Empress Bianca (16 page)

‘Ferdie, how can you do this?’ she asked gently but pointedly, her tears drying with the cold blast that had emanated from him.

‘If I don’t do it to you, you’ll do it to me,’ he said, again with the calm of the experienced negotiator.

‘But Ferdie, I’m his mother. I love him totally. How can you expect me to live without him?’

‘I’m his father. I love him totally too. And I’m not going to live without him. He’s my son. He’s the carrier of my family’s heritage into the future. I’m bringing him up so that he’ll be a Piedraplata. If you bring him up, he’ll be your son. He won’t be a true Piedraplata. He’ll carry your heritage into the future, and if you remarry, he’ll carry another man’s. No,
Amanda. It’s only fair. You have Anna Clara,’ Ferdie said, using the baby’s name for the first time since her arrival in Mexico, ‘and I have Manolito.’

Speechless, she sat rooted to the chair, frozen with shock.

Ferdie stood, placed his napkin on the table and said: ‘Don’t fight me on this, unless you want to lose everything, including the settlement and Anna Clara. This is the way it has to be, and this is the way it’s going to be. Accept it, and I’ll always be here for you. Fight me, and I’ll win.’

He then walked away, turned back just before entering the house and said: ‘You can stay here till you get used to things the way they’re going to be. I’m not pushing you out onto the street. I know it’s going to be difficult for you to leave Manolito and me and make a new life for yourself with a little baby. There’s no rush. But maybe you could start to make plans to leave. Shall we say, by Easter?’

The sensation of being trapped in the wrong life welling up within her, Amanda simply nodded her head.

‘I leave it up to you what you tell your friends. For my part, I intend to say nothing to anyone except Raymond and Philippe, and my mother and Clara of course. But I will be going out on my own from now on. No point playing happy families, if we’re going to part company.’ With that, Ferdie walked into the house to leave for work.

Confronted by a situation she could never have imagined in her worst nightmares, Amanda resolved to keep things as amiable as possible.

It was Ferdie’s habit, when home from work, to play with Manolito downstairs until his son’s bedtime. In the past, she had sometimes taken part in this activity, depending on her schedule. She decided that, from now on, she would keep out of Ferdie’s way during his playtime with Manolito and would instead stay either in her bedroom or in Anna Clara’s room, until Ferdie had finished playing with Manolito. Then, and only then, would she go into his room to say goodnight to the son she was going to lose.

That first night, already aware that she would soon have to relinquish custody of Manolito to Ferdie, Amanda experienced an overwhelming sense of unreality as she tucked the boy into bed. ‘Soon,’ a voice told her, ‘the day will come when you can no longer undertake this simple but important maternal activity.’ As she looked down on him, and he looked back at her, puckering his lips for a kiss, she asked herself how she would ever find the strength to leave him behind.

Feeling like a character in the wrong film, Amanda kissed Manolito, said, ‘Goodnight, darling, sleep tight,’ and walked back to her bedroom, the tears streaming down her face. Just then Ferdie came out of his room, and their paths inadvertently crossed.

‘I’m off for dinner,’ he said blandly but courteously. ‘See you tomorrow.’

‘Good night, Ferdie,’ Amanda replied, trying to keep her voice as level as possible.

He was on his way to dine at Bianca Calman’s house.

How Ferdie came to dine at Bianca’s said a lot about the woman who would soon take Amanda’s place. Ferdie had been true to his word, telling no one but his mother, sister and partners about the impending separation. Within minutes of informing Philippe and Raymond, however, the brothers had been on the telephone to give their respective women the news. Begonia and Bianca were both surprised, as everyone else who knew the Golden Couple would be, but it was the latter who seized the moment. ‘Darling,’ she said sweetly to Philippe when he gave her the news, ‘you must bring poor Ferdie when you come for supper this evening. My heart goes out to him. He must be beside himself, especially as he hasn’t been well of late. The last thing you want is Ferdie having a breakdown. I promise you, I’ll do all I can to help tide you over this period with him. You know I’ll always do anything I can to keep my Philippe happy, don’t you, darling?’

‘I’m the luckiest man alive to have a woman like you. I can’t wait for the day when we’re married,’ he replied. ‘I’ll just buzz Ferdie and see if he wants to come.’

