Ruy stepped towards her and stood just inches away, leaning his hand against the wall of the summerhouse. ‘What’s stopping you from letting go, Luna? I don’t care if we have a professional relationship, what does that matter?’ Frustrated, he pulled off his turban, letting it fall to the ground along with his mask. He raked his fingers through his hair, which stood up wildly, making her want to reach out and touch it. But her hand remained by her side.
He leaned in towards her. ‘Think about this in your bed out there on your deserted beach; I’ll haunt your thoughts and I’ll be in all your dreams just as you’re in mine. Don’t try to fight the wind and tide of your destiny. We’re bound to each other by fate. Do you want to risk a life half-lived because you were too afraid?’ His eyes were as dark as night now, the blue in them obliterated by his dilated pupils as they bored into her like hot pokers, scorching each part of her with the passion and desire they radiated.
Luna’s eyes slid guiltily down his body as he spoke and she shuddered, knowing he was right, the pain of emptiness already filling her. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ she whispered in a choked voice.
Picking up on her distress, he stared down into her face and his features softened. He studied her with an expression of speculative tenderness. ‘It’s alright, niña. It’s me who should be sorry.’ He lifted a finger and traced the line of her cheek, smiling ruefully. His voice was barely a whisper. ‘I’ll be waiting for you … when you’re ready for me.’
Ruy’s words went straight to her suffering heart. She was grateful for his understanding, thankful that he was prepared to give her another chance … just until she sorted herself out. This powerful, unyielding man, who had endured her dishonesty in ways he didn’t even realize, was trying to reach out to her and the only response she could feel at this moment was mute bewilderment. The tears she had tried to swallow back were now trickling down her cheeks silently. He produced a handkerchief from under his wide belt and touched her hand: a brief contact, instantly withdrawn.
‘It’ll soon be midnight. Shall we go back to the house?’ His mouth twisted wryly as he bent down to retrieve his turban and mask, fixing them back on. A ghost of a smile crossed his face. ‘They’ll be giving out prizes for the best costume, and I’ve no doubt who the winner will be.’
There was a sort of eerie, melancholy air to the garden as they walked back to the ball in silence. The magic of the night had gone; the dream was over. Now the moon was sulking, and nothing was left in the sky but a few pallid stars that had stopped flashing their brightness. Shrouded by night, even the great hacienda’s walls seemed to be frowning, rising grimly against the darker sky beyond. Luna sensed rather than perceived that Ruy had moved away from her. She had hurt him. Her rejection cut deeper than the hurt of a slapped face, and he was not a man to be rejected or slapped.
The bell of a neighbouring church chimed the first slow, sonorous stroke of midnight. As it rang out, rockets hissed and roared high into the sky and burst into a thousand coloured stars that fell like rain in the darkness, causing every sleeping bird at El Pavón to rise, startled, into the air. Then suddenly, as Ruy and Luna reached the steps leading up to the terrace, a girl appeared, luminous in the glare of the fireworks.
On the cusp of womanhood, she was small and slender with golden skin and a mass of unruly hair as flamboyant as the sky at sunset, a shining goddess dazzling and beautiful as the day – a sun child. The remnant of a torn, transparent golden kaftan barely covered her firm young breasts, and her shapely legs were naked below the knee. She danced in a wild and whimsical way to a tune only she could hear, seeming to respond to a fiery impulse within her. Above her, the sky, alight with exploding colour, formed a spectacular circle of orange, purple, blue, green and white.
Ruy spun round and caught his breath. At first he seemed confused and turned to Luna to say something, but then he turned back anxiously in a moment of indecision as the girl moved off into the trees.
‘Sabrina … Sabrina!’ The words floated like a sigh into the night as he went after the luminous, fairylike silhouette and disappeared in the black, velvet shadows.
As the series of bangs, whizzes and crackles fizzled down in the midnight sky, masks fell and El Pavón began to throb again with squealing, riotous laughter and music under a motley rain of confetti.
