Eldorado

by Yvonne Whittal

  'What I wanted to discuss with you is no longer relevant, but there's another matter which I've been giving a considerable amount of thought lately.' She did not look at him while she slipped her arms into the wide sleeves and tied the belt firmly about her waist. 'I'd like to work again, and there's a possibility that I may get my old job back.'

  There was a brief, tense silence before he said, 'I thought we'd agreed that there was no necessity for you to work.'

  'That was before our marriage.' There was a bitter anguish in the memory of dreams which had so carelessly been shattered, and she hastily veiled the pain in her eyes before she turned to face him. 'Jarvis, I'll go mad if I have to sit around and stagnate for much longer. You've employed adequate staff to take care of the house and the grounds, and they do it so well that I'm almost superfluous. My days are spent wandering aimlessly about the house, or going into the city to shop for something I don't really need, and my nights…' Her throat tightened, and her hands fluttered in an unconscious gesture of despair. 'My nights are mostly spent dining alone and staring at walls which are beginning to crowd in on me.'

  He rose abruptly, and his compelling glance held hers as he stepped round the foot of the bed to join her in front of the window. 'I'm lonely too, Gina.'

  'Oh, don't make me laugh!' she snorted disparagingly. 'You have your work to keep you occupied, and you have Lilian to entertain you when you're free.'

  'Dammit, do you have to bring Lilian into this?'

  'Why not?' she questioned him cynically, her hand clutching at the back of the armchair for support when she found herself looking a long way up into his furious grey eyes. 'She's become as much a part of my life as she is of yours!'

  'What kind of man do you think I am?' he demanded harshly. 'Do you credit me with so little decency that you could accuse me of having an affair with Lilian while I'm married to you?'

  'I have only your actions in the past to use as a guide,' she responded coldly. 'If you were callous enough to use my feelings as leverage to trick me into marrying you, then you can't blame me for thinking you're capable of having an affair with Lilian while our marriage continues its distasteful course through to the end of the stipulated period.'

  'For God's sake, Gina, you— '

  'We were discussing my intention to return to work,' she reminded him sharply, taking a hasty pace away from him to avoid the hand that reached out for her, and his heavy brows drew together in an angry frown.

  'I don't want you to work again.'

  'Why not?' she smiled up at him cynically. 'Does it give your ego a boost to know that I'm here, and that I might be available on those occasions when it's inconvenient for Lilian to have you in her bed?'

  He went strangely white about the mouth. 'My God, Gina, you go too far!'

  'Does the truth hurt?' she demanded, blind to all the danger signals while she tried desperately to cope with the agonising pain which was tearing at her soul like the savage talons of an eagle.

  'Your idea of the truth hurts,' he countered harshly through his teeth, advancing towards her with an ominous expression on his lean, handsome face. 'I'm not entirely without feelings, and it may surprise you to know that I do have a conscience, but this is one night when I'm not going to be dictated to by my damned conscience.'

  'You don't possess such a thing as a conscience, Jarvis,' she contradicted scathingly, too angry to be aware of the danger she was in as she backed away from him. it isn't your conscience that made you move out of this room, it was the fear that I might become pregnant again. It wouldn't do for me to have a child, would it? A child would be an unwanted burden in seven months' time when you can legally claim Eldorado and will want to start divorce proceedings.'

  'You can think what you damn well please!'

  'Stay away from me!' Gina's heart was beating in her throat when she at last began to suspect his intentions. 'Don't you dare touch me!'

  Her frightened glance darted about the room, searching for a way of escape, but the antique four-poster was a barrier between her and safety. She ran towards the bed and leapt on to it with the intention of jumping off the other side in her desperate dash for the door, but she never got farther than the bed. The framework of the four-poster shuddered beneath Jarvis's weight when he lunged at her and, despite her efforts to fight him off, he pinned her arms above her head and held her a helpless prisoner against the soft mattress with the punishing pressure of his rock-hard body on hers.

