The Seven Sisters

by Lucinda Riley

  Bel followed his pointing finger and saw the glinting red roof of an elegant building.

  ‘Is that not the Parque Lage?’

  ‘Yes, and the botanical gardens are quite stunning. But do you know the story of the house that sits within them?’

  ‘No, I don’t.’

  ‘Well, not so long ago, a Brazilian man fell in love with an Italian opera singer. He was desperate for her to marry him and join him in Rio, but she, used to Italy, did not want to move here. So he asked her what it would take for her to leave her beloved Rome behind. She told him that she wanted to live in a palazzo, just like the ones she loved in her own country. So,’ Gustavo said, smiling, ‘he built it for her. And she married him, and moved here to Rio, and she lives within the walls of her beautiful piece of homeland to this day.’

  ‘What a romantic story,’ Bel breathed before she could stop herself, then leant over as far as she could and looked down on the beautiful scene below her. Almost instantly, an arm came again about her waist.

  ‘Careful. I wouldn’t like to tell your parents that you fell off the top of Corcovado Mountain,’ he said with a smile. ‘You know, Izabela, that if I could, I would build you a house as beautiful as the one below us.’

  Bel, still hanging over the edge, her face hidden from him, heard his words from behind her. ‘That is sweet of you to say so, Gustavo.’

  ‘It’s also the truth. Izabela . . .’ He gently turned her around to face him. ‘You must know what I’m about to ask you.’

  ‘I . . .’

  Immediately a finger went to her mouth. ‘I think it’s better if you say nothing for the moment or maybe my courage will desert me.’ He cleared his throat nervously. ‘With your beauty, I understand that I am not physically what you deserve as your husband. We both know you could have any man you wished for. Every man in Rio is under your spell, just as I am. But I want to tell you that I appreciate more about you than your outer appearance.’

  Gustavo paused, and Bel immediately felt she must answer him. She opened her mouth to reply, but again the finger came to her lips and he hushed her.

  ‘Please, let me finish. From the first moment I saw you at your eighteenth birthday party, I knew that I wanted to be with you. I asked your father to introduce me, and well,’ he shrugged, ‘the rest we know. Of course, we must both be pragmatic and accept that on the surface the liaison between us is one of convenience, since your family has the money and mine has the breeding. But, Izabela, I have to tell you that for me, this wouldn’t be a marriage built on those sad foundations. Because . . .’ Gustavo hung his head for a moment, then looked up at her. ‘I love you.’

  Bel looked at him and saw the honesty in his eyes. Even though she’d known he would propose to her today, the words he’d spoken were more moving and genuine than any she’d expected. And she began to believe what her mother had said to her. She felt, ironically, a rush of sympathy for Gustavo, and guilt too, as she only wished to God she could share what he was feeling. It would make all the jigsaw pieces of her existence fit together.

  ‘Gustavo, I . . .’

  ‘Izabela, please,’ he entreated. ‘I promise I’m nearly done. I understand that at present you almost certainly don’t feel the same way about me. But I believe I can give you the many things that you need to flourish in life. And I hope that one day you can grow to love me, at least a little.’

  Bel looked beyond Gustavo and saw that the other recent occupants of the pavilion had retreated from it and that they were now alone.

  ‘If it helps,’ Gustavo continued, ‘I saw Senhor da Silva Costa three days ago and he told me how much you wish to tour Europe with his family. Izabela, I wish you to go. If you agree that we will be engaged immediately and you will marry me after your return from Europe, then I will tell your father that I believe a cultural tour of the Old World would fit you out very well to be my wife.’

  Bel stared at him, completely taken by surprise at his suggestion.

  ‘You are very young, querida. You must remember that I am almost ten years your senior,’ Gustavo said, as he touched her cheek. ‘And I want you to broaden your horizons, just as I was allowed to do when I was younger. So, what do you say?’

  Bel knew she must answer quickly. What Gustavo was offering her was a dream come true. One word from him could give her what she desired most – the freedom to travel beyond the narrow confines of Rio. It came with a heavy price, but one she’d already prepared herself to accept anyway.

  ‘Gustavo, it’s very generous of you to suggest such a thing.’

