Masquerade (44 page)

As she dressed for his birthday party, it suddenly occurred to Luz again that this was the first time Andrés had invited her to El Ecrin, his home. Always before they had met either at L’Estrella or at Puesta de Sol, his uncle’s house. She had never questioned it, never found it strange. But now the thought hit her out of the blue and it threw ice water on any excitement she felt at the idea of seeing him again. She drew a breath. Her naïvety beggared belief; things were adding up. It was only now that she understood how unrealistic she had been. With an effort, she cast those negative thoughts aside. No matter what the harsh truth might be, she would keep her chin up and concentrate on the task at hand, which was to look her best tonight.

‘Te ves divina,
you look divine,’ her father exclaimed as she walked out on to the terrace. ‘An ode to romantic glamour!’

Luz burst out laughing; her father could always bring a smile to her face even at the most miserable of times. ‘No wonder
Mamá
fell head over heels for you. You do say the most beautiful things,’ she said, putting her arms around his neck and kissing him.

Salvador and Alexandra surveyed the understated elegance of their daughter. She did indeed look divine in her floor-skimming periwinkle chiffon bustier gown. The sophisticated look lay in the perfect cut of the garment: the bodice was tight fitting, ruched at the
top of the heart-shaped décolleté, while the skirt flowed gently to the ground in draped panels, slightly shorter at the front. Sparkling, dainty high-heeled strappy sandals adorned her feet, her pretty painted toenails peeping out of them like little pearly enamelled shells. Luz held herself like a queen. She had her mother to thank for that, Alexandra having insisted her daughter took ballet lessons as a child, hence her perfect posture.

‘I haven’t seen that necklace before,’ Salvador commented on noticing the delicate strands of pearls, diamonds and amethysts adorning Luz’s slender neck. ‘It’s quite lovely.’ She had lifted her heavy, lustrous raven-black hair up on to the crown of her head and the necklace set off the pure line of her swan-like throat, drawing attention to the perfect curves of her bust and beautifully smooth, tanned shoulders.

‘Aunt Geraldine gave it to me with these earrings when I graduated. It has a matching bangle and ring, which would have been too much for tonight,’ she told him. ‘I probably showed them to you in their box at the time, but I have never had the occasion to wear them. Purple isn’t usually my first choice of colour.’

‘But it really does suit you,’ Alexandra declared. ‘It gives your eyes an interesting violet tint.’ She went over to Luz and cupped her cheek tenderly. ‘You are so beautiful, my lovely daughter. I simply refuse to believe that Andrés would prefer that dreadful woman to you. She is handsome, I grant you that, but so are statues and that is not what usually moves men.’

Luz kissed her mother affectionately and gave her an indulgent smile. ‘You are biased,
Mamá
,’ she told her lightly. ‘I’m your only daughter and Adalia has not only been beastly to me, but she is the offspring of someone who hurt you and
Papá
rather badly.’ She gave a little self-deprecating laugh. ‘Says it all, doesn’t it?’

‘None of that tonight,’ her father reprimanded softly. ‘Go off and show them all what an elegant, sophisticated, ravishing young woman Luz María Cervantes de Rueda is. I guarantee, men will be falling over themselves to dance with you.’

Luz smiled bleakly. She did not care about all the other men in the world: for her the only one who counted was Andrés.

The party was in full swing when Luz arrived at the striking hacienda that was El Ecrin. Already there were several other cars in the car park. At the ornately panelled oak front door, a major-domo took her through the hall to the tall open French windows that led outdoors. The furniture was minimalist. She had just time to notice a very large painting of a beautiful fair-haired woman, given pride of place at the top of the wrought-iron staircase, before she was ushered outside.

A crowd of guests had congregated on the lawn of the garden overlooking the sea. The house was not as big as Luz had anticipated, neither was the garden. As far as she could make out, the building had been skilfully carved out of an enormous cliff, all of its rooms facing the Atlantic. Painted white all over, it lay like an exquisite fragile treasure of lace-like ironwork and gilded outside decoration, with terraces of greenery surrounding it: a jewel box made out of rock. Everything about it was of a sophisticated simplicity, quite different to the complicated fantastical creation of Puesta de Sol. Here, the genius of a visionary was just as much present as it was in Eduardo de Salazar’s hacienda. The airy feel and lightness emanating from it was due to the artful contrivances of the builder, some skilled engineering and, most of all, the splendid artistic touch of the architect who had dreamt it up. Pure romance.

