The black invader (18 page)

'Rosa didn't want to admit it,' Luis went on, and clearly he wasn't altogether happy about his brother's motive for exerting so much pressure, 'but Miguel worked on her like a latter-day inquisition.'

'I'm grateful to him,' said Kirstie, and felt a wonderful sense of satisfaction, even though Rosa Montaiies was likely to hate her even more because of it.

'It's cleared the air, I suppose,' Luis allowed grudgingly. 'Rosa would never have allowed anyone but Miguel to talk to her the way he did, but you know Miguel when he puts his mind to something, he never lets go.'

'I know,' Kirstie said softly, and wished suddenly that she had the nerve to tell Luis she would rather not ride his Suli after all.

It had seemed such a long day to Kirstie, and the fact that she had seen nothing of Miguel seemed to matter far more than it usually did. Now that she knew how

determinedly he had prised the truth out of Rosa it somehow made the prospect of her clandestine ride with Luis rather less enjoyable, and she wished she knew a way to tell Luis that she'd had second thoughts. It would give rise to endless speculation if she suggested it, and she couldn't face Luis's inevitable questions.

With one eye on the time, she was putting the finishing touches to the evening meal that would be ready for when she came back, and she could feel her grandfather watching her, making her uneasy. The kitchen and the tiny salon were connected by an open archway and it was easy to carry on a conversation with someone in the next room, although so far her grandfather had said nothing of what was on his mind.

Lunchtime was the first time Luis had called at their home and Don Jose had been delighted to see him, although it was clear that he had expected to be given more of his time than the mere formality of an introduction and a polite request that he speak with Kirstie alone for a few moments. Kirstie had realised it, but not Luis, and she was half expecting the matter to be raised sooner or later.

'I hoped when Don Luis came here today that he came with a specific purpose in mind,' her grandfather observed, and Kirstie sighed inwardly because she knew exactly what specific purpose he was referring to.

'He came to talk to me, Abuelo, that's all.'

A raised brow made it plain that Don Jose suspected her of being evasive. 'From the short time I was able to see you in the garden,' he said, 'that young man came for considerably more than polite conversation, Kirstie. In view of the way he was behaving then I quite expected him to ask to talk to me\ he's a very—demonstrative young man. Has there been any mention of marriage between you yet?'

'None,' Kirstie replied promptly. 'I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed if you expect Luis to propose, Abuelo, he isn't ready to marry anyone yet, and I strongly suspect it won't be me he settles on when he is.'

Then he has no right to behave as I saw him behaving at lunchtime!' Don Jose declared firmly, and Kirstie left what she was doing and came through into the salon, smiling and shaking her head.

'Oh, that doesn't mean a thing to Luis; not to anyone these days, Abuelo.'

Don Jose looked distinctly shocked and it startled Kirstie to realise just how much her grandfather still lived in the world of his youth, yet she couldn't find it in her heart to blame him. 'No young woman should take her reputation so lightly,' he admonished, 'not even these days, my child. I'm quite certain that neither Senor Montanes nor Don-Miguel would countenance such behaviour in Don Luis if they knew of it.'

Kirstie's pulse was beating so much harder suddenly, * and she kept her eyes downcast, watching the fingertip that traced a pattern on the arm of her grandfather's chair. 'I can't answer for Senor Montanes,' she told him, 'but Don Miguel is fully aware of the way Luis behaves.'

'And he doesn't object?' Don Jose demanded. 'I find that very difficult to believe, Kirstie!'

Kirstie knew he had a very soft spot for the man who had, she was forced to recognise, done all he could to make her grandfather's loss as bearable as possible, and she hesitated to shed a different light on him. Yet it was because they were so friendly and Miguel had not men- | tioned his own occasional lapses in that direction that she wanted to correct his picture of him. Miguel had his good points, she had good reason to know that, but he was not the paragon of virtue that her grandfather saw him as; a view that in Kirstie's opinion made him appear less of a flesh and blood man than he really was.

'Don Miguel is in no position to object, Abuelo,' she told him quietly, 'because he's kissed me himself on more than one occasion. The last time was when Senora Montanes saw us together in the stable one day last week; she made such a fuss about it that I've been forbidden to visit the stables again or to ride Scheherazade,

until she's gone home.'

