The kisses and the wine

by Violet Winspear

  I am Chano Velarde, at your service, señorita. I have just

  come from Madrid, and you have, perhaps, been told of me. 'I have, indeed, Senor Velarde.' Lise broke into a smile

  herself and held out a hand to him. am pleased to meet you, senor. I feel I know you already — from Ana.'

  He took her hand and his fingers were strong and yet so much gentler than Leandro's. I am delighted to meet you, señorita.' His eyes held a gleam of laughter looking into hers. had heard you spoken of once or twice, but I really began to believe that you must be a figment of Leandro's imagination; someone he invented in order to keep the Condesa at bay in her attempts to change him from a bachelor to a married man. But now I see that you are very real, and even prettier than the Conde led us all to believe. He would never tell me the exact colour of his novia's eyes, and I used to tease him by saying that the man who cannot recall the colour of his amigo's eyes is a man not truly in love. Now I see why he kept so many details to himself. He comes of a

  line who many years ago kept their women from the eyes of other men. They were the hidalgos who believed in the mirador, the enclosed balcony behind which only the veiled and mysterious shape of the lady could be glimpsed.'

  Lise gave a little laugh and gestured around the sala. 'I have just discovered the dash of the Moor in my — in Leandro. Isn't this a fascinating room? Rather like a museum to which each generation of the family has added its bit of history. Look at this lovely lacework, and these gorgeous fans and combs. And these miniatures and tiny boxes of jade and silver must be priceless. They take my breath away.'

  `What of the jewellery?' he asked. 'Don't you fancy wearing any of that?'

  `One would have to be statuesque, or weighed to the ground by its sheer luxuriance. Was that the idea, I wonder? To have the woman at the feet of her master?'

  `I should imagine that was very much the idea — in days gone by.' Chano spoke dryly, and yet with a note of meaning in his voice. think it might put your mind at rest if I say that I believe Leandro to be a trifle more emancipated in his views. The very fact that he has become engaged to a British girl would verify my belief. After all, the British do not go along with the idea of the enslaved woman, do they? Some of our business associates come from England and their wives seem free to do whatever pleases them.'

  `I don't think you are quite in accord with that idea.' Lise had noticed the slight hardening of his mouth, and the puckering of his dark brows, as if as a Latin he could never allow his own wife the freedom to flirt with other men. She knew instinctively that it was that aspect of the marital relationship to which he referred, and being English herself she well knew that it was no longer considered not quite the thing for married couples to stray outside the bonds of their wedlock. If a girl went to a party in England she was more likely

  to be propositioned by a married man than a single one. Chano would know of this, as he had visited England. And so would Leandro. It must therefore strike Chano and other people he knew as strange that he should introduce an English girl as his wife to be.

  She studied Chano and wondered if he knew about Franquista. Somehow she had the feeling that he didn't quite believe in Leandro's engagement to herself. But she also knew that he was loyal to the family and he would play the game, if Leandro wanted it that way. It might also suit him to do so . . . if he were attracted to Ana and had hopes of winning her for himself

  `Will you be staying at the castle, senor?' she asked, and interest in him and Ana brightened her eyes and brought a warm lilt to her voice. Suddenly it seemed important that at least one girl at the castle should find romance and happiness with a rather dashing man.

  `Yes, I am here for a few days to have some private talks to Leandro about the new factory we are thinking of opening just outside Malaga, where the chance of employment slackens off when the wine-making season is over. Now that so much machinery is used in the production of the wine, less and less people are required to do the manual labour, so Leandro thought it might be a good idea to start a factory there — but you don't wish to hear all this dry business talk!'

  `On the contrary, señor, I am most interested,' Lise assured him. 'It's nice to hear that the Conde is concerned for the welfare of poor people.'

  `He is not a selfish man, for all that he has grown up with privilege,' Chano said warmly. 'But all the same I should not really talk of this matter until it is settled. The Latin; señorita, is a little secretive because he is rather superstitious, and we believe that the Devil listens in to our

  schemes and our dreams, and so we throw him off the scent by talking of other things. Tell me, what do you think of the castillo?'