When Philippe gave Bianca the answer she yearned for, she resolved to do everything in her power to make the most of this chance, even though she did not yet know what advantage she could obtain from it.

She and Bernardo, who had not yet come to a final decision regarding their future together, struck just the right note that first evening with Ferdie, as Philippe had known they would. They welcomed him unreservedly, taking care not to allude to Amanda or his problems even once, and treated him as if he had always a close member of their inner circle. Bernardo was particularly careful not to fawn over him, which might have made Ferdie uncomfortable, and although Bianca’s fabled charm was very
much in evidence, she spread it evenly between the men and her children.

Ferdie was enchanted with the warmth of his hosts and the vibrancy of their conversation. Dinner at the Calmans, he had been told by Philippe, was always a time for intelligent discourse about current affairs, although this was frequently relieved with gossip, for they were also much taken with the current affairs of their social circle and could be relied upon, as on this occasion with Ferdie, to provide a sparkling array of ideas and affairs for the delectation of everyone around the table. By the end of the evening, Ferdie was so relaxed and stimulated by the company that he was loathe to leave when Philippe rose to go, saying, ‘It’s time for me to get to bed. Thanks for yet another marvellous evening, Bernardo and Bianca.’

Reluctantly, Ferdie got to his feet as well. ‘Thanks for having me, Bernardo… Bianca. I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly. I’ve often heard about evenings with the Calmans from Philippe. Now I understand why he’s such a fixture here.’

‘Drop in whenever you want,’ Bernardo said, showing traditional Latin American hospitality. ‘Our home is your home.’

‘Yes, you must,’ Bianca said, noticing that Ferdie was almost puckering his lips when looking at her. ‘He does fancy me,’ she said to herself, not for the first time.

Although Bianca was right, the last thing on Ferdie’s mind at that time was starting another relationship with any other woman. He was still emotionally frozen by the events leading up to his estrangement from Amanda and, in this period of transition, really only wanted to mark time with congenial and undemanding company. From such small acorns are mighty oaks produced.

The following afternoon, Ferdie was conducting a meeting concerning Banco Imperiale business in Geneva. At the end of it, he turned to Philippe and said: ‘I’m at a loose end this evening, and I’d prefer not to stay at home. Better to keep out of Amanda’s way. If you’re not going out, why don’t we do something together?’

‘I mentioned to Bianca that I’d drop in for supper.’

Ferdie looked at Philippe hopefully.

‘If you won’t find it too boring,’ said Philippe, aware that it was in his interests to keep the senior partner happy, ‘why don’t I ring her and ask if I can bring you along as well?’

‘That sounds like fun.’

‘There’s never a dull moment around them, that’s for sure,’ said Philippe, pleased that Ferdie seemed to be so taken with the charms of what he now considered to be his future wife and family.

This set a pattern for the next six weeks. At first, Philippe was pleased to take his business partner along to the Calmans, but with the passage of time, his tolerance waned. The other man’s perpetual presence was evolving into an intrusion and, although he never manifested personal interest in Bianca, both Philippe and Bernardo began to watch him closely lest an attachment was forming.

For her own part, Bianca found herself having virtually identical conversations with both her husband and her lover. ‘No, Ferdie has never telephoned me. No, he has never tried to kiss me. No, he has never even held my hand. Or brushed past me closely. I’ve never met him for lunch. I’ve never had tea with him. I’ve never had an assignation with him. He’s never once indicated by word or deed that he has any interest whatsoever in me as a woman. He’s just lonely. At a loose end. Using our friendship to tide him over until Amanda leaves. Doubtless, he’ll spread his wings once she does, and then life will return to normal, with Ferdie making himself as scarce as he did before his separation.’

Although a part of her told Bianca that what she was saying was true, another and less rational part told her that it wasn’t. ‘Suppose, as Bernardo puts it, Ferdie is sweet on me?’ she asked herself. ‘Suppose he is more than sweet on me? Suppose he is falling in love with me? Or has fallen? Does he know about my relationship with Philippe?’

That, Bianca realized, was something she would have to find out, because the answer could have a crucial bearing on her options. The opportunity came one afternoon when Philippe was complaining to her over the telephone about Ferdie. Taking a deep inaudible breath, she said in her sweetest tone of voice: ‘You’ve always said that no one knows anything about us, not even Raymond and Begonia. I take it that applies to Ferdie as well.’

