An Apple in Eden

by Kay Thorpe

  And with that she turned and dived into the pool to cool off.

  The following two days were apparently busy ones for both of the brothers, and it was dinnertime before they put in an appearance each night. Eve welcomed the diversion of their company, even while dreading the ordeal of an evening spent hoping that no one would notice Lynn's animosity towards her, or that if they did they would regard it, as she herself was doing, as best ignored. Lynn had been hurt and she wanted to hurt someone back. Ramon was impervious anyway, so the obvious alternative was Eve. In a day or two she would get over it and they would be friends again. Lynn's moods seldom lasted longer than that, and often melted quite unexpectedly. Meanwhile, it was unfortunate that Juan, too, must bear the brunt of

  damaged pride.

  'Tomorrow you'll have been, here a week already,' remarked Ramon on the Wednesday night over coffee on the terrace. 'It's been unfortunate that our-plans for the last few days didn't quite work out, but this coming week will be better.' He glanced at Eve with a smile. 'I think it's time you met Abuela. Lynn found her difficult to understand. .I think.'

  'Not at all,' said the latter shortly. 'She didn't like me, and I didn't care very much for her.' We understood one another perfectly.'

  'That is hardly true,' protested Juan. 'It was you yourself who stated that she disliked you.'

  `For a very good reason, because she made it obvious.' Lynn didn't even bother to look at him. 'You forget we're both English.'

  Ramon said dryly, 'Abuela has lived in Spain for fifty years.'

  A shrug was his only answer, and Eve saw his eyebrows lift. She was glad that Señora Perestrello wasn't with them, having retired early to her room with a slight indisposition. Lynn really was behaving abominably.

  'I'd love to meet her,' she said quickly. 'Hasn't she ever been back to England in all that time?'

  'Only on occasional visits to see her relatives,' replied Ramon, abandoning his speculative appraisal of his brother's novia. 'Now they're all dead she sees no reason to return. Spain is her country.' He paused to blow cigar smoke at a moth hovering around his head, went on, 'I'll take you down to Orotava tomorrow for lunch, and you can also meet

  some of our cousins. Six of them altogether. A prolific line the Perestrellos.'

  Juan laughed. 'That is hardly our only claim to fame. It was a Perestrello whom Cristobal Colon himself chose to marry. You would know him as Christopher Columbus, of course,' he added to Eve.

  Lynn got suddenly and jerkily to her feet. 'I'm going for a walk,' she announced in a tight little voice. 'Don't bother,' as Juan made to rise also. 'You stay here and discuss your family tree. I'm sure Eve will be fascinated by all the details ! ' She took a couple of steps. then swung about to face them, her expression one which Eve, at least, recognised as the defiant alternative to tears of frustration. 'I'm sick of the whole lot of you, do you hear me! '

  Juan was the first to break the small silence. 'I think,' he said very quietly, 'that you had better apologise.'

  The change in his demeanour must have got through even to Lynn, but it was not in her nature to back down. 'Why?' she demanded. 'Because you don't like to hear the truth? I'm bored, Juan. 'Bored! Bored! Bored! And I don't care what you think! '

  His eyes flashed as she turned away with a toss of her blonde head. When he moved it was with a speed which made Eve blink, seizing Lynn by the wrist and yanking her towards him. Next moment she was across his knee and being spanked with a vigour which jerked cries of pain from her lips as she struggled helplessly to free herself. When he did' set her back on her feet her whole face was aflame.

  `You ... You ... You beast ' she spluttered furiously. 'Who do you think you are! ' Her glance swung wildly in Eve's direction. 'Are you just going to sit there and say nothing? Don't you care what this ... this monster does to me! ' Her face crumpled suddenly, and she gave a small choking sob. 'Damn you,' she said tearfully, 'I hate you all! I'm going to pack! '

  Juan watched her disappear indoors, an odd expression on his face. Then he caught his brother's eye, grinned suddenly, and followed her.