  'You asked for this, Gina, and you've provoked me into a mood to say to hell with everything!' His voice was hoarse, and fury mingled with desire in the smouldering eyes that met and held hers. 'I want you, and I'm going to have you!'

  'No!' The cry was wrung from her as she writhed beneath him in a futile attempt to escape. 'I refuse to be used as a plaything you can pick up and cast aside whenever it pleases you.'

  'Shut up!' he barked savagely, taking one of her hands and thrusting it inside his robe until her soft palm came into contact with the tantalising warmth of his skin and the abrasiveness of his chest hair. 'You want me, I saw it in your eyes when I walked into this room, and don't deny it, Georgina!'

  She stilled beneath him, caught in the fatal trap of her own emotions, and her fingers curled against his chest in an involuntary caress that made him mutter something unintelligible before his hard mouth descended on hers with a bruising passion to which she responded with a fierce desire of her own.

  After weeks of abstinence their union was stormy and silent, and Gina matched the pace Jarvis had set until they came together in a shattering climax which left them gasping weakly for breath. There was no need to express in words the intensity of their physical need, and when their pounding heartbeats subsided they reached for each other again with a mutual hunger for a deeper satisfaction.

  Gina was by nature an early riser, and she felt completely disorientated the following morning when she awoke to find that she had slept until eight-thirty. She was stretching lazily, her mind unwilling to recall what had occurred during the night, when she saw a note propped up against the reading lamp on the bedside cupboard. She sat up in bed with a jolt, her head skipping an anxious beat as she snatched up the note and read it.

  'Last night should not have happened, but I'm not going to apologise for it' Jarvis had written in his bold handwriting. 'The time has come, however, for a frank discussion and a decision which might have a drastic effect on our future.'

  She was wide awake now as she read through the letter a second time in the hope of grasping its contents. She agreed that it was time they had a frank discussion, but what decision did they have to make that might have a drastic effect on their future? Was Jarvis implying that he might want to end their marriage? No! He would never do anything to lose Eldorado. Would he?

  Gina telephoned his office later that morning. She had to talk to him; she had to know what he had been trying to imply in his letter, but Mrs Jackson told her that he had already left the office and that would be in court for the remainder of that morning.

  Restless and agitated, Gina got into her Alfa and drove into the city. She might have found something at Eldorado with which to keep herself occupied, but the walls seemed to be closing in on her once again, and she simply had to get out. She wandered along the city streets, window-shopping and buying a few unnecessary items as she had done so often during the past weeks, but when she arrived back at the car with her parcels, she had made up her mind to pay a visit to the Supreme Court where Jarvis would be defending one of his clients. If they were going to have a frank discussion, then they might as well have it as soon as possible and not prolong the agony.

  After making a few enquiries at the Supreme Court building Gina was directed to where she would find her husband, and she quietly entered the packed courtroom to watch Jarvis in action without his knowledge.

  A witness had taken the oath before being questioned by the state attorney and, from what Gina could gather, the evidence that was put forward was almost
sufficient to send Jarvis's client to prison for a lengthy period. The witness in the stand was a short, stocky man with a brash, confident demeanour which did not falter during the lengthy interrogation. The State Attorney finally resumed his seat amid the murmur of excited voices, and during a plea for silence it was Jarvis who rose imperiously to approach the witness stand. He looked distinguished and awe-inspiring in his court-room garb, and Gina's heart missed several beats in a mixture of fear, pride and pleasure at being able to observe him like this, but, as the interrogation began, she felt herself shrink inwardly in sympathy with the witness. Jarvis had become a dangerous predator, stalking his prey relentlessly and patiently and, when the opportunity arose, he pounced. Not once did he raise his voice, but his ruthless, almost brutally phrased questions had the witness sweating, stammering, and finally contradicting himself to the point where no self-respecting jury could possibly consider his evidence reliable.

