But that did not make it necessary for him to spend time taking her out, or force him to kiss her, she protested silently. He was probably bored, and flirting with her, seeing how easily his charm enslaved her, was a mere amusement. If it had been more surely he would have mentioned he was going away. She recalled that sudden late night call. He could not have told her himself, and possibly it would have seemed too pointed to leave her a note. The thought cheered her momentarily. Perhaps he did care for her a little. He might not want to draw attention to their relationship before it was more definite.
Yet would it become more definite? Pippa realised suddenly that despite his kisses and compliments Juan had never breathed a word of love, or made the slightest reference to a future together. Her spirits plummeted again and she had difficulty in responding adequately to the others.
Fortunately Gene kept early hours and they soon left to drive home. Pippa went straight to bed, and so exhausted was she by the turmoil of her emotions that she fell into a deep sleep.
*
She worked hard on the following day, Friday, and still there was no word of Juan. It was difficult to believe she had been in Minorca for just a week, so much had happened. In the afternoon, when she was resting on a lounger chair on her bedroom balcony, Maria brought her a letter from England.
'You are not forgotten,' she said with a smile. 'Dinner will be early this evening, Luis is driving Mr and Mrs Finlay back to their yacht afterwards.'
'I hadn't realised they were going so soon.'
'They will return in a week or so. Mr Finlay does not care to leave it in the charge of his crew for too long at a time. He says they get slack. I think he enjoys returning unexpectedly to try to catch them out,' Maria said with a sniff.
On Saturday Gene tried to persuade Pippa to have the day off.
'You've been hard at it the last few days and should not work at the weekends in any case,' he said when he came into the study and found her typing.
'I am quite happy doing it, I find it interesting,' she replied truthfully, but she did not say she needed to keep herself occupied to prevent herself from brooding about Juan.
'Well, if you really want to. I must get down to reading it all or I'll never catch up with you,' Gene said with a laugh. 'I have done nothing with the Finlays here. They said how lucky I was to have found you,' he added, and rested his hand on her head. 'I know it too, my dear, there are very few like you.'
She turned slightly to smile up at him as he stood beside her, and then they both turned as the door to the study closed sharply. They had not heard it open.
Juan stood with his back to the door, observing them with a slightly sardonic gleam in his eyes.
'Do you never give Pippa some time off, Gene?' he asked lightly.
Pippa tried desperately to hide the delight she felt at seeing him so unexpectedly, while Gene laughed ruefully.
'I've just been trying to persuade her to relax. Perhaps you'll be more successful, Juan.'
He moved away to sit at his desk and Juan strolled over to the window. He wore tight fitting white jeans and a dark blue sweater. His hair was wind blown and Pippa realised he must have just returned on his boat.
'I hope so,' he was replying to Gene. 'It's Liz's barbecue tonight, Pippa, I was hoping you'd come with me. I came back early to go to it.'
Helplessly she found herself agreeing. She had not really liked the red-haired Liz, but to go anywhere with Juan would be better than the thought of him surrounded by beautiful, predatory females. She realised anew how much she had missed him during these past few days.
*
Later, in her room, she upbraided herself angrily. He had only to throw out a casual invitation and she leaped to meet it, eager as a puppy chasing a piece of string. Was she tied to him by such a piece of string, she wondered. Why was she so helpless, so utterly without a will of her own? She had not always been so feeble. She had not previously loved a man, she reminded herself. And then she knew it did not matter whether Juan was secretly laughing at her readiness to jump to his tune. She would make the most of his company, enjoy his attentions while she could for surely soon he would tire of her, and he would have to return to his Spanish estates and his American business some time so she would probably never see him again. She would not think of tomorrow.
She wore loose scarlet pants and a matching top that evening, and Juan abandoned formal evening attire for tight black trousers and a loose, wide sleeved open necked shirt of white embroidered silk. He had a wide emerald green cummerbund tied loosely about his waist and this emphasised his narrow hips and long legs.
