Captain Juarez took a deep swallow, drew a deeper breath and told her solemnly that he had looked at the name painted upon the broken hull that rose above him - and almost lost his grip.
Sea Wolf, he had read.
Penny, in the act of raising her own wineglass to her mouth, set it down instead and regarded Captain Juarez with a kind of fascination.
Indignation, it seemed, had given Captain Juarez strength. That he should find himself clinging to the remains of the most notorious ship in the Caribbean had seemed to him an enormous indignity. The flagship of that most infamous of buccaneers - Captain Kells! It was too much. Half-drowned and battered as he was, he had ground his teeth and stolen another look upward.
A man was dangling from the rigging, his boot caught in it. Captain Juarez had ducked as that rigging promptly came down, plunging the man into the water beside him.
At that moment, along with the roar of the water and the sound of things breaking and people calling out, there were ominous creaking, tearing sounds from within the ship he clung to. Captain Juarez recognized those sounds and they spurred him to immediate action - she was breaking up.
Avoiding that rigging which now floated with its grim burden face up upon it, Juarez let go his hold and swam to a nearby chimney which stuck up above the water. He climbed upon the chimney and found that his foot had become entangled in the fallen rigging. Fearful that it might pull him down with the ship, which was even now giving signs of foundering, he was about to wrest his foot free when his gaze again passed over the man who had been trapped by it.
Of a sudden Captain Juarez stopped trying to get his foot free and stared wild-eyed at the man before him.
He saw a long body, muscular and well-built, clad in dark grey broadcloth coat and trousers. A strong hawklike countenance, floating face up. That face was darkly tanned, the eyes closed, blood trickling from a head wound somewhere in that heavy shoulder-length black hair.
But it was none of those things that had arrested the captain’s attention.
Captain Juarez was staring at the boots, which were fast filling with onrushing water and threatening to drag the fellow down: black jackboots with wide bucket tops made of scarlet leather. He peered forward and saw that one of them had a gold insignia of some kind.
It was enough for Captain Juarez, who was first and last a man of action. At great risk to himself, he began frantically pulling the fallen rigging towards him and finally managed to pull the unconscious man from the water.
When he had him free at last and draped face down over the chimney so that any water he had swallowed might more easily drain from his lungs, Captain Juarez seized one jackbooted leg and hauled it up for closer inspection. There it was, glittering at him from the boot’s wet surface: the initials DV intertwined in gold upon the soft red leather of the bucket top with its back scooped out to allow for bending of the knee.
Captain Juarez sat stock-still for a moment and stared at his strange catch. Don Diego Vivar arriving in Port Royal on the deck of a buccaneer vessel?
And of a sudden being a practical man, it came to him what must have happened:
Don Diego Vivar had sailed from Spain on the Santo Domingo, but the ship would never make port in Panama - she had been blasted from the seas by the guns of the Sea Wolf. Don Diego himself had been taken prisoner by these accursed buccaneers and was being brought to Port Royal - for ransom, no doubt - when the earthquake had struck. He was not shackled, but then how often did these buccaneers shackle their prisoners? In the confusion of the tidal wave that had sent the Sea Wolf's broken hull crashing into the town, Don Diego, clinging to the rigging, would have been washed overboard with the others save that his boot - one of that pair the King of Spain had sent him - had got caught in the rigging and so probably saved his life.
And identified him as well.
‘His boots?’ cried Penny, startled. ‘You mean you identified him by his boots?'
Her guest, now aglow with wine, nodded triumphantly. ‘I tried to rouse him. His heartbeat was strong and his breathing made me believe that it was a blow rather than water that had rendered him unconscious. With those of my men who were still alive, we carried Don Diego and made our way to our pinnace, then sailed back to Havana and all during the voyage Don Diego slept.’
Penny was watching him brightly.
She listened as he recounted how the governor had ordered Don Diego’s boots slit open and had read his sealed orders - Don Diego still slept. The governor had ordered surgeons to attend him and leeches to bleed him - Don Diego slept on. Don Ramon del Mundo had come to the governor’s palace to stare bitterly at his rival - Don Diego still slept.
