Question of Love

by Oliver, Marina

  They sailed south for some time away from the land, and Pippa caught glimpses of hotels set amongst trees at the few resorts visible in this corner of the island. A few villas perched on the tops of the cliffs and to the west the tower of the Cape d'Artruch lighthouse was just discernible in the slight haze.

  Juan was clearly an expert sailor and Pippa sat dreamily, content to watch him as he talked about the coastline, the many raids that had taken place during earlier times, and the numerous ancient remains to be found all over the island.

  'Are you interested in archeological finds?' he asked, and Pippa suddenly thought of the man she had sat beside in the plane, David Nightingale. Only a few days since, it seemed a lifetime ago and she had barely given him a thought.

  'I went to see Stonehenge while I was in England. I cannot imagine how primitive people without tools raised the cross stones.'

  'We have similar monuments in Minorca but they are in the form of a letter T, with a single upright and a stone balanced on top. They are called taulas, they occur only here and no one knows the purpose of them. Shall we go and see some? There are several good examples.'

  'I would like that.'

  He seemed to have given up the idea of going to the States, Pippa thought, her spirits rising magically, and she chatted eagerly of the places she had visited in England while Juan steered the boat towards a small cove slightly to the west of Gene's house.

  There was a flat rock to one side of the small beach at just the right height out of the water to form a natural jetty, and even an outjutting spur to provide somewhere to tie the rope.

  'This beach is completely inaccessible from the land, except possibly to mountaineers,' Juan explained. 'A perfect place for a picnic. Maria packed the food for me this morning.'

  He helped Pippa scramble out onto the rock and handed up to her a small wicker basket. She carried it along the rocks to the sand and he followed with a huge beach towel which he spread out in the centre of the small cove.

  'Shall we swim first?' he asked, and as Pippa nodded he quickly slipped off his jeans and shirt, under which he was wearing a brief pair of black swimming trunks. Pippa, who had put on a bright green bikini when she changed after work, also took off her upper clothes and Juan grinned boyishly.

  'Race you to the rocks over there,' he challenged, and they ran splashing into the water and struck out for the rocks at the far side of the bay from the landing place, where some flat rocks sloped down into the sea.

  Juan reached them first and scrambled out. Pippa shivered, but not at the water temperature, for today it was much warmer. His slim body had not an ounce of spare flesh, yet his shoulders were broad, and his muscles demonstrated he was in perfect condition. His hair was partially covering his face and he shook it back out of his eyes and sat on the rocks, leaning back on one elbow as he watched Pippa swim the last few yards.

  *

  'Come up here,' he said lazily and she climbed up beside him. The rocks were warm and smooth and Juan lay back, his head pillowed on his arms. 'Why should a girl like you wish to bury herself on a small, peaceful island?' he asked softly. 'What are the men in California and London like that they permit it?'

  'I - wanted to prove to my father I could get a job on my own and support myself,' Pippa replied slowly.

  'And the young man who was annoying you in the hotel? Had he anything to do with this decision?'

  'He - his father is my father's partner. Frank is going to join the firm when he has completed the course he is doing in London. He - was trying to persuade me not to take the job,' Pippa explained hastily.

  'A cautious man,' Juan said, reaching out and taking Pippa's hand in his. A tremor ran through her as he linked his fingers with hers. 'Did he hope to marry you?'

  'Our fathers wanted it,' Pippa admitted.

  'And you did not. Wise child. He was not right for you. He could not love you as you were intended to be loved.'

  He smiled, staring into her eyes, and Pippa could not look away. Just as she thought she would lose her senses he suddenly sat up, leaned across and took her face between both of his hands.

  'You must make no hasty choices, little Pippa. Think well before you commit yourself. Now, let us see what Maria has packed for us.'

  Before Pippa could reply he dived cleanly into the water and was pulling towards the beach with long, powerful strokes. By the time she followed he was laying out on the towel some cold legs of chickens, hard boiled eggs, and huge fleshy tomatoes. He opened a bottle of wine and poured out a tumblerful which he handed to Pippa.