The moon had reappeared; the hum of voices came to Luna like in a dream. There was a lot of laughing and clapping going on. They were giving out prizes for the costumes. The colour had drained from her face; everything she saw was blurred and unreal. The atmosphere was getting hotter, she thought, as the night advanced. How long had she been standing there? Luna felt choked. It was as if the balloon of ecstasy that had buoyed her up at the beginning of the evening had finally burst.
She put her hand to her throat and walked up the few steps to the terrace. Alone, at the edge of the archway, she gazed into the brightly lit ballroom. A dizzy frivolity had descended upon El Pavón at midnight, now that everyone was unmasked, and the feeling swept through the excited crowd packing the dancefloor.
Suddenly, Luna was caught up by a group of dancers who had linked hands and were moving around the room, scooping up everyone in their path. The place was a swiftly changing kaleidoscope of shouting, capering figures – now pulling this way, now that – falling, laughing, leaping and dancing. Round and round she was whirled, swept like a feather before the wild broom of excited revellers. El Pavón’s guests had let themselves go, and were soon drunk with their own merriment. The pace grew faster … Luna was exhausted; she thought that if she didn’t get out of there soon, she would fall over.
Breathless, she pushed her way through the crowd towards the archway.
She could hardly believe her own gullibility. Lured by the prospect of a masked ball, filled with excitement and tantalizing romance, instead it had turned into a night of disastrous disappointment.
Staggering out of the throng into the hallway, Luna chastized herself bitterly, frustrated by her own chaotic emotions whenever he was near. One moment her body had melted with abandoned desire against Ruy’s, the next she’d rejected him for responding to this electrifying heat between them.
Was that why he’d abandoned her in the garden and taken off after a wild, half-naked young woman? Was she his lover? She couldn’t have been much more than eighteen or nineteen. Had Ruy caught up with this girl, who seemed to produce such a strong reaction in him? No doubt he had found someone to relieve his ‘cravings’, she thought, a faint nausea squeezing her stomach.
Luna spotted a couple of women coming out of a large downstairs powder room. Grateful to find somewhere to catch her breath and calm down, she hurried inside.
She found herself in a small antechamber with elegant marbletopped cabinetry lining one wall, part of which formed a dressing table. Above it, three mirrors with overhead lights had been hung, and a couple of bijoux silk-covered chairs stood empty in front. Beyond was a separate room, divided from this one by an archway that concealed a similar arrangement, but with a couple of marble-topped sinks instead. She closed the door behind her and went into the farthest room.
Determinedly, Luna fought to bring her indignant fury under control as she pulled off her mask. In her haste, she tangled the strings in her hair and tugged at it angrily, before throwing it on the marble counter. She stared blindly at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were still glazed with confusion. Taking a hand towel from the basket on the side, she dampened it under the tap and let the cool moisture soothe her hot brow.
What had happened to her judgement? Had she taken leave of her senses in accepting Ruy’s invitation to the ball? It was always destined to end badly.
Destiny. Luna almost laughed hysterically.
She was angry now, angry and humiliated. Her self-esteem was bruised, her heart sore and she was unreasonably maddened with jealousy. How could Ruy treat her this way? Didn’t he pride himself on knowing how to treat women ‘honourably’? She felt such a fool for desiring h
im. Then again, he was probably an expert at making women do so.
Men! They were all alike – pretending to be nice to get what they wanted, but rotten at heart. She was finished with the lot of them.
Luna was still composing her features in preparation for going back out into the hallway when she heard the door open. Female voices floated through to her part of the room.
‘He’s driving himself far too hard at work,’ a woman pronounced, ‘but I’ve finally persuaded him to take a fortnight off. He never has any spare time these days.’
‘Perhaps he would, if he spent less of it down at the camp. I think you’ve been a little soft on him,’ came an older woman’s gently sceptical voice.
‘The past is the past, Mamá. Things are not as they were in your day. Besides, I rather like Ruy’s friends.’
‘Darling, you’ve always been far more accepting than me. I think that’s where Ruy gets it from; you were always fascinated by gypsies when you were young. Perhaps they help him let off steam, it’s true.’
