The Hidden Force Read Online Free PDF

visions…
    Yet, this afternoon it seemed…
    As if, after having dozed off for a moment and after all the tiredness from the journey and the heat had cleared away from her milk-white complexion—as if, now she was looking at the romping angels on the perfume advert, her mind was not on all that pink doll-like tenderness, but as if she were listening for sounds from outside…
    After a while she got up.
    She was wearing only a sarong, which she had pulled up under her arms and held in a knot on her breast.
    Her splendid blond hair hung loose.
    Her beautiful white feet were bare; she had not even slipped into her mules.
    And she looked through the slats of the blind.
    Between the flowerpots, which on the steps at the side of the house masked her windows with great masses of leaves, she looked out at an annexe with four rooms—the guest rooms—one of which was occupied by Theo.
    She peered for a while and then opened the blind a fraction…
    And she saw the blind of Theo’s room also open a fraction…
    Then she smiled; tied the sarong more tightly, and went back to bed.
    She listened.
    A moment later she heard a brief crunching of the gravel under the weight of a slipper. Her venetian blinds, without being locked, had closed. A hand now cautiously opened them…
    She turned, smiling…
    “What is it, Theo?” she whispered.
    He came closer, in pyjama bottoms and a linen jacket, sat down on the edge of the bed and played with her white, chubby hands, and suddenly kissed her passionately.
    At that moment a stone whizzed through the room.
    They were both startled, quickly looked up, and in a moment were in the middle of the room.
    “Who’s throwing stones?” she asked, trembling.
    “Perhaps one of the boys—René or Ricus—who are playing outside,” he said.
    “They’re not up yet…”
    “Or it might have fallen…”
    “No, it was thrown…”
    “Stones often come loose…”
    “But this is gravel.”
    She picked up the stone. He looked cautiously outside.
    “It’s nothing, Léonie. It simply must have fallen from the gutter, through the window, and then it flew up again. It’s nothing…”
    “I’m frightened,” she murmured.
    He almost laughed aloud and asked, “Of what?”
    They had nothing to fear. The room was situated between Léonie’s boudoir and the two large guest rooms intendedonly for commissioners, generals and other senior officials. On the other side of the central gallery were the rooms of Van Oudijck, office and bedroom, Doddy’s room and the room of the boys, Ricus and René. So Léonie was isolated in her wing, between the two guest rooms. It made her brazen. At this hour the compound was completely deserted. Anyway, she was not frightened of the servants. Urip was completely trustworthy and often received lovely presents: sarongs, a gold clasp, a long diamond jacket pin that she wore on her breast like a silver and jewelled brooch. Since Léonie never grumbled, was generous with advances on wages and had a certain apparently easy-going manner—although things only happened the way she wanted them to—she was not unpopular, and however much the servants might know, they had never betrayed her. This made her all the more shameless. In front of the passage between her bedroom and boudoir hung a curtain, and it had been agreed between Theo and Léonie that, in case of danger, he would simply slip away behind the curtain and exit through the garden door of the boudoir, as if wanting to see the rose pots on the steps. That would make it look as if he had just come from his own room and was viewing the roses. The inner doors of the boudoir and bedroom were locked as a rule, as Léonie made it quite clear that she did not care to be caught unawares.
    She liked Theo because of his fresh youthfulness. And here in Labuwangi he was her only indiscretion, apart from an inspector who happened to be passing through, and the pink angels. Now they were like naughty children, laughingsilently in