  'To your happiness,' he said and poured another glass, holding it up to the light before drinking deeply.

  When they had finished the salad he unwrapped some of Maria's special fruit cake, a spicy, sticky confection, and carefully divided it into two.

  'I shall not be able to eat dinner,' Pippa said with a laugh, but as she had already discovered the excellence of the cake she willingly took the slice he offered her.

  'My parents died when I was ten,' he said abruptly. 'I spent a great deal of time with Gene during school holidays and Maria always made me this cake. If she had not been in California most of the time, I swear I would have run away from school on more than one occasion simply to gorge myself on this cake.'

  Pippa felt a pang of sorrow. Poor little boy, she thought tenderly. Maria must have mothered him, too, as well as providing culinary delights. She swallowed the last few crumbs and grimaced at her sticky fingers. Then Juan reached across and took her hand in his.

  He lifted Pippa's hands towards his mouth and gently ran his tongue across them. The quiver of ecstasy shot up her arm and suffused all over her body in a tingling glow. Slowly, savouring every moment, Juan kissed the palms of her hands and when he drew her towards him she went unresisting.

  For an agonisingly long minute he held her by the shoulders, his face a few inches from hers, and looked deep into her eyes. She stared back as though mesmerised, her lips parted slightly, breath suspended, and then exhaled as he slid his hands across her back and touched her lips with his own.

  His kiss was brief and gentle, his lips playing over hers without force or violence, but Pippa understood the controlled passion behind it and responded as she had never done to the breathless, fierce embraces Frank or some of her other dates had pressed upon her. She felt as though fires had been lit inside her and her head was full of shooting stars, while time and the external world ceased to matter. Nothing of importance existed beyond this small Spanish cove. This, she told herself with a feeling of exhilaration such as she had never before experienced, must be love.

  *

  Chapter 5

  The remainder of the time spent in the cove was devoted to talking about Pippa's life in California, Juan's estates in Spain and his American business, and comparing notes about the places both had visited in England.

  Apart from mentioning he had been educated in England Juan spoke little of his childhood, and recalling his reference to the loss of his parents Pippa guessed the topic was painful for him.

  'We should be starting back,' Juan said at last, beginning to collect together the remains of their picnic. Pippa gathered the glasses and wrapped them in a napkin, then as she went to place them in the basket her hands touched Juan's. He took them in his and suddenly, with a suppressed murmur, pulled her tightly into his arms, and it was some time later before they could tear themselves apart and reluctantly begin the short journey back to Casa Blanca.

  The wind was against them and they moored the catamaran in the bay with only just enough time to change quickly for dinner. Pippa chose a softly pleated dress in a misty grey-blue colour, white shoes and a rope of blue and white beads which she twisted into a knot while she went down the stairs.

  Juan was already there, impeccably dressed as he always was in the evenings in formal dinner suit and an exquisitely embroidered dress shirt. He poured the sherry and brought it across to her immediately, smiling intimately as he looked deep into h
er eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment the door opened and Gene came in.

  'Oh, Juan, there was a message from Meissen. It sounded urgent and he asked particularly if you could ring him tonight.'

  Juan nodded. 'The Brazilian contract, I suppose. There was a hitch delaying signing. I'll arrange a call now for after dinner, if you'll excuse me.'

  Dinner was announced when he returned, and afterwards he was closeted in his room dealing with his call, only rejoining Pippa and Gene as the latter was saying goodnight.

  'Was it settled?' Gene asked.

  'I think so but he wants to keep in touch. Pippa, if he rings early tomorrow and I can get away, shall we go and explore some of those taulas tomorrow afternoon?'

  'I'd love to if Gene can spare me.'

  'You're doing well, my dear, and you did work at the weekend as soon as you arrived. Of course I can spare you. Now I'll say goodnight.'

  He smiled at them both and went out and Juan crossed the room to Pippa.

  Placing his hands on either side of her face he drew her towards him and slowly, lingeringly, kissed her lips.

