The willing hostage

by Elizabeth Ashton

  CHAPTER TWO

  Two days after the elopement, Senor Gomez sent for Rosalie again and told her that he thought she had better leave his employment. So long as she was at the hotel she would remind his staff of the scandal that her brother's conduct had caused and he wanted the whole affair forgotten as quickly as possible. Senor Nunez had left for Madrid, from whence he was making futile efforts to trace his daughter, and he would not be returning. But he was not the only person to be offended. Senor Gomez looked at her meaningly, and Rosalie guessed he was referring to his neighbour the Conde, whose occasional patronage lent lustre to the hotel. 'We cannot afford to estrange zese great ones,' he told her. 'I t'ink I 'ave made a big mistake by engaging foreign labour, but I could not foresee what would 'appen. You 'ave repaid me very ill, Rosa.' 'But I haven't done anything,' Rosalie pointed out indignantly. 'I had nothing to do. with it.' 'I t'ink you lie,' he returned, frowning at her. 'And I do not believe you tell ze police aH zat you know, but I do not wish any 'arm to come to you, you 'ave worked well for me, so it would be best if you go, and go at once.' 'But who would want to harm me?' Rosalie asked, surprised. He gave her a furtive look, and shrugged his shoulders. 'Quien sabe?' Adding forcibly: 'Take my word for it, Rosa, you 'ad better go, and go as quickly as you can.' 23 Plainly he was anxious to be rid of her, so much so that he did not quibble about paying her return fare as she half feared he might. It was in their agreement, but she had only stayed half the stipulated time. He included the balance of her meagre salary, and as she was putting the notes away in her bag, he said insinuatingly: 'Zere is a bus from ze village at noon. It will be good if you go upon it.' 'Certainly, if you want me to,' she told him briskly. She glanced at him a little wistfully. 'Adios, senor.' 'Adios, Rosa.' He turned to his desk, dismissing her from his thoughts as he had done from his premises. The bus from the village went to a town which boasted a railway station, though only the slow trains stopped there, and they were usually very late. Rosalie foresaw a long tedious journey in the bus with further delay while she waited for a train, and she had no certainty of being able to get a seat on a plane. She would probably have to spend a night somewhere, but that might be an adventure. Usually she enjoyed travelling, however uncomfortable, but it would not be pleasant in the excessive heat of a Castilian midsummer. She packed her few clothes into her one suitcase, which she would have to lug to the village, as Senor Gomez was not providing a car as he had done upon their arrival. She wondered whether she would seek out her fellow workers to say goodbye. They would all be busy serving drinks and coffee and she shrank from their curious questions. Dimly she felt that she was leaving in disgrace, although she had committed no fault. They would, she was sure, be indignant at her peremptory dismissal and that would entail reopening the vexed subject of Philip's elopement, of which she was becoming heartily tired. 24 ^ In the end, she decided to say no farewells and slipped ^^[unobtrusively out of a side door to avoid going through the , There was a terrace in front of the hotel, shaded by giant ' ^^fnmbrellas under which visitors sprawled in various stages of lljji.undress on their way to and from the swimming pool. They |||were enjoying various refreshments, and she glimpsed @jll^Juana's black head as she moved among them taking their lit orders. ty; The gay scene and everyone's complete indifference || subtly hurt her; she felt outcast and forlorn. S She set off down the dusty road towards the village, re^ fleeting that she was not altogether sorry to be leaving. ; What she had seen of Spain had been disappointing. She : and Philip had planned to pay a visit to the south before they left. Granada and Seville with their Moorish palaces ^. and flamenco were what they wished to experience, and they worked out they could afford to do so upon their earnings, but with her employment cut short Rosalie had not saved enough to go, nor had she any heart for a solitary trip. The hot Castilian meseta looked even more arid than usual as she trudged along the shadeless road in the noon': day heat. She seemed to have the whole countryside to her... self, for nobody who could avoid it would be on the road at that hour, and Noel Coward's jingle reiterated in her weary brain. 'Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.' The same applied to Englishwomen. She should have insisted upon waiting until the next day and left in the early morning cool. A car passed her in a swirl of dust, the only vehicle she had seen. It pulled up a little way ahead of her and she 25 quickened her steps, hoping that its driver meant to offer her a lift. She would risk accepting it, whoever it was, for never had the village seemed so far distant, but as she recognized the