by Anne Hampson
‘Delightfully feminine . . . and most fitting for our beautiful marquesa!’ With a challenging glance shot in his cousin’s direction, Gasper took Hydee by the arms, drew her to him, and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Happy Christmas, Hydee!’ he said for all to hear. And then, very softly, ‘You made it! He’s seen sense at last.’ His lips brushed her cheek again before he moved aside.
Hydee turned to her husband, her eyes unnaturally bright. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured huskily. ‘They’re . . . so beautiful. . . .’ Carlos came close, a smile in his eyes, Hydee’s present to him in his hand. It was an exquisitely carved piece of netsuke.
‘And thank you, dear,’ he said gently. ‘How did you know I collected netsuke? I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned it to you.’
‘Gasper told me,’ she answered, remembering how thrilled she had been on finding it. But as she had known nothing about netsuke, she had asked Gasper to go into the shop and look at it for her. She bought it after he had said it would be one of the prizes of his cousin’s collection.
Gasper had been amazed that the shopkeeper, an ancient spinster known merely as Fernanda, had been able to get hold of such a high-quality piece of netsuke, which was a rare commodity anyway. However, it was just the present for Carlos, and Hydee had been delighted to find it.
‘You like it?’ She had to say something to break the silence as she watched Carlos turning it over in his hand.
‘It’s very lovely,’ he replied. ‘A most desirable addition to my collection.’
Lunch that day was exceptional, but the main event of Christmas Day in the home of a Portuguese hidalgo was always the party given for the estate employees and their families. This was the time for distributing the presents from the glittering tree, Carlos cutting them off and Hydee, helped by Ellie, giving them out.
‘What a day!’ Ellie exclaimed when, at almost midnight, she and Hydee managed to snatch a few minutes alone, having moved surreptitiously from the main salon to one of the smaller ones. All the estate workers had left with their families, and the house was comparatively quiet again. ‘I shall never forget all this as long as I live!’
‘Nor I,’ agreed Hydee. ‘It was really something, wasn’t it?’
‘Something to talk about for a long time to come.’ They continued to chat for a while, and it was only when both were almost asleep that Ellie suggested they go to bed.
Once again Hydee wondered if Carlos would come to her, and this time she was not disappointed. He opened the door and stood there, fresh and cool after a shower, his hair damp, his long body clad in a dressing gown which appeared to have nothing underneath it. Hydee was by the dressing table brushing her hair. A smile illuminated her face as she stared at him in the mirror, then turned and stood waiting for him to speak. Instead, he moved towards her, reached out his hands and waited. Joyfully she went to him, arms outstretched, and in seconds she was thrilling to his strong arms about her quivering body, his mouth cool and tender on her lips.
‘There is so much to say, my darling, and yet I don’t want to say it tonight.’ He held her from him, eyes filled with tender amusement on noticing the battle going on within her as she strove to give him an answer. ‘Woman’s curiosity,’ he mocked, it would appear it wins by a short head. For myself I’d rather make love and leave the more prosaic matters for the morning.’
She had to laugh, but explained, not without a certain measure of shyness, that she would enjoy his lovemaking much better if everything were cleared up first.
‘How unromantic!’ he jibed, in any case, it’ll take so long that you’ll be too tired.’
‘Try me,’ she returned, burying her face in his dressing gown. ‘I’m not a bit tired.’
‘Liar. I met Ellie on the landing and she said you’d both nearly fallen asleep downstairs.’
‘I’ve wakened up since then.’
He lifted her chin, claiming her lips for a long moment, before, with a little shrug of resignation, he began to explain how he had come to be interested in Arminda.
