Authors: Sara Craven
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