  'Sleep well, little one.'

  *

  Good advice, but impossible to obey, Pippa thought some time later as she lay wide awake in bed, counting the stars she could see through her open window. Her body still thrilled from Juan's kisses, and she was too deliriously happy in her newly discovered love to want to embrace the forgetfulness of sleep.

  Even when sleep eventually came it was shot through with dreams of Juan, his tanned lithe body, his thin but strong hands, so firm and yet when they held her so gentle.

  Juan had almost finished breakfast when Pippa, wearing jeans and a loose blouson top in pale blue cotton, sprigged with tiny white sprays of flowers, entered the breakfast room. He smiled across at her, his eyes crinkling and his lips forming the faintest suggestion of a kiss before he turned back to reply to a question Gene had asked.

  'No, I don't think so, they can manage perfectly well without me.'

  'Good. Pippa, my dear, I have some old friends coming for dinner tonight. They're staying at Mahon for a few days in their yacht. Juan suggests that after he has shown you the Torre d'en Gaumes this afternoon you both go into Mahon to fetch my friends.'

  'We shall already be at the eastern end of the island, and I can show Pippa some of the new developments as well as bronze age villages,' Juan said. 'If you agree, that is?' he turned politely to Pippa.

  'Of course, I'd love to go. I saw nothing of Mahon coming here since the airport is well out of the town.'

  'Then if you'll excuse me, Pippa, I've letters to write this morning.'

  'That reminds me,' Gene said as Juan strolled out of the room, 'I was feeling energetic yesterday afternoon and so I dictated a few letters. They're on the tape already in the machine. I'd be grateful if you could do them for me this morning, Pippa.'

  'Of course. Did I set out the accounts as you wanted them yesterday? Juan helped me to find the right keys,' she added quickly, burying her face in the coffee cup to hide her tell-tale blush as she recalled the kiss he had given her then.

  'I haven't looked at them yet. I'll do that while you do the letters, and then we'll go over them.'

  The letters were brief and unimportant. It seemed as though Gene had been clearing up a variety of uninteresting items of correspondence, and Pippa soon had a small pile of typed letters awaiting his signature. She had just switched on the tape recorder for the next one when Maria brought in her coffee.

  'It's a lovely day again, miss,' Maria said as she put the tray on a small table.

  'It always seems lovely here,' Pippa replied.

  'Oh, there can be storms, and the wind is strong at times,' Maria shrugged. 'Mr Watson said please to excuse him but he wishes to finish something before he joins you, he is having coffee in the drawing room.'

  Pippa nodded and poured herself a cup of the fragrant beverage. Then she looked round, startled, as the sound of a piano came to her. So far as she knew, there was none in the house.

  After a moment a woman's voice, speaking in Spanish, came to her and then a short burst of orchestral music. Pippa laughed in relief and went to switch off the tape recorder. Clearly it had been left running in the same way as she had forgotten it and had picked up part of a radio programme. While she had her coffee she went quickly through the rest of the tape to ensure that there were no more letters dictated, but it was obvious that Gene had merely forgotten to switch it off. He seemed to have turned on the radio for a while, then Luis came in to remind him it was time to change for dinner, and then silence until the tape finished.

  Some time later, as Pippa was transcribing another tape of Gene's early reminiscences, he came into the room.

  'These are fine, just as I wanted them. Have you enough to do? I want to go into Cuidadela with Luis before lunch.'

  'Would you like to take in your letters? I've finished them.'

  'Oh, yes, I can read them in the car. Will you ring this number for me in London and ask the manager to send me this list of books as soon as possible. I need them for references, I've decided.'

  Pippa took the list and as Gene disappeared through the door she moved to pick up the telephone receiver.

  *

  'How boring it is here at Formentor!' a woman's voice said peevishly.

  'It's not for much longer, Sally-Jayne,' Juan replied, and Pippa was so startled she stood holding the receiver to her ear. Why was Juan telephoning Gene's ex-wife, she wondered.

