'Nice little buggy,' commented Judith as she got out. 'Your get-away vehicle I presume.' She smiled at Rafael in greeting and gave the Morris a pat on its boot. 'What an incongruous pair!'
He laughed and took charge of her suitcase and parcel of books, locking the garage door and pocketing the key. 'Your little car has character, Judith.'
'You mean it's an old banger,' she retorted. 'And it's Honor's, not mine.'
Rafael ushered her into the house, locking the kitchen door behind him before going ahead of her through the hall and up the stairs. Judith followed the tall, powerful figure up to the landing, casting an eye round the various doors leading off it as Rafael stopped, turning to look at her with a smile in his eyes that showed he knew very well she was wondering about sleeping arrangements. He put her suitcase down and waved an arm around him.
'Three bedrooms at the front, two at the back, one of which is mine. You may choose which one you like.'
Judith gave an assessing look from beneath raised eyebrows, and went on a tour of inspection. Olwen Tudor had taste. All the rooms were furnished with maximum comfort, but in sympathy with the age and personality of the house. The larger bedroom at the front had its own bathroom and was the only double room; all the rest were single. Rafael's was the smallest and plainest, and it was obvious he had never intended Judith to share it, to her annoyance. The wicked glint in his eyes showed plainly he was aware of her irritation, and Judith decided it might be a good thing to put things straight. She leaned against the banister, arms folded, and looked up at him very directly.
'On the horrendous drive up from Morfa I had qualms, Rafael. On the face of it I think I must be mad to move in with you like this—we hardly know each other for one thing. And for another perhaps you ought to know that I don't make it a habit to go leaping into any old bed that's offered, either. In other words, it seemed more than likely that you might have the wrong idea.' She took in a deep breath. 'I've come because I honestly think you need someone right now. I know perfectly well there must be dozens of people only too willing to be with you, Rafael, but I happen to be the one on the spot it seems, so here I am. I'll cook, talk, play cards, sunbathe on the patio if the weather's good—I can even drive into Cardigan for supplies, if necessary. But I'm really not in the market for anything more—exciting, shall we say, than that. I thought I'd better make it clear from the start.'
Rafael stood fingering his jaw, a faint smile on his lips.
'Crystal clear, Judith. Possibly you misunderstood my sometimes ambiguous English when I offered you my room if you wished. I meant, of course, that I would move into another.'
'Did you indeed?' Judith looked at him levelly. 'Well, I think I'll take the one at the other end of the landing at the back, but I'll use the bathroom in the master suite. That way we shouldn't get in each other's way at embarrassing moments.'
He laughed delightedly, and took her suitcase into the room of her choice.
'All will be as you say, querida, have no fears. Everything platonic and as decorous as though an army of maiden aunts were keeping watchful eyes on our every movement. Come down when you are ready—I shall make some coffee and give you a brandy to help you sleep.'
Judith was thoughtful as she unpacked. It had surely been best to put her cards on the table from the start, to leave no margin for error regarding her motives for moving in. It was an errand of mercy, nothing more— and it might be a very good thing if she were to keep that firmly in mind herself while she was on the subject.
Later that night Judith fell asleep almost as soon as she put her head on the pillow, worn out, one way and another, by the events of the day. Rafael had set out to be as charming and interesting as he knew how over their coffee and brandy, and an hour had gone by before either of them realised it was well after midnight. Judith had been sent off to bed while Rafael cleared away the tray, and there was consequently no constraint or awkwardness, as there might have been had they both gone upstairs together.
