I had news of my fiancé today.' She realised that
Jacques Bourchier was watching her closely and waiting for her to continue. Her fingers clutched her
wineglass more tightly, and she kept her eyes down-
cast, not wishing to reveal their naked misery. Sooner or later she would have to discuss Peter with someone, but not now. She was in no mood to talk about it tonight, and it was all she could do to hide the pertubation inside her.
Shrewdly Jacques did not force the issue.
' Do not worry, little one, but remember that a trouble shared is a trouble halved,' he said gently. Suddenly she struck him as more mature, wiser than that carefree girl who had laughed youthfully, clutching a doll in childish delight at the fair yesterday.
The dinner party was quite a success, despite the undercurrents created by Elvira. From time to time Coralie was sharply aware of Elvira's sardonic glance across the table. The Portuguese girl looked like a dark orchid tonight, thought Coralie, a perfect foil for the exquisite jewellery she wore, the diamond dusters round her throat and in her ears, matching the brilliance of her large dark eyes lighting up features that were almost too perfect.
Afterwards, Coralie could remember little of what she had eaten, so disquieting to her was the sight of Elvira and Ricardo talking so easily together. Yet for all his relaxed charm, there was a lone-wolf element about him. The talk turned to Jacques' work on his film.
' How much longer do you expect you will stay in Portugal?' Elvira gave the elegant Frenchman a dark glance, apparently full of meaning. His head was averted so that Coralie could not see his eyes, yet she had the distinct impression that Jacques was very much under the spell of this dark enchantress. She had gathered during the course of the conversation that the two had met before, when Elvira's husband was alive and they had been holidaying in the South of France. Before today, Coralie would have let the thought pass, but now, vulnerable as she was, she could not help wondering if the Portuguese beauty hadn't something to do with Jacques' assignment in Portugal. He sat thoughtfully for a moment flicking the ash from his cheroot before replying to Elvira's query.
' The answer to that rests entirely with Dom Ricardo.'
' Oh?' challenged Elvira. What is the use of knowing someone behind the scenes if one cannot—er—' a slight pause—' What does one say?'
Cash in on it.' Lord, how this wine loosened one's tongue I Even while Coralie was aghast at the audacity of her own remark, she experienced a ripple of delight at the sensation she had caused. Elvira's almond eyes widened in shocked surprise while Jacques shrugged in acute embarrassment, but it was as Coralie met the sustained glance of her Latin host, a little challenging but more amused, that her deepest feelings were rewarded.
' Monsieur Bourchier wishes to turn the Quinta into a studio while he invades our peace and privacy with his film unit,' Ricardo explained.
' And what,' he demanded suddenly, pinning her with his gaze, ' is your opinion, Miss Grey? You usually have an opinion about my decisions, I notice, although you do not always voice it.' His eagle eyes stabbed at Coralie as she desperately tried to hide her nervousness. Well?' His tone was almost belligerent. Are you in favour of our way of life and traditions being translated to the movie screen—it would without doubt cause a sensation, to see a crippled Carvalho turned movie star.' He gave a short cynical laugh and drained his wineglass. His cynicism hurt her so much she wanted to retaliate. He darted her a look in which a flame of sarcasm seemed to burn.
Anger swept through her like a storm. She would not be intimidated by him!
I would have thought that anyone who harbours such a pride in his heritage as you do, senhor, would be glad to have the opportunity to share with others something of the beauty and treasures of your lovely home especially through the medium of television.' She broke off momentarily, taut as a knife. Never had she been so aware of the tensions behind the three pairs of eyes watching her. Dom Ricardo's blazing eyes held an expression that made her feel like making
a bolt for the door before this conversation grew out of hand. Yet she must obey her own reckless impulse to show Elvira that she could hold her own.
' In my country many of the ancestral homes are open for the general public to view freely. At least you would be spared the wear and tear of endless pairs of muddy shoes upon your impeccably polished floors, and the ravages of litter upon your velvet lawns, not to mention the hue and cry of small children, heedless of warning notices telling them they must not touch your priceless ornaments,' she continued bravely.
