Question of Love

by Oliver, Marina

  'Maria, you should be sitting down,' Pippa told her sternly but Maria laughed.

  'This is no effort and Ana does anything which needs two hands. We can't have Il Conde going without his spice cake, can we?'

  *

  'Il Conde? Is Juan back? Where is he, I had not heard him.'

  'He and that woman arrived a few minutes ago, they are upstairs unpacking.'

  Pippa's eyes widened. She had no doubt who 'that woman' was.

  'She is staying here?' she demanded. 'Does Mr Watson know?'

  'He does not,' Maria replied grimly, 'and I told Il Conde that I did not care whether she came with him or not, I would not have her upsetting him again. He has promised that she will keep out of the way and they will only be staying a few nights. Something about being on the way to Madrid and then America. Good riddance to her, I say.'

  'Did he know his uncle was ill?'

  'Yes, she told him, he said.'

  'Well, he's taken long enough getting here,' Pippa snapped, and turned to leave the kitchen. Suddenly she could not bear to talk to anyone. Sally-Jayne had said that she and Juan were to be married in a few days. Surely he would not have brought her here until his uncle was better if he had realised it was the argument with his ex-wife which had brought on Gene's attack? Perhaps they were already married, or on their way to be married in Madrid.

  She almost ran out of the house and down to the beach. Her eyes were so misted with tears she did not realise until she was almost at the jetty that Sally-Jayne and Juan were standing on it, looking down into the speedboat tied alongside.

  It was too late to turn back and so she blinked away her tears hurriedly and stood looking at them.

  'Well, well, the faithful companion,' Sally-Jayne sneered when she noticed Pippa's presence.

  'I came to ask you not to permit Gene to know you are here,' Pippa said in a tight little voice, addressing the other woman. 'He is very ill and it would worry him.'

  'You take a great deal on yourself issuing orders here!' Sally-Jayne said angrily. 'I shall do as I wish and if I want to see Gene you are certainly not going to stop me!'

  'The orders are from the doctor, for Gene to be kept absolutely quiet with no noise and no worries,' Pippa replied, hanging on to her temper by a mere thread.

  'Oh, the little watchdog now. Will you bite if I come too near? Do you want to preserve what you think you have won?'

  'You are talking nonsense,' Pippa snapped. 'I am concerned that Gene has the opportunity to get well, and I hope you will also make that your first concern,' she added curtly, turning to look at Juan for the first time.

  Her heart nearly burst. He was wearing a pale grey suit in the finest worsted material, a white shirt and a silvery grey tie. Just the sort of suit a man might wear to go on his honeymoon, Pippa thought dully. Sally-Jayne wore a pale grey dress edged with white lace, and white accessories. It was almost as though they had deliberately dressed to match. She thought wearily of the old jeans and plain tee-shirt she wore herself, and the contrast between her own simple attire and Sally-Jayne's elegance was almost more than she could bear. She scarcely listened to Juan's reply as he said sharply he thought he could be trusted to know what was best for his uncle.

  'Darling, can't you see, she's afraid,' Sally-Jayne purred, slipping an arm possessively through his. 'Afraid her neat little plot to make herself indispensible to Gene and then marry him when he is too ill to resist her will be spoilt. She must have had a fright when he collapsed, thinking it was too late and she had missed her chance to get all his money.'

  Pippa suddenly saw red.

  'You jealous bitch!' she shouted at Sally-Jayne. 'How dare you say such things when you did your best to kill Gene? You can't bend him to do what you want any more, and you are determined he shall have no more happiness! You are selfish and spoilt and wicked! I mean to see Gene's last few months are happy despite you!'

  *

  Turning suddenly she left them and ran for the house. Panting as she reached it, she looked round hurriedly for Luis, and was thankful to see him bending over the Seat, fiddling with something near one of the wheels.

  'Luis, please, come and help me to tell the nurse something,' she gasped, and taking his hand almost dragged him into the house.

  'Wait here, we must not disturb Gene,' she told the surprised Luis, and went quietly along the hall to Gene's room.