The following morning Judith woke with a raging headache and thirst, her skin burning and her throat dry and painful. With a groan of dismay she staggered to her feet, almost reeling as a wave of dizziness hit her. She struggled into her dressing gown and went across to the en suite bathroom, where she was promptly very ill indeed. Gasping and wretched she brushed her teeth, which were chattering so much the operation was by no means easy, and the reflection that stared at her, bleary-eyed, from the mirror was no comfort. Judith shuddered and stumbled back to her room, dragged a comb through her tangled hair and crawled back into bed, shivering violently. This was marvellous. What a stupid thing to happen. Judith was rarely ill, and, like all healthy people, felt it was the end of the world when laid low. In misery she lay, racked by tremors, her feet like blocks of ice and her head like a glass-blower's furnace. Apart from feeling so wretched she was consumed by angry frustration. The general idea was to knock Rafael into shape and get him back to normal again, and now it was she herself who felt like death warmed up, and hardly the most useful person to have around for anyone. In her misery Judith failed to hear the gentle knock on the door.
'Judith?' Rafael's voice was quiet, then became more insistent. 'Judith! Are you awake? It is past ten…' He opened the door a crack as she told him to come in, her voice so hoarse it was hardly recognisable. 'Querida!' He moved quickly to the bed and laid a cool hand on her burning forehead. 'Dios, you are burning up. You have a fever—I must call a doctor—'
'No, no,' croaked Judith crossly. 'Just give me a hot drink and see if there are any aspirin or something in the house. I've got a bit of a cold, or a chill, that's all.'
Rafael stared down at her flushed face in concern. He himself looked a lot better, in a crisp blue shirt and jeans that must have been tailored for him, Judith noted morosely, by the way they fitted him so well. The shadows under his eyes were less pronounced and he had lost the air of bitter depression that had surrounded him like an aura when she had first arrived. And now she was the casualty. They seemed to be taking it in turns.
'Are you sure, Judith?' he said at last, after Judith had forgotten what they were talking about in her misery.
'Sure of what?' She coughed irritably.
'That I should not call a doctor.'
'Very sure.'
'You were very wet yesterday. I feared this very thing—you should have taken off all those wet clothes immediately—'
'It didn't seem like a good idea at the time,' muttered Judith hoarsely.
Rafael bent to smooth her hair from her forehead. 'Can you eat, Judith?' His forehead was creased with worry as he examined her flushed face.
'No—thank you. Go away, Rafael.' She warded him off feebly. 'You'll catch it too.'
He gave a bleak little laugh. 'That is no longer of the prime importance it was once. I shall bring you a drink.'
Judith burrowed further under the covers and frankly gave herself up to her bone-racking discomfort. She ached everywhere. Even her teeth.
Rafael returned very quickly with a tray. 'I found some soluble aspirin, Judith, and here is some orange juice and then some coffee to drink afterwards.'
Obediently she drank the fizzing aspirin liquid, shuddering as Rafael sternly made her drain the last drop.
'Leave the juice for later,' she gasped. 'I'll just have the coffee.'
He regarded the thin satin straps of her nightgown with disapproval.
'You cannot be warm enough, Judith. Have you nothing more suitable for—for—'
'Feeling ghastly in?' She managed a crooked grin. 'There's a cotton sweatshirt in the top drawer of the chest.'
Rafael found the sweatshirt and helped Judith on with it, his touch impersonal as he tucked the duvet round her. She gave a sudden giggle, which promptly turned into another coughing fit.
'What is it?' he asked when she stopped.
Judith lay exhausted, her eyes mischievous beneath reddened lids.
'It suddenly struck me what a change it must be for you to be
putting clothes on someone in bed—instead of taking them off!'
To her surprise he stiffened, his mouth tightening and his eyes glittering angrily. 'You have little idea of what is, or is not normal for me, Judith—and you were the one who vetoed such subjects.' He picked up the tray and went out.
Judith pulled a face and reached for the book on the bedside table, but the words danced crazily in front of her eyes and her head thumped, and her feet were still cold. The medication blunted the edge of her discomfort for a time but soon she was shivering again, her body aching dully, and the book slid to the floor with a bump. Within seconds Rafael burst through the door.
'What is it?' he demanded. 'Did you fall?'
She shook her head, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.
'The book did. God, Rafael, I'm so cold.'