‘She was a friend of Isobella’s, and I now feel sure that it was she who was the instigator of Arminda’s move into this district. I admit I was attracted to Arminda; she became a regular visitor to my home and I to hers, with the natural result that my family concluded we’d get married. They knew I was more interested in acquiring a wife than another nanny. I’d had enough of nannies; I wanted my children to be loved. Well, it seemed that Arminda was a suitable choice because she was so charming with Luisa and Ramos, but somehow, neither of them took to her. Then one day I happened to catch the change in her expression after the children had burst in on us when we were sitting together. I had the impression of impatience—only fleetingly, because Arminda instantly adopted her customary charm of manner with them. I was troubled, though, and watched her from then on. You know the rest. I decided she was not suited to be a mother to my children, but I still cared for her.’ He stopped a moment, silent in thought. ‘I was still determined to have a wife,’ he continued presently. ‘My first wife was an exception, but in the main, Englishwomen are exceedingly kind to children, so I decided to try to find a suitable Englishwoman to be my wife. Added to this, Ramos and Luisa speak the language perfectly.’ Again he stopped, then once again said she knew the rest.
‘You found me,’ she inserted, unable to think of anything else to say, and in any case, she wanted his explanation to come to an end as quickly as possible.
‘Yes, I found you,’ he murmured, brushing her lips before placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. ‘To resume, though, I felt guilty about Arminda and also I still felt I cared deeply for her. Yet on reflection 1 realise that I was never totally unaware of you as a woman, and gradually I found myself wanting you.’ Faintly he smiled, kissing her cheeks because she had blushed. But Hydee sensed his deep regret at the cruel words he had used to her, saying he had taken her because she had wanted it. ‘As I don’t consider myself a fickle man, I suppose I had a fixation about caring for Arminda,’ Carlos went on eventually. ‘But I now realise that, from the moment you came here, I was losing interest in her, and I also know that when I told you I cared deeply, it was not the truth, although, at the time, I believed it was, or wanted to believe it. Then there was the added complication of Gasper, whom you allowed to kiss you and with whom you seemed to be falling in love, and in fact you told me you would probably marry him when—’
‘Oh, Carlos,’ she cried, straining from him, ‘don’t bring that up! It wasn’t true—really it wasn’t!’
Carlos laughed then and drew her to his heart again. ‘You’ve no need to tell me, sweetheart. I guessed you were trying to make me jealous—’
‘That was afterwards, when I said I like Gasper very much and that we’d known from the first that the-re was something rather special about our friendship.’
‘Well, it’s of no more importance now than my own equally untrue statement that I cared deeply for Arminda,’ He paused, because she had lifted her face, eyes shining, lips moistly glowing, inviting a kiss. ‘As regards my being with Arminda in London,’ continued Carlos sometime later, ‘she and her mother had suffered financial losses of great magnitude; she believed she had been robbed and wanted me to look into some investments which she had over there. I agreed to help, feeling it was the least I could do, but refused to travel with her, owing to the possibility of gossip. Well, Isobella knew Arminda was going to London, knew, too, that I was to be there as well, so she made it her business to tell you about it. Gasper also knew, so he verified Isobella’s statement, though without sharing her cruel intentions. It must have looked black against me but, believe me, dearest, I was not unfaithful to you.’
‘I know, Carlos. When you hinted as much, I believed you rather than Isobella, and it helped, but I still had the idea that you could never fall in love with me.’
His eyes were tender as he said, ‘I’ve been falling in love with you since the first day. I know that now. What finally made it hit me with some force was
that night—’
‘I know which night, Carlos,’ she broke in swiftly. ‘You were so loving with me.’
‘And you with me, dearest.’ He stopped and gave a small sigh. ‘Arminda, like everyone else, knew the circumstances of our marriage, so Arminda continued to believe I loved her. Well, after that wonderful night I knew I must tell her it was my wife whom I loved, but I was reluctant to upset her before Christmas, hence my saying that you and I would talk afterwards. However, as things turned out, I was unable to hide my love from you, and Arminda tackled me, so I admitted it. She took it very well but told me that she and her mother will be leaving the district within the next few months.’
‘I feel sorry for her, Carlos.’
‘So do I, but it was fate that she and I did not marry. You, my beloved, were waiting for me.’
‘Yes, waiting for my Prince Charming. . . .’ She smiled, offering her lips. ‘Kiss me, dear Carlos,’ she whispered huskily—and within seconds she was swept into a wild torrent of passion that left her breathless and limp in his arms, joyfully submissive, his for the taking.