  `I suppose,' said Eve on a carefully expressionless note, 'that he imagines she will now fall straight into his arms and beg for forgiveness. He doesn't know her very well.'

  `No,' returned Ramon equably, 'you don't know her very well. Would you care to gamble on the outcome? If Lynn is of the same mind when you see her again I'll personally arrange your departure

  from here in the morning, and escort you to the air.

  port. If she has decided to stay after all ...' A smile crossed his lips. 'We must give that part of the wager some consideration, I think.'

  `Don't be ridiculous! ' Eve was not at all in the mood for his brand of raillery. 'You think everything is one big game, don't you? You couldn't be helpful if you tried. I believed Juan was different until I saw that look he gave you just now. He doesn't care about humiliating Lynn like that in front of the two of us. Her feelings don't count providing he proves his own superiority ! ' She was being both unfair and a little ridiculous herself,

  she knew, but she couldn't help it. Ramon's apparent readiness to see them both out of the way if necessary had stung in a way which made her want to sting back. 'There are ways of dealing with Lynn which don't have to include physical violence, but you're both of you too ... too steeped in antiquated ideas to recognise them! '

  Ramon was lying back in his chair with a freshly-lit cigar, totally unmoved by her outburst. 'My own methods of dealing with such scenes differ greatly from woman to woman,' he said lazily. 'You, little one, require a far more subtle approach than your sister.'

  'I am not one of your women! ' she snapped, saw his grin and immediately regretted having risen so predictably to the bait. 'Anyway,' she added in more controlled tones, 'I shall hardly be here long enough, whatever happens, to tax your subtlety in any way.'

  'No,' he agreed, and waited a moment before adding casually, 'You'll no doubt be relieved to return to the ways of men you can understand.'

  'And appreciate,' she tagged on. 'Don't underestimate anything about the English—male or female. We have a saying: "what we lose on the swings we gain on the roundabouts".'

  'You have a saying to cover every occasion,' was the dry reply. 'With so much time spent exchanging them it seems a miracle there's any left over for anything else. Are you going to be content to spend the rest of your life with a man who sees you only as the keeper of his home?'

  'That's untrue.' Despite everything she could do to stop it, Eve's voice had a tremor in it, partly from annoyance and partly from some other emotion she dared not examine too closely. 'There are different ways of showing one's feelings. Just because Gavin isn't as demonstrative as some it doesn't mean his regard is any less ... any less ...' She bit her lip, aware that she had already given too much away.

  'Passionate?' suggested Ramon, and his lip curled. 'A man content to wait two years for your answer? You'd be tired of him within as many weeks '

  'You're wrong.' Eve was sitting forward on the very edge of her chair, body taut as a bow string. `To you love and passion are the same thing. Well, they're not; they're two separate parts of a whole. Passion fades after a time, but in a real relationship it doesn't matter because there's a firm foundation underneath.'

  He was looking at her with an unreadable expression. 'Passion fades quickly only where the emotions are casual. And yours could never be that, chica. You told me so yourself. If you marry this man you'll never know fulfilment. For the rest of your life you'll yearn for what your senses will tell you could have been. Now, tell me you have a saying to comfort you in this too '

  Eve kept her head slightly bent. 'And what would your advice to me be?' she managed with a coolness she was a long way from feeling. 'To have an affair with someone like you first so that I might know exactly what I was missing?'

  Mockery sprang into his eyes. 'Why someone like me when I'm already here, and available? I assure you that afterwards you'd not be con
tent with anything but the best of lovers.'

  'Modesty doesn't exactly form a large part of your make-up, does it?' Eve responded with a sarcasm donned with deliberation. 'I suppose I should feel grateful for your offer.' She came to her feet abruptly. 'I think I'll have an early night myself.'

  `Buenas noches,' he said jeeringly. 'Spend a restful night, chica.'

  Lynn came to Eve's room early the next morning as she was dressing, slipping in to stand with her back to the door and a faintly sheepish expression on her face.

  'I've been a pig, haven't I?' she said frankly. 'I honestly don't know why you put up with me.'