  He was asleep and the nurse was sitting quietly beside him reading. Pippa beckoned to her and she got up and left the room.

  'Luis, explain, please, that Sally-Jayne is here, that she caused Mr Watson's attack and must on no account be permitted into his room, and he must not know she is here!'

  Swiftly Luis translated and then smiled reassuringly at Pippa.

  'Do not worry, the nurse and I will make sure he is not disturbed. I will tell Il Conde it might be fatal for him to see her.'

  'I think it might,' Pippa said worriedly.

  'Don't worry,' he repeated. 'It is almost time to lay the table for dinner. Is your friend Mr Nightingale coming tonight?'

  'Dinner? I will not sit at the same table!' Pippa said vehemently.

  'Il Conde told me he is taking the other one out to dinner,' Luis said soothingly and Pippa breathed a sigh of relief.

  'Thank goodness. Yes, Mr Nightingale is coming. I'll go and change.'

  In a mood of defiance she dressed in the long gold and brown dress she had worn for her first date with Juan, and took special care with her hair and face, putting on more make-up than she normally used and drenching herself with her most expensive perfume. She was half way down the stairs when a sound from above caused her to look up.

  Juan, in evening dress, and Sally-Jayne in a figure-hugging white silk dress with deeply plunging neckline, were coming along the upper hall. Pippa turned and hurried down the stairs, feeling unable to face them. She went along the lower hall to stand outside Gene's room, and watched as the couple went out of the front door without a backward glance. As she heard the Mercedes being driven away she heaved a sigh of relief, and softly went in to make certain Gene was comfortable.

  'Hello, my dear. Are you going out with Juan? You look very pretty,' Gene said.

  'I - er - thank you, Gene,' Pippa said in confusion. So Juan had seen his uncle, but it was clear no one had mentioned Sally-Jayne's presence. 'How are you feeling now?'

  'Better, thank you, but sleepy. All the nurse does is feed me with sleeping pills,' he chuckled.

  'You need your rest. I'll leave you to sleep now. Good night, Gene.'

  She crept out of the room and went to the kitchen. Dinner was almost ready and Maria nodded to her reassuringly.

  'How do you feel, Maria?'

  'Tired, Miss Dawson, but otherwise all right. I shall go to bed when dinner is over. Ana can manage the washing up.'

  At that moment the bell rang and Pippa went out into the hall to admit David. He was carrying a large box of chocolates and a bunch of roses.

  'I bought you these,' he said with an unusual bashfulness, handing both box and flowers to her.

  'David, how kind!' Pippa exclaimed, and smiled brilliantly at him. After the past few days, and the blazing row with Sally-Jayne earlier, together with the nagging desire to know whether she and Juan were yet married, it was comforting to be cosseted like this. Luis brought a bowl and she arranged the roses while David drank a whisky. Then Luis announced dinner and they went through into the small breakfast room.

  *

  Somewhat to Pippa's surprise it was an excellent meal, and she thought wryly that Maria had more skill in managing Ana than she had shown herself. It would make her own life easier, though, and she could keep faith with Gene by carrying on his book.

  They lingered over coffee and then strolled into the garden, for it was a hot night and airless indoors. David was so sympathetic a companion that Pippa suddenly found herself pouring out all her anger and fears about Sally-Jayne's effect on Gene. Concealing her own love for Juan, which she knew had not c
hanged whatever he had done, and her fears that he was by now married to Sally-Jayne, she told David how the other woman had threatened to publish damaging and probably untrue accusations about Gene if he persisted in writing his memoirs.

  'Can you be sure all his recollections are truthful?' David asked.

  'No more than anyone's own view of matters,' Pippa said slowly, 'but she was so vindictive, and would have gloated if he had fallen dead at her feet! Gene has been the victim of so much malice and so many rumours. They have prevented him from reaching the top in his profession and he wants to tell his side of it all. It is all he has left, David.'

  'It's not your decision in any case, my darling. Come, let's walk down to the water and then I must go.'

  Later, as they returned to the house, David slipped his arm round Pippa's waist.

