‘We went for a drive.’
‘Where to?’ she asked, attempting to mask a terrible and unexpected feeling of jealousy.
He paused. A small smile. ‘Now who is interrogating who?’
They stood and stared at each other, neither speaking, neither moving. Was he annoyed? Angry? She couldn’t tell, he seemed so calm. It was he who looked away first and the thread between them broke. Stefan walked towards her dressing table. The black and white picture of her family, the four of them, she and Dido so much younger standing behind the bench in the garden, their parents sat in front of them. He picked it up and looked at it with a rueful smile.
‘This is how I remember you,’ he said. ‘Looking like this. It shocked me to see you …’
‘To see me?’ she prompted after a long silence, desperate to know what he had been going to say.
But he changed tack. ‘Persey, what are you doing?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You know what I mean. Stop it. Whatever it is you are doing. Stop. You have been through something awful. I understand how you must feel.’
‘The German presence is only temporary,’ she said, folding her arms. ‘You’ll all be kicked off the island sooner or later.’
He put the picture of her parents back down. ‘Do not let anyone else hear you say that. And you know that’s not what I mean. You have lost your mother.’
It was her turn to tell him to stop.
‘It cannot be easy to lose a mother,’ he continued. ‘Both your parents.’
‘Don’t,’ she warned.
‘I’m not your enemy.’
Tears formed in her eyes and she wiped them with the back of her hand.
He stepped towards her and pulled a handkerchief from his trouser pocket. He looked away as she wiped her eyes of fresh tears.
He turned and moved towards the window, pulling back the curtain and looking out as she had done. ‘Your blackout blind should be in place.’ But he made no move to lift it from its position on the floor and push it against the window.
Persey dried her tears and turned towards him, holding out his handkerchief. He glanced at her and shook his head before looking out of the window again.
‘What is Jack to you?’ he asked quietly.
‘Jack?’ She didn’t understand the question.
‘I thought he was just the housekeeper’s son,’ he stated.
‘He is.’
‘The two of you are not …?’
‘No, of course not! He’s an annoying older brother, in a way. And is it any concern of yours?’ Persey asked.
Stefan smiled, his eyes narrowed but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. Eventually he turned, leant his back against the window and folded his arms.
She looked away under his scrutiny. ‘Did you have a nice time with Dido?’ She hadn’t meant to phrase it so accusingly. However, she was sure that was how it had sounded.
‘Yes. I did. Thank you. She has a very beautiful voice.’
‘She has, yes.’
‘I’m surprised, with a voice like hers, she hasn’t left Guernsey, sought fame and fortune in London or America.’