‘Of course it does,’ her lover replied, knowing how terrified his mistress was of discovery until she was safely divorced from Bernardo.

‘You’d think he’d have the perspicacity to at least query the nature of our relationship.’

‘Oh, he did,’ Philippe said airily. ‘On the way home the second time I
brought him over to you. I said that of course there wasn’t anything between us. I said I liked the whole Calman family. I said how stimulating and welcoming I found you all, and he accepted that. In fact, he said he also found your family exceptionally stimulating and welcoming. I asked him if he was drawn to you, and he said, “Which man wouldn’t be?” before going on to say that you were another man’s wife and he’d never touch a woman in those circumstances. Since then, he’s said from time to time that yours is his ideal of what family life should be. I think he’s hoping to meet someone like you, Bianca, and marry her as soon as Amanda’s out of the picture. Do you know anyone who would fit the bill?’

‘Let me put my thinking cap on,’ she said sweetly, a warm glow coming over her. ‘Maybe I can ask one or two spare girls around. Casually. So that he doesn’t suspect anything. Would you like me to do that?’

‘Yes,’ Philippe said, hoping to be rid of the unwelcome competition.

One of the outstanding features of Bianca’s personality was the speed and sureness of foot with which she moved whenever she was presented with an opportunity. While the average person would still be thinking about what to do, she would have already done it and progressed the scenario to new heights.

This was never truer than on this occasion. Already Bianca had been formulating the makings of a plan in case it turned out that Ferdie knew nothing about her affair. So, no sooner did Philippe hang up than she put the first stage of it into operation, telephoning Oriente del Valle, a refugee from Cuba, the scion of a once wealthy family that had fled from Castro at the time of the revolution. She now worked as a receptionist to the most fashionable gynaecologist in Mexico City. Tall, red-haired and green-eyed, she was attractive rather than beautiful. She would doubtless have married well had her world not collapsed but, shorn of her position, she had reached the age of thirty-four without having once received the matrimonial stamp of approval. However, what made her the perfect single woman, from a married woman’s point of view, was her personality.

Loyal and sweet, she tried to be good fun and was a good sport, but ultimately, she was also somewhat dull because her personality lacked the spice of anything negative. Oriente never thought ill of anyone, never had a negative opinion on anyone, and, whenever others did, she always spoiled their fun by injecting a deflating dose of worthiness into her
comments. Although men were initially drawn to her, a little of Oriente went a long way, and by the fourth meeting, you could see their eyes glaze over beneath the weight of her virtues.

‘Oriente? Bianca here. I hope this isn’t a bad time to call. You only have a minute? That’s fine. I won’t keep you. Are you doing anything for dinner tonight? No. Good. It’s only us,
en famille
, but with Mexico’s most eligible bachelor being served up for the main course. I do so want to find him a suitable wife, and I can’t think of anyone who’d be better for him than you. Now, you mustn’t breathe a word of this to anyone, especially to him. He’s paranoid about girls wanting him for his money, and I’m not going to let on that this has been arranged. You must promise me, on your mother’s life, that you’ll never tell him that I’ve done this, not even if you marry him. Swear it. Good. Just remember, he’s very shy, so you must do your best to draw him out. He can be hard going at times, but you’ve got a heart of gold, and I would so love to see two of my favourite people in the world happy together. This is our little secret, right? Good. See you at eight-thirty.’

Having orchestrated the distraction that would divert Philippe, if only for half an hour, Bianca advanced her stratagem by telephoning Ferdie. ‘I wanted to be sure you’re coming for dinner tonight. You are? Fabulous. I need you to help me. I’m hoping to match Philippe up with Oriente del Valle. Yes, I know you know her. She was at that party you had at your house last year for that German prince whose name I can’t remember. Yes, she does lack sparkle, but she has everything else, and Philippe does so deserve a good woman.’ Then, as airily as a robin’s feather sailing through a breeze, Bianca delivered the
coup de grâce
. ‘Just because you and I haven’t had ideal marriages doesn’t mean that I’ve lost my faith in the institution. One of my main ambitions in life is to see Philippe happily married. But you know how uneasy he is around women he doesn’t know well. I need you to help nudge him in the right direction. If we all help Oriente and him along, I’m hoping they’ll click.’