  `It is like something out of a fable,' she smiled. 'I never believed that such a place could exist in this day and age.'

  `Did not Leandro tell you about it, when you met in England?' There was again that slightly droll note in Chano's voice. But perhaps you imagined it as run-down and going to ruin, as so many Spanish castles, alas, are going through dwindling funds and high taxation.'

  `It would be a great pity if such a fabulous place was neglected, and then again the Condesa is so fond of it.' Lise spoke in a matter-of-fact voice, as if unaware that this close associate and friend of the Conde suspected a conspiracy aimed at keeping the Condesa from her matchmaking.

  `And what do you make of the matriarch?' he asked. 'She has a reputation for greatly alarming the timid, but I don't think you are a timid girl, eh?'

  `I hope not! I have now met the Condesa a couple of times and we have managed to get along quite well. She is still very fascinating, and 'she likes to talk about her youthful conquests and I like to listen. It must have been enormously romantic to be courted below a balcony, to the music of a guitar. She told me that one evening alone she collected seven different flowers from seven different men. Romance seems to have died out in my country, but here in Spain one seems to hear an echo of it, and to glimpse it in the flash of a girl's eyes over a fan.'

  `So you like Spain, señorita?'

  `Yes — very much.' For the first time Lise realized the total truth of those words. A love of this country had come alive in her heart, and though it would no longer be possible for her to work for Franquista when she left the castle and was free to continue with her normal life, there were other

  cities in Spain to which she could go in search of her own sort of work. Leandro had offered her money and she might accept it and open a small shop of her own. The prospect was quite exciting, and if the shop proved a success she would be able to pay back the money and be entirely independent.

  I understand that Ana is on one of her errands of mercy down in the village,' said Chano. I have my car and I wonder if you would care for a drive? We can pick up Ana and bring her back with us.'

  `I'd enjoy that very much, senor. I'll just go and powder my nose and meet you down in the forecourt.'

  'Don't forget un sombrero. My car is an open one, the sun is hot, and you are fair-skinned. I should not wish to give sunstroke to Leandro's girl.'

  `I'll be sure to fetch a hat.' Lise left him quickly, turning away before he saw the colour rise vividly to her cheekbones. In her room she changed into pale-coloured slacks and a pale-green shirt, and after powdering over the flush that lingered high on her cheeks, she snatched up the wide-brimmed straw hat, given to her the other day by Ana, and made her way downstairs. By the time she reached the car she looked cool and ready for a drive, and was rather taken with the shining petrol-blue colour of the smart little roadster.

  As if by mutual, unspoken consent neither of them mentioned the Conde again, and as the car made its smooth way down the winding cliff road, Lise caught a dazzling glimpse of the sea and said at once that she had been looking forward to a swim and perhaps Chano would persuade Ana to take time off from her self-imposed welfare work so that the three of them could enjoy, perhaps, a picnic on the beach.

  'Ana is a little earnest for a young girl,' he laughed softly.

  I have
never interfered because there was always the chance

  that — to put it frankly — she might be the next young condesa. But now I shall persuade her to relax while I am here. She must realize that I find her pretty, and there is time enough for a pretty girl to become a woman of cares and duties. I notice, señorita, that you have not yet taken up the basket and the bandage.'

  `Do call me Lise.' She laughed a little, and breathed the pure mountain air. 'I am on holiday, señor, and do my share of work when the holidays are at an end. I have an idea Ana gets rather bored. She is a much more maternal person than I am, and I am sure she thoroughly enjoys looking after some of those lovely Latin babies down in the village. There is a madonna quality about Ana. She will make some man a lovely wife.'