The costume made him look especially Spanish, and Pippa thought that he might not have had any non-Spanish blood in him. His even white teeth gleamed in his tanned face, and he looked at the same time unbearably romantic and somehow dangerous. Vague thoughts of the bull ring and the Inquisition flashed through Pippa's mind and were as suddenly banished when he smiled and took her hand in his.
'We'll probably be very late, Gene, Liz's parties have a habit of lasting until dawn.'
'I know,' Gene said drily. 'I used to attend them myself a few years ago. Have a good time, Pippa. And stay in bed all day tomorrow if you feel like it. I've plenty to be going on with to catch up with you.'
*
Juan made no mention of where he had been for the past few days as they drove northwards towards the large house Liz owned on the opposite coast, nor did he explain why he had left so abruptly and not made any effort to tell Pippa when he would return. She carefully avoided all mention of it, paying a great deal of attention to the landscape, which was far more rugged here in the north than in the south of the island.
Liz's house was set on a low cliff, and the grounds sloped at the side towards a small beach. When they arrived they could see a fire already lit on the beach and dozens of people milling round it.
Liz was greeting her guests on a wide terrace which overlooked the beach.
'Hi there, Juan, glad you could make it after all. And Pat, isn't it?'
'Pippa Dawson,' Juan corrected. 'You always were hopeless with names, Liz. Where's Gerry?'
'On the beach. Darling, do me a favour, will you? He's being enticed by that little scrub Mandy, and only someone as devastating as you could pry her claws loose. I'll be down soon, but I might scratch her eyes out if I see her hanging on too tightly.'
Juan laughed, took two glasses from a tray a waiter offered to him, and led Pippa down a path with wide shallow steps at intervals, leading to the beach.
'Who is Gerry, her husband?' Pippa asked curiously.
'No, von Hauptmann vanished from the scene a year ago. Gerry is the next in line, if she can bring him to the point. I believe she's having some difficulty, he's been married a couple of times before and doesn't see why he should tie himself down again, especially when he can find plenty of admiration without marriage.'
He seemed to know everyone there and was clearly very popular, especially with the women. Some of them eyed Pippa curiously while others did their best to detach Juan from her side. To her immense gratitude he refused to be detached, and she began to enjoy the music, the dancing and the feasting.
They ate roast suckling pig, turkeys and steaks, all cooked over the huge fire. Baked potatoes, salads, and gallons of beer and wine and sangria were consumed, and huge baskets of fruit were placed strategically. Some of the guests had brought swim suits and plunged, with cries and shouts, into the cold sea. Most joined in the dancing, enjoying the music of several guitarists who played individually or in groups.
Pippa was sitting on the sand, waiting for Juan to fetch her more wine, when Liz dropped down beside her with a sigh.
'Whew. I'm hot. Where's Don Juan?'
'What did you call him?' Pippa asked in surprise.
'Oh, didn't you know? That's his nickname and I must say it's apt. I've never known a man with so many girl friends as Juan. Is he still seeing Sally-Jayne?'
Pippa gulped and tried to
keep her voice from betraying her distress.
'I wouldn't know,' she said casually. 'He saw her when she came to see Gene, naturally.'
And might have been with her in Majorca these past few days, she added bleakly to herself.
'Is Sally-Jayne still in touch with Gene?' Liz asked, clearly surprised. 'I thought she'd set her sights on Juan. After all, he's Gene's heir, and very rich already as well as being younger. A better proposition altogether. And Gene must be a millionaire several times over,' she added reflectively. 'His family were rich, they still own big engineering firms, and then he didn't waste his money from films as so many stars did, but invested it and made more. And he didn't have to pay alimony to his first two wives, they both died. He only pays Sally-Jayne. She must be praying he doesn't marry again,' she added, giving a crow of laughter.
'Gene, marry again? But - ' Pippa said in surprise.
