In the end she waited for half an hour before getting out of bed and opening the bathroom door.

The room was empty but the tangy fragrance of Joss's cologne clung aromatically to the air. She was a.s.sailed by such a wave of longing that she had to blink away weak tears. She didn't know which was worst, being close to him or being away from him; both, in their differing ways, were acute forms of torment.

The day pa.s.sed quickly, although Sarah did not see much of Joss. He spent most of it with Jacques, discussing his book, while Louise entertained Sarah.

In her eighth month of pregnancy, she complained to Sarah that she was beginning to feel the summer heat a trial. A pretty, smiling brunette, Sarah felt an instant kinship with her and it was no hardship to spend the morning in her company.

The vineyard was very much a business concern, she explained to Sarah, adding that at this time of the year, lunch was a very scrambled casual affair, and that normally Jacques ate his outside in the vineyards with his men.

They talked about the work she had done on Jacques' book, and Sarah found herself wishing she could spend longer with her.

"Have you known Joss long?" she asked, when lunch was over.

"Only a few weeks." It made Sarah feel guilty to know that Louise thought of them as an established couple when in fact they were no such thing.

"He's a very attractive man--I've always thought so, and not just because of his looks. It is not often one meets such a truly romantic Englishman and Joss is very romantic, I think.

That is why he has not married before now. He once told me he was waiting for a very special woman; that he wanted to fall deeply and completely in love and that nothing else would do. I'm so glad it isn't going to be Helene. He brought her here once but I didn't like her. At the time he seemed very involved with her, but obviously now--' She paused obviously not wanting to embarra.s.s her, but Sarah was beyond that-Louise was so wrong. Joss cared nothing for her.

And Helene?

Tears stung the back of Sarah's throat. Was Joss deeply and completely in love with Helene? Perhaps not in the sense that Louise meant; but he certainly desired her, which was more than he felt for her.

They left the chateau late in the afternoon, with Louise and Jacques both commanding them to visit them again soon.

"What did you think of them?" Joss asked Sarah as they drove away.

It struck her as an odd question for him to ask her, after all what could her opinion of his friends matter to him. Even so she replied honestly.

"I liked them both, especially Louise... How long will it take us to reach Cannes?" she asked him, changing the subject.

"It will be late tonight before we get there, but that shouldn't bother Helene, she's very much a night person."

CHAPTER NINE.

sarah discovered just how true that statement was when they arrived at Helene's villa in what appeared to be the middle of a party.

The villa was several miles outside Cannes itself, set into the hillside, and would have spectacular views of the sea, Sarah suspected as she wearily allowed Joss to help her out of the car. Unlike her he seemed completely fresh and untired; as vigorously masculine as ever. A fact which Helene seemed to appreciate as she appeared in front of them, wearing a clingy silk dress that moulded the curves of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and clung seductively to her long legs.

Watching her run into Joss's arms, Sarah had to turn away to hide her pain. Jealousy ripped through her with the violence of spiked talons tearing at her insides, leaving burning trails of fire.

"Joss, darling, at last... Mmm ... you look divine."

It was impossible for Sarah to drag her gaze away from the pouting red mouth caressing Joss's, even though she longed to do so.

"You must come and meet Harry--he's offering me the most marvelous part in his new film."

"In a minute..." Joss disentangled himself from Helene's embrace and turned back to Sarah.

"Sarah's dead on her feet, Helene ... if someone could show her to her room."

For the first time Helene deigned to notice her presence, and Sarah was weakly conscious of the contrast they must present, Helene glowing vibrantly with life, her skin tanned and sleek; her make-up and hair immaculate, while in direct contrast, she looked pale and washed out, her hair lank, and her face white with tiredness. No wonder Helene was looking so triumphant, although she had scowled faintly on first seeing that Joss wasn't alone.

"Oh, yes ... your little a.s.sistant. She's sharing a room with one of the maids. I'll get someone to take her to it. You're right. Joss,"

Helene added with an acid trill of laughter.

"She looks completely washed out..."

Silently digesting the status to which she had been reduced, Sarah was left to her own devices, while Helene whisked Joss away.

It was almost half an hour before a young girl came up to her and touched her apologetically on the arm.

"You are the a.s.sistant of Monsieur Howard?" she asked and when Sarah nodded her head, she added, "Please to come this way."

The room Sarah was to share with one of the maids was barely large enough to hold the two single beds and narrow chest of drawers that were its only furniture, but Sarah was too dred to care about the paucity of her surroundings. The only bitter thought that did cross her mind as she prepared for bed was to wonder where Joss was sleeping.

With Helene? Stop it, she warned herself, stop thinking like that, it's no business of yours.

The maid whose room she was sharing spoke as little English as Sarah did French, but even so Sarah found her a friendly girl. The household staff rose at six, she explained to Sarah in the morning when her alarm had woken both of them.

Wide awake once the girl had gone about her duties, Sarah went in search of the bathroom she had been shown last night. The staff's quarters were right at the top of the four-storey villa, in what must once have been attics, the bathroom antiquated but scrupulously clean.

Having showered and dressed Sarah made her way downstairs and out into the gardens of the villa, empty at this early part of the day apart from a couple of gardeners working silently on the flower beds.

As she had suspected last night, the villa commanded a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean, a panorama of wooded slopes, pastel-painted villas, and then the deep dense blue of the sea stretching out below her.

Joss had explained to her that Helene was hiring the villa for the summer, and looking at the size of it, Sarah guessed that it must be costing the actress a small fortune. The thronging crowd that had met her tired and confused gaze last night was missing this morning; a solitary male seated under one of the striped umbrella'd tables by the pool apparently engrossed in some papers he had spread out on the table in front of him.

Nevertheless he must have heard because he lifted his head and turned it in Sarah's direction, frowning slightly as he looked at her.

Sarah ventured a brief smile, and offered a tentative "Good morning."

"Hi, there...1 thought I had the place to myself at this time of day. I haven't seen you around before, have I?"

"No, we only arrived last night." Sarah introduced herself and learned that her companion's name was Harry Weinberger.

She recognised it instantly. This must be the film director Helene had mentioned to Joss the previous night.

"So what brings you here? It isn't like Helene to welcome feminine compet.i.tion." His rather full mouth twisted slightly, the cool blue eyes flickering appreciatively over Sarah's slim, jean-clad legs.

He was older than Joss . somewhere in his late forties, but there was an earthy attractiveness about him that Sarah suspected few women would be immune to. It wasn't so much his physical looks, she thought watching him, it was more the aura of power that clung to him, an almost tangible awareness of himself as a man. That aura of power would be very attractive to her s.e.x, and she could well understand why Helene had been so c.o.c.k-a-hoop about the role he had promised her in his new film.

They chatted for several minutes, although Sarah did not volunteer any information as to what she was doing at the villa. A natural inborn caution urged her to say nothing about Helene's book--she had no wish to fall foul of the actress by discussing her private affairs behind her back.

"I normally eat my breakfast round about now," Harry announced, glancing at his watch.

"Helene never makes an appearance before lunchtime, and so if you want something to eat, I suggest you join me. Am I right in thinking you arrived with Helene's latest male acquisition?" he questioned, watching Sarah sharply.

Sarah turned slightly away from him so that he wouldn't see the agony in her eyes.