Dom Ricardo's lips curled sardonically.
' This unfortunate state of affairs in your country has no counterpart in mine, Miss Grey. You paint a depressing picture of an uncivilised state of affairs in England.'
Temper stained her cheeks a deep pink as she flashed : ' We British are people of culture—not barbarians! ' She wanted to wipe the look of scornful amusement from his face—and she had succeeded. The tautening of hisjaw revealed his annoyance. Coralie swallowed hard. His eyes darkened as he replied:
Do not get so agitated, Miss Grey I hardly think it will be necessary to go to the extremes of selling the peace and privacy of my household to conform with your democratic ideals as to the role of a landowner in this modern society. I make no apology for our feudal affairs—neither do I see the need to assuage the curiosity of the eyes of the world for monetary gain,' he observed chillingly.
But, Ricardo,' Elvira exclaimed with a speculative glance, ' it would be so exciting to have Jacques film us!' The appeal in her brilliant eyes would have melted a heart of stone, thought Coralie, but Ricardo drew deeply on his cheroot, exhaling with deliberation.
Consider the subject dosed, ladies. I have no wish for further argument.'
Elvira compressed her shapely lips, but knew better than to pursue the matter in view of his present mood. She was no inexperienced girl to provoke his further
intimidation, Coralie thought bitterly, her face suffused with colour. Then as if satisfied by their silent reactions he transferred his attention to where Jacques was sitting in a brooding silence.
' We must not allow these two young ladies to become bored, monsieur?' he asserted, rapidly changing the topic of conversation.
I couldn't agree more,' said Jacques, evidently seizing his opportunity. He was regarding Dom Ricardo speculatively. What do you say to a little diversion from your work to help entertain your guests? You have neglected your duties as host too long.' His tone was dry.
Ricardo inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement.
You are right, of course, but I am a busy man, remember.' Elvira turned to him eagerly.
' Come, caro, you work too hard. Drag yourself away from your work for a little while. The busy planting time is over. You can afford to take a break. What do you say, Ricardo?'
Ricardo's face relaxed as he caught the eagerness in Elvira's tone.
Then what do you suggest? I accept that you're bored.'
Without further hesitation Elvira seized on her opportunity.
What do you say to us all spending a few days in Lisbon, with a run out to the coast from the city?'
He smiled at the rapt expression on her face. There was silence for a moment. Then, ' Perhaps it is not such a bad idea.' His lazy smile flicked slowly down the length of Elvira's lovely form. I have some business to attend to in Lisbon, so that for once I shall attempt to combine business with pleasure, if it will make you happy.'
Coralie experienced an unexpected twinge of excitement stir in her as she listened to the others discuss the arrangements for a long weekend in Lisbon, but she made her expression blank as she met the dark look of enquiry as Ricardo studied her face. He was
smiling sardonically and she turned from him impatiently. With typical arrogance he had assumed her to be included in the proposed party.
Dinner over, they carried their coffee out on to the patio which overlooked the darkened garden. The Portuguese night was too languo
rously beautiful to miss, thought Coralie, feeling slightly light-headed with the intoxicating aromas of the night-scented flowers. The wine-dark perfection of the night had a disturbing quality, and there was the pervading scent of orange leaves.
Even as her mind drowsed over these thoughts, she sensed a shadow fall across the light. She knew without a doubt that it was Ricardo. His lean, tanned profile blocked out the amber glow from the lamp, and hands thrust deep in his pockets, he was gazing with apparent unconcern into the night. Without turning towards her she sensed the quiet anger in his voice.
' Come and see the orange blossom, Coralie, it is too early to fall asleep.'
I—I wasn't asleep,' she said, her wide eyes startled at her name on his lips.
He glanced down at her briefly.
' Homesick?'
A little,' she replied evenly.
' Come along.' There was a hint of impatience in his tone. As he led the way out into the dark garden, Coralie cast a quick glance to where Elvira, looking exquisite and animated, was deep in conversation with Jacques, his open admiration of her charm evident in his appraising eyes.
