Passionate Protection

She heard him swear mildly, and then to her relief the mists started to clear.

'It was the sherry,' she managed to explain apologetically. 'I didn't have any breakfast, and…'

'It is very potent if you are not used to it,' Sebastian's aunt agreed. 'Sebastian,' she directed her nephew, 'it is your fault for insisting she drink it, but you will feel better directly, my dear,' she comforted Jessica.

What a terrible impression she must be creating, Jessica thought with burning cheeks, and she released Sebastian's arm as though it were live coals. She didn't miss the flash of sardonic comprehension in his eyes and shrank back when he bent his head and murmured softly, 'You cling to me as fiercely as a dove to the branch that gives it shelter, but I am not deceived by your air of helpless dismay. Jorge told me of the wild beach barbecues you both attended, when drinking raw Sangria was the order of the day, so please do not expect me to believe that one single glass of sherry could have such a calamitous effect.'

What was he trying to imply? That she might have some other motive for clinging to him? But what?

'If you are having second thoughts,' he added, supplying her with the answer, 'and thinking that any man in your bed is better than none, do not, I beg you, even think of nominating me for the role. As I have already said, I am particular about with whom I share the pleasures of the act of love.'

Tio Sebastian, what are you saying to Miss James?' Lisa piped up curiously. 'She is looking all pink and funny!'

His aunt quickly shushed the child, but not before Jessica had pulled away and slid into her chair. What must his aunt think of her? she wondered bitterly; or was she inured to her nephew's habits? Did she perhaps simply ignore the real role in his life of the women whom he brought home? They would think they were lovers, he had told her, and she was forced to admit that he had been right, but how did one correct such insidious suggestions? By simply and frankly correcting them? How could she tell his aunt they were not lovers? It was impossible!

After lunch Sebastian suggested that he should show her round the laboratory.

'Can I come too, Tio?' Lisa pleaded. 'I promise I will be good.'

'If you have no objection?' he murmured enquiringly to Jessica.

She shook her head. In truth she would be glad of the little girl's company, because her excited chatter broke the constrained atmosphere that stretched between them.

The laboratory was situated at the back of the hacienda, in what had originally been an immense stable block but which Sebastian explained to Jessica had been converted into garages and his laboratory.

The door was padlocked and bolted, and he told her as he unlocked it that because of the dyes and processes used he allowed no one apart from himself to enter the building.

'At the moment we are working on a new generation of dyes, almost entirely based on natural substances, but there is still some problem with the stabilising agent, although that should not take too long to sort out.'

'You are the only company I know that uses only natural dyes,' Jessica mentioned. 'It's quite rare, but of course that's why no other concern can match you for delicacy of colour.'

'This is so,' Sebastian agreed, 'and that is why the exact blending and stabilising of the various agents is a closely guarded secret. Indeed, I am the only person in the company who possesses the complete formula—it is as valuable as that to us.'

Jessica could well understand why. The subtlety and delicacy of their colours was one of the things that helped to make their range of fabrics so successful.

The laboratory was well equipped, and she followed with interest Sebastian's description of the work he was carrying out, although her prime interest lay not so much in the dying of the fabric but in the design of it.

There was an office off the laboratory with a row of metal filing cabinets, and Sebastian unlocked one, producing some detailed sketches and swatches of fabric which he handed to her.

'These are the colours we are hoping to produce for next season's fabrics—as you know, the Colour Council normally decide a season's colours two or three years in advance. These are the colours suggested by the last Council meeting. What we have to do now is to incorporate them into the design of the fabric. What I should like you to do initially is to work on them and produce some suggestions for me.'

Jessica nodded, excitement stirring as, against her will, she became fascinated by the project ahead. She did know that the Colour Council worked two years ahead of the fashion designers, selecting the spectrum of colours for a particular season, and the swatches Sebastian had handed her made her mouth water in anticipation. They were autumn and winter colours; black, charcoal grey, softly muted heathers and a bright peacock blue shading to mauve.

'You can use the office here, or the sitting room in the tower, whichever you wish,' Sebastian told her carelessly, glancing down at Lisa as she tugged impatiently at his hand.

'You said we could go riding,' she reminded him, pouting a little. 'You promised!'

'You are forgetting that we have a guest,' Sebastian reminded her firmly. 'Would it not be polite also to ask Miss James if she would care to come with us?'

The question was for Lisa's benefit and not hers, Jessica acknowledged. Like other Latin races Spanish children were petted and indulged, but good manners were considered paramount. Hesitantly Lisa asked if she would like to join them, her relief patent and winning Jessica a wide relieved smile, when she gently refused.

'I'll take these up to the tower with me,' she told Sebastian, adding to Lisa, 'Enjoy your ride.'

She didn't go straight back to the tower, but found her way instead to the small enclosed courtyard she could see from her bedroom window. Jacaranda bloomed profusely against the walls, mingling with the bougainvillea, while two doves cooed melodiously on the rim of the pool. The courtyard had a secluded, mysterious air, as though it preferred moonlight and the seductive whispers of lovers to sunshine and birdsong. Had Rosalinda ever walked here with a lover—the husband who had married her so unwillingly, perhaps? Had they ever found love together?

r /> When she returned to the house she met Sebastian's aunt in the hall. 'Lisa and Sebastian are going riding,' she told her, adding impulsively, 'Lisa is a delightful child.'

'Charming—when she wants to be,' Sofia Calvadores agreed dryly, 'but Sebastian spoils her. It is natural, I suppose. He is all she has.'