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few hours ago while I was holding your head in the bathroom,' he
    said. 'Besides, I may have damaged the zip when I removed thedress. I was in a hurry
    and they arefragile things.'
    Helen pressed her hands against burning cheeks. 'You—it was you? Oh, how could you?
    How dared you?'
    'There was no question of daring,' he said coolly. 'I thought English girls gloried in their
    liberation from outdated conventions. Besides, you were and are perfectly adequately
    clothed. I daresay you wilwear far less when you go swimming on Phoros.'
    'Wel , at least you won't be there to see,' Helen flashed. 'I doubt whether Mr. Korialis
    wil regard your activities in quite the same liberated way.'
    'So you intend to make use of your Greek parentage when it suits you. I find that
    interesting.' He walked over to her before she could retreat again and spun her round,
    his hands on her shoulders. Helen felt the recalcitrant zip move upwards, and for one
    infinitely disturbing minute the brush of his fingers strangely cool on the heated skin of
    her spine. She tensed involuntarily at his touch, 'and heard him laugh softly.
    'I'm glad I amuse you,' she said tersely, as she pul ed away from him. 'I think you'l
    laugh on the other side of your face when you find yourself out of a job.'
    'You intend that your grandfather should dismiss me?' heenquired lazily,
    'How right you ate!' She faced him defiantly, her chin up, eyes sparkling.
    He shrugged. 'You can always try, Eleni-'
    'And please don't cal me that- It—it's familiar.'
    'Which is of course unthinkable,' he said solemnly. But he was amused, and she knew
    he was, arid it infuriated her.
    'How the hel did you get into my room anyway? Surely the staff wouldn't have
    al owed ...'
    'Oh, I can be very persuasive when I want. But in this case I didn't have to be. When I
    left after attending to your—needs, I simply took your key with me.' He touched his
    jacket pocket. 'I have it here.'
    She held out her hand, 'Give it to me, please.'.
    'Why? You won't need it again. We are leaving soon. As it is, I have had to telephone
    your grandfather and telhim we have been delayed.' He paused. 'He wasn't pleased,
    and it is bad for him to suffer any agitation.'
    'And I suppose you made haste to tel him it was al my fault,' she said with heavy
    irony.
    'I told him merely that you have been tired by your journey from England, and that the
    heat had affected you. I did not tel him you had been mad enough co try and explore
    the Acropolis in the ful blaze of noon without al owing yourself to become in any way
    acclimatized. Michael Korialis is not one of those who— to use your English phrase—
    suffer fools gladly, and I didn't wish you to make a bad impression immediately.'
    She gave him an outraged look. 'The implication being that I'l make one eventual y.'
    'I think it is inevitable. You are wil ful, disobedient, and have a sharp tongue, and none
    of these are attributes to appeal to a man who adheres to the old ways like your
    grandfather. You have a lot to learn about Greece and its men, Eleni.'
    'I'd prefer to have no more lessons from you,' she said baldly.
    He smiled. 'As you plan to have me dismissed as soon as we get to Phoros, there wil be
    little opportunity for such lessons,' he said smoothly, but his dark eyes held an odd
    glint, and Helen bit her lip in sudden uncertainty. Perhaps she shouldn't have clashed
    with him quite so openly, Her grandfather had obviously given him a great deal of
    power, and it had gone to his head. But it might have been better to have waited to
    declare her enmity until they were safely on Phoros. But she'd not been able to help
    herself. The thought of him looking at her , touching her when she was sick and helpless
    made her feel il al over again.
    She should have retaliated after he had kissed her in London, she thought vengeful y,
    as she repacked her smal case. She should have hit him or laid his face open with her
    nails, then he would not have dared take these