Though the night was still young, a dancefloor had been set up on the emerald lawn of one of the terraces overlooking the ocean and the dancing was in full swing. A golden full moon rode in a sapphire sky, studded so brightly with stars that they shone like lights in the heavens. Its vibrant rays gleamed on black, oily waters and on the white sandy beach dotted with dark shapes of boulders lying at the edge of the shore.

Luz immediately spotted the small group where Andrés was holding court, standing tall and distinguished. Her heart sank when she saw Adalia at his side. As usual she looked stunning in a lightweight maxi dress that was golden-beige and skin tight. It was a one-shoulder design with a twist strap and ruched detail on the bodice but the clinching factor that made it unique and so provocative was the thigh-high split on one side, which showed off the length of her shapely legs when she moved.

A tight fist squeezed Luz’s heart.
He’s mine,
she cried out silently. Still, how could she compete with that?

‘He’s not yours to have,’ someone whispered in her ear.

She turned sharply to find Lorenzo standing behind her, an ugly smirk on his handsome face. His eyes met hers with a gleam she found intensely offensive. She moved away without answering, but he caught her arm.

‘Why don’t you try me instead?’ he suggested in sickening, sugared tones. ‘I’m faithful, generous, famous and much richer than he is.’

‘Would you please leave me alone,’ said Luz, desperately trying to control the tight knot of apprehension growing inside her. Her fists clenched so hard that she could feel her nails biting into the f lesh of her palms.

Lorenzo released her, but not before letting his hand stroke caressingly down the satiny naked flesh of her arm.

Her stormy eyes withered him with their glance.
‘Don’t!’
she snapped.

The smile on the
torero
’s face faded rapidly and he immediately drew away, taking a couple of steps backwards. ‘The tigress has claws,’ he sneered.

Luz moved quickly towards the little group where Andrés was standing, trying to place as much distance as possible between herself and Lorenzo. When she was a few feet away Andrés noticed her and excused himself from his guests.

‘Luz,’ he whispered as he reached her. ‘Luz,’ he repeated, ‘it’s wonderful to see you.’ He bent over and brushed his lips to one cheek
and then to the other. She saw that his face was pale and drawn as his gaze settled intently on her. The usually glittering black eyes were dull and reddened as if he had known sleepless nights. He had lost weight, too.

‘Happy birthday, Andrés,’ she said, her brows coming together, concern for the man she loved replacing any previous misgivings. ‘What have you been up to? You don’t look at all well.’

But he had no time to answer her before Adalia walked over to join them. The socialite shot a silent look of condescending appraisal at Luz before pouting prettily at Andrés.

‘You really mustn’t neglect your other guests,
querido
, especially Señor Luis Alvarez and his wife. They’ve just arrived, all the way from Toledo. Remember, we need him to sign that contract.’ Without waiting for a reply, she slung an arm around Andrés’ waist, all the while gazing up at him adoringly. As she proceeded to steer him away she managed to turn her back on Luz entirely, completely shunning her. Andrés at least had the good grace to look uncomfortable, but it didn’t prevent Luz’s cheeks from flaming red.

‘Yes, yes, you’re right, of course,’ he muttered distractedly. His voice was hoarse, his expression almost dazed. For a moment he managed to extricate himself from Adalia’s clutches and then turned to Luz, his eyes full of a confusing mixture of emotions that she found undecipherable.

‘I’ll see you later,’ he murmured. ‘Duty calls.’ He smiled at her lamely, a wretched shadow of a smile, before following Adalia back into the crowd.

Would he see her later? When would he explain himself? She knew it was ridiculous, but she could feel the tears stinging the back of her eyes as she watched the pair move off, Adalia’s long elegant silhouette fitting perfectly against his lean masculine frame. Once more, it baffled her that Andrés seemed prepared to collude with Adalia’s territorial antics, which were hardly subtle. Luz swallowed hard and gritted her teeth, blinking as her vision blurred. She must not cry, not now, not here.

