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She peeped into the foil dishes. 'Mm ... sweet corn and chicken soup, prawn crackers, sweet and sour king prawn, beef and noodles, egg foo young...' She grinned at Paul. 'I'm Starving!'
'I hoped you would like what I ordered. I probably got too much, but I had to guess at what you would like, so I ordered more dishes to give us a wider choice.'
'Makes a change from goats' cheese and pitta,' she teased.
'I rather like goats' cheese and pitta,' he said solemnly.
She laughed. 'So do I, actually. Or I was just getting to like it. I've discovered that when you're hungry you will eat almost anything edible.
'The same has been said about women,' Paul retorted.
Leonie went white.
He looked quickly at her, his eyes shocked. 'My dear girl, I meant nothing personal. That wasn't aimed at you. It was just a cheap joke...'
'Yes, it was,' she said bitterly. True, all the same, isn't it? Don't they say that all cats are grey in the night?'
'Cynicism doesn't become you,' he said fiercely.
'Have I shocked you? I'm sorry. Obviously I've been influenced by the last few days I've spent with you.' Her voice was tinged with sardonic mockery.
'I don't like to hear you talk like that! You're too young to understand what cynicism does to one. It's like a grey mist covering everything beautiful.' His tone hardened, the blue eyes angry. 'When you are young you admire cynics. You should pity them. They have lost their natural love of life.'
'You should know,' she said quietly. Paul's lips tightened. 'Yes.' He gestured to the dining table. 'Shall we eat? This food is getting cold.'
Leonie regretted having spoilt their mood. It happened every time. They would reach a point of contact only to have the moment shattered by a remark one or other of them made. Their relationship was as brittle as glass. One false move and it cracked wide open.
CHAPTER SIX
NEXT morning Leonie woke up with a strange sense of confusion, and lay for a moment trying to reorientate herself. She realised at last that she had grown unaccustomed to the sound of traffic outside her window in the mornings. It had been so quiet on Comus. Only the slow swell of the waves and the weird cries of seagulls ever disturbed the peace there. Paris traffic, too, was much noisier than the English variety. In London it was illegal to blare one's car- horn quite so frequently, and car drivers only hooted when it was strictly necessary, either in warning or in real anger. But here in Paris the constant hooting of horns and the squeal of brakes made the early morning unbearable.
Leonie slid out of bed and padded barefoot to the window. The pale yellow velvet curtains slid apart at a touch and daylight dazzled her eyes. When she grew used to the light she Stared out at the street, admiring the elegant architecture of the nineteenth- century houses.
After a few moments she moved across the room and put on her dressing-gown, then went out to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. The room was expensively equipped and packed with labour-saving gadgets, and it would, she thought, be a pleasure to work in it. While the kettle was boiling she hunted through the cupboards and discovered the various ingredients for breakfast.
Ten minutes later she took a cup of tea in to Paul. He was asleep, his sheets flung back in disorder.
She put the cup down and turned to wake him, only to find him stirring. He smiled at her, his eyes half-closed. 'Tea? Thank you. You're up early. Couldn't sleep?'
'I slept very well. What do you want for breakfast?'
He made a face. 'I'm not very hungry. Some fruit, I think. I'll get up in a moment.'
'I can find everything I need, don't worry,' she said, leaving the room.
She found some breakfast cereal and sat down to eat it at the kitchen table. Suddenly she heard a footstep in the hall, and went out to find a strange man standing there. Dark-suited, dark-haired and elegant, he looked casually at home and seemed amused to see her.
His brows rose. 'Good morning! So Paul is home, is he?'
'Yes,' she said uncertainly. Who on earth was he? And how had he got into the flat?
His cool grey eyes skimmed her appreciatively. 'May I say how much I admire Paul's taste, as always?'
She felt her cheeks flush. He thought ... that she was one of Paul's lady-friends! 'Thank you,' she
said stiffly.
The other man looked even more amused by her reaction. 'Where is Paul? Not still in bed?'