'Wait there,' he ordered, and left the room at speed.
Where did he think she was likely to go? Judith had a shot at a smile, but her disorderly teeth made it impossible and she shed a few tears instead, wiping them away fiercely with her knuckles. That would teach her to go boring on to other people about self-pity.
Rafael came back in triumph, carrying a large, flat box and a clean sheet. 'I found it in my wardrobe—an electric overblanket, Judith.' He pulled the duvet from Judith's shivering body with speed, tucking the sheet around her before laying the electric blanket on top and plugging it in, finally adding the duvet. 'There, chica,' he said tenderly. 'You will feel warmer now.' He fished in the back pocket of his jeans. 'And here is a little silver bell. Ring when you want me, yes?'
'Yes,' said Judith, meek with gratitude as blissful warmth crept through her aching bones. 'Thank you so much, Rafael. I'm very sorry. I came to be a help and result in being a nuisance.'
'Nonsense, querida.' Rafael gave her one of his slanting, gleaming smiles. 'I needed something to occupy me, so now we play doctor and patient, a new game for me.'
A new game. Judith thought that one over at length when she was alone. Did Rafael think of everything in life as games to play or performances to act? She was still mulling it over as the warmth did its work and eventually she slid into an uneasy doze. When she woke she seemed to be on fire. The room was bright with sunshine, the bed was like a sauna and she was drenched from head to foot. She threw back the bedclothes and put her feet to the floor just as Rafael came through the door, his face stern.'
'What are you doing out of bed?'
'I'm so hot,' gasped Judith, 'and I—I must go to the bathroom.'
Without a word he swung her up in his arms and carried her there, dumping her down inside the door with a curt order not to linger. When she walked slowly back towards her room she found the bed was stripped and Rafael was emerging from the door of the master bedroom.
'You can sleep in here, with your own bathroom at hand—no wandering about. I've switched on the blanket—have you another nightgown?'
Judith shook her head dumbly and submitted to being wrapped in a warm bath towel while Rafael disappeared again. This time he returned with one of his own shirts, a soft scarlet cotton knit.
'Put this on,' he said brusquely, and left while she did so.
Judith had no energy to argue. She did as she was told and climbed into the wide bed, feeling too wretched to care where she was or what she wore, still less what she looked like. Rafael appeared a second later with another dose of soluble aspirin, and she drank it obediently then settled back with a weary sigh.
'Thank you,' she said listlessly, unaware of the look of worry on Rafael's face as she turned her head into the pillow. The rest of the day passed in a blur of shivering and aching, of thirst and a cough that prevented her from sleeping even though she was never fully awake. When Judith eventually fell into a natural sleep she woke soon after, shivering again, her body so cold she could have been in a deep freeze. The room was in darkness and she fumbled for a light switch so she could turn on the electric blanket. Her fingers brushed against a metal object which fell to the floor with a tinkle. The bell. The sound brought Rafael to her side at the double, a candle in a brass holder in his hand.
'What is it, Judith? Do you feel worse?' He was in a dark dressing gown of some kind, the single, flickering flame accentuating the hollows and angles of his face, twin reflections of it in his eyes as he bent over her.
'No.' She smiled ruefully and raised a hand to push back her tangled hair, suddenly conscious of what a wreck she must be. it's just that I'm so cold again, Rafael. Would you switch the blanket on for me?'
'Alas, querida, there is a power failure. While you were sleeping we had a storm. It must have affected the electricity supply.' He shrugged, his white teeth catching in his bottom lip. 'I could fetch more blankets—no. Better I resort to an age-old but very effective way of keeping you warm.'
He blew out the candle, there was a slithering sound as the dressing gown slid to the floor and then he was in the bed beside her, pulling her against his warm chest and settling her head into the hollow of his shoulder.