And when finally Don Diego Vivar had awakened - with a splitting headache - and looked about him at his world, he could remember nothing of his past. Nothing. And had remembered nothing since.
‘By his boots . . .’ murmured Penny. She looked up. Marina and her elderly duena were just now entering.
Captain Juarez sprang to his feet, sloshing the wine from his glass.
‘Doña Marina.’ He swept her a bow that nearly grazed the courtyard tiles.
Marina looked upon him in vague distaste.
‘Captain Juarez,’ she said in a bored voice. ‘How nice to see you.’ And cast a brief smouldering glance at Penny, sitting nearby.
Penny wanted to give the bluff soldier his chance with Marina. She quickly excused herself and went upstairs to her room.
There she walked about, thinking. Then she sat down and thought some more.
By his boots . . . the captain had said.
Her dark sapphire eyes were narrowed.
For Captain Juarez had told her a deal - indeed more than he knew.
THE HOUSE ON THE PLAZA
DE ARMAS
HAVANA, CUBA
23
It was late morning and Penny was racing up the stairway, shaking Carolina into full wakefulness.
‘Get up, sleepy head!’ she cried. ‘Come to the window and view your competition!’
Carolina shook her head to clear the sleep from it, leapt from her bed, and accompanied Penny to the window.
‘There she is,’ Penny said triumphantly. ‘Doña Jimena Menendez. She paid a call on the governor this morning - and is just now leaving.’
Carolina looked down to see that in the street below a slender dark woman was being handed into a carriage by no less a personage than Governor Corrubedo himself. She moved gracefully but from here it was hard to tell what she looked like. Even at this distance her clothes appeared very rich.
‘Black silk,’ said Penny. ‘Light and sheer - the best. And fine black lace. And jet jewellery frosted with diamonds and perfectly enormous pearls. I hope she looks up - you must see her eyes. They’re huge. No wonder Don Diego is so taken with her!’
Carolina flashed her sister an irritated look. ‘Perhaps she is so taken with him!'
‘Perhaps it is mutual,’ Penny said cheerfully. ‘Ah, there she's looking up to wave at the governor’s daughter - the hateful minx refused to come down but she’s obviously standing behind the grillework of her bedroom window. I doubt Doña Jimena can see her, but she guesses Marina is there so she waves! Oh, it is hilarious how jealous Marina is of Doña Jimena!’
Carolina, staring down into that lovely face so suddenly uplifted, seeing the froth of black lace fall back from that pale slender forearm, thought Marina might have cause for jealousy. Old Juana might have exaggerated when she said that Doña Jimena was the most beautiful woman in the world, but she was certainly a great beauty. Her thick shining hair shimmered blue-black in the bright Havana sun, her pale olive complexion was smooth and creamy, her vivid features even from here had a dramatic flare: black winglike brows, lashes so dark they made an ebony frame for eyes that were a dark flash in her expressive face. Small-boned, elegant, aristocratic - no wonder poor little Marina hated her!
‘She has a voice like honey,’ supplied Penny, rubbing salt into the wound. ‘It fairly
drips sweetness. And she sinks into chairs with a languorous air - as if she would much rather be in bed. It is easy to see why she has so many lovers!’
As far as Carolina was concerned, Doña Jimena might have all the lovers in Havana - except one. She was not to have Don Diego Vivar! On that one item, at least, she and young Marina agreed!
‘The servants say Doña Jimena manages to fit Don Diego into her schedule several times a week,’ Penny added wickedly, with a slanted look at Carolina.
That will stop as of now! Carolina promised herself. Aloud she said, ‘I doubt he cares for her much - she is a loose woman, and loose women have a way of attracting unattached men.’
‘Well, aren’t we philosophic?’ mocked Penny. ‘I’m sure she finds him fascinating, for it seems Don Diego is a man of mystery.’
‘How so?’ Carolina asked absently. She was watching the carriage with its elegant occupant disappear down the unlit street.
