‘Come on!’ she continued with an element of amusement in her voice. ‘Climb in and I’ll drive us home in style. I’m not pushing the car into the sea when we can make use of it.’
When we reached Arlosoroff Road the telephone was ringing. I took my time to open the door but it was clear the caller intended to wait indefinitely for an answer. I picked up the receiver and grunted into the mouthpiece. The voice was imperative.
‘Jason! You mustn’t let Miss Smith know who’s calling,’ she began. ‘Just keep listening and say nothing. This is Davina… Menel’s daughter. We must meet as soon as possible. I’ll be at the New York, New York restaurant in Tel Aviv in twenty minutes. I have information about your wife. You must come alone and not tell anyone about this conversation. Just say okay if it’s all right.’
‘Okay,’ I answered quickly.
‘Good!’ she returned. ‘Twenty minutes. And say nothing to Miss Smith!’
The line went dead and I replaced the receiver into its cradle.
‘Who was that?’ asked Penny inquisitively.
‘Look,’ I told her without answering her question. ‘I have to go out for a while. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.’
‘But you need some attention to your knee,’ she said.
I shook my head. ‘It’ll have to wait. I’ll see you soon.’
A look of surprise appeared on her face as I walked out but I couldn’t afford to take any chances. I hailed a taxi which took me to the New York, New York restaurant and sat at a table waiting for Davina to show up. In my mind, I could not stop thinking about her long black hair, her dark penetrating eyes and her high cheekbones but after a while I began to start looking into the distance in anticipation for she was nowhere to be seen. Foolishly, I began to make excuses for her however there was little comfort in such deception. Twenty minutes went by, then forty, then fifty until an hour had passed. I became tired to look any more at my wristwatch. I wanted the information about Jan desperately but it seemed unlikely I would get it. Then after three cups of coffee, I decided to leave. I settled the bill and started to walk away. I had hardly taken a dozen steps when she appeared and took hold of my arm.
‘Davina!’ I said softly. ‘Where have you been?’
‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t possible to get here earlier,’ she explained briefly. ‘I couldn’t contact you. There are too many eyes… too many ears. Let us walk and talk!’
There was clearly an affinity between us. I felt strongly attracted towards her and, from the look in her eyes, she felt the same way about me. I took her hand and we strolled for a short distance without speaking. Then I stopped and faced her squarely, rubbing my hand gently across her cheek with affection. She leaned her face into it indicating her feelings. ‘You’re so beautiful… ‘I began passionately.
She placed the tips of her fingers to my lips to silence me. ‘Don’t say anything… please! This is merely a fleeting moment of our time… a single second spent in eternity. Let us carry it in our personal thoughts for the rest of our days as a cherished moment of our lives.’
I stared at her with a puzzled expression on my face unable to follow her train of thought. ‘What are you trying to say?’ I asked.
There was no immediate reply and we turned to walk on a little further. ‘In my world,’ she began, ‘our customs are ancient, our beliefs profound, and faith is total. In your world, love is important, pleasure ranks high, while freedom is paramount. What I am telling you is that you can fall in love with me but I am not allowed to do the same with you. You see, my father betrothed me at birth to the son of one of his friends and that’s a promise which cannot be broken. I am bound to honour my father’s wishes.’
‘Do you love the man? The one to whom you’re betrothed.’
‘It makes no difference whether I love him or not. Those are the facts.’
‘The facts!’ I blurted out sharply. ‘What are the facts? That one night over a few drinks many years ago your father and his friend made a foolish drunken promise designed to end in misery for their children. Is that what you’re saying?’
‘Believe me, nothing can change the situation.’
‘And what if I invited you back to England?’
She laughed for a moment and then sadness filled her eyes. ‘I must fulfil my father’s promise. It’s a bond that cannot be broken. The stars will record for eternity that Davina fulfilled her father’s promise to marry Musaph. The stars live on for ever; emotions of love or hate exist only for a brief span of years. But let us talk about your wife. My father has news of Jan… if that’s her name. She’s being held in the East End of London at St. Katherine’s Dock near Tower Hill. I hope I pronounced it correctly.’ She handed me a sheet of paper. ‘Here are the details!’ I took it and she clutched my hand firmly. ‘You’re a handsome man, Jason Scott. Perhaps in another time, in another world, in another life!’ She kissed my hand tenderly and darted away becoming lost in the crowd.
I stood for a long time in the same spot thinking about her. I had the feeling that we would never meet again. The responsibility of her father’s promise was greater than the love any many could offer her. If she failed to honour that promise, she would be filled with guilt for the rest of her life not only for reneging on her father but also of the religion. It was an invisible barrier to happiness that could not be overcome. Mankind had built many of them to mock civilisation itself. And at the end of it all, I had no right to think about her. I was not only married but I had a mistress as well. So I walked all the way back to Arlosoroff Road trying to expunge the image of Davina from my mind once and for all.
Penny met me with an inquisitive expression in her eyes when I returned. I could hardly blame her. ‘We have to get back to England,’ I informed her bluntly. ‘I have the address where they’ve taken Jan.’
‘Who gave you this information.’ she demanded suspiciously.
I passed the sheet of paper to her. ‘Menel’s daughter. She was the one who telephoned. She insisted I met her alone and told no one about it. I respected her wishes.’
‘She could have told you this over the telephone!’
‘You’ll have to ask her the answer to that one,’ I retorted.
‘I’d like to,’ she snapped in annoyance, ‘seeing you were gone for the best part of nearly three hours.’ She waved the sheet of paper in her hand. ‘Was this the whole message?’
‘Yes… it was.’
‘And it took nearly three hours to deliver it. What’s going on?’ She moved towards me jealously until her face was only a few inches away from mine. ‘What do you take me for, Jason?’
I put my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me. ‘What do I take you for? I take you for everything. My love, my heart, my life.’ Then I kissed her firmly on the lips.
Her body went limp for a few moments and then she broke away. ‘Jason Scott… you’re the biggest rogue I’ve ever known!’
‘That makes two of us, Miss Smith,’ I countered. ‘I thought of you as an innocent secretary only a few days ago, but you’ve told me nothing of the truth. And you’ve killed people in cold blood.’
My attitude mollified at the sight of her dismay and I moved towards her to hold her in my arms again. ‘There’s one thing I haven’t thank you for though. That’s for saving my life when Duran was about to kill me. For that I’m very grateful.’
She kissed me on the forehead tenderly. ‘One day, you may have to return the favour. I hope you won’t forget.’