  ‘Well, of course I’m not happy about it, Izabela. I will miss your presence every day, but I also understand that one cannot keep beautiful birds in a cage. If you love them, you must set them free to fly.’ Gustavo reached for her hands. ‘I would obviously prefer to show you the sights of Europe myself. In fact, I had considered taking you on a European tour as our honeymoon. But if truth be told, at this moment in time I simply don’t have the finances to fund such an adventure. And besides, my parents depend on my presence here. So, what do you say?’ He looked at her expectantly.

  ‘Gustavo, surely your parents and Rio society will not approve of this idea? If I’m to be your fiancée, shouldn’t I be here with you in Rio until we are married?’

  ‘In the Old World from which my parents come, it’s quite common for a young lady to undertake a cultural tour before she settles down to marriage. They will accept it. So, querida

  Izabela, don’t keep me waiting any longer. I can hardly bear the agony.’

  ‘I think . . .’ Bel took a deep breath. ‘I think that I will say yes.’

  ‘Meu Deus. Thank God,’ he said in genuine relief. ‘Then I can give you this.’

  Gustavo reached into an inner jacket pocket and pulled out a battered leather-covered box. ‘The ring inside is a part of the Aires Cabral heritage. Worn, so the story goes, by the cousin of Emperor Dom Pedro when she became engaged.’

  Bel gazed at the flawless diamond, set between two sapphires. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she replied honestly.

  ‘The stone in the centre is very old, cut from the mines of Tejuco, and the gold is from Ouro Preto. May I place it on your finger? Just for size,’ he added hastily. ‘Because of course, I must accompany you back home and ask your father formally for your hand.’

  ‘Of course.’

  Gustavo slid the ring onto the fourth finger of her right hand. ‘There,’ he said. ‘It will need to be altered slightly to fit your beautiful slim finger, but it looks well on you.’ Gustavo took her hand in his and kissed the ring. ‘Do you know, my sweet Izabela, that the first thing I noticed about you was your hands? They are,’ he said as he kissed each fingertip, ‘exquisite.’

  ‘Obrigada.’

  Gustavo gently removed the ring from her finger and placed it back in its box. ‘Now, we had better make our way down before the train stops running for the night and we are stranded here. I can’t imagine that would please your father,’ he commented wryly.

  ‘No,’ she agreed as he drew her by the hand out of the pavilion and guided her back down the stairs towards the little station. But secretly, she knew that now she had netted her ‘prince’, her father would be pleased about absolutely everything.

  When they arrived home, Bel disappeared immediately to her room while Gustavo spoke to her father. She sat tensely on the edge of her bed, shooing Gabriela away when she asked if she wished to change. She felt uncertain and ecstatic in equal measure.

  She pondered the reason for Gustavo’s decision to encourage her trip to Europe. Was it possible that he was secretly relieved to have an excuse to postpone their inevitable union, that he too felt unready for a hasty marriage? Perhaps, she mused, poor Gustavo had been subjected to the same pressure from his parents as she had from her father? But then, the look of affection in his eyes when he’d proposed had seemed so genuine . . .

  Her thoughts were interrupted as Gabriela came into her bedroom, a beaming smile on her fac
e. ‘It seems your father wishes for your presence downstairs. I have been told to serve the best champagne. Congratulations, senhorita. I hope that you will be happy and that Our Lady will bless you with many children.’

  ‘Thank you, Gabriela.’ Bel smiled at her as she left the room, then stepped lightly down the stairs and followed the sound of voices into the drawing room.

  ‘And here she is, the bride-to-be! Come, kiss your father, my princesa, and know that I have just given my blessing to your match.’

  ‘Thank you, Pai,’ Bel replied as he kissed her on both cheeks.

  ‘My Izabela, know that you have made me the happiest father in the world today.’

  ‘And me, the happiest man in Rio,’ Gustavo beamed.

  ‘Ah, here is your mother to share the news,’ Antonio added as Carla entered.

  The mutual congratulations continued as the champagne arrived and the four of them toasted Bel and Gustavo’s future health and happiness.

