The Monte Carlo Proposal

The man from the casino spoke in a lazy voice, but there was something about him that stopped everyone in their tracks.

Vanner recovered first.

‘This woman is a thief,’ he shrieked. ‘She stole money from me before leaving my boat. Look, she’s holding it. That’s mine. I demand that you arrest her.’

The gendarmes started to move again, but the man placed himself between them and me, and I realised again just how big he was. He could have dealt with two of them easily.

‘The money’s mine,’ he said. ‘This lady was helping me to pick it up. We hadn’t finished, as you can see.’

He indicated the grass, where some stray notes still lingered.

‘You’re lying!’ Vanner shrieked. ‘The money’s mine. She’s a thief.’

‘I suppose you’re Hugh Vanner,’ the man said, eyeing him with open contempt.

A new look, part caution, part suspicion, came over Vanner’s face.

‘How do you know who I am?’

‘I recognise you from the description.’

This was kind of a private joke, since only he and I knew what that description had been.

Vanner shot a look at me.

‘What have you been saying about me?’

‘That you’re a low-life who tried to force me to sleep with your business buddies,’ I said. ‘That’s why I had to jump overboard—’

‘With my money!’

‘Don’t say that,’ the man said quietly. ‘I’m warning you, don’t say it.’

‘You’re warning me? Who are you to tell me what to do?’

The man looked surprised. ‘I’m Jack Bullen.’

It was worth anything to see Vanner’s face at that moment. Even in the garden lights I could see him go green. This was the man he’d been trying to reach, to impress, and he’d met him like this.

Of course I knew there wasn’t a word of truth in it. I’d given him the clue to dealing with Vanner and he’d taken it up brilliantly. And who was to know he wasn’t really Jack Bullen, just as long so nobody saw his cufflinks?

‘You’re Jack Bullen?’ Vanner said in a strangled voice that did me the world of good to hear.

‘The one you sent the gold cufflinks to. Remember?’

Vanner gulped and began frantically back-pedalling with the gendarmes, assuring them that it was all a misunderstanding. They scowled at him, but finally departed.

‘That’s better,’ Vanner said, trying to sound in command of the situation. ‘Mr Bullen, you and me need to do some serious talking—’

‘When you’ve returned this lady’s property,’ he said coolly.

‘When I—?’

‘Her clothes, her passport, and whatever you owe her in wages.’

‘I suppose I’m well rid of her at that.’

‘Deliver everything to The Hawk. That’s where I’m going now.’

‘Fine, fine. We can share a cab to the harbour—’

‘No, we can’t. Send those things over and don’t keep me waiting.’

I couldn’t see him well as he said this, but I had a good view of Vanner, and I saw the startling change that came over his face—a kind of withering. He’d seen something in this man’s face that made him fall silent and take a step back.

The man took my arm and began to walk away.

‘Wait a minute,’ I whispered. ‘You were going to take me to the Vice-Consul.’

‘I’ve changed my mind. We’re going to The Hawk.’

‘Oh, no! Not another yacht. I’ve had enough of them to last a lifetime.’

I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t release my arm. He wasn’t holding me all that tightly but there was no way I could escape.

He hailed a passing cab and almost tossed me into it.

‘Now, look here—’ I began.

‘No, you look here. You can go with Vanner, with the gendarmes, or with me.’

‘Or I can go to the Vice-Consul.’

‘If you know where to find him. And just how long do you want to wander around dressed—or rather undressed—like that?’

‘Are you daring to take advantage of my condition?’

‘That’s exactly what I’m doing.’

‘That’s blackmail.’

‘It’s what I’m good at. Now, shut up or I’ll toss you back into the water.’

I opened my mouth to tell him what he could do, but then shut it again. Not because I was afraid of his threats, or of him. I wasn’t.

But I’d seen a gleam in his eyes that undermined his words. He was laughing, challenging me not to laugh with him, and despite everything I found myself doing so.

That was the moment when it all began.