Counterfeit Bride (19 page)

'Are you well this morning? The doctor is visiting Ramon, and if you wish I can arrange for him to see you.'

Nicola flushed. 'I'm fine- really I am.'

'That is good. If you would like breakfast, Maria will bring you a tray.'

'Thank you.' Oh God, she thought wildly, what's going wrong? He was treating her as if she was a guest, a stranger under his roof, demanding the conventions of politeness.

He said, 'Later—when you have eaten—perhaps you would come to the study. There are things we must discuss.'

She said shyly, 'Can't we talk about them now?' Hold me, her heart cried out to him. Make love to me.

'I would prefer to speak to you in the study. I have people to see—calls to make—certain arrangements to finalise. I am sure you understand.'

'Arrangements about Pilar?'

'Yes.' She saw the muscle in his jaw clench. 'Among others. If you will excuse me.'

He made her a brief bow, and turned away. Nicola watched him go aware of a growing dread inside her.

She forced herself to eat some of the food which Maria brought her, then bathed and dressed with immense care, brushing a silken gloss back into her hair, banishing the pallor from her cheeks with subtly applied blusher, and accentuating the curve of her mouth with lipstick. She put on a simple dark green dress, with a skirt shaped like a bell, and a wide sash belt which drew attention to the slenderness of her waist.

She had planned to pin the silver butterfly into her hair, but remembered too late that it was still lying on the cabin floor where Luis had tossed it. Sudden tears rose in her eyes as she looked at herself in the mirror Why had Pilar used that piece of jewellery out of all that Luis had given her? She had loved it so. But then, of course, that was precisely why it had been used, she thought bitterly. It was as if someone had deliberately destroyed a good luck talisman. And intuition was telling her that she was going to need all the luck she could get.

It took courage to go downstairs. Should she go straight to Luis' study, she wondered, or wait in the salon until he sent for her?

She was standing at the foot of the stairs, torn by indecision, when the loud clamorous peal of the doorbell almost made her jump out of her senses.

Carlos appeared, to answer the door, and Nicola turned towards the salon. If there were to be visitors, then her interview with Luis would have to be postponed, she thought with a kind of relief.

A voice, feminine and familiar, she realised with shaken disbelief, said, 'I wish to see the Señorita Nicola Tarrant. Is she here?'

It was Teresita. As Carlos stepped aside, she walked into the hall followed by Cliff. Nicola moved forward uncertainly, and Teresita ran to her, throwing her arms around her.

'Nicky—oh, Nicky, you are here! I could not believe your letter. Tell me it isn't true. Oh, Nicky—that man— what has he done to you?'

Nicola returned the embrace, then looked at Carlos, who was looking frankly scandalised. She moistened her lips. 'That will be all, Carlos. Teresita, come into the salon. We can talk there.'

'We are not staying,' Teresita said firmly. 'We are leaving at once, and you are coming with us. This marriage must not happen. I will not allow it. The brute— the tyrant—he will not do this thing!'

Nicola saw Cliff look past her, and his face change as he dropped a warning hand on his wife's shoulder.

'Welcome to my house, Señorita Dominguez,' Luis said silkily. 'Or should I now call you by another name?'

Teresita gave him a defiant glance, and Cliff interposed hastily, 'Don Luis, you must wonder about this intrusion, but the fact is my wife had this letter from Nicky here, and it upset her so much she insisted we come here and get everything sorted out.'

'Usted es muy amable.' Luis' tone was ironic. 'Shall we go into the salon, and I will ask for refreshments to be brought.'

'We do not wish for refreshments,' said Teresita, but she went into the room he indicated. 'We have come for Nicky. She came here to save me, and I will not allow her to sacrifice herself in my place.'

Luis said icily, 'You are too late, señora. I regret to inform you that the sacrifice has already been made.'

Teresita gasped. 'Then we are too late? Nicky, you cannot be already married! It is not possible. How did he force you to do such a thing? Madre de Dios, I should never have allowed you to come here!'

'You can say that again,' Cliff muttered. 'Señor, I don't want to apportion blame here, but it seems we have one hell of a mess. Now, I want your assurance that you didn't use any dement of coercion with Nicky here....’

Luis shrugged 'I can give no such assurance. I offered Nicola the choice between marriage, or dishonour and jail.'

Cliff's lips parted, then with a helpless gesture, he turned away in silence.

'Tirano—bully!' Teresita exclaimed; 'You should be made to suffer for the rest of your life for what you have done. Oh, my poor Nicky!'

Watching Luis, Nicola saw the firm lips tighten.

He said, 'Your "poor Nicky" is free to leave my house whenever she wishes. I regretted my conduct towards her a long time ago, and I intend to seek an annulment. Does that satisfy you?'

