He spoke to the porter in Greek and Catherine marveled at Larry’s facility for
language.
“Wait’ll you meet Constantin Demiris,” Larry said. “He’s like a goddamn king. All
the moguls in Europe seem to spend their time figuring out what they can do to please
him.”
“I’m glad you like him.”
“And he likes me.”
She had never heard him sound so happy and enthusiastic. It was a good omen.
On the way to the hotel Larry described his first meeting with Demiris. Larry had
been met at the airport by a liveried chauffeur. Larry had asked to take a look at Demiris’
fleet of planes, and the chauffeur had driven him to an enormous hangar at the far end of
the field. There were three planes, and Larry inspected each one with a critical eye. The
Hawker Siddeley was a beauty, and he longed to get behind the wheel and fly it. The next
ship was a six-place Piper in topnotch condition. He estimated that it could easily do three
hundred miles per hour. The third plane was a two-seater converted L-5, with a Lycoming
engine, a wonderful plane for shorter flights. It was an impressive private fleet. When
Larry had finished his inspection, he rejoined the watching chauffeur.
“They’ll do,” Larry said. “Let’s go.”
The chauffeur had driven him to a villa in Varkiza, the exclusive suburb twenty-five
kilometers from Athens.
“You wouldn’t believe Demiris’ place,” Larry told Catherine.
“What did it look like?” Catherine asked, eagerly.
“It’s impossible to describe. It’s about ten acres with electric gates, guards,
watchdogs, and the whole bit. The outside of the villa is a palace, and the inside is a
museum. It has an indoor swimming pool, a full stage and a projection room. You’ll see it
one day.”
“Was he nice?” Catherine asked.
“You bet he was,” Larry smiled. “I got the red-carpet treatment. I guess my reputation
preceded me.”
In fact Larry had sat in a small anteroom for three hours waiting to see Constantin
Demiris. In ordinary circumstances Larry would have been furious at the slight, but he
knew how much depended on this meeting and he was too nervous to be angry. He had
told Catherine how important this job was to him. But he had not told her how desperately
he needed it. His one superb skill was flying and without it he felt lost. It was as though
his life had sunk to some unexplored emotional depth and the pressures on him were too
great to be borne. Everything depended on this job.
At the end of three hours a butler had come in and announced that Mr. Demiris was
ready to see him. He had led Larry through a large reception hall that looked like it