The Mountains of Spring (11 page)

‘
That is excellent.
’
He drew his chair back a little.
‘
Then perhaps you will dance with me?
’
She hadn
’
t really noticed the fact before, but during the intervals between exhibitions of traditional dancing the musicians of the Casa d
’
Espana played more or less conventional dance music for the benefit of all those from the surrounding tables who felt like stretching their legs. There were never many people on the floor at any one time, but at this particular moment the lively rendering of a well-known tango had drawn several couples into circulation. The throbbing of the guitars was rhythmic and fascinating, and at any other time Caroline would have been dying to dance, but as things were she simply stared at Senor Rivel as if she thought it possible that he had taken leave of his senses, and once again the colour flared into her cheeks.

‘
D-dance with you?
’
she repeated, with an apparent stupidity which for a long time afterwards covered her in confusion whenever she thought of it.

‘
Yes.
’
His lips narrowed a little.
‘
But perhaps you are, after all, too tired.
’

Once again she had the unpleasant feeling that everyone was looking at her. Peter certainly was.

‘
Go on, Caro,
’
he urged.
‘
You always were the dancer of the family!
’

And from her place on his left-hand side, Isabel Dominguez put a word in.

‘
You must not be embarrassed because of me, Miss Ashley—I would dance if I were able to!
’

Caroline bit her lip. She only wanted to escape from them all, but she couldn
’
t. So instead she forced a smile to her lips, and looked at Diego.
‘
Of course I
’
d—I
’
d love to dance,
senor
.’

By the time they got out on to the
f
loor the tango had ended, and the guitarists had temporarily abandoned the rhythms of Spain in favour of a hauntingly sentimental waltz tune. Diego, as she had expected, danced well, and after the first uncomfortable few moments her own nervousness began to fade and she became conscious of the fact that she was almost enjoying herself.

Diego looked down at her.
‘
This is not too old-fashioned for you,
senorita
?
’

‘
Old-fashioned?
’

‘
I was afraid that you might dislike waltzing.
’

‘
Oh, no.
’
She shook her head.
‘
I—I like it very much.
’

‘
I should have guessed that. You
’
re very good at it.
’

‘
Thank you. So are you,
’
she said candidly, some of her confidence returning.

‘
That is most generous of you,
senorita
.
’
She felt that he was smiling over her head, but it didn
’
t seem to matter. She didn
’
t know quite why, but for almost the first time since she arrived in Mexico she
was
enjoying herself.
‘
You are a strange young woman,
’
he remarked suddenly.
‘
Very strange
...
but quite enchanting, nevertheless.
’
She stiffened and missed a step; for a moment he thought that she was going to break away from him altogether, and he laughed rather oddly.
‘
I am sorry, I forgot how English you are. But I don
’
t see why I should not be permitted to tell you that you
’
re enchanting. When one sees a beautiful thing it is natural to admire it, and you,
senorita,
are a very beautiful thing. A crowded night-club—even a Spanish one!—is ha
r
dly the right setting for you, but even here—
’

She interrupted him,
‘
Senor Rivel—
’

‘
Yes?
’

‘
I really don
’
t expect you to pay me compliments.
’

He glanced down at her in amused astonishment.
‘
If you don
’
t,
’
he remarked,
‘
it must be a long time since you looked at yourself in a mirror. Do you never allow men to admire you? Or is it because I am not an Englishman that you think it slightly improper?
’

‘
You are my brother
’
s employer, and—
’

‘
Ah!
’
His voice and expression changed.
‘
You still think of me as the brutal tyrant who has ruined your brother
’
s life. Do you think he looks as if his life has been ruined?
’

‘
No,
’
she admitted.
‘
He looks well
...
and happy. But—
’

‘
To the best of my belief he is well and happy.
’
By this time Diego was completely serious.
‘
And if he is sensible he will remain so.
’

‘
If he is sensible?
’

‘
Yes. At the moment he is content with his position, and therefore he is being sensible. I hope, for his own good, that you will not try to influence him ... to make him restless.
’

‘
I have no intention of trying to make him restless,
senor
... if it really is in his interests to stay here.
’

‘
I can assure you that it is in his interests.
’
He was looking over her shoulder, in the direction of their table, and it seemed to her that something he saw there made him frown.
‘
I am afraid, however, that I made a mistake in introducing him to Senorita Dominguez.
’

Caroline started slightly, and glanced up at
him
.
When they first moved out on to the floor she had expected him to say something about Peter
’
s behaviour; she had even imagined that he had asked her to dance simply and solely in order to demand that she make some effort to restrain her brother, lest worse befall him. But then it had seemed to her that he was in far too relaxed, even light-hearted a mood to be in the throes of a jealous rage. And when he had started addressing flattering remarks to herself she had decided that for a man who was engaged to be married—a man whose
fiancée
was watching him from a vantage point not very many feet away—his conduct was rather extraordinary. She had heard that in Latin countries marriages were often arranged purely for the sake of expediency, and that wives and
fiancées
were sometimes apt to be neglected, but earlier in the day it had struck her that Diego Rivel was almost ridiculously devoted to the slight, attractive cripple with whom he was evidently planning to share his life. Now, apparently, he had suddenly recollected her, and his resentment where Peter was concerned had been revived.