Nicola felt as if she had been turned to stone. She wanted to cry out, to utter some protest, but no words would come. She stared at Luis, her green eyes widening with shock and hurt, but he seemed oblivious to her gaze.

He was speaking to Cliff. 'Your arrival, señor, is in fact opportune. I presume you are willing to escort my— wife to wherever she wishes to go?'

'Sure—anything you say,' Cliff agreed, looking embarrassed to death. 'How—how soon can you be ready, honey?' He looked at Nicola.

She was still watching Luis and she saw the flicker of distaste that the casual endearment provoked.

She said shakily, 'Can you wait for a moment? I would like to speak to my husband in private.'

The pleading in her eyes met only coldness in his. For a moment she thought, panicking, that he was going to refuse. Then he gave a brief curt nod. She followed him out of the room, conscious that Cliff and Teresita were watching them in frank amazement. Once the door had closed behind them, she caught at his sleeve,

'Luis...'

'One moment.' He detached himself from her fingers. 'This hallway is hardly private. We had better go to my study.'

The shutters had been drawn and the room was dim and cool. He set a chair for her, and she sank into it, her eyes watching him with painful intensity.

She asked, 'Why are you sending me away?'

'You can ask me that after what has happened between us? This marriage I forced on you was madness, and it is time we regained our sanity before we harm each other further. Go away from here, Nicola, leave Mexico, and soon this brief time in your life will seem like a bad dream.'

'Another one.' She tried to smile, but her lips were trembling. 'Luis, you don't—you can't still think that I— that Ramon...'

'Dios, no!' She saw him flinch. 'No, every foul lie that bitch told is known to me. And besides,' his mouth twisted bitterly, 'had I not already proved your—innocence for myself? I behaved like an animal to you, treated you in a way I would not have treated a girl of the streets. The only way I can make amends is to give you your freedom.'

Freedom, she thought, when her love would be a chain to bind me to you for ever.

She tried to steady her voice, 'Then you don't want me any more?'

. He turned a derisive look on her. 'Not want you, chica? You have a lovely face and an entrancing body. Who would not want you? But now I acknowledge it is hardly a sufficient basis for marriage.'

Nicola felt as cold as ice. She said, 'But you thought it was once.'

Luis gave a slight shrug, his face cynical. 'I thought I had explained that when we encountered each other, Nicola, I was bored with the prospect of the marriage which awaited me. For a time you were a—charming novelty, but now that time is past.'

She said almost inaudibly, 'You told—your family that you had fallen in love with me at first sight. Was it true—or was it just a story?'

He walked across the room and stood with his back to her, looking out through the shutters. He said quietly, 'It was just a story.'

Her breath escaped in a swift, painful sigh, then she stood up. He turned back, alerted by her movement. He said evenly, 'You will need money—and this.' He produced her passport from a drawer and slid it across the desk to her. 'When you have decided on a place of residence, perhaps you would let me know so that my lawyers can contact you.'

She said, 'As simple as that.' She picked up the passport and saw there was money inside it. She let it fall to the desk. 'I don't need your charity, Luis. I have friends, and I'm quite capable of earning my living, as I did before we met.'

He stiffened. 'Naturally, there will be a settlement...'

'Which I shall refuse.' She met his eyes steadily. 'I'll take the little I came with, and nothing else. Perhaps you would be good enough to say goodbye to Ramon for me.'

She went out of the room without a backward glance, and straight up to her bedroom. For a moment she stood there, looking around her almost wildly, as she tried to remember where Maria had put her shoulder bag. The girl had disapproved of its size and clumsiness and wanted to dispose of it altogether, but Nicola had refused, and she was thankful that she had done so. A brief search of one of the capacious cupboards revealed it, and she threw it on the bed and began packing things into it—her passport for a start, then a handful of underwear, and her cosmetics and toilet things. She would need a nightgown. She looked round for the yellow one she had worn earlier, but it had already been removed for laundering, and the first one she found in the chest of drawers was the exquisite confection Señora Mendez had created for her wedding night. She dropped it as hurriedly as if it had been one of the gowns of fable which scorched the unlucky wearer. Wherever she slept tonight, she would make do without one, and tomorrow she would borrow some cash from Teresita and do some essential shopping. She imagined they would take her to the Californian border, and if so she could make her way to Los Angeles, and find Elaine. There might even still be a job with Trans-Chem, and she would find herself somewhere to live, maybe beside the ocean. She liked the sea, although she hadn't seen that much of it in her life. Luis had a villa beside the ocean which she had never seen, and now she never would.

She stopped, closing her eyes, as pain tore through her. There was no profit in thinking of all the 'nevers' in her life, but how could she ban them from her mind? Never to touch him, never to kiss him, or feel the hard masculine weight of his body against hers again. Never to look up and meet his ;yes across the dining table. Never to ride with him in the warm darkness under the stars. Never to feel his child stirring under her heart.