‘Yes, he gets terribly intense. I do worry about him. Now and then I see that look in his eye.’ There was a pause. ‘I think he’s still haunted by that dreadful business in Boston … He won’t talk about it, of course. Proud, like his father: always thinking he can solve things on his own. But, like you so rightly say, his friends do seem to give him an outlet for all those pent-up emotions.’
The older woman’s voice took on a reassuring tone. ‘Ruy is a young man who dulls his pain with many things … ambition, impulsiveness, that flippant façade of his. He’ll find his way, Luz, don’t you worry. He just needs the right woman to help him. He’s not so different from Andrés in that respect,’ she added with a chuckle.
Luna’s ears had pricked up at the mention of Ruy’s name. Taken aback, she realized with a sinking feeling that it must be Alexandra, Ruy’s grandmother, and Luz, her daughter – Ruy’s mother – having a private word, oblivious to her presence. How on earth was she going to extricate herself from the room without speaking to them? She was suddenly panic-stricken. All she wanted was to leave El Pavón as quickly as possible, by taxi if need be, and there she was, trapped – and by Ruy’s closest family.
Luna heard Luz’s voice again. ‘I wish Ruy and his father would spend more time together.’
‘Those two are as stubborn as each other.’
There was a smile in Luz’s voice. ‘The women in our family seem to like a stubborn man, wouldn’t you say?’
Alexandra chuckled. ‘Indeed we do.’
Unable to remain concealed any longer without it looking as though she were deliberately eavesdropping, Luna took a deep breath, reached for her mask, and walked out of the back room.
Both women turned to look at her, and she felt the flush rise in her cheeks.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize there was anyone else in here,’ said the older of the two, whom Luna knew must be Ruy’s grandmother. Dressed in a long, purple evening gown, she appeared to be only in her late sixties, though she must be much older than that, Luna realized. Alexandra’s hair was a delicate shade of silver and her still-sparkling green eyes held Luna’s inquisitively.
‘I was just on my way out,’ Luna explained apologetically. ‘I didn’t mean to intrude. My mask got caught in my hair, I was trying to untangle it.’ She managed a weak smile and endeavoured to take on the air of someone too preoccupied to have overheard the conversation.
‘What a wonderful costume, señorita,’ said Alexandra, clearly distracted by Luna’s dress. ‘You look perfectly ravishing.’
‘Thank you.’ Luna didn’t want to offer an opening into more conversation but neither did she wish to appear rudely brusque. ‘I was lucky to get it at the last minute,’ she added.
Luna glanced at the beautiful woman next to Alexandra, whose jet-black hair was artfully piled on top of her head, ringlets cascading over her shoulders, one of which was bare, due to the cut of her elegantly simple Greek goddess robe. Her eyes were mesmerizing. The deepest sapphire blue, they gazed back at Luna with spirited curiosity. This had to be, without a doubt, Ruy’s mother.
She smiled warmly at Luna, who noticed that her face carried the faint creases around her eyes that came from frequent laughter. ‘We had so many people to meet when the masks came off just now but I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of being introduced. I am Luz Rueda de Calderón and this is my mother, Alexandra de Rueda.’ Her smile faded slightly as she studied Luna’s face. ‘Do I know you, señorita? Have we met before?’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ answered Luna, politely. She stretched out her hand and shook hands with the two women. ‘I’m Luna Ward.’
‘It’s just that your face seems familiar.’ Luz continued to gaze at Luna oddly.
Luna was too numbed by surprise at being in this predicament to wonder at Luz’s reaction. She cleared her throat. ‘You have a beautiful home, Señora de Rueda.’
‘Thank you, Señorita Ward.’ Alexandra’s gaze suddenly took on a kindly look of recognition and her green eyes seemed to twinkle even more. ‘This must be the young woman I was telling you about, Luz!’ She beamed at Luna. ‘You’ve made quite an impression on the men in our family, I hear. I do hope you’ll come and join us for a drink later?’
‘Oh … yes, thank you.’ Luna’s heart sank. Ruy’s grandfather must have mentioned her to his wife. Were all his family lining up to meet her?