  'I shall be leaving Minorca a week tomorrow,' he told her. 'I shall miss you more than I'd have thought possible a few weeks ago.'

  'Leaving?' Pippa exclaimed in dismay. Without realising it she had come to rely on David's undemanding friendship and the thought of losing it now, just when she needed all the support she could find, was a great blow.

  'I'll be in Majorca for a month or so. I hope you will come and see me there, or I could come here for weekends if you feel you can't leave Mr Watson. And I'm hoping you'll come to England for a while before you finally go home.'

  'I don't know. I can't promise,' Pippa said slowly. 'I shall miss you too, David, and I'd like to see you again. Perhaps we could arrange something before you go next week? I should know more then, whether I could leave Gene for a day or so.' And I will have suffered the final parting from Juan, she added to herself.

  'Sweet Pippa,' David murmured and took her into his arms. She went unresistingly, and turned up her face for his kiss. He kissed her for a long moment and then, with a whispered promise to be with her the next evening, he went to his car.

  Pippa watched him drive away and then turned to go through the front door. She had her hand to her lips and her eyes half closed, recalling the very different emotions she had felt when Juan had kissed her, and she jumped in alarm when Juan's voice came out of the darkness.

  *

  'Have you twisted another poor sucker about your little finger now?' he asked harshly.

  'What - what do you mean?' Pippa demanded, astonished.

  'Don't play the innocent with me! It won't serve you any longer, I've at last come to realise what you are!'

  'Be quiet! You'll wake Gene!' Pippa hissed at him.

  'Gene! A fat lot you care for him despite all your protestations!'

  Pippa tried to push past him but he caught at her arm and held her in a cruelly tight grip.

  'Let me go, you're hurting me!'

  'Not until I've said what I have to say.'

  'Then say it in here where Gene won't be disturbed,' Pippa replied furiously, and turned towards the drawing room.

  Somewhat to her surprise Juan came with her willingly enough, and released her as soon as they were inside. He snapped on the light and stood leaning against the door, surveying her sardonically as she blinked in the brightness, absently rubbing her arms where his hands had gripped her so violently.

  'What is it?' she demanded coldly.

  'You are a little tramp!' Juan said slowly. 'First that boy in London, then me, now this fellow, and all the time you are making Gene think you the little innocent. Well it won't work. You'll not marry him!'

  'I'm not - ' Pippa began furiously, but he did not allow her to finish.

  'You go out with that poor fool while Gene is helpless. I know it is not in your contract to care for Gene, nor do you have any duty towards him while he is only your employer, but you might consider his feelings just a little. He cares for you, deluded as he is, and you have the nerve to claim you will make him happy! By heavens, you are a deceitful little whore!'

  'I care a great deal more for Gene than you appear to, bringing your wretched woman here with you!' Pippa flung back at him.

  Juan took a menacing step forwards and Pippa backed nervously away, puzzled and afraid of the look in his face.

  'Gene may get well enough to marry you, he may even recover his powers sufficiently to bed you!' Juan said through gritted teeth, 'but I'll make damned sure you'll regret it! How can a woman like you be satisfied with an old man? Does the money make up for it? How much do you want to leave him alone? Tell me what your price is and I'll pay it to you.'

  Enraged, Pippa suddenly struck out and caught him by surprise a glancing blow on the cheek.

  'If Gene wants me, I'll marry him!' she declared hardly aware of the sense of her words, but so inflamed by Juan's accusations she did not care what she said so long as she could hurt him as much as he was hurting her.

  'You'll regret it if you do,' Juan said, but so quietly Pippa scarcely heard him.

  He took another step towards her and she found herself backed against the arm of one of the chairs. When he grasped her by the shoulders she tried to wriggle free but could not evade his grip.

  'I'll show you what a real man is like,' he muttered, and Pippa felt a glow of sheer terror overwhelm her.

  As Juan bent towards her she tried to break away from him, but he bent her over the chair and in order not to lose her footing she clutched at his arm.

  Suddenly she found herself pulled into a close embrace and felt his breath on her cheek. Then as she opened her mouth to cry out in fear his lips came down on hers.

