Wealth of the Islands Read Online Free Page A

joined together to form a platform, alongside which the boats of the local inhabitants could be tied up in safety. It was a rickety structure, but it served its purpose and so no one had ever thought of changing it for something more elaborate.
    The Sweet Promise slipped into the still waters of the little harbour and berthed easily alongside the jett y .
    “Now all we have to do is get you ashore! Gregory de Vaux said teasingly.
    Helen smiled. “I didn’t know I was going boating, ” she said.
    “ No? ” He lifted his eyebrows faintly and grinned at her. “ If it weren ’ t for the wedding-ring on your finger, I ’ d think you were too young for such adventures. ”
    “ It doesn ’ t mean that I ’ m inefficient—at diving, I mean, ” she said defensively.
    He looked amused. “ Of course not, ” he agreed. “ We ’ ll be able to find out about that tomorrow. Meanwhile, I ’ ll take you to the hotel and book you in there. ”
    She thanked him prettily, uneasily aware that he was adept at making her feel feminine and useless in a way that Michael had never been able to. She wished he wouldn ’ t stand there, looking as if he didn ’ t care a damn about anything, with the last of the light bronzing his skin until he looked like a statue of some pagan god demanding someone ’ s worship. Well, it wouldn ’ t be hers, she told herself with a no-nonsense little nod of the head. She was far too worldly wise to be taken in by a handsome face and a light-hearted manner.
    Even so, she was not prepared to allow him to hand her ashore. “ I can manage perfectly well by myself! ” she assured him sternly.
    “ All right, ” he drawled. He leaned back against the masthead and watched her struggle with her luggage. When she dropped one of the suitcases on the deck, he signalled with a lazy finger for one of the Polynesian crew to take it from her and carry it ashore, but he made no move himself. He only watched her until she was nervous and convinced that she would do something daft, just because he had succeeded in unsettling her.
    “ Are you sure you can manage the jump? ” he drawled as she hesitated before taking off to land on the flimsy jetty, some feet below.
    “ Of course I ’ m sure! ” she answered exasperatedly.
    “ Pride goes before a fall, ” he commented, as though he were speaking to himself.
    That made her jump! She too k off with her eyes tight shut and landed with a jerk that knocked all the breath out of her. The timbers of the jetty creaked ominously, but to her infinite relief they held beneath her, and she gazed triumphantly upwards at the mocking face of Gregory de Vaux.
    “ See! ” she said.
    He laughed and the Polynesian crew laughed with him, their dark faces breaking into wide grins and their heavy flesh jumping up and down in time to the great guffaws of laughter that came out of their mouths. Helen was at first startled and then she began to laugh herself.
    “ What ’ s so funny? ” she demanded.
    “Y ou are! ” Gregory told her. He jumped down beside her as agile as a cat and grabbed her suitcases in either hand. “ Come on, ” he said. “ Let ’ s get you checked in and settled. ”
    He was as good as his word. He led the way through the shanty town and fish market that had grown up round the harbour, to the wider streets beyond, lined b y utilitarian houses, mostly built on a single-storey plan, past the Government buildings, and finally to the hotel itself. It must have been by far the biggest building on the islands. It towered some twenty storeys in the air, a vast construction of steel and glass in symmetric patterns of windows and balconies.
    “ Is this the hotel? ” Helen asked with awe.
    “ That ’ s right, ” Gregory de Vaux assured her cheerfully. He looked the building up and down with an amused smile. “ Ain ’ t it somethin ’ ? ” he said.
    It appeared that he was not at all in awe of the place. He opened the heavy glass doors for her to go into