man who had descended from it, she checked. She could not accept a lift from this man, for it was Don Rafael de Santaella.He stood in the middle of the road with the obvious intention of intercepting her, and she felt an uneasy quaint which was succeeded by a return of confidence, for he could not know who she was. Even so, if his intention was the kindly offer of a lift, she must refuse, for she might inadvertently reveal her connection with Philip. She saw that by daylight he looked younger than when she had seen him at dinner in his formal clothes. Perhaps it was the white shirt he was wearing that made him appear so The short sleeves and open neck revealed his brown sinewy arms folded across his chest, and his strong throat. She was faintly surprised that he had discarded his jacket, Spaniards were conventional in their attire, but the day was very hot. He did, however, wear a black Cordoban hat, pulled over his eyes, which made him look slightly rakish. She stopped uncertainly in front of him, a slight almost childish figure in the simple suit she had selected in which to travel. Dark glasses concealed her eyes, and she wore a handkerchief over her hair. She looked like a hundred other tourist girls. Knowing she appeared inconspicuous, she took courage; he was unlikely to remember her as the girl who had waited upon him.A little nonplussed since he did not speak, she said doubtfully: 'Buenos dias, senor.''The Senor merely scowled, black brows descending over night-dark eyes which raked her from head to foot from 26 under his hat brim. -Rosalie glanced at the verge on which she must step to ,: pass him, the narrow road was bad enough, but there the ^ dust lay inches deep. Drawing herself up to her full height, @ she requested in her faltering Spanish: 'Would you be so good as to let me pass? I have a bus to catch.' He smiled at her request, an upward twitch of thin satirical lips, and announced surprisingly: "This is a great piece of luck.' ''Senor?'' She was puzzled. 'So you plan to make your getaway, having accomplished what you came for?' He spoke in English with only a slight accent. Rosalie set down her case, for it was heavy. So he did know who she was and this interception was deliberate; she supposed he was going to ask more useless questions, and she sighed. 'I can't help you, senor. And I don't understand why you've stopped me.' 'Then you must be very dim, but I am surprised the Guardia Civil have permitted you to depart.' Summoning all her resolution, for there was that in his attitude that made her vaguely uneasy, she said coolly: 'Why shouldn't they? I've done nothing.' 'Imbeciles!' he exclaimed. 'You are the one link with the runaways!' 'But, senor, I couldn't tell them anything. My brother didn't confide in me. Believe me, this elopement came as a big a surprise to me as it did to everybody else.' 'Nonsense! Didn't I intercept the meaning looks that passed between you under my very nose? Por Dios, you are no criada, senorita. You came here with that perro inglese 27 to steal my bride and my diamonds. That fool Gomez must have been blind to engage you!' Rosalie glanced at her watch; she did not want to miss her bus, they ran infrequently, and the Conde's accusations were futile and untrue. She said earnestly: 'Truly, senor, I regret what has happened as much as you do, but I repeat, I cannot help you. I don't know where they are, and it'll be very inconvenient to lose the bus.' He looked her up and down with his insolent stare. 'I am afraid you must reconcile yourself to letting it go,' he told her coldly. 'I was coming in search of you, as I had ascertained that you were still at the parador. To my good fortune and your misfortune, I have caught you in the act of flight. Will you please to get into my car?' A trickle of ice seemed to run down Rosalie's spine, as she met his gaze. His hat shaded his haughty features, but there was no mistaking the mena
ce that glittered in his eyes. His slim-hipped figure had the supple strength of steel and she knew that physically she would be no match for him. She threw a quick glance behind her in search of succour, but the road was empty. 'I don't know what you want with me,' she began, and he laughed evilly. 'That you will soon find out. The police were too soft with you. Perhaps I can make you tell me the truth.' Vivid pictures of third-degree measures flitted through her mind. The man before her looked completely ruthless and he believed himself to be deeply wronged. '@Senor,' she began desperately, 'it was the truth when I said I didn't know anything. The police believed me, so why can't you?' 'They were taken in by your look of innocent candour, which no doubt you can assume when it suits you, but I 28 I used to women's wiles, you won't fool me.' He took a ; towards her and seized her wrist in a steely grip. i pretend you were not in the plot.' 