âYou are determined not to mellow an inch, are you not?â
Andreas continued. âI am cast into the role of wicked philanderer, making it easier for you to ignore the truth,â he stated flatly.
âThe truth?â Sophy asked warily, wondering what was coming.
âThe truth your body recognized from the first moment we met, that we are compatible sexually in a way that happens with few couples.â He looked at her, daring her to deny it.
âWeâre not a couple,â she pointed out swiftly, hot color burning her cheeks, âand you canât possibly say that considering weâve never evenâslept together.â
âI am more than willing to put my theory to the test,â Andreas offered helpfully.
âYOUâRE not seriously telling me youâre actually considering going to Greece, Jill? You canât, you just canât.â Sophy tried very hard not to glare as she looked at the small, slim girl sitting opposite her but it was hard. âYou donât owe Theodoreâs family a thing and you know it. Michael is seven years old now and they have never so much as acknowledged his existence.â
âWell, they didnât know about it for the first couple of years,â Jill said reasonably.
âAnd when they found out? Youâd have expected some sort of contactâa letter, a phone call, something.â
âAccording to Christos, the family did try to write but they never received an answer to any of their letters.â
âAnd you believe that?â Sophyâs voice was scornful, her violet-blue eyes expressing her opinion of Jillâs in-laws as forcefully as her voice.
âIt is possible, Sophy.â Jill gazed miserably at her twin, her own violet-blue eyes dark and tragic and her face very white. âTheodore was a very proud man, excessively soâyou know that. He said he would never forgive them and he meant it. Heâ¦he could be implacable when he made up his mind about anything.â
âBut he would have talked to you about it,â Sophy pressed urgently. âAt least to tell you heâd received some correspondence?â
âNo.â Jill turned away, busying herself folding some washing she had just brought indoors. âNot necessarily, not if heâd already made up his mind. When we got married he told me I was his family from that point on and that he had no other, and he meant it. I wasnât allowed to even discuss them, if you want to know the truth.â
Sophy stared at her sisterâs bent head and not for the first time wondered how happy Jillâs marriage had really been. But that was irrelevant now anyway. Six weeks ago Theodore had been killed in a freak accident when the car he had been driving had been crushed by a falling tree at the height of a bad storm.
With that in mind, Sophy now said gently, âBut the funeral, Jill? They never even came to Theodoreâs funeral.â
âChristos told them it had been Theodoreâs wishes.â And at Sophyâs loud snort of disbelief, Jill raised her blonde head and looked straight at her sister. âIt was true, Sophy. There were letters which Theodore had placed in Christosâs safe-keeping some years ago. I didnât even know anything about them until Theodore died and then Christos felt he ought to tell me before he sent them to Greece. I think he suspected what they contained.â
âLetters?â Sophy took a quick gulp of coffee as she watched Jill continue to fold the washing in the big wicker laundry basket on the kitchen table. âLetters to whom, exactly?â
âTo his family. Inâ¦in the event of his illness or death. Of course he didnât expect it would happen so soon or suddenlyââ Jill stopped abruptly, taking a deep breath before she continued, âAnyway, Christos and I made the decision to open the letters and read them before we sent them, the day after the accident, and thenâ¦then we destroyed them. But Christos felt he had to phone the family and just say Theodore had left instructions he didnât want them there.â
Jill now stopped speaking, laying her head on the edge of the laundry basket in front of her and bursting into tears. Sophy jumped to her feet, rushing to her twinâs side and putting her arm round Jillâs shaking shoulders as she said urgently, âOh, love, what is it? Come on, everything will be all right.â
âThey were awful, Sophy.â As Jill raised streaming eyes, she was choking on the sobs she was trying to stifle. âReally awful. So bitter and hard and cold. Iâ¦I couldnât send them. Not to his mother and everyone. Think how theyâd feel after what has happened to Theodore. Soââ she reached into the laundry basket and extracted a newly dried handkerchief from the pile of sweet-smelling washing ââso I burnt them. I burnt them all. Do you think that was wrong of me?â