  And as if her words made a deep impression on Chano, he drove for some time in silence, and when they reached the stretch of road at the base of the mountains, Lise seated back to enjoy the countryside through which they sped. Here and there the sienna-coloured land was shaded by a great fig tree, a filigree of branches against a hot sky, where now and then a hawk circled with wide-spread wings, again a wild and lovely shape etched by sun and space. Now and again they passed a rambling cortijo, with high hedges of prickly pear to keep marauding wild game from the fruit orchards and the olive yards. The white walls of these farmhouses could be glimpsed beyond the hedges, and sometimes a shady old courtyard aflame with the dark blaze of geraniums.

  In sunlight these lonely farms were picturesque, but Lise wondered what it was like to be an occupant when a storm came down from the high sierras and the violet lightning flashed across the land. One could never forget that the mountains were there, powerful and brooding, like great monarchs of stone that watched the world below, and made

  the village seem toy like, cradled there in a swooping arc of rock.

  This was the first time Lise had been to the village, and so clear and golden was the light of the day that each small house seemed like a painting against the towering, multi-green frame of the mountains.

  Some walls were the colour of pomegranates, while others were crusted in leaf and undulant flowering vines, rising to red tiles laid in neat rows on the sloping roof. There was a Moorish sculpturing to doorways, in contrast to the carved golden cross above the white narrow steeple of the convent hospital, where Ana came to assist with the new babies, and the small children confined to the long white ward for a while.

  The most impressive part of the village was the miniature plaza, as gorgeously tiled as if in Madrid itself, set round with trees, and with a fine old fountain at its centre. The tang of rosemary hung on the air, and Lise was told by Chano that the local bakers used it in their ovens for fuel, for it grew so abundantly on the mountain slopes that great bundles of it were collected and brought in on the backs of donkeys.

  That heavy, tangy perfume hung on the afternoon air as Chano drove right through the village so he could park his car in the shade of an old Arab tower that lingered here from the days of Moorish occupation. The tower was of dark ruby stone, probably hacked out of the mountains and designed to linger, as the dark, oriental gleam lingered in the eyes of the people of El Serafin.

  When they left the car the two of them stood a moment, absorbing the lost-in-time beauty of the place. 'Yes,' murmured Chano, as if sensing her thoughts. 'Stone and granite was hauled up the Cliffside for the building of the castle, and probably many of the ancestors of these villagers did the

  work. Nothing of beauty comes without the toil of Men, and the imagination of women.'

  "The splendour falls on castle walls, And snowy summits old in story," ' quoted Lise. 'This place, and one's awareness of the castillo up there in the mountains, makes Tennyson come alive. I often felt that he couldn't have been thinking of an English castle when he wrote that poem.'

  I think,' said Chano, as they began to stroll towards the plaza, 'that certain of the English are very sensitive to our landscape, and even to our history. I think already that you feel drawn to El Serafin and its people. In many ways they live an old-fashioned life, and are content with it, and that is why Leandro, who is veritable liege lord of the place, refuses to allow a hotel to be built here. Tourists would expect gift shops, swimming pools, probably a funicular into the mountains, and in no time at all the people of El Serafin would be thinking only of the money to be made out of the visitors, and they would absorb some of the bored restlessness of these tourists and become discontented themselves. It is Leandro's business to consider the well-being of his people, and think how changed this delightful place would become if it were discovered by the holidaymakers.'

  The idea made Lise wince, for there was such grace to the old stone houses about the plaza, shaded by rose-flowered oleanders, and spike-shadowed palms. Morning glory trailed over the cloisters of the convent hospital, and when they entered under the archway, Lise caught her breath at the ripening apricot and plum trees, and the almost golden lustre of the tiles that inlaid the interior of the courtyard. A Judas tree had laced itself to another with velvety purple leaves, and there were tile-covered benches set beneath these trees which must have been as old as the convent itself.

  The white walls were sun-patched, and small square windows had green shutters to shade them, and rising above

  the building was the bell-tower itself, a lovely, graceful thing of open-sided arcades that would carry the sound of the bells all over the village and up the slopes of the cliffs.