They walked in silence through the length of the gardens, breathing in the cooling wind from the sea.
' The mountains seem remarkably close in the moonlight.' He half turned to her as though he had just remembered she was there.
' One could almost reach out and touch them,' she murmured, catching her breath in sheer wonderment. He did not answer. But you didn't bring me out here to discuss the scenery, senhor.' She searched his profile for the annoyance he must still be feeling after her
rudeness at dinner. ' Tell me, what have I done wrong this time?'
His gaze dropped to the moon-gilt head near his shoulder, and as their eyes met, a frightened tenseness gripped her. Her eyes wide with apprehension, she shrank from the anger that glittered in his gaze. Now that he had her to himself, was he about to catechise her concerning the unfortunate events of the morning that had led to his badly torn shoulder? What else could be the reason for those hard, grim features turned upon her with distaste?
' I—I said I was sorry to have been the cause of your injury. Her voice shook and the words stuck in her throat as he regarded her with a look of scorn.
Forget my injury.' He bit off the words. Your foolish behaviour of this morning has led to greater mischief than a gored shoulder,' he rasped.
I—d—don't understand, senhor. What have I done?' She flinched at his expression as from a physical blow.
' Why did you tell Rafael that you and I spent the night together in an hotel in Lisbon?'
A strangled cry escaped her. So that was it! Rafael had retaliated to his cousin's high-handed admonishment this morning by hitting back with a blow below the belt, as it were. Coralie closed her eyes as the sickening realisation of Rafael's treachery rushed upon her. She saw again that insolent smile of his thin, evil lips; the ruthless venom in his eyes, and she recalled his words, ' A man of such intense pride as Ricardo Casimiro Carvalho should handle his affairs with more discretion.' Her eyes flew open— ' His affairs! ' Surely Ricardo could not believe her guilty of such deception as to tell Rafael such a dangerous piece of information.
What did you hope to gain by telling my cousin that I had compromised you?' The cold rhetoric of his tone assured her that he believed her to be a liar and a fortune-hunter. She trembled with the sickening knowledge that she could not deny his accusation. He had already chosen to believe Rafael's distorted truth.
Please, senhor, you must let me explain—' her heart bled at his cruel injustice to her.
' In view of your apparent flair for fabrication, you will not blame me if I refuse to listen.' The derisive curl to his lip, and the animosity in his eyes, made her gasp with humiliation, yet a perverse stab of anger goaded her to retort :
' Nothing that I can say will convince you that Rafael is using me to blackmail you—to tarnish your code of honour. You should have thought of that possibility when you insisted upon being chivalrous that day in Lisbon—this is no time for regrets.' She flung at him, and saw his lips tighten as she went on recklessly. ' " Oh, what a tangled web we weave "—or so said Robert Burns. You must deal with this strait-laced family of yours in your own inimitable way, senhor, as I am sure you are more than capable of doing.' With a tremulous sigh, frustration rapidly taking the place of self-pity, she said:
' I will go and pack my things now—and leave you to your self-respect,' she added on a note of sarcasm.
He remained surprisingly silent, his physical proximity forcing her to remain where she was, but the very quality of his silence was a blade in her heart.
' Sarcasm doesn't suit you.' His words lashed at her like whipcord.
' I—I'm sorry if—if any of this unsavoury scandal mars your relationship with Elvira.' Coralie's voice became a whisper in the dark. Something had electrified the air between them, and instinctively she moved away from the dark strength of the man silhouetted against the moonlight. Yet, grim and silent as he stood, she knew that she loved him as well as feared him. She hadn't realised how daily proximity had heightened her feelings for him, and now she had surely lost any respect he might have had for her.
His voice smote determinedly upon the stillness.
' You have not answered my question.'
What question?' Her eyes held a guarded look as they searched his unrelenting features.
