Passionate Protection

Taking the gentle hint, as soon as she was alone Jessica opened the bathroom door, gasping with fresh delight when she saw the sunken marble bath and mirrored walls of the room, reflecting images of her whichever way she turned, the mirrors possessing a greenish tinge, given off by the malachite.

She washed quickly, then changed into a linen skirt in a buttercup yellow shade that complemented her colouring, adding a delicate short-sleeved embroidered blouse. She was going to need more clothes if she was to stay here for the time stipulated. She would have to write to her aunt and ask her to arrange to send some of her things on.

She checked her make-up, renewing her lipstick, chagrined to see how little of it was left after Sebastian's kiss, and having brushed her hair she walked through the sitting room to the top of the stairs, conscious of a nervous butterfly sensation in her stomach, and something faintly akin to anticipation tingling along her spine, as she steeled herself to face her host and new employer.

Whatever his aunt might privately think of Jessica's presence, it was plain to Jessica that she was a Spanish woman of the old school, and that the will of the male members of her family was law. She greeted Jessica pleasantly when she reached the bottom of the stairs and explained that she was waiting to show her the rest of the house, 'Which is rather rambling,' she told her, 'so I will show you round so that you will not get lost.'

Jessica followed her into the main sala, furnished with rare antiques, and with a silkily beautiful and probably priceless Aubusson rug on the floor. Beyond the windows lay a courtyard similar in design to the one beneath Jessica's tower, only this one was larger, encompassing several formal beds of flowers, and whereas Jessica's boasted a fountain and a small pool, this one possessed a shimmeringly blue swimming pool and a terrace.

'This is the main courtyard,' Sofia de Calvadores told her. 'There are others, because the Calvadores are first and foremost a Moorish family and for many centuries strictly segregated the differing sections of the family; privacy becomes of prime importance when a house is shared by several generations, and while this sala and its courtyard has always been considered a gathering place, there are several small, secluded courtyards which in the past were the private domain of various family members.'

'Just as the tower belonged to Rosalinda,' Jessica suggested. 'It must be fascinating to be able to trace one's family history back so far,' she added genuinely, suddenly remembering what Ramon Ferres had told them about the first Calvadores bride.

'Sometimes—sometimes it is not so pleasant to have the world privy to all one's secrets.'

'But the first Calvadores was one of Pedro the Cruel's knights, wasn't he?'

'Ah, you have heard that story,' Sofia smiled. 'Yes, indeed, that was so. He married the daughter of a Christian knight and it was for her, Rosalinda, that the tower was built.'

Jessica longed to question her further, but refrained, not wanting to appear too curious. What was it Ramon Ferres had said about the girl? That she had claimed her father's enemy had ravished her, and that rather than endure the taint of such an accusation he had married her?

'There you are!' a tiny voice suddenly piped up childishly, from the back of the room. 'Tio Sebastian sent me to look for you.'

'Lisa!' Senora Calvadores' voice reproached. 'Please remember we have a guest.' Her face relaxed into a faint smile as she turned to Jessica and explained in English, 'She is a little unthinking at times, and as always is excited by Sebastian's arrival. Lisa, come and meet Miss James, who is to work with Sebastian.'

A small, dark-haired child, with unexpectedly shadowed brown eyes, stepped forward and gravely offered her hand. She was immaculately if somewhat impractically dressed in a flounced white dress, matching ribbons securing her long hair, gleaming white socks and little black patent shoes such as Jessica couldn't remember seeing a little girl wearing since she herself had been a child.

She regarded Jessica with anxious gravity for several seconds and then burst out impetuously, 'Tio Sebastian won't be working all the time, will he?'

'Not quite,' Sebastian announced, startling Jessica with his silent entrance. 'You were so long, pequena, I thought I should come and look for you.'

'Then, if you are not to work all the time, this afternoon we may go for a ride?' Lisa suggested with innocent coquetry. 'Please, Tio Sebastian! No one else lets me ride as fast as you.'

'We shall see, after lunch,' he told her. 'First your aunt must tell me if you have been a good girl while I have been gone.'

The child ran across to him, clinging to his arm while she assured him that indeed she had, and Jessica was shocked by the sudden wave of longing she experienced to be part of that charmed circle, with Sebastian's free arm securely round her.

was gone almost immediately, the knowledge that she was ridiculous daydream, probably the fact that she was virtually alone in an alien land, excluded from the intimate family scene being played in front of her.

'Sebastian spoils her,' Sofia Calvadores complained as she and Jessica followed them out of the room, 'but in the circumstances it is easy to understand why. She is the image of her mother

The feeling superseded by indulging in a brought on by and…' She broke off as though feeling that she had said too much, drawing J

essica's attention to the doors leading to some of the other rooms as they walked into the hall.

'This is Sebastian's study,' she told her, opening one door and giving Jessica a brief glimpse of highly polished heavy furniture and a stained wooden floor covered in rich animal skins. 'But of course he will show you that himself later.'

The dining room seemed huge, the glittering chandeliers and frank opulence of the heavy mahogany table, polished until one could see one's reflection in it, making Jessica blink a little in dismay. She had forgotten how formal life could still be in the great Spanish houses.

'First an aperitif,' Sebastian announced, pouring small measures of golden sherry into small glasses and handing first his aunt and then Jessica one. 'This is made with the produce from our vines,' he told Jessica as she sipped hesitantly at the amber liquid. She had had nothing to eat all day and was beginning to feel the effects. A glass of sherry on an empty stomach was the last thing she wanted, but rather than cause offence by refusing she sipped hesitantly at the rich liquid. It slid warmly down her throat, but any hopes she had had of simply sipping a little and leaving the rest were dashed when Sebastian said ominously, 'Perhaps it is not to your liking?'

As though she would dare not like it! she thought half hysterically, and quickly drank the rest, and wishing she hadn't when her head started to spin muzzily.

It was still spinning when Sebastian indicated that she should sit down at the table. A servant was holding her chair for her, and she walked hesitantly towards it, appalled to realise how disorientated the sherry had made her feel. Surely it was far more potent than anything she had drunk at home?

'Jessica!' Sebastian's voice cut sharply through her muddled thoughts.

'I… it's… I'm so sorry,' she managed to gasp as the world started whirling round dizzily and she reached for the first solid thing she could find, her fingers tightening convulsively on Sebastian's jacketed arm.