  ‘Mind you, I am concerned that you wish to send her thousands of miles away from you before you marry, senhor,’ said Antonio, a slight frown passing across his brow as he looked askance at Gustavo.

  ‘As I explained, Bel is still very young, and I believe a visit to Europe will not only enhance her maturity, but what she sees there will make our conversations far more stimulating when we are old and have run out of endearments for each other.’ Gustavo smiled and gave Bel gave a surreptitious wink.

  ‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ said Antonio. ‘But I suppose at least it means she will have access to the finest couturiers in Paris for the design of her wedding gown,’ he conceded.

  ‘Of course. And I’m sure she will look perfect in whatever she chooses. Now’ – Gustavo drained his champagne glass – ‘I must take my leave and tell my own parents the happy news. Not that they will be surprised,’ he said with a smile.

  ‘Of course. And before your fiancée leaves for Europe, we must throw an engagement party. Perhaps at the Copacabana Palace, where you first laid eyes on your wife-to-be.’ Antonio could hardly prevent himself from grinning from ear to ear. ‘And we will need to make an announcement in the social columns of all the newspapers,’ he added as he walked with Gustavo towards the front door.

  ‘I am happy to leave the arrangements to my bride’s family,’ he agreed. Then he reached for Bel’s hand and kissed it. ‘Goodnight, Izabela, and thank you for making me a very happy man.’

  Antonio waited until Gustavo’s car had driven away from the house, then, with a whoop of joy, he picked Bel up in his strong arms and swung her around, just as he had done when she was a little girl. ‘My princesa, you have done it! We have done it.’ He put Bel down, and then went to his wife and hugged her to him. ‘Are you not pleased too, Carla?’

  ‘Of course. As long as Bel is happy, then it’s wonderful news.’

  Antonio studied Carla for a few seconds and frowned. ‘Are you well, querida? You look pale.’

  ‘I have a headache, that is all. Now’ – Carla made an effort to smile – ‘I will go and tell Cook to prepare something special for dinner.’

  Bel followed her mother down the corridor to the kitchen, partly to escape from her father’s overwhelming euphoria.

  ‘Mãe, are you happy for me?’

  ‘Of course I’m happy, Izabela.’

  ‘And are you sure you’re feeling well?’

  ‘Yes, querida. Now you go up and put on a pretty gown for our celebration dinner.’

  17

  The next few weeks raced by as Bel and Gustavo’s engagement was well and truly celebrated in Rio society. Everyone who was anyone wanted to be part of the fairy tale – the nearest thing they had left to a crown prince and his beautiful wife-to-be.

  Antonio revelled in the invitations he and Carla began to receive to attend soirées and dinners at private houses, the doors of which had previously been closed to them.

  Bel had little time to think about her forthcoming trip to Europe, although the steamer passage had been booked and Madame Duchaine had been summoned to fit Bel for a wardrobe suitable to visit the great fashion capital of the Old World.

  Loen had at last returned from the fazenda, and Bel was anxious to know her opinion of Gustavo.

  ‘I think that from what I have seen of him, Senhorita Bel,’ she ventured as she helped Bel into her dress before dinner one evening, ‘he is an honourable man who will make you a good husband. And certainly the family name will bring many advantages. But . . .’ She stopped abruptly and shook her head. ‘No, it is not my place to say.’

  ‘Loen, please, you have known me since I was a child and there’s no one I trust more. You must tell me what you’re thinking.’

  ‘Then forgive me for reminding you, minha pequena,’ she replied, her expression softening, ‘but you said in your letters that you were very unsure about this engagement. And now that I have seen you together . . . well, I can tell that you are not in love with him. Does this not worry you?’

  ‘Mãe thinks that I will grow to love him. And besides, what choice do I have?’ said Bel, her eyes pleading for reassurance.

  ‘Then I’m sure your mother is right. Senhorita Bel, I . . .’ Loen looked suddenly uncertain.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I want to tell you something. When I was staying at the fazenda, I met someone. A man, I mean.’

  ‘Goodness, Loen!’ Bel was surprised. ‘Why have you said nothing before to me?’

  ‘I was shy, I suppose, and you’ve been so busy with your engagement, there hasn’t been the right moment.’

