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something else - or my name's not Sandra!'
The moment the party returned, Melanie sought out Olga in her
office.
'Come in,' called Olga in response to her knock, and Melanie quietly
opened the door and stood just inside the room. 'You !' Olga half
rose from her chair and then sat down again. 'Wh-why haven't you
g-gone? I take it you were instantly dismissed?'
So Sandra had been right in her assumption that Olga had gone with
the guests purposely to avoid confrontation with Melanie.
'I'd like a few words with you.' Slowly Melanie advanced into the
room, having pushed the door to behind her. 'What exactly have you
against me?' Melanie's quivering tones reflected the anger that
consumed her. 'What do you expect to gain by making me appear a
thief?'
Undoubtedly Olga was disconcerted at this unexpected visit, and her
face had gone a trifle grey. But she endeavoured to bluster her way
out of the situation by feigning surprise and saying she had no idea
what Melanie meant.
'As we're quite alone your pretence is ridiculous, to say the least,'
pointed out Melanie in terse and scornful tones. 'When I was in Lean's
office I accused you of lying, and now I'm repeating that accusation.
What was your object in telling him you'd found Mrs. Skonson's
earrings in my room?'
'Lean. ..Olga's dark eyes glinted with something akin to venom. 'Why
aren't you sacked? Why didn't he dismiss you instantly? He would
have done so had it been anyone else?'
'You're quite put out by finding me here, aren't you?' Melanie's
thoughts were conflicting, for although dismissal would undoubtedly
have been welcome, she derived extreme satisfaction from the idea of
Olga's having failed in her efforts to bring that dismissal about. 'You
haven't answered my question. Why have you gone to these lengths to
blacken my character in Lean's eyes?'
The older girl's nostrils quivered at Melanie's use of her employer's
Christian name for the second time in a matter of minutes. 'What is
there between you and Lean?' she demanded, unaware that the
question partly revealed her own desires. 'You knew one another
before you came here; that's been obvious to me right from the start.
You met in England?'
'We were acquainted.' Despite her outward composure Melanie had a
trembling sensation in the region of her heart. She had not expected
Olga to ask such pertinent questions. As Lean had not disclosed
anything of his past relationship with Melanie, she dreaded his
reaction should she herself reveal too much. Melanie veered the
subject by asking once again why Olga had deliberately schemed to
have her branded a thief.
The other girl's eyes flashed as if she would make another attempt to
bluster, but suddenly she slumped in her chair and, watching her
closely, Melanie was reminded of Sandra's assertion that Olga
possessed some peculiar traits. For the movement, which savoured of
resignation, was as unexpected as the words which followed it.
'It seemed a good way of getting rid of you - of getting you away from
Lean! He's changed towards me from the moment you set foot in this
hotel and I knew you weren't strangers.' Black hatred gleamed from
the eyes she turned in Melanie's direction. Olga was losing both
dignity and control and she held nothing back. Perhaps it was because
she owned to herself that prevarication was useless as Melanie had
probably guessed at what lay at the root of her schemings. 'There was
some mystery, some reason, for his apparent indifference to you - and
it was only apparent,' she added, but did not for the moment expand
on that. ;I didn't want to solve the mystery, I just wanted to see you go
- out of Lean's life. I tried to make him sack you, but he merely
shrugged when I complained of your sloth and the dirty, untidy
method you had of working ' She broke off as Melanie's eyes
flashed her indignation, but immediately continued, 'I realized he'd
never dismiss you for any minor reason, but knew he would never
overlook a theft from one of the guests.' She went on to say the idea
had sprung from the conversation she overheard in Mrs. Skonson's
bedroom between Melanie and her friend. Melanie gave an audible
gasp at the admission, but before she could find anything to say Olga
was speaking again. 'What were you and Lean to one another? And
why hasn't he told you to go? She didn't expect an answer, for she
went on, 'He's drifting away from me - far away, and before you came
he was mine - mine, do you hear!'
The woman was in the grip of an intense and all- consuming passion,
for little beads of perspiration stood out on her temples and at the
sides of her mouth.
'You imagine things,' submitted Melanie, 'when you imply that Lean's
not been the same since I came here. My presence can't in any way
affect your relationship with him. If, as you say, he's - gone far away,
then it's no fault of mine.' She had come here with fury burning inside
her, ready and determined to treat Olga with the scorn and
condemnation die deserved. But somehow the sight of her, slumped
in that chair, her face contorted and her eyes dark with jealousy and
hate, but at the same time glazed with a sort of dull despair, served as
a brake to Melanie's wrath and she could not bring herself to carry out
her original intention. It was quite ridiculous, but she actually felt
sorry for the woman. 'It was so unnecessary to go to these lengths, for
Lean has no interest in me whatsoever.'
'You're wrong!' Again Olga seemed unable to hold anything back as
she went on, 'He watches you - at lunch times from his window -
when you're in the garden!' She spoke wildly, her voice reaching a
strident pitch that grated on Melanie's ears. 'He watches you if you
sunbathe - as you sometimes do on Sundays ... and he wants you '
'Nonsense!' Melanie realized her pulse was racing. For one fleeting
second she was in her fiance's arms, yielding to his kisses, thrilled yet
terrified by the intensity of a desire manfully suppressed. 'Why
should Lean watch me?
That's just it - why? He wants you, I know it!'
'Olga!' Involuntarily the girl's name slipped out. 'Are you crazy? Pull
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