'There was no plot!' j you think I am a complete simpleton? There was a | claro, the three of you hatched it between you. They j off in the night and you remained on guard in case ; ^^onsuelo's sbsence was discovered too soon. Naturally you @ your innocence, but do not deny that you are about ^ join them, and that you know where they are and what j |||hey have done with the diamonds.' j || 'I do deny it.' In spite 'of her trepidation, Rosalie I -^laughed. His suppositions were too absurd. @ y 'You are amused because you think you can fool me?' he j ^demanded. 'But you will find this is no jest, senorita.' @^ ? 'No, it's just a bore,' she returned. 'You've got a fertile ' ;e imagination, senor, but your deductions are quite incorrect.' ] He drew a quick breath, and a gleam of something like admiration showed in his eyes. 'You are no weakling, senorita,' he admitted, 'though .you may be shameless. But if you will not tell me what I ,: want to know, I have no alternative but to continue to delay .: y011-'t Rosalie was almost certain that if they had procured funds, Philip would have taken Consuelo to Paris, in which case they would be out of Don Rafael's reach, so there could be no great harm in telling him that. But he might insist that she revealed her mother's address, and then their identities would be discovered. Philip Alexander's widow ; had settled into comfortable anonymity at an apartment there, and both she and Uncle George would be furious if the press got hold of the story. That well might happen unless she were very discreet, for the Pas co-heirs were 29 news. Also her intuition told her that she would be safer if li the Conde did not suspect her true status. He was a little too interested in heiresses. As for his menacing attitude, ! surely he v/ould not dare to do anything to a British citizen, however humble. Proudly she told him so. 'British citizenship is no longer the protection it once was in the days of your Empire,' he told her coolly. 'Nor do I intend to allow you to appeal to your Consul.' He glanced round at the sunbaked countryside. 'This road and this heat . are not very inspiring to conversation. Will you be so good as to accompany me back to the Castillo? There you can continue to try to prove your case in cool and comfort over a long, cold drink, though I warn you, I shall take a lot of convincing.' In spite of her sunglasses, the glare was making Rosalie's eyes ache and the heat was intolerable. She blinked and swallowed, for her nose and throat were full of dust. Before her eyes swam a vision of a glass full of liquid and ice, but she said decidedly: 'I refuse to go anywhere with you.' His dark eyes flickered ominously. 'It would be better for you if you came willingly.' 'You wouldn't dare!' 'Is that a challenge, senorita? If so you are a rash woman. No one of your sex has provoked me ... and won.' He was still holding her wrist in a purposeful grip, but his anger seemed to be abating and he was enjoying himself playing cat to her mouse, or a bird and a snake would be a more appropriate simile, she thought, for in spite of her indignation, he fascinated her. His male virility and dark good looks were making their impact upon her senses and artist's eye, piercing her perturbation. If she had had the misfortune to fall into the hands of a ruthless madman, at 30 least he was a personable one. She had half hoped to find romance in Spain, but the men she had encountered had been disappointing. Though they were only too ready to make advances, they were short and swarthy and obviously expected her to be permissive. So she had held aloof, as she had always done where men were concerned. She had met many types in the course of her employment at Pas, but they had been uninteresting. Keen young salesmen eager to teake good, more sober buyers and accountants, but any Itttentions they had paid her had been tainted for her by the knowledge that they were speculating how much her father would leave her. Disillusionment had come at sixteen when she had had an affair with a youth she had met at the recreation club to which she and Philip belonged. He was the king of the castle where the girls were concerned, and Rosalie had been flattered and pleased by his attentions, beginning to fancy herself in love. He declared he loved her, and suggested becoming engaged. Then one of his former flames enlightened her by saying: 'Garth was my boy until you came along, but no one has a chance with you around. Everyone knows you'll be rolling one day, and he thinks he's on a good wicket.' , Her eyes opened and she began to look at Garth more critically, and discovered he was not only fickle but workshy. It was only her prospects which had drawn him to her. @ From thenceforth her relations with her boy-friends were poisoned by suspicion and she withdrew into her painting. i, Now at twenty-two she was over-ripe for emotional experience, and no one here knew she was an heiress, least of all this enigmatical person who was" holding her. For that I 31 she should be thankful, or he might be tempted to demand a high ransom for her. She said firmly: 'You're quite wrong, you know. I'm not an adventuress, I'm only an ordinary working girl...' His lips curled scornfully as he cut in: 'But one who is anxious to improve her lot and not particular how she does it. Come, senorita, admit you are hoping to join that impecunious brother of yours. I suspect they have holed up somewhere until they can be married, and I may be in time to prevent that. You insist you don't know where they are, but I am sure that if you try hard you can recollect some clue to their whereabouts, and I shall do my best to assist your memory.' His grip was hurting her wrist, and his eyes were cruel. She quailed, wondering what form that assistance would take. Desperately she said: 'Sefior, you're a Spanish gentleman. Surely it's beneath your dignity to threaten a woman?' He smiled without mirth. 