Penny went over and plumped herself down on the bed. She was, Carolina noticed, extremely well dressed this morning. Her elegant black lace gown would have delighted any Spanish lady’s heart, and her riotous hair was upswept and held in place by a carved tortoiseshell comb.
‘I see you’ve noticed that I look different,’ Penny remarked.
‘Obviously the governor has discovered you,’ Carolina observed drily. ‘Don’t tell me he ordered you that new gown!’
‘It belonged to his wife,’ Penny said, smiling. ‘It seems that Doña Constanza and I are the same size. He has told me that I may make free with her wardrobe - the better to decorate his table!’ Her throaty laugh rang out.
‘So you are sleeping in his bed,’ sighed Carolina.
‘Well, not yet. The governor is a gallant soul. He is courting me. Marina is furious!’
‘You don’t mean he intends to marry you?’ gasped Carolina.
‘Well, he may intend to marry me but I certainly don’t tend to marry him,' Penny said carelessly. ‘A wife in Spain may be trampled on at her husband’s pleasure - it doesn’t suit my style!’
‘No, it certainly doesn’t!’
‘So for the moment I am to be called his ‘housekeeper’ and have taken charge of the house.’
‘As I have here,’ Carolina said ironically.
‘Precisely.’
But in what way is Don Diego a man of mystery?’ Carolina was determined to drag her sister back to the main topic.
‘I can hardly wait to tell you! There is a certain Captain Juarez who dangles after Marina. He speaks English, and yesterday when Marina was out he told me all about Don Diego.’ She outlined swiftly how Captain Juarez had recognized Don Diego by his boots there upon the deck of the Sea Wolf.
Carolina hung on her words. Now at last she understood what had happened and how Kells - an injured Kells whose memory had been wiped temporarily clean by a blow received during the earthquake - had turned up in Havana wearing the name Don Diego Vivar.
He had been there - hurt - all the time in Port Royal! And while she was ministering to others aboard the Swan, Kells was being carried away by his well-meaning Spanish rescuer who had mistaken him for somebody else.
And all of this put him in deadly danger, for he was living a lie - and he did not know it!
‘There is a very strange look on your face, Carol,’ observed Penny. ‘One might very well think that you know something I don’t!’
Carolina started. She supposed the raw emotions on her face had given her away. In the old days she would have told Penny instantly and counted on Penny to keep her secret. But she did not entirely trust this new, more worldly, more capricious Penny to keep anyone’s secrets. And the thought that Kells might be found out here in Havana was terrifying!
‘No, I - I was just thinking what a miracle it was that he should have been saved during the earthquake and in an enemy stronghold,’ she said hastily.
Penny was studying her; there was a shrewd look on her arresting face. ‘The governor agrees with you,’ she laughed. ‘He muttered yesterday that it is all too pat, that it was almost as if Don Diego had been placed there to be rescued!’
Carolina felt a chill steal over her. Kells was in even more danger than she had thought if the governor had begun to suspect him!
‘Fate works in mysterious ways,’ she said cryptically.
‘Yes, doesn’t it?’ was Penny’s cool response. ‘Look how it brought you and me together after all these years! But now to the main question: What do you intend to do about Doña Jimena?’
I intend to keep Kells away from her! thought Carolina. Aloud she said, ‘Why should I do anything about her?’
‘Because,’ Penny pointed out with slow deliberation, ‘it is apparent to one and all that you fancy Don Diego.’
‘Yes. I fancy him.’ That much at least she could admit!
‘So how do you plan to wrest him from Doña Jimena’s arms? By making him jealous of Don Ramon?’ And when Carolina turned to her with a gasp, Penny chuckled. Don't imagine that you can keep secrets here in Havana, Carol. Over at the governor’s palace the servants talk of little else. It seems you took the town by storm when you rolled through it yesterday - and Don Ramon squired you about, took you to a tavern, and bought you a new pair of shoes!’ She cast her eyes about and saw the high red heels peeking out from under the bed. ‘And very good-looking they are, too. I must remember to tell the Governor that his wife’s shoes don’t quite fit me.’ Her throaty laugh bubbled. ‘Perhaps we will use the same bootmaker, Carol!’