  This was a side of Jarvis that Gina had encountered to some extent over the past months. He could be brutal, ruthless, and deceitful in achieving his objective, but he could also be gentle and considerate, and it was the latter on which she preferred to dwell.

  The murmur of voices in the court-room rose to a crescendo when the witness was finally asked to leave the stand, and at this point in the proceedings it was decided to call for a recess until two o'clock that afternoon.

  Gina left the court-room as quietly as she had entered it, but she waited outside the building in the hope of meeting Jarvis and arranging to have lunch with him. This was perhaps not the right time, and a restaurant might not be the ideal place for a personal discussion, but for some obscure reason she felt it could not be delayed.

  People were streaming out of the building into the warmth of the wintry sun, and some minutes elapsed before Jarvis appeared at the entrance. Gina took an involuntary step in his direction, her hand lifting to capture his attention, but the next instant she froze. Lilian Ulrich was at Jarvis's side, her arm linked intimately and possessively through his, and they were so engrossed in each other that neither of them noticed Gina, who was standing a short distance away with a stricken look on her pale face.

  A door slammed inside her and a light went out somewhere to leave her with the feeling that she had entered a dark hall of death. This was the end, she could take no more!

  Her feet felt like lead as she walked to where she had parked the car, and she drove aimlessly through Johannesburg's busy streets until her mind began to function on a vaguely constructive level. She found parking near a telephone booth and, taking a few coins out of her purse, dialled Harold Ashton's number.

  'I'd like to see Mr Ashton this afternoon,' she told his secretary moments later. 'It's urgent.'

  'Your name, please?'

  'Georgina Cain.'

  'Just a moment.' There was a brief pause, and Gina could imagine the woman checking the lawyer's appointment book. 'Mr Ashton could see you this afternoon at two-thirty, if that would be convenient for you.'

  'That would be perfect, thank you.'

  Gina's eyes were dark pools of anguish in her unnaturally white face, but her actions were rigidly controlled as she replaced the receiver. There was only one course left open to her, and perhaps Harold Ashton could give her the advice she needed.

  She skipped lunch that day. She could not have eaten even if she had been paid to do so, but neither could she sit about idly, and she drove aimlessly through the streets once again until it was time for her appointment with Harold Ashton. She was ten minutes early when she finally arrived at his rooms, and she picked up a magazine to leaf through, but the articles on the glossy pages did not capture her interest. She was turning the pages periodically for the sole purpose of keeping her hands occupied, and she did not have long to wait before she was called into the office beyond the panelled door.

  Harold Ashton rose behind his desk to study her curiously and somewhat warily when she entered his office. 'Please sit down, my dear, and tell me in what way I may be of service to you.'

  Gina seated herself in the chair he had indicated and she came straight to the point when she faced the lawyer across his wide, cluttered desk. 'I would very much like to know the exact conditions stipulated in that clause which my godmother added to her will. Would you consider it unethical if I asked you to read it to me?'

  'I don't have Evelyn Cain's will here with me now, but I'm fully versed as to its contents.' Harold Ashton looked discomfited as he cleared his throat and riddled with the gold pen on his blotter. 'It stated quite categorically that Jarvis had to marry you as soon as possible, and that he was to stay married to you for twelve months in order to inherit Eldorado. During this time you are both expected to live in the house, and, should your marriage be dissolved before the year has expired, the contents of the house must be sold, and the proceeds used to equip Eldorado as a children's home.'

  Gina felt as if a noose had been tightened about her throat. 'In other words,' she croaked, 'Jarvis loses his inheritance if I move out and live elsewhere.'

  'That is quite correct.' He eyed her speculatively. 'Do you wish to move out of Eldorado?'

  Gina hesitated momentarily, but this, she decided, was not the time to be evasive. 'Mr Ashton, I simply can't continue with this marriage as it stands, and you of all people must understand why. Is there no way Jarvis could inherit his family home without those dreadful and intolerable conditions in his mother's will?'