*My dear child!'

*So now you know why I haven't been riding for nearly a week,' Kirstie said, and her grandfather frowned at her curiously, not yet taking in the full significance of what she had said.

'Don Miguel has forbidden you?'

Kirstie shrugged. 'He and Seiior Montanes agreed it between them, I think. Rosa Montanes can be pretty nasty, in fact I know she once threatened to keep Margarita away from her grandfather if she couldn't get her own way.'

'A very unpleasant character,' Don Jose observed disapprovingly.

'Very, but as it happens I am going to get a ride if Luis can bring off the plan he has. He's finally agreed to risk Miguel's wrath and let me ride Suli.'

'Surely if you've been forbidden ' Don Jose began,

but she shook her head quickly.

'Suli doesn't belong to Miguel as the other two horses do, and he's worked it out that if he can bring Suli out and then sneak Scheherazade out for himself we shan't actually be breaking any bans. Except that Miguel has threatened Luis with all kinds of retribution if he lets me ride the gelding. Anyway, it's done now.'

She shrugged because she was less and less happy about the whole idea, although she would have to go through with it now. The way her grandfather was looking at her did nothing to make her feel any better either. 'You're proposing to go riding despite the ban on your doing so?' he asked, and Kirstie nodded.

'Providing there are no hitches, Luis should be here about seven for me, so he said.'

Don Jose was silent for a moment, then he got to his feet and he was drawn up to his full height as he looked at her so that Kirstie instinctively shrank from the wrath to come. Her grandfather could look every inch the proud hidalgo when he chose to, and his features were implacable, leaving his feelings in no doubt.

'Whether or not there was good reason for Senora Montaiies' jealousy I won't go into now,' he told her, 'but I know Don Miguel as a good and generous man. Your plan to deceive him, quite deliberately, is underhand and quite unworthy of you, Kirstie. Riding is a privilege granted to you by Don Miguel and it shows a sad lack of gratitude on your part when you set out to deceive him! When Don Luis comes you will '

'It's too late,' Kirstie told him, and her own regrets added weight to her grandfather's criticism. 'The gelding is already tethered just outside our patio wall, Abuelo, and Luis will here here in a few minutes.'

'Kirstie!'

'I know, I knowV She turned and looked at him and her eyes were suspiciously misty. 'I wish I could get out of it now, especially since Luis told me how—how Miguel forced Rosa to tell the truth about her accident, and cleared me of blame. But what can I do?'

Don Jose regarded her steadily for a moment, then he shook his head slowly. 'It seems Don Miguel has your welfare very much at heart,' he observed quietly. 'Which makes your deceiving him very much worse, my child, don't you agree?' Kirstie nodded miserably. 'Therefore when Don Luis arrives either you will tell him that you want no part of the deception or I shall tell him myself.'

Kirstie bit her lower Hp anxiously, for she knew how Luis was going to react whichever one of them told him the ride was off. 'I—I'll tell him,' she promised in a small husky voice. 'I don't know how I'll tell him because I've begged him and begged him for nearly a week to let me ride Suli, his gelding, against Miguel's strict instructions, and if I tell him I've changed my mind '

'Isn't it possible he'll be relieved?' her grandfather suggested quietly, and Kirstie had to admit to the possibility.

'Perhaps,' she allowed with an unhappy shrug.

Her grandfather was a stern and authoritative man, but he was also a loving one, and she was so obviously

contrite that he was moved to take her in his embrace and pat her shoulders consolingly. 'You're a foolish child,' he murmured, 'a pretty, foolish child, and I can only hope that you find a strong and loving husband to care for you. Now that I've learned more about young Don Luis I'm not nearly so certain he would make a desirable husband for you, he's far too irresponsible.'

Kirstie could not restrain a smile, and she kissed him fondly. 'I've known that all along,' she told him, 'but you were so keen on the idea, Abuelo.'

