Dark Ransom (15 page)

go through with this... meaningless pretence. Surely you can see that

it's impossible?'

'I am pretending nothing.' The dark eyes flashed at her. 'I need a

wife at my table, and a woman in my bed. You... satisfy my

requirements. I ask no more than that.'

'Well, I want a great deal more from life,' she said angrily.

'Yet what life did you have before you came here?' he demanded.

'On your own admission, you were hardly more than a servant.'

'I had my independence.' Charlie pushed to the back of her mind the

memory of her mother's ceaseless fretful demands.

'Independence?' he said slowly. 'Often that can be just another word

for being alone. I know because I've used it myself. But you don't

have to be alone, Carlotta. Here you have a place of honour at my

side. I have work to do here. You could help.'

She wanted to cry out, 'Because a place of honour at your side—

without love—would be the ultimate loneliness.. .worse than

anything I could endure without you.'

Instead she shook her head. 'I'd be hopeless.' Her voice quivered.

'I—I don't even speak your language.'

'You could learn—with Agenor's help, and mine.'

'It will never work, believe me. You have to let me go.' She took a

deep breath. 'Now that we can use the river again, I thought maybe

you could spare Pedrinho for a day to take me back to Mariasanta.'

'Impossible.'

'No—no, it isn't. I swear I won't make any trouble for you. We can

put this whole miserable mess behind us—and get on with our lives.'

'As if nothing had happened?' he questioned mockingly.
'Desculpe,

Carlotta. It is too late for that. Besides, the boat's engine is being

repaired.'

'Oh.' Her shoulders slumped. 'But there must be some other way out

of here, no matter what you say. You have to transport the rubber

somehow, and -'

'You are grasping at straws,
querida.
And you seem to have

forgotten something.' He paused. 'We have still to learn, after all, if

there is to be a child.'

For a moment she was tempted to lie—to tell him she had positive

proof that there wasn't going to be a baby, but somehow the words

shrivelled on her lips. Instead she tried another gambit.

'But what about your family? They're obviously very important

people. What will they say—when they find out you've married a

total nobody?'

Riago shrugged a naked shoulder. 'No doubt my mother has already

informed all my relations of my intentions. But their opinions no

longer matter to me. As I've told you, I am estranged from my

family.'

Charlie swallowed. 'Because—because of the girl you told me

about?' she asked with difficulty. 'Your sister-in-law?'

'Because of her—yes.' His tone had hardened again, and his

expression became suddenly remote. 'One day, perhaps, I will

explain...'

'There's no need.' She already knew more about it than she wanted,

she thought with pain. 'I laid my life at her feet'-oh, God... 'I—I

understand.'

'I doubt that,' he said drily. 'But it's not important that you should. At

least, not yet.' He lay back against the pillows. 'What matters is that

you are to be my wife.'

'And that will make everything all right?'

'It is a beginning.' He surveyed her through half-closed eyes. 'You

are wearing my gift,
carinha,
after all. And there is a saying, I think,

that a diamond is forever.'

'So they say,' she admitted huskily.

'Then remember that well, and believe me, Carlotta, when I tell you

I will never let you go.'

'Then there's no more to be said.' A little sigh trembled out of her,

and she turned away. 'I— I'm sorry I woke you.'

As she reached the door she thought she heard him say her name,

but she didn't pause, or look back.

She hardly slept that night. She lay staring into the darkness, trying

to decide what to do. She listened as well—straining her ears—

hoping and praying for the distant tell-tale rumble of thunder which

would signal the approach of another storm, another cloudburst to

flood the river and keep the visitors from Laragosa at bay for a few

more precious hours and days.

But there was only silence, broken occasionally by the mournful

howl of a monkey. The sound made her shiver, bringing home to her

exactly what she might have to face if she tried to leave through the

forest.

Yet there had to be routes in and out of the estate which the

caboclos—
the so-called 'men of the interior'—used to bring their

raw latex to the processing plant. She would have to find a way to

one of their settlements, and hope they would help her, she thought,

her stomach churning uneasily.

Yet wasn't this what she'd wanted—some adventure in her humdrum

existence? She just hadn't bargained for fate delivering the danger

and excitement of a lifetime in the space of a few short days, that

was all.

But I don't want any more, she told herself resolutely. I want to get

out of here and get back to the monotony of my everyday life in

Britain. That's what I need.

Once her normal routine had been re-established she'd be able to

forget everything that had happened here, she assured herself with a

kind of desperation. One day she might even be able to remember

Riago da Santana without feeling as if she was being wrenched

apart, physically and emotionally. One day, perhaps...

The day dawned hot and sultry, with no sign of impending rain. If

providence, in the shape of the weather, wasn't prepared to rescue

her then she would have to take matters into her own hands, she

realised grimly.

She began a dogged search through the
guarda-roupa,
pushing aside

the flimsy dresses with impatient hands, and at last she found what

she was looking for—a pair of tailored cream linen trousers, and a

matching shirt. Not exactly jungle wear, she thought as she changed

into them, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

Footwear was a problem. Fay Preston clearly had not been expected

to step out of doors, but Charlie needed boots.

I'll have to borrow some, she thought grimly.

Riago's room was deserted, of course. Charlie had become

accustomed to the fact that his working day began before sunrise.

