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warning,’ he told her softly, ‘in case you should ever be that foolish again.’
    ‘I hate you,’ she whispered, every vestige of colour having left her face. ‘I’ll kill you if ever I get the opportunity!
    He moved away, flicking a hand negligently.
    ‘Try one of the dresses on for size,’ he ordered, and sat down on the stool by the dressing-table.
    ‘If I must,’ she said huskily, ‘then lease let me do it in private.’
    ‘Why the fuss? We shall be married in a few days’ time.’
    ‘No!’ She shook her head in violent protest. ‘You can’t make me! No priest is going to take the risk!’
      ‘We shall be married in a few days’ time,’ he repeated flicking a hand again. ‘The blue one—let me see it on you.’
    She stood unmoving, bitter hatred in her eyes.
    ‘What satisfaction can it do you to order me about like this? You’ve taken me from my fiancé, ruined my life—’ Breaking off on a little sob, she burst into tears. ‘I wish I were dead!’ she cried. ‘Let me go—you can’t want a woman whose hatred is such that she’d like to see you lying dead at her feet!’
    ‘I’ve said you’ll not always feel like this.’ He stretched a long leg in front of him, making himself as comfortable as was possible, sitting on the stool as he was. ‘Stop dwelling on the past and look to the future.’
    She turned her back on him, lifting her dress as she walked.
    ‘There is no future for me,’ she whispered hopelessly. ‘I can’t see any light in my life if you keep me prisoner.’
    He got to his feet.
    ‘I’ll be back in five minutes,’ he said. ‘I shall expect to see you in the blue dress.’
    She watched him depart, closing the door and locking it after him. Voices were heard a moment later and she supposed he was giving orders to the crew, as the boat began to move and, looking through the porthole, she saw the lights of the hotels retreating. The beat was pulling away from the harbour, so all formalities must have been gone through. Her heart seemed to stop beating for a few bleak and hopeless seconds. How could she escape? One day, perhaps, but before then much could happen. She began to cry again, then stopped, her mouth tightening. Tears would not get her very far, but resolve might—resolve to fight him in anyway that presented itself. He might in the end rue the day he had abducted her!
    She took off her wedding dress and laid it down across the end of the bed. How different her feelings when, a few hours ago, she had stepped into it and Sue had zipped her up! Life had been good—roses and red wine all the way! It seemed impossible that she was here, on the foreigner’s boat, his prisoner, while her fiancé was frantic, wondering what could have happened to her. He would be pestering the police, would be blaming Jake, perhaps, for not taking more care of her. All the guests…. It did not bear thinking about and
Tara tried to fix her mind on thoughts of escape, which would be far more profitable.
    She was wearing the dress when
Leon returned. His eyes wandered, taking in every curve and line of her figure. He nodded his approval.
    ‘Very attractive. The colour suits you; it matches your eyes. Put the wedding dress away,’ he commanded abruptly as he saw it lying there across the bed. ‘You can throw it overboard,’ he added as the idea came to him.
    ‘Throw it overboard?’
Tara shook her head, her eyes filling up. ‘I shall do no such thing!’
    ‘Then I will.’ He strode purposefully across the cabin and, picking up the lovely flowing gown, he bundled it into one of the cardboard boxes and put on the lid. With it under his arm he went to the door. ‘I expect you’re hungry,’ he observed. ‘We’ll have dinner in the saloon, but in case you have any ideas of making a fuss I’ll tell you that my crew—who are all Greeks—have instructions to ignore any pleas you might make to them. And if you think there is any way of escape, then I must disillusion you