A brief nod acknowledged his error, but Don Jose looked thoughtful as he glanced at his wristwatch. 'As you won't be changing into riding clothes,' he said, 'change into another dress, Kirstie, that one is far too businesslike for having dinner. If Don Luis comes while you're changing I'll entertain him until you're ready; that is if you're certain you want to tell him yourself about your change of plan.'

'I'm certain,' Kirstie told him, and hugged him for a moment. 'Thank you, Abuelo.'

The little barraca was built all on one level and it had taken her a long time to get used to everything being so close together; in truth she still wasn't really used to it. Going into her bedroom simply meant walking from the tiny salon through another door leading from it, and she heard her grandfather heave a great sigh as she closed her bedroom door. He really had set great store by Luis as a husband, she thought, but it had never really been even a remote possibility; she liked Luis, she found him very attractive, but she didn't love him and that was the only reason she would marry any man, rich or poor.

She had washed and changed her dress and was brushing her hair when she heard a knock on the outer door. A hard, brief knock that for some strange reason set her pulse racing wildly, and had her staring at her bedroom door in a kind of dazed curiosity. It could be Luis, it should be Luis, and yet every instinct told her that it wasn't.

The buzz of voices followed as her grandfather admitted the caller, and the moment she heard the other man's voice, even muffled as it was by the thick wooden door, she knew she had been right What concerned her most was why Miguel was there instead of Luis, for she couldn't quite believe in the coincidence of them both calling at the same time, and she stood for several minutes with the hairbrush held tightly in one hand.

She couldn't hear what was being said, just the two voices talking together, and the frustration of not knowing was nerve-racking. The suspense ended when a light tap on her door preceded her grandfather's quiet but authoritative voice. *Kirstie, if you're dressed will you come out here, please?'

She didn't reply, but put down the hairbrush and opened the bedroom door. Only her grandfather was visible at first, but when he turned and walked back across the salon she saw Miguel standing by the window, so tall that he seemed to fill the little room with his presence.

Dressed as she most often saw him, in slim-fitting light trousers and an open-necked shirt, with the bottoms of the trousers tucked into short leather boots, he was an impressive figure by any standard. And with his broad shoulders pulled back and a dark, menacing look in his eyes when he turned around from the window, he made her feel very small.

His mood was conveyed by the steady tapping of a red leather quirt against one leg, and she eyed it warily. 'Don Miguel.'

He inclined his head in a very formal bow, and it was hard to believe he had held her in his arms and kissed her such a short time ago, for his formality froze her with its chill. She glanced at her grandfather appealingly, but he seemed not to notice, and she wondered just what the two of them had been saying before she came out of her room.

*I have Don Jose's permission to speak with you alone for a few moments,' said Miguel, and it went without

saying that her grandfather had given his permission without hesitation, she thought.

'Abuelor

Don Jose looked at her and shook his head; his eyes were gentle but his manner was unrelenting. 'It's a reasonable request, child,' hh told her quiedy. 'Don Miguel has something he wishes to say to you, and while he does so I shall sit in my bedroom.'

'Please, that won't be necessary, senor,' Miguel assured him, respectful as always to the older man. 'If Senorita Rodriguez will come out on to the patio with me '

What else could she do but agree? Kirstie thought as she nodded consent. Her grandfather was just as much aware of what Miguel was there for as she was herself, and obviously he was going to let her handle the interview as she had said she wanted to. Only then she had been anticipating talking to Luis, not Miguel.

Outside, the scent of oranges was sweet and heady, and Kirstie made directly for the shade of the only tree their tiny patio possessed. She stood under the spread of its branches feeling as she had never felt in her life before, and finding it impossible to decide whether it was anxiety alone that made her heart race the way it did. The way Miguel affected her had always been cause for concern, and it was especially so in the present circumstances.

He stood facing her, and he looked so menacingly dark in the shadows, so gloweringly stem, that she found herself shaking like a leaf. For several moments he did no more than stand and look at her, and eventually the silence became so unbearable that she turned and moved off a pace or two, clasping her hands together in front of her. She spoke in a soft halting voice that must have told him exactly how she was feeling.

Luis's plan had obviously gone wrong and she felt guilty about her own part in it for his sake, because it had been her insistence that had made him do it. She had no doubt he had already felt the full weight of