Devil May Care

sun. His eyes were bloodshot from the salt water but retained, despite the spidery red traces, their cold, slightly cruel, sense of purpose.
    Bond shrugged. There was nothing he could do to make himself more presentable for Miss Scarlett Papava, so he went to open the door.
    ‘James! My God, are you all right?’
    ‘Yes, thank you, Scarlett. Bloodied but unbowed. And extremely surprised to see you.’
    ‘Surprised,’ said Scarlett, entering the room with a tray on which stood a bottle of champagne and two glasses. ‘I can understand that. But not pleased as well? Not even just the smallest bit pleased?’
    ‘A scintilla,’ Bond conceded.
    ‘I’ve come almost direct from Paris.’
    ‘So I see,’ said Bond.
    Scarlett wore a charcoal grey business suit and a white blouse.
    She followed Bond’s amused gaze. ‘Yes. I … I haven’t had time to buy proper clothes yet. Thank heavens it’s a bit cooler here than it is in Tehran. I shall have to go shopping tomorrow.’
    ‘Wait and see what Hamid brings me first. You might not like the local fashion.’
    ‘Hamid?’
    ‘Yes. My driver. And now my tailor. Champagne?’
    ‘Thank you. What a heavenly view.’
    Bond turned towards the window to open the champagne.
    ‘Oh, my goodness, your back!’ said Scarlett. ‘It’s terrible. We must get some iodine. How did you do that?’
    ‘I have a lot to tell you,’ said Bond. ‘For one thing, I’ve met your sister.’
    ‘Really? Where?’ Scarlett’s expression, which had been both playful and embarrassed, suddenly became serious.
    ‘In Tehran. She called at my hotel. I must say I’ve never met anyone quite like you Papava girls for just materializing out of thin air. I’m beginning to think that when I get home to my flat in Chelsea there’ll be a message waiting for me from a third sister.’
    Scarlett looked down, a little shamefaced again. ‘So you know she’s my twin.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I’m sorry, James. Perhaps I should have told you before. It doesn’t really make a difference, does it? To you, I mean. To me it makes it all the more painful than it would be if she was a normal sister.’
    ‘Perhaps.’
    ‘But how was she, James? Did she seem all right?’
    ‘I don’t know how she usually seems. I spent most of the time thinking it was you, but somehow not quite. It was …’
    ‘I know, I know. Did she say which one of us was older?’
    ‘Yes. And she showed me a way of telling you apart.’
    ‘What – she actually showed you?’ Scarlett looked amazed. ‘Here?’ She pointed to the top of her left thigh.
    ‘Yes. We were in a park. She’s a wild child.’
    ‘And do you want me to show you, too? To prove I’m not her?’
    Bond smiled. ‘No. I don’t think that’ll be necessary.There’s something very Scarlett about you. You’re Mrs Larissa Rossi from Rome, all right.’ He said nothing of the distinctive darkness of her eyes.
    ‘Good. Now I’m going to get some iodine and bathe those cuts.’
    Scarlett made for the door.
    ‘And when you come back,’ said Bond, ‘perhaps you’d like to tell me exactly what a Parisian banker is doing in a Caspian resort in the middle of July.’
    ‘It’s a deal,’ said Scarlett, closing the door behind her.
    Bond finished his glass of champagne and poured another. He couldn’t deny that he was pleased to see Scarlett, but he would have to be firm with her. He couldn’t be distracted at this stage of the proceedings by concern for a woman’s safety.
    Some ten minutes later, Scarlett returned with a brown medicine bottle and some cotton wool. ‘I think this is the right stuff,’ she said. ‘My Farsi isn’t up to much.’
    ‘Unlike Poppy’s. At least she can do the script.’
    ‘Well, she’s had a chance to learn, poor girl. Now, keep still.’
    Bond looked out over the sea while Scarlett gently dabbed the cuts on his back.
    ‘You’re supposed to yelp in pain,’ she said. ‘That’s what they do in westerns.’
    ‘It doesn’t hurt that much,’ said Bond.
    ‘Perhaps it’s not an antiseptic at all. Perhaps it’s a placebo. And I noticed you had some cuts on your chest as well.’
    Scarlett came round and stood in front of Bond, and as she leaned over him, he saw her shining clean hair up close and smelled a discreet lily-of-the-valley scent. Despite whatmust have been a rigorous journey, she seemed as fresh as though she had just stepped from the bathroom.
    She stopped, and her hesitation suggested she felt his eyes on