  The lawyer shook his greying head. 'I'm afraid the only way Jarvis can inherit Eldorado is to comply with the conditions laid down by Evelyn Cain herself.'

  Gina sagged in her chair and pressed the tips of her fingers against her throbbing aching temples. She had to think, but she was having difficulty in doing so. Her mind refused to function beyond this dead-end information, and a wave of helplessness and despair washed over her. She had to get away, she had to think, and she could not do that at Eldorado.

  'Is there anything to prevent me from going away for a couple of weeks?' she finally questioned the lawyer, and a slow smile spread across Harold Ashton's lean face.

  'There's no mention in Evelyn Cain's will to the effect that you can't take a brief holiday away from Eldorado with or without your husband.'

  Gina felt a stab of relief so intense that tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them back, and rose calmly to shake the lawyer's hand.

  'Thank you,' she smiled shakily. 'Thank you very much for allowing me to take up your valuable time this afternoon.'

  She knew now what she had to do, her immediate plans were suddenly crystal clear, and she drove back to Eldorado in a positive if not a lighter, frame of mind.

  She packed a suitcase, and gave the house servants the necessary instructions before she went into the study and seated herself at Jarvis's desk. She would have to leave him a note, but what was she going to say? What could she write except the truth?

  'Dear Jarvis,' she started the letter in her small, neat handwriting. She stared hard at those words, and changed her mind. 'Dear Jarvis' had a ring of affection to it which she had no intention of implying, and she crushed that sheet of paper between her hands before she threw it into the fire which was burning lustily in the grate. She drew a clean sheet of paper towards her and stared at it blindly. What did one write to one's husband under circumstances such as these? Could she explain her reasons for wanting to get away from him without flinging accusations at him?

  Jarvis, her pen scraped his name across the sheet of paper after precious seconds had ticked by, I spoke to Harold Ashton this afternoon, and our discussion led to my hasty decision to return home to my family for a few weeks. I need time to myself to get my life back into perspective, and I can't do this while I'm with you, or at Eldorado. You must know as well as I do that we can't go on the way we are. That's why I strongly suggest we take this time away from each other to think things out, and to decide finally what we're going to do about our marriage.

  Forgive me for leaving without warning
, but there was no other way. Gina.

  She grimaced when she read what she had written. The letter sounded stilted, but it would have to do, she decided as she slipped the folded sheet of paper into an envelope, and left it on the desk where she knew Jarvis would find it.

  A jerky sigh escaped her when she drove away from Eldorado, and she could not decide whether she was experiencing a feeling of relief or a sense of freedom. She had never before felt so dead inside. You don't have what it takes to hold a man like Jarvis Cain. Lilian's remark flitted through her mind, and it was followed swiftly with a vision of Jarvis and Lilian leaving the Supreme Court, arm in arm, their heads close together to suggest an intimacy in their conversation. Gina waited for that familiar stab of pain, but it did not materialise. She felt nothing, only a terrible emptiness as if a vacuum had taken the place of what had once been her heart.

  She drove on, staring straight ahead of her through the lenses of her dark glasses, and aware of nothing except an impatience to reach her destination. She had not telephoned her family to let them know that she would be coming home for a while, but she had no doubt that they would make her feel welcome. She needed the solitude the farm had to offer, but most of all she needed to surround herself with people whom she knew and loved.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The sun had hovered like a brilliant ball of fire on the horizon before it had dipped behind the distant hills, and its departure had left a chill in the air that made Gina shiver behind the wheel of her Alfa. The cloud-flecked sky had darkened swiftly, and the stars were becoming visible when she turned off on to the gravel road which led towards the farm. The lights were on in the rambling old house, shining out a welcome, and it felt good to be home. She parked the car and, zipping up her fleece-lined jacket to ward off that cold August breeze, took her suitcase out of the boot and went inside.

  Her unexpected arrival aroused exclamations of surprise and delight from the men, but Susan studied Gina intently and curiously for several long seconds before she smiled and said, 'It will be nice to have you home again for a while.'