This is getting worse and worse, she thought.
‘Well, we’re delighted Ruy has finally brought a guest to our ball, aren’t we, Luz?’
‘Yes, this is a first,’ said her daughter, her eyes still searching Luna’s face in a strange way that made her uneasy.
‘Actually, I’d love to stay longer,’ said Luna, ‘but unfortunately I have to be up early to get a few things done. Family business,’ she added hastily, scrambling around for an excuse to leave. It was unthinkable that she should stay and be drawn into socializing with Ruy’s family now. The way that his mother was quietly scrutinizing her made it an even less appealing prospect. ‘Perhaps another time. It was lovely to meet you both.’
‘I do hope we haven’t scared you off with our talk of Ruy’s bringing someone to the ball at last,’ said Alexandra, in sudden alarm.
‘Now you’re only making it worse by rubbing it in, Mamá,’ said Luz wryly. ‘We should know better, you and I. There’s nothing like this family when it comes to heaping on the pressure – not to mention the full Spanish inquisition, of course.’ She took Luna’s hand with a sudden warm impulse. ‘You mustn’t mind us. Naturally, you must go home whenever you want.’
‘Of course you must, Señorita Ward. Still, let’s walk outside together,’ suggested Alexandra. ‘Guests are starting to leave and, as hostess, I really ought to say goodbye.’
Before Luna could react, Ruy’s elegant grandmother had taken her arm and steered her towards the door.
When they returned to the hall, Luz paused, scanning the crowd near the front door.
‘Was Ruy waiting for you out here?’
‘No, he wasn’t,’ answered Luna quickly. How on earth was she going to explain that she was going home alone when they knew she had arrived with Ruy? She decided it was best not to even try. ‘I think he’s outside somewhere,’ she added vaguely, forcing a smile, praying his mother in particular would not question her any further.
Luz’s gaze fixed speculatively on Luna. ‘Shall I come outside with you to find him? He shouldn’t have disappeared if you need to leave, Señorita Ward, and we haven’t seen him properly yet. I really don’t know where he could have got to.’
He’s running after a half-dressed wild siren in your garden.
Luna stifled the thought and breathed deeply. ‘Please don’t put yourself to any trouble, Señora Rueda de Calderón,’ she said. ‘I’m sure I’ll find him, and you have your guests to attend to.’ She noticed the major-domo, who was standing at the bottom of the huge staircase, handing a woman her bag and shawl with a p
olite nod.
Alexandra seemed to sense Luna’s reticence and squeezed her hand. There was a whole world of understanding in that clasp, Luna sensed, not least that Luna wasn’t used to a maternal touch. Alexandra followed her gaze towards the major-domo.
‘Yes. Be sure to ask Alberto to sort you out a car home and I do hope we’ll be seeing you again soon.’ As Luna looked back at her with a weak smile of relief, she fancied she saw a wise gleam in her eye. ‘Now, Luz, come and help me find my shawl before we join your father. I’ve no idea what I’ve done with it.’
‘I think you left it in the ballroom when you were dancing with that besotted artist, Mamá,’ said Luz, raising an amused eyebrow.
‘Oh nonsense, darling,’ answered Alexandra. ‘He’s eighty-five if he’s a day, and at our age one isn’t besotted, one is merely “charmed”.’
Luz let out a light laugh and, as Luna observed the playful, loving repartee between mother and daughter as they moved off arm in arm, she experienced a fleeting pang of regret for the family life she herself had missed.
Luna sighed, then pulled herself up. Her mind now switched to the immediate difficulty of finding her way home on her own as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to risk the chance of Ruy reappearing, and hoped at this hour she wouldn’t have to wait long for a car to take her home.
She made a beeline for the major-domo.
‘Excuse me, I’d like to get back to Cádiz. I understand you might be able to call me a taxi?’
The major-domo nodded and smiled. ‘Of course. There are a number of taxis outside, señorita. I will go and hold one for you if you like?’
Luna almost sagged with relief. ‘Gracias, señor, that’s most kind.’
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