point she reached over and used her napkin to wipe the side of his mouth. Marta served coffee, and hot water and lemon to Laura who had refused wine, leaving William and Justin to consume a bottle each. Afterwards Justin jumped up and said he would be waiting for William in fifteen minutes to go waterskiing, and Laura disappeared. Marta materialized and proceeded to stack a large tray with all the plates and glasses.
William pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘This morning, Marta, at breakfast, you were about to say something but stopped when Justin came in.’
‘You must have been mistaken.’
‘I distinctly heard you say something about—’
‘I didn’t say anything.’
As she went out with the tray, William held open the door for her. ‘Laura is very beautiful,’ he said softly, and he saw the look of sadness in Marta’s face. ‘A rare thing. A very delicate, fragile woman.’
William went to his room to change for the beach, then set off to find Justin. He was waiting in the garden. ‘What did you think of her, then?’ he whispered, his face close to William’s.
‘She’s gorgeous.’
‘Perfection. Lovely firm natural tits, big pink nipples, and her pussy is like a silk purse.’
William pulled away from him. ‘For Christ’s sake, Justin, she’s your sister!’
‘Oh, God,’ Justin sneered, ‘don’t be such a prude. She’s an experienced woman. She knows what’s going to be needed of her. Like I said, she’s going to be the bait. You telling me any man would turn her down? She may not be every man’s trip, but let me tell you, if they fuck her, they always go back for more. Laura is an adulteress with more tricks than—’
‘Stop it!’