The seasons passed more and more quickly for Lisa and Richard. Now that they had both settled into a new way of life, the years seemed to gather momentum; sweeping the step-brother and sister through the final stages of their adolescence and bringing them abruptly to adulthood.
Richard continued his association with Elizabeth Hayes. He extended his circle of intimate friends, however, moving self-confidently among the jet set and the hippie world with the same assurance-throwing himself into a succession of increasingly bizarre experiences. Within a year of their arrival in London, he had left Spencer far behind; keeping the older boy as a crony, but venturing into the kind of perverse and dangerous situations which even Spencer-for all his bravado-recognised as being foolhardy…
But there was no longer any limit so far as Richard was concerned. He attended drug parties (using the hard narcotics such as heroin and cocaine) with a carelessness that shocked his erstwhile school friend; he engaged in sexual acts that were considered outrageous even by London's permissive standards; and he showed himself to be a totally ruthless young businessman in his dealings with the pathetic junkies who provided Richard with his chief source of income.
He was cautious enough not to allow his own mind and body to become addicted to these killer drugs. Richard used them in moderation, confident that he could control their effects providing he kept the doses to small quantities.
There had, of course, been a hue-and-cry over his absconsion from Fernleigh school. Richard's father instigated a country-wide hunt for him, enlisting the aid of Scotland Yard as well as private detectives in an effort to locate his prodigal son. But Richard remained on their 'missing persons' file. He couldn't be traced. And it was with a certain grim satisfaction that he sent his father a letter-mailed from New York by an obliging friend-telling the man exactly what he thought of him! The hunt was doubtless being pursued across America now… and Richard felt a bitter kind of triumph that his father was wasting hundreds of pounds on a useless attempt to catch up with him-simply in order to vent his wrath!
As for Lisa… She divided her time between Louis Chabrol, with his wealthy and extensive group of sensual French-Lebanese acquaintances, and the Arabs-Ahmed and Mustafa. There was a schism in Lisa's personality at this stage of her life. She felt herself drawn by the idealistic, yet Quixotic philosophy of her beach-fuckers, defending them to her more blase friends and keeping her promise by faithfully handling over half of her allowance to the would-be revolutionists each month. Yet Lisa couldn't embrace their cause wholeheartedly. The lure of materialism was still very attractive to the girl. She loved the rich life offered her by Chabrol and his ilk; and she drifted uneasily between the two widely disparate worlds… enjoying them both, but feeling guilty when she was in the company of the Casino set and suffering from occasional bouts of impatience that Ahmed and Mustafa were keeping her from a more exciting rendezvous!
From time to time, Lisa also longed to feel Richard's arms around her, pining for her step-brother with a sharp desire that was undiminished by their several years of separation. She frequently wondered what had become of her first lover, but Lisa's only clue to his whereabouts came from a letter which her father sent to Kathleen Wynter: informing the ex-Governess that Richard had disappeared from his school and asking her if, by any chance, he had turned up in Beirut-hoping to join his step-sister.
For a number of weeks, Lisa abandoned all her friends in her excitement at the possibility of seeing Richard again. She combed the streets at every available opportunity, checking hotels, bars and student hostels-only to meet with total disappointment.
Eventually, she returned to her established routine, realising that if Richard had succeeded in making his way to Beirut he would have contacted her within hours of his arrival. It was a false trail, a romantic finale to their forbidden love affair which didn't belong in the realms of reality. Lisa embarked on a round of all-night parties and orgies, exhausting her body in an attempt to free herself once and for all from the enervating obsession-her ever-present lust to be fondled and fucked by her stepbrother. But as always, the fever returned-stronger than ever… until the girl was forced to accept the fact that her physical love for Richard would never die…
The dramatic liberation from their father's domination came to Lisa and Richard in the autumn of 1970.
They were 22 years of age, and Lisa was due to return to England for the first time since John Cunningham had despatched her to Byblos finishing school: more than five years' previously. Although her departure date was still some weeks away, the girl had already begun to pack her winter clothes and make plans for the forthcoming vacation when Richard's telegram arrived.
“Father died of heart attack yesterday afternoon, (it read tersely). Solicitors say entire inheritance left to you. I'm disowned. Help! Deepest love, Richard.”
There was an address in the preamble to the telegram; a mews in South Kensington…
Lisa caught the evening jet to London. She carried no luggage. She even travelled in the clothes she had been wearing when the cable arrived!