At the Villa Massina (22 page)

Juliet smiled palely. “You make everything sound easy. But ... but this isn’t. We’re too far apart, Ramiro ...”

“There is a remedy,” he said gaily, and covered the couple of yards which divided them. His fingers lifted her chin, his eyes sparkled into hers, pouring his vitality into her. “I will listen to no more of it until we are agreed that we were meant for each other, from the beginning of time. You put a warmth in my blood which was never there before, in spite of the Spanish sun. On that first day I met you with my sister in Manca, you laughed softly and infectiously; I found I was still smiling at the sound when the car had gone, and though I have heard only the ghost of it since, it remains with me. We shall laugh a great deal together, my beloved little golden-head. Inez ... Norma ... their reactions do not matter very much, and in any case you will find them quite grateful to be friendly with the Condesa de Vallos. Dearest heart...”

Eventually, of course, Juliet was convinced; Ramiro saw to that. She didn’t know what he said because most of it was in Spanish, between kisses, but his very tone was deadlier than champagne, and the electrifying language of worshipping lips is universal. She knew that Ramiro would teach her more about love than she had ever known existed.

It was some time later that he lowered her on to an old-fashioned sofa and sat beside her, smiling teasingly at her flushed cheeks and tumbled hair.

“We must make plans,” he said. “We will both stay in Malaga tonight and return to San Federigo in the yacht tomorrow; the others will no doubt have returned by road. For the sake of convention I will see to it that rooms are reserved for me at the main hotel in the town, but for you it would be best to stay here. The place is small and discreet. This evening we will dine out—our first evening together and perfectly correct!”

“I’ve only a black suit with me that’s suitable for the evening.”

“Bueno. You will wear a flower in your hair—but not a gardenia!” he admonished her severely. Then, smiling again: “I do not care for you to stay again with Norma. I am determined that this period of our engagement—which will be extended no further than decency demands!—will be one of enchantment for you. You will come to the Castillo until Inez leaves. You understand that I must see her married first?”

“Of course. And anyway, her wedding day is only three weeks away!”

“Three weeks can be a lifetime when one wishes so uncontrollably to be married oneself. However, we will make the other arrangements as soon as possible. You are happy, pequenina?”

“So terribly happy!”

His glance searched her face. “No uneasiness at all?”

She was a little uneasy. Norma, as she had said, could not be allowed to matter very much; she would be angry and jealous, but she wouldn’t dare to come out into the open. Inez, though, was his own sister. How would she feel about admitting Juliet Darrell into the family circle? Could there ever be a friendship between two such different women, particularly when the younger knew of an indiscretion committed by the older? Perhaps that indiscretion could be completely ignored; there might even be a way of showing Inez that it was already forgotten.

“I know,” he said before she could answer. “But none of these things have substance compared with the fact of being in love. You know,” whimsically, “it has been very painful these last weeks, but if everything had gone smoothly it might have been another month before I could begin to show you I love you. Think of the waste! The tempest throws us into each other’s arms and already we make the vital decisions. You love me, querida?”

“Desperately, Ramiro.”

“There are more things you have to tell me—about Norma and this criminal Whitman?”

“No. Not yet, anyway. For now, I just want to believe ... this!”

“I want something very ordinary and beautiful,” he said. “I want to sit alone with you at a small table in a crowded restaurant. I want people to notice that I can’t resist taking both your hands in mine, that I can look at no one else, and that you color and sparkle when I speak to you. I want everyone to be aware that at last Ramiro de Velasco y Cuevora is in love, and beloved!”

“Oh, darling.”

“You must say that often, in a thousand ways! Juliet, I also want to know this uncle and aunt of yours. You think they would come to Spain?”

“I’m sure of it, but—don’t think I’m being silly, but I do think Norma should be given the chance of inviting them. Please!”

“I can refuse you nothing. You are my life, carissima!”

Juliet’s eyes shone up at the lean El Greco face, she tingled with the urgency of his hands on her arms. In that moment she knew that whatever they might pass through together there would always be excitement and ecstasy in being part of Ramiro.

THE END