  'Too long!' Sally-Jayne replied. 'Surely you can hurry things up, darling!'

  'Leave the details to me, that's my job and I'll - ' Pippa heard before she hastily replaced the receiver on its rest, becoming guiltily conscious that she was listening to a private conversation. Juan had a telephone extension in his room and must have telephoned Sally-Jayne from there. It could not have been Sally-Jayne calling him because Pippa would have heard the bell ringing.

  Formentor, that was on Majorca, Pippa suddenly thought, and went to look at a small map of the Balearic Islands hanging on the wall. Yes, Cape Formentor, the northerly spike on the larger island, pointing towards Minorca and one of the nearest places to it. She recollected hearing there was also an hotel there, a rather exclusive hotel with private beaches and large grounds, just the sort of hotel Sally-Jayne would stay in.

  So she was still in Majorca and Juan for some reason was in touch with her.

  It's none of my business, Pippa told herself angrily, and went back to typing Gene's account of his first marriage when he had been very young and just beginning to get known in Hollywood.

  She remembered to put through the call an hour later just before lunch, and as she finished Luis came in to tell her the meal was served.

  Juan seemed preoccupied, making mechanical conversation, but he threw off his abstraction when they were drinking coffee on the patio, and began to explain to Pippa the various prehistoric remains to be seen on the island.

  'There are three talayots in the Torre Wen Gaumes, which is a small settlement on high ground. The talayots are towers, but no one is certain what they were used for. They might have been lookout towers, or storehouses, but not all of them have inner rooms. There are no others known anywhere else in the world.'

  'Were they burial chambers?' Pippa asked, intrigued.

  'No human remains have ever been found near them so it is unlikely. Have you finished coffee? Then let's be off and Gene can go and rest.'

  *

  Soon they were driving towards Mahon. Juan pointed out places of interest as they went, and Pippa, the breeze ruffling her curls as the powerful open-topped car ran smoothly along, studied Juan's face.

  His profile was clear cut and incredibly handsome, she told herself for the hundredth time. She had been typing accounts of some of the romantic roles Gene had played in his youth, and although Gene had been and still was handsome, Pippa considered that Juan would have been an irresistible heart throb if he had been
a film actor.

  'We must visit the Sanctuary at Mount Toro one day. There is a magnificent view from the top. But not today. I'm going south from Alayor.'

  He drove through narrow twisting lanes for a while, and then along a straight road which ended near a farmhouse at a gateway in a stone wall.

  'Here we are'

  Pippa looked round her in surprise. 'Is this the village?'

  She could see little apart from grassy mounds within the encircling walls, and a small ancient car parked close to what looked like a heap of stones a farmer had piled up after clearing his fields.

  'What did you expect?' Juan asked, amused.

  He took Pippa's hand as they set off along the road, and she began to realise the heaps of stones were in fact small circular rooms, and the larger talayots came into view further round the site.

  'Couldn't they have been burial chambers?' Pippa asked.

  'There were navetas which seemed to be tombs. The name comes from the shape, like an overturned boat. We can see one near Cuidadela which is in good condition.'

  They walked on, and round a corner as the road dropped sharply they came across the driver of the other car who was busy taking pictures of the talayot. He looked up as he heard their voices and exclaimed in surprise.

  'Hi there! Remember me? David Nightingale.'

  Pippa smiled, pleased to have met the young man from the plane again.

  'Hello. I met David on the plane to Mahon,' she explained. 'This is Conte Juan y Correa, David, my employer's nephew.'

  The men shook hands and although Juan appeared to be perfectly friendly, Pippa sensed a reserve in his manner as he talked to David, asking him about his work.

  'How long do you plan to stay here?' he asked eventually.

  'Another month or so, I think, and then I'll move on to Majorca. Look me up sometime, Pippa, you know where I'm staying.'

  He looked at Juan as he spoke, but if he hoped for an invitation he was disappointed. Juan remained silent and Pippa could hardly issue an invitation on her own.