MEMORIES OF DIANA

Part One

Nikos: You robbed me of my wife's affection while she lived, and then you killed her!

Carl: Robbed you? What are you talking about? She offered herself to me! You were robbed of nothing!

***

1976: In the United States, it was the Bicentennial Year, and in Greece, Alexander Nikos was listening to a business proposition.

"What you are suggesting is illegal." he said, "I am an honest businessman."

"You're a small-time smuggler," said his visitor. "I am offering you a chance to move up to the big leagues. The risks are greater, but so are the rewards."

"Alex?" A girl appeared at the door of the study.

"Not now, Diana." said Nikos, "I am talking business."

"If your guest is staying for dinner, I must tell Maria."

"Yes, yes, he will stay for dinner. Now run along."

The other man had risen to his feet when she entered the room.

"Introduce us, Alex." he said.

"My wife Diana - Lazlo Carlson."

She was lovely - and half Nikos' age.

"How do you do, Mrs Nikos?" He kissed her hand, which made her blush.

"Diana, please."

"Diana? Not Artemis?" (Artemis being the Greek name for the goddess the Romans called Diana)

Nikos had no time for the social niceties.

"We have business to discuss." he said, dismissively.

` "It was good to meet you, Mr Carlson." said Diana, turning to go.

"Carl. My friends call me Carl."

***

As he sat at dinner, Carl thought of his father's advice about women.

"Any fool knows that a woman likes to be told she's beautiful," Andrew Hutchins had told his son, "But the thing to remember is that a woman likes to be taken seriously. Let her see that you find her clever and witty and fascinating - no matter how dull she actually is - and she will be putty in your hands."

It had certainly worked for Da - he could charm any woman out of her knickers in record time.

It was clear to Carl that Alexander Nikos had never received any such fatherly advice. As far as Carl could tell, he treated his young wife like a pet. No doubt she was the plaything of an idle hour, but it never occurred to him to show any interest in her ideas or her opinions. Perhaps he didn't realise that she had any. To him she wasn't a person, she was a wife. His wife.

Given a little attention by Carl, she blossomed. Oh yes, Carl thought, there were possibilities here.

"Why do you smile so strangely, Carl?" asked Diana.

"I was just thinking of an old joke: 'Who was that lady I saw you with last night?' - "That was no lady - that was my wife."

"That's not funny,." said Nikos.

"No, it's not."

To be continued.