I
won’t give that woman the satisfaction,
she told herself through gritted teeth.

‘I told you he is already spoken for,’ she heard the loathsome voice snigger behind her.

A tide of pink rushed to her face. ‘And
I
told you to leave me alone!’ she hissed without turning. ‘You’re harassing me and, if you don’t want me to make a scene in public, you’d better get off my back.’ Luz was so beside herself with anger she could hardly control the urge to turn round and knock the Cheshire cat grin off Lorenzo’s face with the flat of her hand.

He came closer; she could feel the heat radiating from his body as he brushed against her bare back, but this time he did not touch her. ‘Why the venom,
señorita
? I’m only trying to stop you from wasting your time and making a fool of yourself, of course. You haven’t a chance against Adalia,’ he persisted scathingly.

At this, Luz broke into a run until she reached the house.
This must be how a hunted creature feels
, she thought as she leant, sagging a little, against a wall opposite the staircase. She was trembling and panting now, her lips parched, her hands clammy. The room was spinning a little, too.

The major-domo, who had shown her in and was still standing by the front door, came up to her. ‘Is everything all right,
señorita
? Can I get you a glass of water?’ he enquired.

‘Yes, please,’ she replied with a grateful smile. ‘That would be very nice, thank you.’

She relaxed, feeling a little better now. The portrait of the lady at the top of the stairs gazed down at her enigmatically. She was very beautiful. Actually, she looked very much like Andrés but a much fairer version, with golden hair and expressively coloured eyes that smiled mischievously at her. Andrés has inherited his mother’s magnetism, she thought. She moved closer to the painting, fascinated.

‘Doña Eleadora, Don Eduardo’s sister,’ the major-domo volunteered as he handed her a glass of water.

Luz thanked him. She thought back to the sunken elderly woman
she had seen at the Yacht Club ball. How very different Doña Eleadora had been when this picture was painted, so much more alive than in the flesh today.

‘She’s beautiful. Don Andrés looks very much like his mother,’ she noted.

The major-domo smiled a polite inscrutable smile then silently moved back to his place at the front door.

Luz was in two minds whether to go home or return to the party. Many of the older guests were undoubtedly acquaintances of her parents – she knew a few of them – but she had been away for so many years, on and off, and had only a small number of friends among the younger generation. Still, having taken such care with her appearance, it seemed a waste to leave the gathering so early. Besides, it was rude; she couldn’t do that to Andrés, though she wondered if he would even notice her absence. The distant look that enveloped him was like nothing she’d seen before; he looked almost wraithlike. Perhaps it was guilt eating away at him at the prospect of having to extricate himself from his relationship with her and the conversation he would have to have with her later.

Once again she stared up at the painting of Doña Eleadora, whose smile now seemed more mysterious than ever. She shook her head at her own mounting paranoia. There must be another explanation – she had to believe that for her own sanity. Whatever the reason, no doubt Adalia was capitalizing on Andrés’ distracted state, clamping herself to him like a limpet at every opportunity. She took a deep breath, braced herself and went back into the garden in a new mood of resolution.

Luz circulated stiffly among the guests, stopping from time to time to shake hands or answer a question about her parents’ health and whereabouts. She was hoping to find her good friends Alba and Carlos but they were probably away on holiday at this time of year. Her face ached from the artificial smile she had plastered on it and her throat was dry from the empty platitudes she forced from it in an attempt at conversation. Luz was unaware that Andrés’ eyes were on her continually; that wherever she went, he manoeuvred
himself so that he was only a few yards away, never taking his eyes off her. She was just about to lose all hope of meeting anybody she knew when she ran into Romero de Cabrera.

‘Luz, how lovely to see you again,’ he said, his eyes crinkling in that open smile that had immediately made her feel at ease when they first met at the Yacht Club. ‘Where have you been? I noticed you earlier this evening and then I lost sight of you among the crowd. There are quite a lot of people tonight. It’s all rather impressive, don’t you think?’

‘I’m so glad to see you, Romero,’ she told him, smiling properly for the first time that evening. He’d be surprised if he knew how much of a relief it was to bump into him, she thought wryly. After all, she hardly knew him. But it felt like she had never before felt such an acute need for a friendly face, someone she was sure liked her; someone who was on her side.