  She struggled but he held her powerless, and she could not even kick him because her legs were pressed hard against the side of the chair. His mouth was hard and she felt bruised, unable to breathe, and her senses were swimming. Suddenly she felt him relax and slowly, sensuously, his lips softened and moved gently against hers, then his mouth was against her throat while his hands, no longer holding her imprisoned, gripped her waist and his thumbs traced the line of her ribs.

  *

  For hours, it seemed to Pippa, they stood there embraced. She no longer wanted to scream or to escape him. Although she knew he was furiously angry with her, and she fully returned that anger, she had thought never to feel his lips on hers again, and the bitter sweet ecstasy of it reduced her to a quivering bundle of senses, without any will or volition of her own.

  She stiffened momentarily when he drew down the zipper of her dress, but he let his lips travel over her neck as he slid the gown from her shoulders, and she shivered as she clung even closer to him. The dress fell to the floor and she suddenly found herself swung up into his arms. He carried her swiftly across the room and laid her down on one of the huge, soft settees beside the fireplace. Then he knelt beside her and began, agonisingly slowly, to kiss her throat and neck, gradually moving nearer the swell of her breasts.

  Completely forgetful of what had led up to this Pippa was conscious only of the desire flooding through her body, and she moaned as his lips agonisingly tantalised her.

  'Juan, Juan, I love you! Juan, don't leave me.'

  Suddenly fearful he would move away she clung urgently to him, her arms about his neck, and sighed in satisfaction as he moved to lie beside her on the settee, twisting to enable their bodies to meet.

  As he kissed her again and again he held her close to him, one hand hard against her back while with the other he traced the line of her jaw and neck and shoulder. Her breasts were crushed against his chest and she was gazing into his eyes, pleading with him to satisfy the craving he had aroused in her when he suddenly gave a sigh and sat up, calmly pushing away her hands as they clung to him.

  'Juan,' she protested weakly, and then the realisation of what had almost happened flooded over her, and aghast at her own abandoned behaviour she turned her face into the back of the settee and tried to muffle her sobs in the cushions.

  'Pippa,' Juan began, but she shook off his hand from her shoulder, uttering a cry of loathing.

  'Go away!' she cried, but her voice was smothered by the cushions, and she knew only that his hand was no
longer there.

  Some time later she looked up to discover she was alone and Juan had switched off all except one small table lamp. Ashamed, she struggled into her dress again and made her way cautiously through the dark, sleeping house until she reached at last the security of her room, and crept miserably into bed to lie wakeful, castigating herself for her unprecedented behaviour and trying to suppress the wayward regret that Juan had left her when he had.

  *

  Chapter 10

  When Pippa went downstairs the next day she found to her relief that Juan had gone out in his boat and Sally-Jayne was having breakfast in her room. She drank several cups of strong coffee but could not eat anything. Then she went to see Gene.

  He was sitting up in bed looking much stronger and with more colour in his face. He looked at her with concern and abruptly turned to the nurse and dismissed her.

  'Pippa, my dear, what is wrong between you and Juan?' he asked bluntly.

  Pippa looked at him, startled.

  'Why - why, what should be wrong?' she parried. She was puzzled. Had he forgotten what Sally-Jayne had told him, that she and Juan were to marry? He must have done so to speak as he did. Perhaps it was for the best, but she would need to be cautious so that he was not reminded of it.

  'I claim the privilege of an old man, my dear, to interfere,' Gene went on firmly. 'It has been perfectly clear to me that Juan finds you attractive and I cannot blame him. I think you are a little in love with him too, and so it disturbed me when I heard you quarrelling last night. My door was open a little, I heard you in the hall and then some time later Juan went out and you went to bed, but your steps were so slow, so dejected, I thought, that it concerned me. Won't you confide in me?'

  'I - yes, I have enjoyed his company. Juan is a very pleasant companion, he is handsome and attractive,' Pippa said in a strangled voice. 'But it is nothing. I - he feels no more for me than - than a girl to flirt with! And he is going to America soon. It is all over, not that there was anything more than - friendship.'