obviously realising that your letter had failed, you decided to come in person. Why, I wonder? It must surely be obvious to you by now that Jorge does not wish to marry you.’
What on earth had Isabel got her into?
For a moment she contemplated telling the truth, but to do so meant betraying her cousin. She had protected Isabel for too long to stop now.
‘Perhaps, failing marriage, you had something else in mind?’ The soft suggestion held a trace of bitter contempt. ‘I know Jorge has told you of the marriage his family had hoped might take place between him and the daughter of a close friend of ours—a marriage, I might add, which would stand a far greater chance of success than the one you proposed. Perhaps you hoped to turn this fact to your advantage. Barbara’s family are very old-fashioned. They would be intolerant of any folly on Jorge’s part.’
Jessica went white, reaching out blindly to grasp the back of a chair for support as the meaning of his words sank in.
‘You thought I’d use blackmail!’ she whispered disbelievingly. ‘You thought I came here to … to …’
‘Very affecting,’ the cool voice mocked. ‘But I am not Jorge, to be easily impressed by a pair of huge amber eyes that plead with me to believe in an innocence I know they cannot possess. You are several years older than my brother; you used his inexperience and calf love for you to further your own ends. You must have known that his family would never tolerate such an alliance—so, Miss James, let us get down to business, shall we?’
‘If by business you mean you’ll pay me to forget any claims I might have on your brother, you’re wasting your time!’ Jessica told him furiously, too angry to care about the danger emanating from him as she pushed bitterly past him, blinking away tears of rage as she wrestled with the huge front door. She could hear him behind her, and the terrible fear that he would never allow her to leave made the blood pound in her head, her fingers trembling as she tugged at the door.
He swore harshly and she felt his hand on her shoulder, sobbing with relief as the door yielded and she half stumbled into the street. Her taxi was waiting and she flung herself into it without a backward glance, not caring what conclusions her driver might be drawing. The first thing she intended to do when she got back to the hotel was to put a call through to her cousin and find out exactly what was going on.
Fortunately, it was her aunt and uncle’s bridge night, and Isabel answered the phone, her pleasure turning to petulance as she recognised the anger in Jessica’s voice.
‘You saw Sebastian?’ she exclaimed nervously. ‘Oh, no, Jess, what did he say?’
She had a good mind to tell her, Jessica thought wrathfully. So Sebastian was his name; it suited him somehow.
‘Nothing flattering,’ she told Isabel grimly. ‘In fact he seemed to think I was you. Oh, Belle,’ she exclaimed as the scene in the vast and opulent drawing room flashed quickly through her mind, ‘you should have warned me, told me the truth. Why on earth did you want me to come here? Sebastian told me that Jorge had no desire to become engaged to you, he even showed me your letter.’
She knew from the sudden catch in her breath that Isabel hadn’t expected that, and yet true to form her cousin, even now, seemed to be trying to turn the situation to her own advantage.
‘You didn’t tell him he was wrong, did you?’ she asked quickly, ‘about us, I mean, Jess?’
‘I wasn’t given the opportunity,’ Jessica told her dryly. It hadn’t been pleasant listening to what the arrogant Conde had to say, and some of his more stinging barbs still hurt.
‘He mustn’t know,’ Isabel was saying positively. ‘Oh, Jess, try to understand—when I wrote that letter to Jorge, I was desperate—I thought I might be pregnant … Jess … Jess, are you still there?’
Trying not to betray her shock, Jessica murmured an assent. ‘Oh, you don’t understand at all,’ she heard Isabel saying crossly, obviously correctly interpreting her silence. ‘Honestly, Jess, you’re so old-fashioned it just isn’t true! Living like a frigid spinster might suit you, but it doesn’t suit me,’ she told her frankly, ‘and why shouldn’t I have fun if I want to?’
‘Was it fun, thinking you might be pregnant and unmarried?’ Jessica asked her bluntly. Isabel was still very much a spoiled child, and it did neither of them any good thinking now that she should have been treated far more firmly as a child—the damage was done, and Isabel seemed to think she had a God-given right to indulge herself in whatever she chose.
‘No,’ she heard Isabel admit sulkily. ‘But what else could I do? I had to write to him—he was as responsible as me.’
‘Go on,’ Jessica told her briefly. The more she heard, the less able she felt to defend her cousin—but then there were her aunt and uncle to think of. Both of them would be unbearably shocked if they heard the truth.
‘Oh, nothing.’ She could almost see Isabel’s petulant shrug. ‘I discovered it was a false alarm, by that time I had met John, and so …’
‘So you asked me to come here to see someone I thought you were on the verge of becoming engaged to. I don’t understand, Belle. There must be something more to it.’
There was a long silence during which mingled exasperation and fear gripped her, and then at last Isabel admitted sulkily.
‘Oh, all right then, when I wrote to Jorge he didn’t write back, but his brother did. Jorge had shown him my letter, he said, and he wanted to know what proof there was that any child I might have was Jorge’s—beast!’ she added vitriolically. ‘It was a hateful letter, Jess, and I was scared—Jorge had told me about him, that he was his guardian and that he was very strict. I was terrified he might come over here—come and see me because of what I’d written—so I panicked. I thought if you could see Jorge and tell him that I didn’t want him anymore then he would tell Sebastian and …’
And she would have been safe, without having to endure the unpleasantness of an interview with either Jorge or Sebastian, Jessica reflected bitterly. Trust Isabel to want to wriggle out of the situation with the minimum amount of discomfort to herself!
‘You do understand, don’t you, Jess?’ Isabel pleaded. ‘I couldn’t run the risk of Sebastian coming over here. If the parents or John had seen him …’
‘So you sent me into the lion’s den instead,’ Jessica supplied dryly. ‘Thanks!’
‘I didn’t know that you’d see Sebastian or that he’d mistake you for me,’ Isabel defended herself, ‘but perhaps it’s all worked out for the best,’ she added with what to Jessica was colossal selfishness. ‘Now he’s seen you and you’ve told him that you don’t want Jorge, he won’t bother us again. What was he like?’ she asked curiously. ‘To hear Jorge talk about him anyone would think he was God!’ She giggled. ‘I quite fancied meeting him; Jorge said all the women were after him. He’s immensely wealthy, and the title goes back to the days of Ferdinand and Isabella. He sounded fearfully haughty and proud.’
It was becoming obvious that Isabel knew far more about the Calvadores family than she had told her, Jessica realised. She was furious with her cousin, but as she knew from past experience, it was pointless getting angry with Isabel. Even if she were to drag her out here and make her face Sebastian and Calvadores herself, what possible good could it do? Isabel was probably right, it had all turned out for the best, although Jessica doubted