  'For obvious reasons,' Eve replied, smiling back at her. She paused. 'I take it we're not leaving this morning after all?'

  Lynn's colour deepened slightly, and then she laughed. 'All right, don't rub it in. I got what I was asking for, I admit it.' Her voice altered. 'You know, it's an-odd thing in this day and age, but there's something about a man who decides that he's going to be the one to wear the trousers. Juan said last night that it was time I grew out of all these silly ideas about equality and partnerships, that there was nothing inferior about women compared to men, but simply that as women we're entitled to the love and protection of the man we choose as our

  mate, and for that surely a little respect was a small price to pay.'

  `It's over-simplifying,' said Eve after a moment, 'but I know what he means. Where the man is the main breadwinner then I might even agree.' She looked at her sister again and shook her head. 'You should be in your element as a Perestrello. You're just about as unpredictable as they are!' This time her pause was a fraction longer. `No more secret pining for Ramon?'

  'Ramon?' Lynn laughed again and shrugged. 'Oh, I suppose he's got something that Juan will never have, but when it all boils down I'm not all that sure that I'd want him to have it. I mean, with Ramon you'd never be quite sure ... well, that you could keep him, I suppose. Whereas I know that Juan feels too deeply for me to even bother about other women.' This time there was no hint of complacency in her voice, just a quiet kind of pride and wonder. 'I do love him, Eve. It's just that I lost sight of what I first saw in him for a little while.' She flicked a finger under the collar of her flimsy wrap. 'I'd better go and get dressed before Pedro or Maria see me wandering around like this. I just thought I'd come and set your mind at rest.' Her smile was warm and happy. 'Now you can set about enjoying the rest of your stay as it should be enjoyed. By the way ...' halting in the doorway ... 'did Señora Perestrello get around to mentioning plans for the wedding date yet?'

  'As a matter of fact she did,' said Eve, determined not to be surprised by anything after this. 'How does

  the end of August suit?'

  'As long as that?' Lynn wrinkled her nose. 'Poor Juan!'

  Poor Juan indeed, thought Eve ironically as the door closed. Life for him would never be quite the same again once he had married his 'Kate'. Her smile disappeared as she met her own eyes in the mirror. Lynn was happy, Juan was happy, Ramon ... well, who knew what he was thinking? As for herself, that was better left alone.

  For the first time since coming to the villa Eve was able to enjoy a meal without sensing the undercurrents that morning. With a little effort she was even able to meet Ramon's taunting glance as she took her place. Whatever were Señora Perestrello's conclusions on the subject she kept her own counsel, but her eyes were twinkling as they rested on the faces of her son and future daughter-in-law.

  'Today Ramon tells me he is to take you to meet -his grandmother,' she said to Eve. 'She will be very pleased to see you, and to hear some small items of news of her former homeland. Her wits are sharp still, despite the fact that she is almost eighty years of age, but the stroke she suffered last year has slowed her speech some small amount so you will have to make allowances.'

  'If she heard you now she'd very soon recover the full power of her tongue,' said Ramon, obviously amused by the preparation. `Abuela considers her faculties as in no way impaired by her inability to make her mouth move as fast as she would like, and she's still capable of expressing herself with direct-

  ness, as we were discussing last night ...' with a sly glance in Lynn's direction. 'She and Eve will have much in common, I believe.' He lifted a brow at her. 'I'll be back to collect you at noon.'

  'And Lynn and I will spend the hour before luncheon discussing the plans for the wedding,' put in Señora Perestrello, and was rewarded by a smile from the former. 'You must tell me the kind of dress you would prefer and ...'

  'Isn't that my province?' put in Eve impulsively, and then in some confusion as everyone looked at her, 'I mean, it's customary in England for the bride's father to pay for everything of that nature, and as we haven't ...'

  'As you now have no father, and as this is not England,' continued Señora Perestrello kindly but firmly as Eve paused, 'there is no question of who is responsible for such matters. We are now Lynn's family—or very soon shall be so—as we are also your own. You must always feel welcome here.'