  `This is the Convento de Vista del Sol,' said Chano 'The exterior has been kept as it always was, but Leandro has ensured that everything inside is up-to-date for the very best benefit of the patients. The good Sisters learn their nursing at one of the best hospitals in Madrid, and their chief surgeon is fortunately a man who cares more about country people than making a fortune among the rich, whose main ailment is very often over-indulgence. A man such as Leandro is saved from such a life by his many responsibilities, but his father before him was not quite so dutiful.'

  Chano shrugged and reached a hand to a cloak of tiny waxen white flowers that gave off a scent like honeysuckle. `It may have been because he married the wrong woman. There is no doubt that the right person in one's life can make all the difference. Bodies can be attracted, but it is also senorita essential that two souls are in accord. Do you not agree?'

  `It's a very profound question, senor. And a very demanding sort of love. I — I haven't really thought in those depths just yet.' Then she bit her lip, realizing how she gave herself away. 'Shall we go and look for Ana? Are we allowed into the hospital?'

  `Yes.' The look he gave her was rather grave, as if the atmosphere of the convent made it seem very wrong that she and Leandro might not be genuinely in love with each other.

  `Do we go this way?' She hastened towards one of the arched entrances and was acutely relieved when she saw Ana coming out into the sunshine.

  `I saw you both from a window!' Ana's eyes were shining, and for once her dark hair was loose about her face, as if she

  had been romping with some of the young patients. Lise had not yet seen her looking so young and happy. `Chano! How good to see you!'

  `How very good to see you, pequene! He caught at Ana's hands and carried them to his lips, and when the girl blushed like a rose, Lise knew for certain that she cared for Chano . . . had probably cared for him a long time, but had felt duty bound to have her life arranged by the Condesa.

  Lise smiled to herself, and forgot for a moment that wild, restless feeling of guilt which had swept over her. Well, if her presence at El Serafin achieved happiness for these two, then she need not feel too much of a fraud. Ana certainly looked as if the sun was shining from her eyes, and Chano was holding her hands as if he wished to carry her off there and then.

  `If you are finished here for the day, then we will drive you back to the castle,' he said. 'Do you know, Ana, if it is possible you are even prettier than when last I saw you. And so grown up!'

  `Gracias, Chano, for the compliment.
But my hair feels terribly untidy—'

  `It looks terribly nice like that,' Lise broke in. 'Young and carefree, and you must keep it that way instead of pulling it back in a severe knot. Don't you agree, Chano?'

  `I most certainly do agree. Now before driving back, as it is about four o'clock and the café on the plaza will be opening, shall we have some refreshments? And perhaps some of those delicious churros which are never so good in the city, being half burnt most of the time. Dios, city life is so fast and furious these days, and it really is good to get to the country where the air is fresh and alive, and the girls look as sweet as the fruit on the trees. Come! Let us go and feed our faces.'

  With eager steps they made their way to the plaza, where

  the café tables were shaded by parasols, and where the oleanders and palms threw their shadows on the polished tiles of the pavement. Other people were drifting in the same direction, and a tang of coffee stole from the open doorway of the café, as if beckoning to the passer-by.

  They sat down at a table for three, and at once the waiter came to take their order — iced tangerine cordial, and a plate of churros, golden and sugared and crunchy.

  Chano then leaned back in his cane chair and studied his two companions, so much a contrast to each other. Ana so raven-haired and clad in a garnet-red slipover, with a bishop-sleeved blouse underneath. And Lise bare-armed in a pale-green shirt, her slacks tapered to her long legs, her earlobes nude of tiny golden rings under her sunlit hair. Most Latin girls had these gold rings pierced into their earlobes at a very young age, and over the years it was possible for them to be interchanged with all kinds of hoops and drops, and buttons of pearl and turquoise and other jewels that looked stunning against the rich dark Latin hair.

  Lise saw Chano's eyes upon the tiny gold rings in the earlobes of Ana, and she knew exactly what he was thinking ... that he would love to put sparkling gems in their place.