' Exactly what did you hope to gain by revealing the
incident to Rafael who, as you so shrewdly guessed, is out to make mischief for my family.' The contempt in his tone incensed her to flare up at him. Her small chin raised defensively, she retorted, uncaring of the harsh line to his mouth :
' If you expect me to say that I hoped to ensnare you into marriage when things didn't turn out to plan with my fiancé, then you couldn't be more mistaken, senhor.' Her voice low and vibrant with emotion, she went on, ' Despite the fact that you believe me to be an out-and-out adventuress—I--I wouldn't marry you, Dom Ricardo Casimiro Carvalho, if you were the last
man on earth!'
' I wouldn't be too sure of that,' he clipped. His reply came swift and unexpected, so that she only just controlled a gasp of astonishment. Her eyes flew in stunned disbelief to his. They were serious and unrelenting, smouldering through the darkness.
' What do you mean?' The words broke from her in dismay. He was gazing at the slender figure swathed in starlight, her hair hung laced with moonbeams about her shoulders.
' Rafael has distorted the truth about our spending a night together in an hotel, prior to your arrival at the Quinta das Torres. We have no proof to the contrary and this ugly rumour could well destroy a whole tradition of family pride in the name of Carvalho.'
' Do you think of nothing but pride !' She flung back alarmed at this unsuspecting turn of events, but the words died away on her lips at his look of unsheathed savagery.
' I am thinking also of your reputation, you little fool I Because rightly or wrongly, I believed in your integrity when first we met.' She recoiled at the violence in his tone. ' That your indiscretion. in disclosing our affairs to my cousin Rafael has led to our present predicament does not alter the fact that it requires drastic steps to save us both from degradation.' His words struck like a dagger in her heart.
' But we did no wrong.' Her voice was a mere, whisper. She sensed his mockery through the darkness that
enclosed them.
You, child, would you have felt any better about present circumstances if I had made love to you in that Lisbon hotel?'
Coralie felt that he must surely have sensed her agony of embarrassment at his words, even though the darkness hid the flush that stole over her whole body.
I—I would never have let you,' she gasped.
His mouth twisted cynically.
' How foolish you are, to believe that you could have stopped me ! '
Coralie caught her lip between her teeth at the directness of his words, implying that h
e had not found her sufficiently attractive to wish to seduce her on that fateful night.
' People will never believe such rumours.' Despair had crept into her voice.
For the first time the ghost of a smile quirked the corners of his mouth.
I am sorry, Miss Grey, but one cannot expect them to believe that along with my vast heritage, I was also endowed with saintly virtues where an attractive young girl is concerned.'
Coralie turned away to hide the tell-tale shimmer of tears in her eyes.
' Haven't you anything to say?' he demanded unmercifully.
Her voice almost choked on a sob. ' I wish I'd never come to Portugal—I—I'll go back home—' Her words trailed off as she felt fingers of iron beneath her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his.
' You would go back to England and leave me to live down a scandal which could affect the lives of every local family whose livelihood stands or falls by the integrity of their tatrao?' His tone held incredulity. ' They need to believe in my unsullied honour, just as much as I need their allegiance to hold together a way of life whose very survival depends upon mutual trust and unbroken faith. You and I are both victims of unreasonable jealousy, and marriage is an uncompromising challenge to us both, but it is the only way to
stop the venom spreading and so destroying an established way of life here in Pera.'
' But what will a marriage of convenience do for this ideal of yours?' Her lips uttered the words stiffly, and she felt a slight dizziness as if the vinho verde still drugged her senses, yet she was intensely aware of the scent of orange-blossom, and thought ironically how it symbolised the marriage of a love match in her own country.
' I can imagine how the very idea of an arranged marriage appals the romanticism in your very English heart, but you must remember that marriages by arrangement are the foundation stone of our Portuguese society, and prove almost invariably to be the happiest.' He paused as if to let his words take effect. ' Anyhow, who but ourselves is to know the arrangement of our private lives?' There was no doubting the note of determination in his voice, and Coralie gave a little shudder of disbelief at the cold-blooded nature of his proposal. He made no pretence of any affection towards her. As if he had read her thoughts he said icily,
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