She trod cautiously over to the cupboard, deliberately ignoring the

unmade bed and the memories it evoked, and extracted a pair of the

high leather boots he wore, shaking them out first to make sure no

unpleasant creature had decided to make its home in them. She had

long, slender feet, but the boots were still too big, and she had to put

on two pairs of his socks and pad the heels with paper before she

could achieve a reasonable fit. She helped herself to a hat as well.

She took a long look at herself in the mirror, then gently unfastened

the chain of the diamond pendant, and laid it down on the dressing

chest. She would take nothing when she left but the few things she'd

brought.

'I will never let you go.' The words sounded as clearly in her head as

if he'd spoken them, as if he were there beside her, and for a

moment she stared wildly round the room, seeking him. But she was

alone.

Leaving the pendant for him to find was a symbolic act, she thought

as she turned away. It severed the last link between them, telling

him more clearly than any words could do that she had gone forever.

She'd intended to walk straight out of the room, but somehow she

found herself at the side of the bed, her hand smoothing the

indentation in the pillow where his head had rested.

My only love. Silently her lips formed the words. Goodbye.

PHILIP HUGHES
was waiting in the hallway when Charlie emerged.

He gave her a slow top-to-toe assessment as she stared stonily back,

struggling to hang on to her composure.

'Planning an expedition?' he asked silkily.

'I think that's my business.'

'Don't be sore.' He fell into step beside her. 'The chances are neither

of us is going to make it out of here alone. The sensible course is to

join forces.'

She stared at him. 'But you didn't want to know...'

He shrugged. 'That was then. This is now. Things change.' He took

her arm, pulling her into the
sola de estar
and closing the door

behind them. 'So, what have you got planned?'

'Not a great deal,' she admitted reluctantly. 'I'd thought of

commandeering the boat I arrived on, but it's out of action.'

'How convenient,' Philip said with something of a snap. 'Your

arrogant
novio
thinks of everything. Coming within a hundred miles

of the bastard was definitely a bad move.'

Charlie stiffened, jerking herself away from his grasp. 'He saved

your life.'

'No, darling, he gave me a reprieve. I plan to save my own life by

getting out of here, because this is not a healthy place to be.'

'Your amnesia,' she said, tight-lipped, 'seems to be improving fast. If

it ever really existed.'

He shrugged, unabashed. 'A miracle cure, no less. So—no boat

means going into the interior, which will suit me better anyway. I

have to keep a rendezvous.'

'With whom?' Charlie's unease was increasing by the second.

'Let's just say some friends.'

'The same ones who hit you over the head and left you?' she

demanded with irony.

'No.' For a moment his face looked ugly. Then, with a visible effort,

he relaxed and gave her a smile. 'Let's agree not to ask each other

too many questions, shall we, sweetheart? There's very little about

me that you need to know.'

'I thought I knew quite a lot already,' Charlie said bitterly.

'Courtesy of Auntie Mary, I suppose.' His smile widened. 'Well, I

always was her favourite. And it was nice of the old trout to leave

me everything, even if I shan't be claiming my inheritance yet

awhile.'

She looked at him in dismay. 'But the estate needs sorting out. Her

solicitor is anxious to see you.'

'Tough,' Philip said succinctly. 'But I'm not throwing up the chance

of the kind of fortune you only dream about for a bungalow in the

sticks.'

'What fortune?'

He flicked her cheek with his finger. It was casually done, but it

stung. "There you go with those questions again,' he reproved. 'Do I

ask you why you're running out on a member of the great and

wealthy Santana clan?'

A dignified silence was the only response, she knew, but curiosity

got the better of her.

'Why do you call them that?' she asked carefully.

'Because they're loaded, sweetheart, seriously so. One of the

ancestors apparently foresaw the end of the rubber boom, and sank

his money into other things as well. They have gold and bauxite

mining holdings, as well as coffee and ranching interests in other

parts of Brazil. So your autocratic Riago is a good catch—even if he

has fallen temporarily on hard times.'

'I don't think what Riago is trying to do here can be classified as

that,' Charlie said sharply.

'Ah, but there's obviously a lot he hasn't told you.' Philip's smile was

almost limpid. 'You don't think he's here through his own choice,

surely? No, sweetheart, this is a form of banishment, because he

offended against clan law. The story was the talk of the river a year

or two back. I heard it myself in Manaus.' He paused. 'It seems there

was this girl.'

'I know about her,' she cut in. 'She married his brother. End of story.'

'Is that what he says?' Philip shook his head. 'Well, actually, that's

just half the story. Apparently the lordly Riago reacted badly to

being passed over for another man. In fact, he got caught trying to

force his attentions on the bride only a month or two after the

wedding. His brother and he had a fight—a real knock-down

affair—and Riago was kicked out of the palatial family home, and

sent here to do penance.

'God knows if and when he'll ever be allowed back into the family

fold,' he added with a shrug. 'But acquiring a wife of his own might

be the first step on the long road back. I'm sure that explains a lot

about his proprietorial attitude. You're an important part of his moral

rehabilitation. Or did you think he'd fallen in love with you?'

'No.' Charlie winced inwardly at the jeering note in his voice. 'I—

never thought that. But I'm not prepared to be... an aid to