‘
Peter likes talking to people,
’
she said quietly.
‘
Is there any reason why he shouldn
’
t talk to your
fiancée
?
’

He seemed startled by this question. For a moment, she thought that he was going to stand still in the middle of the floor. Then, after rather a long pause—she had begun to wonder, in fact, whether he intended to answer her at all—he said:

‘
I should have thought the reason was obvious. Naturally I don
’
t like to see my
...
future wife being besieged by another man.
’

She felt angry and impatient.
‘
Nobody is being besieged My brother isn
’
t even trying to flirt With Miss Dominguez. I
’
ve told you, he likes talking to people.
’

He looked almost amused again.
‘
That,
senorita,
is the most interesting excuse I have ever heard made in such circumstances.
’

‘
I think,
’
she announced,
‘
you
’
re being quite unreasonable.
’
She had an uneasy consciousness, at the back of her mind, that Peter was behaving rather badly, but nothing in the world would have induced her to admit the fact.
‘
If you feel so strongly about that sort of thing,
’
she couldn
’
t resist adding,
‘
why are you dancing with me?
’

For a brief moment he once again appeared to be thunderstruck. Then, quite seriously, he said:
‘
Because you are my guest. Because dancing is a social obligation.
’

At that moment the music stopped, and possibly it was just as well. They stood still, looking at one another.

‘
That
’
s—that
’
s a very honest answer,
’
she admitted. She didn
’
t think she had any right to feel offended, and she was trying hard not to.

‘
But it
’
s not,
’
he told her,
‘
a complete one.
’
He looked at her rather fixedly.
‘
I wished to dance with you partly because you were my guest
...
but mainly because you are a very beautiful young woman. Because, even in this setting—as I was about to tell you a few minutes ago—you make me think of a white rosebud in a moonlit garden.
’

She stared at him, while the colour swept up over her cheeks in a wave. And then he took her briskly by the arm, and marched her back to their table.

CHAPTER V

The following morning Caroline awoke early, and after consuming a very light breakfast in her room, dressed quickly and slipped downstairs. She didn
’
t really imagine that her hostess would be about so early, and she couldn
’
t leave—as she planned to do later in the day—without saying goodbye; but the strong, vivid sunshine seemed to call to her, and she could at least go outside and wait in the patio.

The Senora, however, was already up, and waiting for her in the
salon.
She looked neat and elegant and reposeful, and not in the least put out by the fact that she had obviously made an effort to get up early for the benefit of her visitor. She
smil
ed brilliantly at Caroline, and, exactly as she had done the first time she received the girl in her drawing-room, indicated a chair beside her own.

‘
Good morning,
chiquita.
You slept well?
’

‘
Very well, thank you,
senora.
It was really very good of you to let me stay here again.
’

‘
It “was” very good of me?
’
The old lady
’
s eyebrows ascended.
‘
My dear, I haven
’
t stopped being good yet! You do not imagine you are going back to some dreadful hotel?
’

‘
But I must,
senora.
It
’
s awfully kind of you to—to let me stay on here, but you
’
ve already done far too much for me. I couldn
’
t go on taking advantage of your hospitality. And, while I
’
m in Mexico, I would like to be near my brother.
’

‘
Then you might as well stay here, since for the next fortnight this is where your brother is going
t
o be
.’

‘
Here?
’
Caroline looked astonished.
‘
But I thought he was going back to Toluca. That
’
s what he told me last night.
’

‘
Well, he is not going back to Toluca. Not yet.
’
The Senora looked inordinately pleased with herself.
‘
Early this morning, my grandson came to see me. As a matter of fact, he left only five minutes before you came downstairs. He told me that he intended to stay in Mexico City for the next fortnight, and that he wished your brother to remain also. So you see, for you to travel back to the mountains would be quite absurd!
’

Caroline
’
s cheeks flushed with unmistakable pleasure.
‘
O
h, that
’
s—that
’
s very nice of him!
’

Her hostess smiled at her suddenly with tremendous warmth.
‘
I am so glad you realize that—that you understand why he is keeping your brother here. I told you last night that he was trying to be kind, but I don
’
t think you believed me.
’

The girl coloured more noticeably than ever.
‘
I didn
’
t believe you, but—
’

‘
But now you are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, as you say in England?
’
The old lady sounded amused, but she directed rather a penetrating look at her youthful guest. Caroline, this morning, looked very English and utterly
char
ming
—she couldn
’
t remember when she had last seen a more attractive girl. And the child also seemed curiously light-hearted, as if some great burden had just been rolled off her shoulders. Senora Rivel had not seen her look light-hearted before.

‘
You enjoyed yourself last night?
’
she enquired.
‘
You had a pleasant evening?
’

‘
Oh, yes, it was very pleasant!
’

‘
And you found your brother well
...
not at all downtrodden?
’

C
aroline looked serious all at once.
‘
It was very wrong of me to—to imagine so many things about Peter,
’
she confessed.
‘
I see now that Senor Rivel has treated him
...
very fairly.
’

‘
So you no longer think badly of my grandson.
’

‘
I had no right to think badly of him at any time.
’

‘
B
ut you did, nevertheless.
’

A trace of pink still lingered in Caroline
’
s cheeks.