NOELLE AND CATHERINE
Athens: 1946
18
For Larry and Noelle the next three months was one of those rare, idyllic periods when
everything went right, a magic time of floating from one wonderful day to the next, with
not the faintest cloud on the horizon. Larry spent his working hours doing what he loved
to do, flying, and whenever he had time off he went to the villa in Rafina and spent a day
or a weekend or a week with Noelle. In the beginning Larry had been afraid that the
arrangement would become a millstone that would drag him down into the kind of
domesticity that he loathed; but each time he saw Noelle, he became more enchanted and
he began to look eagerly forward to the hours he would spend with her. When she had to
cancel one weekend because of an unexpected trip with Demiris, Larry stayed alone at the
villa, and he found himself angry and jealous, thinking about Noelle and Demiris together.
When he saw Noelle the following week, she was surprised and pleased by his eagerness.
“You missed me,” she said.
He nodded. “A lot.”
“Good.”
“How’s Demiris?”
She hesitated a moment. “All right.”
Larry noticed her hesitation. “What is it?”
“I was thinking of something you said.”
“What?”
“You said you hated the feeling of sneaking around like a criminal. I hate it too.
Every moment I was with Constantin, I wanted to be with you. I once told you, Larry, I
want all of you. I meant it. I don’t want to share you with anyone. I want you to marry
me.”
He stared at her in surprise, caught off guard.
Noelle was watching him. “Do you want to marry me?”
“You know I do. But how? You keep telling me what Demiris will do if he finds out
about us.”
She shook her head. “He won’t find out. Not if we’re clever and plan it properly. He
doesn’t own me, Larry. I’ll leave him. There’s nothing he can do about that. He has too
much pride to try to stop me. A month or two later, you’ll quit your job. We’ll go away-