  Eve murmured her thanks, conscious of the smile on Ramon's lips. She blessed Juan for passing off the moment by asking her to have more coffee.

  The morning passed pleasantly. After bathing as usual she walked almost to the mirador before, mindful of her promise to Ramon, turning back to take the other path up through the trees instead, acknowledging the sense in his demand. Or was that a sign, she found herself wondering a little uneasily later on, that she was also learning an automatic acceptance of the male will?

  Noon found her ready for Ramon's return in a

  simple white dress with a softly gathered skirt and elbow-length sleeves. With it she wore a floppy-brimmed hat in soft yellow straw which she had bought for the wedding of a colleague at the bank the previous summer, and had thrown in among her packing at the last moment on the off-chance that she might just have need of it. She was waiting on the steps when the car arrived. He looked her over appraisingly, expressed his approval of her appearance and held open the door for her with amusement in his eyes as he regarded the tilt of her chin.

  `You object to admiration?' he asked.

  'No,' she returned. 'But I do object to being vetted. I'm quite capable of suiting my appearance to an occasion.'

  `So I see.' He was unperturbed. 'I have yet to see you looking more English. I'm sure Abuela will be suitably impressed.'

  Eve looked at him quickly and away again. He was too sharp by half. She hadn't even been consciously aware herself of having deliberately emphasised the nationality that Ramon's grandmother had given up until this moment. They made the journey to La Orotava via the Portillo and down over the ridge of the Monte Verdi, passing an ancient and curiously designed aqueduct on the way, and then the hospital, before dropping to a street named San Francisco which had many fine houses carved with the coats-of-arms of their owners along its length.

  Their own destination lay further down into the town itself behind a high stone wall bright with

  bougainvillaea. Ramon left the car parked outside the wrought iron gateway and took her into a white-walled courtyard shaded by a couple of plane trees. The house was old Spanish, full of archways and alcoves and big dim rooms where the furnishings overpowered. Whatever English blood, and consequently taste, had been passed on had apparently concentrated itself in Ramon's father. They found the old Señora Perestrello awaiting their arrival in a high-backed chair in the salon, hands clasped loosely in the lap of her long black dress, eyes alive and shrewd as she watched Eve's approach.

  'So you are the other's sister,' she said in English with some slight hesitation between the words. 'A madam, that one, but she has met her match in the Perestrellos.' She patted the arm of the chair set beside her. 'Come and sit by me, child, and tell me your news of the old country. Does the weather improve these latter years?'

  `From what I hear it's more the other way round,' Eve replied, taking the chair. But there's still nowhere quite like England in springtime.'

  `Spoken wit
h true loyalty,' applauded her hostess. But one's home becomes wherever one's heart lies. This you will one day discover for yourself.' Her glance went suddenly to her grandson standing with his back to the ornate fireplace listening to the conversation, and she added something in Spanish which Eve couldn't catch, and which it was doubtful she would have understood in any case. Ramon flicked a look at Eve, smiled and answered in the same language. 'Si usted tiene razon,' which Eve

  could just work out to mean `You're right' or words to that effect—a construction that advanced her understanding very little.

  For perhaps ten minutes or so they talked of England, with the Señora showing a surprising interest in such things as the latest Hampshire county cricket scores, and the racing form of various horses—items on which Eve was unable to contribute a great deal.

  `My own father was a sportsman of some repute,' the other revealed after a few minutes, obviously taking pity on Eve's bewilderment. `He played for the county for several years back in the twenties. My own interests lay in the horses, although of course in those days racing was not a profession in which a young woman could involve herself without some loss of reputation.' Eyes twinkling, she went on, 'In many ways I believe it was something of a relief to all my family when I announced my imminent marriage to a foreigner who would take me away from all such temptations and teach me obedience. A female black sheep was too much for their constitutions to weather.'

  `Their loss was our gain,' said Ramon with a laughing-eyed gallantry that brought a slow chuckle from the lips of his grandmother. `Without you where would the Perestrellos be today ! '