Carolina gave her sister a wan smile. Usually it was a delight to talk to brash, light-hearted Penny - but not today. Today she had more important matters on her mind.
‘Do you think you could get me a truly sheer chemise?’ she asked. ‘The governor’s wife must have had several in this climate!’
‘Oh, I’m sure I can,’ sparkled Penny. ‘And if I can’t find one in her trunks, I’ll filch one from Marina.’
‘Don’t get into trouble,’ warned Carolina.
Penny shrugged. ‘I’ve been in trouble all my life,’ she said carelessly. ‘It’s really too late to do anything about it now.’
Carolina supposed that was true. The Penny she had known at Level Green was gone and in her place was this worldly amusing stranger, this - yes, she might as well face it - this courtesan. Penny had been right when she had described herself. She was not born to faithfulness - she was born to lie in the arms of many men. And love it.
‘What will you do, Penny, if you ever find a man you really want?' she asked soberly.
Penny’s dark blue gaze mocked her, but her voice was suddenly as hard as steel. ‘Why, then I will take him,’ she drawled. ‘And nothing - nothing will stand in my way.’
So Penny was still searching for that love she had never found - and might never find. Carolina’s face was wistful as she watched her sister depart.
That night at dinner she was on her best behaviour. She chatted with Don Diego - whom she now was certain was Kells even though he himself did not know it - she showed her pretty teeth winsomely as she smiled, she agreed with everything he said, she urged on him more wine.
She hoped that she was making a good impression, and it seemed to her eerie that she should be thinking such thoughts about her own husband, a man who knew her as well - sometimes, she thought, better - than she knew herself.
She was very careful not to bring up the subject of Spain, to speak only of recent happenings in Havana as reported to her by old Juana, who was a veritable mine of information.
The man across from her was watching her warily. She guessed he was wondering what had transformed this tempestuous wench into so pliable a companion. In truth he was marvelling at her beauty, admiring the way she held her spoon as she daintily ate her flan. And he was wondering why there was such an odd tug to his heart-strings at the very sound of her voice. There was something about her that tantalized him, drew him. Something more than sex. Although he remembered no women before Havana - indeed, nothing of
his past life - he felt an easiness in women’s company that told him that many of them had succumbed to his charms.
So what was different about this girl whose eyes flashed silver and whose hair was gold in the candlelight? She had lain in his arms but once - and that time under a misapprehension that he was somebody else - yet he had felt an almost overpowering flash of jealousy at the thought that she had let Don Ramon buy her a pair of shoes.
How could the wench have got her hooks into him so quickly? he was asking himself - and she a buccaneer’s woman at that! For as a caballero of Spain, he had only scorn for the buccaneers. They were outside the law, outside the true faith - and this woman had been one of them. He must watch his step with her.
But tonight Carolina was all wiles, all femininity. She sat long at table and finally yawned delicately and said it had been a long day - she must to bed. And graciously she thanked him for the shoes again, stretching out her foot so that he might admire them and showing a length of pretty ankle and calf as she did so.
Up the stairs, past the tinkling fountain she went - there to don the sheer black chemise that Penny had smuggled over to her this afternoon. It was a trifle too large but that did not matter - what mattered was that it was almost transparent, and in the candlelight the pale pink tips of her breasts glowed through it rosily, her slim hips and long slender legs were richly displayed through its rippling length, and the lace around the hem caressed her ankles.
On tiptoe now she stole down to Don Diego’s front bedroom and threw back the coverlet. She lay down on the bed, carefully arranging the chemise so that it was pulled up enough to display one gleaming bare leg. She sat up and beat the pillow into submission, then she tossed out her long hair so that it would stream out around her like the radiance of the sun - she did it twice to make sure she had it right. She lay there with outflung arms, one leg drawn up so that a white knee glimmered.
And waited.
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