'I have not threatened you ... yet. I have merely asked you to accept my hospitality for a little while so that we can discuss the matter. I am puzzled, you see, for it is a little hard to understand what Dona Consuelo Nunez could find in a beggarly waiter that was preferable to a grandee of Spain.' His head went up with an arrogant gesture, and Rosalie realised how deeply his pride had been wounded. She too had wondered a little at Consuelo's choice, for Philip was a mere boy compared with her captor, who had die assurance and elegance of a man of the world. But he had not offered the girl his heart, he only wanted her dowry. She said quietly: 32 ; 'They are young and impetuous, and they love each other "@-very much. Love, senor, excuses even broken troths. You Jiididn't love her, did you? A woman wants to be loved for j herself, not her possessions.' And that expressed her own |?feelings. 'Sentimental twaddle!' he ejaculated scornfully. 'Love? Bah!' He snapped the fingers of his free hand. 'It was only a flirtatious girl's fancy for a new face, and he is an ad; venturer after her money.' It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that Philip would not lack for fortune in another three years, but she checked herself. Such information would entail too many explanations, and would do herself no good. 'If you find them, would you want her back?' she asked, remembering she had been told he had repudiated Consuelo. 'Not I. A convent would be the right place for such soiled goods, but I want the return of the Santaella diamonds.' 'But Philip couldn't afford to redeem them.' 'No, damn him, but Senor Nunez could, and would consider it a point of honour to do so, if we could discover where they are.' Rosalie sighed, for over the matter of die bracelet she ^ was entirely in sympathy with Don Rafael. The sun beat down pitilessly on the parched landscape and his grip was paining her wrist. 'Senor, you're hurting me,' she said wearily. He looked curiously at her slight wrist shackled between his lean brown fingers as if he had forgotten what he held. 'You
r pardon, senorita.' He slackened his hold, but he i did not release her. 'Until I find him I will keep you as a pledge for the return of the heirloom.' 33 'You can't do that, there'll be enquiries ...' 'Not for some time. Senor Gomez thinks you have gone home. Your loving brother believes you are still at the parador.' Why didn't something come by? .-Rosalie thought wildly. Someone going to or coming from the hotel, but the country remained barren and empty in the heat of die early afternoon. Nothing stirred, not even a bird flew past. She was very close to the Conde's lean, muscular body, and in spite of her panic, she was becoming almost painfully aware of his masculinity. There was a bizarre unreality about her predicament, and she could not credit that he really meant to detain her. He was only trying to scare her, and his physical attraction added piquancy to the situation. A glint came into his eyes which caused her to suspect that he did not find her proximity distasteful and confirmed her first impression that he was susceptible to women. Some other emotion seemed to have superseded his initial wrath, for with his free hand he suddenly snatched off her sunglasses and head-scarf, carelessly letting them drop into the road, and putting his fingers under her chin, raised her face so that he could look into her eyes. His glance travelled over her glossy brown hair, her petal-soft cheeks, and the creamy column of her throat, and came to rest upon the full curves of her lips. A sensuous slumbrous look came into his dark eyes, a look that increased her heartbeat. 'Muy guapa,' he murmured, then asked abruptly. 'SM hermano, he is like you?' Her nerves tingling, she turned her head away from that too ardent gaze, and said mechanically: 'Very@we're twins.' 'Claro, and twins are very close, are they not? I fancy 34 Eat when he finds you are in my possession, he will agree ; whatever terms I choose to dictate to ransom you.' 'You're being ludicrous,' she cried agitatedly, 'like the yulain in a stage melodrama, and you're being optimistic. you've said, nobody will enquire for me for some time Philip will be too ... too occupied with his own affairs worry.' e^ '^@ we sha11 llave some time ^ge111^ and that might be -$>