'Oh, he's not too old, and although from all we hear he was the faithful husband, there were lots of girl friends in between marriages. Gene enjoyed women.'
Pippa silently admitted Liz was right. Still handsome, urbane and good company, Gene could well have considered marriage again if it were not for the fact he had so little time left to him.
But, kind and considerate as she had found him to be, she did not think he would ever try to persuade any woman to marry him knowing he had only a few more months to live.
At that moment Juan returned and Liz rose.
'Be seeing you. Don't keep Pat to yourself all evening, Juan, there are other men who'd like to get to know her,' she said over her shoulder as she wandered away.
*
'Tired?' Juan asked as he stretched full length beside Pippa.
'No-o,' she answered slowly. After what Liz had said she would have liked nothing better than to escape, but she had a strong suspicion Liz wanted her to do something like trying to persuade Juan to leave. She would not give the bitchy redhead that satisfaction, she determined suddenly, even if Liz had been right and Juan was flirting with his uncle's ex-wife.
Defiantly Pippa drank the wine he had brought to her, then demanded that they dance. When another man cut in she went with him willingly, waving to Juan who watched with a crooked smile on his lips and then seized another girl, whirling her into the mêlée.
Gradually the dancing became wilder, more frantic, and Pippa noticed several couples steal away into the shadows of the rocks at the foot of the cliff. She glimpsed Juan dancing close to a small blonde girl, his head bent so close to hers that he might have been kissing her, and flung herself with even greater abandon into the rhythmic swaying, laughing up into her own partner's face as though she had not a care in the world.
At last Juan, with a brief apology to her partner, came back and drew her apart. Silently they edged round the other dancers and then he pulled her out of the crush.
'I think we'd best vanish,' he said quietly. 'I haven't seen Liz for some time so we can't say our farewells.'
'I want to stay,' she protested, unwilling to let him think that she could be dictated to.
'You had much better not,' he said curtly. And then, 'You've had more than enough to drink, my dear.'
Shocked, Pippa suddenly realised why she was leaning so heavily against him so that he was almost carrying her up the path back to the house.
'I'm not drunk,' she protested, horrified.
'No, but you are merry and very tired. I'm taking you home. I've had enough too, as it happens. Liz's parties always get rather out of hand around now.'
Pippa nodded. 'I can walk on my own,' she stated and he released her abruptly. She walked slowly and carefully up the path and did not protest when he slipped his arm about her waist as they went across the terrace to where he had left the car. Sinking down into the luxurious seat Pippa sighed, leaned her head back, and promptly went to sleep.
*
She awoke some time later to feel Juan's lips gently caressing hers. Shaking herself she realised hazily that they were still in the car, which Juan had drawn off the road into a narrow track which led Into some pine woods.
'My sweet darling,' he whispered, a tremble of a laugh in his voice. 'Sleeping beauty, but we must talk before we get home.'
'I'm sorry, was I asleep? I was not tipsy!' Pippa said vehemently as she recalled the party. Juan laughed.
'No, my lovely little sleepyhead. But it's almost breakfast time and I wanted to ask you something before we got home.'
'Mm?' Pippa asked, still not fully awake. 'What is it?'
'It's about Gene, I'm worried. You heard that row he had with Sally-Jayne when you first arrived?'
'I couldn't help it,' Pippa said slowly, wondering what this was all leading to.
'You heard that Gene's doctors have given him only a few more months to live, a year at most?'
'Yes, I heard that. What is it? Are you telling me he has even less time?'
'No, no, in fact he might have more if he takes things easily. That is the point. He's working too hard. I want you to give up your job so that he does not feel obliged to work at his memoirs.'
'Give up my job?' Pippa exclaimed. 'But - you have no right to ask that of me!' she stormed angrily.
'Is it so important to you?'
'Yes, it is! I needed to prove I could keep myself, to have some self respect! What would happen if I gave it all up after only a week? And I don't believe that it is bad for Gene to work on his memoirs. He is interested and happy!'