Temporarily struck dumb Judith was quite unable to answer, even if she had been certain how to respond. She no longer felt ill, it was true. Her chill, fever or whatever had run its course, leaving her cold but very clear-headed. The cold feeling was dispelled at once by the nearness of the large, male body holding her close. There was very little bare skin in contact, due to her borrowed shirt and what were presumably his pyjama trousers, which fact made no difference at all to the excitement rising inside her; it affected her breathing, made her blood throb in her veins and filled her with an overpowering urge to press herself even closer to him.
'Well?' he prompted softly. 'Are you warmer now, Judith?'
'Yes,' she said breathlessly. 'But I'm not sure this is ail that good an idea.'
'But effective!'
Which was true enough. Judith made a feeble attempt to move away, but his arms held her close, and she had no real desire to go far, anyway. It had been a token protest at best, and Rafael knew it.
'You see, Judith?' he whispered. 'The forces of nature conspire against you. It rains and you catch a chill; the lightning cuts off the electricity and there is no other way to keep warm than this—why try to fight kismet, amada? This is obviously where you are meant to be. Do you feel the same?'
Judith's body was in full agreement, but her brain had reservations.
'That's sophistry,' she said drowsily. 'You know very well you shouldn't be here.'
Rafael yawned suddenly and held her closer. 'I have no intention of returning to my cold lonely bed after tasting the delights of yours, chica, so resign yourself to the inevitable and settle down to sleep.'
Judith was in no physical state to oppose him for the moment so sensibly she did as he suggested, relaxing in the warm security of his arms, with only a fleeting thought as to the wisdom of giving in so easily. When she woke it was light and she was alone. The electric blanket was functioning and an edge of sunlight showed beneath the heavy curtains at the window. She frowned, almost ready to believe Rafael's presence had been a dream. Gingerly she turned her head and saw the dent in the pillow beside her—very close beside her. So hallucination was not one of her problems. The pressing one at the moment was the need for a bath and then food. She felt hollow and empty, as though her last meal had been days ago. Very carefully she swung her feet to the ground and stood up. Her knees were rubbery and she felt a bit limp, but otherwise all seemed to be well. She went into the bathroom, peering warily at herself in the mirror. She turned away in disgust to stand under the shower, massaging shampoo energetically into her sweat-soaked hair, enjoying the hot, cleansing water as it streamed over her body.
Afterwards Judith swathed a towel turbanwise round her head and wrapped herself in a large pink bath sheet. When she stepped into the bedroom she gave a small screech of fright. Rafael stood there, barring her way, looking like the demon king in a black track-suit, his eyes glittering balefully as they ran from Judith's damp turban to her bare toes.
>
'May I enquire what you are doing?' he asked politely.
'I would have thought it was fairly obvious.' Judith skirted him warily and made for the door.
'Where are you going now?' he demanded.
'To get some clothes from the other room—I can hardly wander round like this all day.'
'You should be in bed, Judith—' he began, frowning.
'On the contrary, I'm perfectly well now and I should be up and about,' contradicted Judith firmly. 'I'm as strong as a horse, honestly, and a few sniffs and a cough are hardly enough to lay me low, I assure you. I'm not accustomed to lying about in bed.' She gave him a friendly nod and retired hastily, away from the storm obviously gathering from the look on Rafael's face.
It took her only a few minutes to dress and quickly blow-dry her thick hair, revelling in the squeaky clean feel of it after the stickiness of the day before. When she got downstairs she found Rafael in the kitchen, drinking coffee at the kitchen table. The scent of the fresh coffee was heavenly and Judith sniffed in rapture as he got up to pour a cup for her.
'I'll say good morning this time,' she said cheerfully, and glanced at the clock. 'Good heavens, it's only seven-thirty!'
'We are early,' he agreed. 'But you slept a great deal yesterday and I—woke early this morning.'
Judith felt her cheeks grow warm as she met the quizzical look in his eye.
'I'm sorry, Rafael. I suppose I was restless.'
He gave her a lopsided grin.
'No, Judith. I was the restless one.'
She regarded him calmly over the rim of her cup.
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