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A doorman, resplendent in a uniform that would have vied with an Admiral's for splendour, opened the car doors as soon as they arrived.
    `Morning, Mr Cridell,' he said cheerily, as he motioned a waiting porter to take their luggage, adding, 'Miss Cridell,' with a nod of familiarity, and favouring Melanie with a glance, as if to place her for future reference.
    There was no signing-in to be done here, Melanie found with a slight spurt of surprise as they were ushered in to a lift by yet another employee of the hotel with what almost amounted to a kind of deference by a young man who could well have been the deputy manager. He accompanied them to the penthouse suite, and then left them, saying, 'I think you'll find everything to your satisfaction, sir,' to Julian. From her husband's abrupt nod and dismissal of the man,
     
    Melanie could see that this treatment was not unusual—was, indeed, expected by Julian Cridell. -
    The suite was large and roomy, with three bedrooms, and Melanie found herself allotted the one next to Celia's with a communicating door. Julian's room was further down the passage, with a room used as a study in between, and this pleased Melanie, who was grateful for the distance and privacy this arrangement would provide.
    The girls left the communicating door open while they unpacked—at least, Melanie started to unpack, while Celia flung herself on her bed, declaring tht she was too tired to bother with that right now, and suggested that they went down to the beach to cool off. But having half unpacked, Melanie said she would finish that first, and join Celia later. 'Go out of the side door, next to the dining-room,' Celiatold her, 'and follow the path round to the left. The beach is hotel property, and you can't miss it,' she added as she gathered up her beach bag and towel and left Melanie to it.
    Melanie continued with her unpacking, and as she hung each garment up in the spacious wardrobe, her mind went back to that hectic shopping expedition she had undertaken two days before.
    Armed with strict instructions from Julian to put everything on his account, she had shopped with inborn conservatism, feeling like a thief each time she signed a chit from the various departments, torn between her natural inclination to spend as little as possible on each garment, and her wish not to embarrass Julian Cridell by wearing off the peg clothes. Not that that was possible from the establishment she had been sent to, for it was where Celia went. Most of the well-endowed daughters of their social class shopped there, but Melanie had been scanda-
     
    lised by the prices, even though she had no choice but to accept them.
    It was perhaps as well that Celia had accompanied her, and Melanie suspected that this had been arranged by the astute Julian, who had surmised that she would put price against need, as indeed she would have done if Celia had let her. But she didn't and, having a good sense of dress, insisted on this and that outfit being bought, regardless of price. Evening gowns were also purchases, as Celia said that they dressed for dinner in the Bahamas, and she insisted on Melanie taking five of the lovely dresses presented for inspection.
    By now Melanie had got to the smaller of her cases, the one where she had put things that might be needed sooner than the rest of her luggage, and she took out her sundress and swimming costume. The sundress was the only thing that she and Celia had really fallen out over, 'It's much too old for you,' Celia had said caustically when Melanie had plumped for a sedate navy-blue and white dress with a wide sailor-type collar at the back, and Celia had picked up a skimpy green and sea-blue two piece. 'That's more like it,' she had said, but this was one fight Melanie had won, although she noticed that Celia had flung in the other one when they were wrapping up their purchases, with a comment that she might change her mind. Melanie had given her a schoolmarmish look that caused the