'Darling, you don't understand, I want you to come to Spain with me. Pippa, my sweet, it has been such fun showing you this small island. There is so much more in my own country. I must go back soon and I thought that you could come too. Look, if it means so much to you I could provide you with a job too! You could continue to prove your independence to the folk back home and at the same time Gene would have to take it more easily without your support.'
'You just want to prevent Gene from publishing his memoirs!' Pippa suddenly blazed at him. 'Has Sally-Jayne put you up to this? I think you're despicable, trying to seduce me away from my job just to deprive Gene from his last few pleasures in life. Is that why you've been so attentive? Did you think yourself irresistible? Even if I had left that would not have served. Gene would have got someone else. Had you thought of that? But the extra bother would have made him more worried, caused him to take things less easily! Well, now I know how to value your kisses! I think you're treacherous! And I want to go home!' she finished with a gasp, holding back with a great effort the tears of angry frustration.
'Pippa, my dear,' Juan began, but Pippa interrupted him furiously.
'Don't you dare call me your dear! You have used me, tried to make me so pliable to your demands you think I'd desert Gene just when you whistle! Well you're wrong, I won't! Gene has been good to me, I owe him some loyalty even if you can't feel any. Now will you please take me home or do I have to walk?'
'As you wish,' Juan said abruptly, and with an angry gesture turned the ignition key.
He drove home in silence but there was a white line about his mouth, and his eyes were narrowed as he stared rigidly ahead. Beside him Pippa alternated between despair at the sudden ending of all she had imagined between them, and rage that he had treated her so badly with ulterior motives of preventing his uncle from carrying out his last design.
It must be Sally-Jayne's influence, she thought miserably. He must have been in Majorca with her these last few days. They must have plotted together to try and sabotage Gene's plans, and all the kisses and attentions had been directed towards that end. Pippa squirmed inwardly. What a fool Juan must have thought her. How he and Sally-Jayne must have laughed together as he told her how easily the unsophisticated Pippa had fallen, like a ripe apple, into his arms.
Her cheeks burned with angry humiliation. He had made her believe she loved him. She blinked back sudden tears. She did love him. An innate honesty forced her to admit that Juan had spoken no word of love. His actions may have given her that impression, but he ha
d said nothing she could interpret as love rather than flattery. Suddenly she remembered Frank, and she wondered if he had felt the same when she had rejected his love. Why, oh why did life have to be so complicated, she thought despairingly. She ought to hate Juan for what he had done to her, and although she despised him and would for ever be ashamed she had been so misled, she knew that she still loved him.
They drew up before the door of the Casa Blanca and Juan turned towards her.
'Pippa, my dear, it is not as you think,' he began, but she threw off the hand he had placed on her own as if he had stung her, and was already half out of the car.
'I know what to think,' she managed, and escaped through the door before her tears could no longer be restrained.
*
Chapter 7
When Pippa came down late the following morning Gene told her Juan had taken out his boat.
'You look tired. A sail would have been good for you,' he added, 'but Juan was up early.'
'I thought I'd like to visit the Cala Santa Galdana,' Pippa said, suddenly making up her mind. 'May I borrow the car?'
'Of course, any time.'
She set off after lunch and dawdled along trying to forget the fury and dismay she felt after last night. How could Juan go behind his uncle's back in so despicable a manner, trying to take away from the older man something he so desperately wanted to do?
She tried not to think how completely she had herself been fooled by Juan's kisses. Of course he felt nothing for her and must think her an utter fool. She was, she thought angrily, to have imagined for a moment that a man such as Juan would even look at her twice in the normal way.
She tried to take some interest in the scenery but it failed to charm her today. Even the descent into the Cala Santa Galdana, as the broad road swung down past steep cliffs and the almost circular bay appeared on her left, fringed with palms, did nothing to raise her spirits.
Question of Love Page 8