  ‘Who is he?’ Bel asked curiously.

  ‘Bruno Canterino, Fabiana and Sandro’s son,’ she confessed.

  Bel thought of the handsome young man who worked at the fazenda with his parents and smiled at Loen. ‘He’s very handsome and I can see you two will fit well together.’

  ‘I’ve known him since we were very young and we’ve always been friends. But this time, it became something more,’ Loen admitted.

  ‘Do you love him?’ questioned Bel.

  ‘Yes, and I miss him very much now that I’m back here in Rio. So, now we must finish getting you dressed or you will be late.’

  Bel stood silently as Loen helped her, knowing exactly why she’d spoken so honestly to her of her own love, but equally aware that the wheels were already set in motion for her marriage to Gustavo and there was nothing to be done.

  Bel was at least comforted by the fact that the more time she spent with Gustavo, the more he endeared himself to her. He was attentive to her slightest need and listened with interest to every sentence that dropped from her lips. His genuine happiness that she had agreed to marry him made it difficult not to warm to him.

  ‘If he is no longer a ferret, then he is like a puppy dog,’ laughed Maria Elisa when the two friends met at a charity gala in the Botanical Gardens. ‘At least you don’t dislike him any longer.’

  ‘No, I like him very much,’ said Bel, wanting to add that that was hardly the point. She was meant to love her intended.

  ‘And I can hardly believe he’s allowing you to come to Europe with my family. So many men in his position wouldn’t countenance it.’

  ‘It seems he wants the best for me,’ said Bel guardedly.

  ‘Yes, it seems he does. You’re a very lucky girl. You will return to him, won’t you?’ Maria Elisa eyed her. ‘This engagement isn’t just an excuse to get your own way over going to Europe, is it?’

  ‘What do you take me for?’ exploded Bel. ‘Of course I will! As I’ve just told you, I’ve become extremely fond of Gustavo.’

  ‘Good,’ Maria Elisa said staunchly, ‘because I don’t want to be the one to come back here and tell him his bride has run off with an Italian painter.’

  ‘Oh please, as if that would ever happen!’ Bel rolled her eyes.

  The day before Bel was due to leave on the steamer with the da Silva Costas and travel across the Atlantic to France, Gustavo came to Mansão da Princesa to say
goodbye to her. For once, her parents discreetly left them alone in the drawing room.

  ‘So, this is the last time we meet for many months.’ He smiled at her sadly. ‘I will miss you, Izabela.’

  ‘And I you, Gustavo,’ she replied. ‘I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to go.’

  ‘I simply want to make you happy. Now, I have something for you.’ Gustavo dipped into his pocket and drew out a leather pouch. As he opened it, Bel saw it contained a necklace. ‘This is for you,’ he said, as he handed it to her. ‘It’s a moonstone, and it is meant to offer protection to the wearer, especially if they are travelling across the sea and away from loved ones.’

  Bel looked at the delicate blueish-white stone, set in a circle of tiny diamonds. ‘I love it,’ she said with genuine enthusiasm. ‘Thank you, Gustavo.’

  ‘I chose it especially for you,’ he said, looking pleased at her reaction. ‘It’s not of much value, but I’m glad you like it.’

  ‘I do,’ she said, touched by his thoughtfulness. ‘Can you fasten it for me?’

  Gustavo did so, then reached his lips to her neck and kissed it. ‘Minha linda Izabela,’ he said admiringly. ‘It suits you well.’

  ‘I promise I’ll wear it every day.’

  ‘And write often?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Izabela, I . . .’ Suddenly his fingers tipped her chin to his and he kissed her on the lips for the very first time. Having never been kissed by any man before, Bel had long been curious as to what it would feel like. In the books she’d read, women normally went weak at the knees during the experience. Well, she thought as Gustavo’s tongue made its way inside her mouth and she struggled to fathom what to do with her own, her knees certainly didn’t feel weak. In fact, when he drew away from her, she decided it had not been unpleasant. It had simply been . . . nothing. Nothing at all.

  ‘Goodbye, darling Loen. Keep safe, won’t you?’ said Bel as she prepared to leave her bedroom and join her parents on the journey to the port.