She stripped off the green dress, as if she was shedding a skin, and changed into the blue one she had worn when she first came here, tying her hair back at the nape of her neck with a wide navy ribbon.

Teresita and Cliff were waiting for her in the hall. Cliff's brows rose. 'Is this all you have?'

'No,' she said. 'But it's all I'm taking.'

'You really wish to leave like this?’ Teresita put a hand on her arm. 'Surely he owes you something for treating you so callously . . .'

'He owes me nothing,' Nicola said steadily. 'Can you give me a moment while I say one last goodbye.' She walked into the dining room and looked up at the portrait of Dona Manuela. She looked at the rose, and the butterfly pinned into the dark hair, and let the pain have its way with her again. She thought, i really let the Mariposa legend get to me. I wanted to be like you. I wanted Luis to love me, as you were loved, but it was always impossible.

A bewildered Carlos was standing outside as she emerged.

'You are going on a trip, señora?' He was clearly at a loss about her lack of luggage, and slightly disapproving too, as if he had a poor opinion of any young bride who went on a trip without her husband.

She nodded. 'Is—is Don Luis still in his study? I'd like another word with him.'

Carlos looked genuinely distressed. 'Ah, no, señora. The Señor has gone to the stables. He gave orders that Malagueno should be saddled for him. He could not have realised that you intended to depart so soon...'

‘It's all right, Carlos,' she said gently. 'I've already said adios. I was just being foolish.'

He said, ' Vaya con Dios, señora, and come back to us soon.'

Nicola smiled waveringly, and went out to the waiting car.

Teresita and Cliff were more than kind, although Nicola guessed they must both be burning with questions. She sat in the back of the big car, and stared out of the window as it ate up the miles between La Mariposa and their eventual destination. She was too listless even to enquire where that might be.

At last they pulled into a small town, and Cliff stopped the car.

'Time to eat,' he announced.

Nicola would have preferred to remain in the car. The thought of food nauseated her, but she didn't want to upset Cliff and Teresita, so she accompanied them to a small restaurant in the central square, with a terrace overlooking the bustling market. A smiling girl brought them drinks, and they ordered black bean soup, flavoured with epazote, to be followed with strips of grilled steak topped with cheese, and served with enchiladas, fried beans, onions and chilies.

Nicola's mind was running in circles, but she forced herself to sip her drink.

Cliff was watching her. 'You look awful pale, honey.'

'And what wonder is that?' Teresita demanded warmly. 'How she has been made to suffer!'

Nicola shook her head. 'Whatever happened, I deserved.'

'J hear what you're saying, but it doesn't make much sense,' said Cliff. 'The guy has done you dirt, then and now. Okay, so what, you tried to pull with him was one crazy stunt, but hell, he didn't have to react as strongly as that about it. You don't practically kidnap a girl and make her marry you.'

She said wearily, 'It was an impulse.'

'He seems to have a lot of them,' Cliff muttered. 'And now he gets another impulse and decides enough is enough.'

Nicola bent her head. 'It—it was never a real marriage. There's no reason for either of us to feel tied by it.'

'And what are these impulses?' Teresita demanded. 'Don Luis does not give way to such things. Whenever I met him, he was always so correct- so aloof, never ruffled.'

'Except once,' Nicola reminded her with a faint smile. 'When he tried to give you a ride on his horse.'

'Ay!' Teresita clapped a hand to her head. T had forgotten. Oh, my poor mother, how mortified she was!'

'Look,' said Cliff, 'can we postpone the reminiscences? Nicky has a problem here. We're driving towards California, and I don't know that we should be because back there is a guy who forced her into some kind of weirdo marriage. Now, Nicky, you have every justification for hating his guts, but that doesn't mean you should let him get away with it like this.'

'I don't hate him,' Nicola said simply.

Teresita put down her glass and stared at her, 'Nicky, what are you saying? You cannot be serious!'

Nicola moved her shoulders wearily. 'I was never more serious in my life.' She smiled bitterly. 'Yes, he did pressure me into marrying him at first, but he didn't need to. I—I wanted him before I even realised who he was.'

Teresita said shakily, 'Dios, you are in love with him. Then why did you leave with us?'

'Because he doesn't love me, and I was afraid to show him how much I cared. It was all a disaster from the start,' Nicola confessed miserably, but the actual statement of the problem made her begin to feel better. Sitting in the car, she had gone over that final scene with Luis over and over again, trying to make sense of what had happened. He had behaved as if he was indifferent to her, but surely if that was the case he could not have been so angry, so jealous over her supposed affair with Ramon. Surely his violent reaction proved that he must care?