the back.
He said without emotion, 'Not precisely. That, if you remember,
was my original intention. When you refused the offer I made you, I
had to resort to rather more drastic action. I have to ensure, you
see, that Mario will wish in the future to keep away from you.' His
mouth twisted sardonically. 'When he learns that you have been
here with me, it will produce the desired effect. I did not exaggerate
his jealous tendencies, believe me.'
She said slowly, 'But I'm not here-with you. Not like that.'
'No,' he agreed with her. 'But do you suppose Mario will believe
that when he discovers your whereabouts, as I intend he shall?'
'Yes,' she improvised wildly. 'If he's your brother, he must know the
lengths you're prepared to go to in achieving your own way. I'll
explain to him. I'll tell him exactly everything you've said-you've
done. We'll see then whom he believes.'
'We will indeed.' He smiled faintly. 'Especially as by that time, he
will already have seen the newspapers.'
She stared up at him. 'Newspapers?'
He nodded. 'I'm surprised that someone as used to cameras as you
are, cara, did not notice that we were being photographed last night
at the restaurant. I also took the precaution before we set off last
night of telephoning a journalist of my acquaintance and casually
letting slip that we were heading south together for a few weeks of
sun and pleasure.' He paused. 'He was frankly envious of my good
fortune. You come highly recommended, Janina. I have not seen the
morning papers, but I've no doubt that by now he will have tipped
off his own gossip columnist and that the news that you are with me
will have permeated along the grapevine.'
She bit her lip. 'And that's that, of course,' she said, trying to infuse
the right amount of sarcastic scepticism into her voice. 'Once you've
set your arrogant seal on a woman, there's nothing more to be said.'
'I'll say this much,' he said quite gently. 'No one will ever believe,
mia, that I had you here against your will, although they will
understand your motives for making such a claim. But believe me,
you are not the first-lady to enliven a vacation of mine.'
He was not boasting, just stating a fact, and there was no reason at
all. why hearing the words from his own lips should have cost her a
pang, but it did.
'Nor,' he added quite gently, 'is it the first time for you, cara, so let
us play no more games. Be honest-in other circumstances, this
little interlude could have been enjoyed by us both. As it is ...' He
shrugged.
'You're vile!' she whispered. If she had been flushed before, she was
now as pale as death.
His eyes hardened. 'Don't let us start calling names either. At best
it's unprofitable. Besides, I have far more names for you than you
could ever imagine for me.' He rose to his feet in one lithe
movement and stood looking down at her. In spite of herself, Juliet
shrank and her hands gripped the sheet until the knuckles showed
white. He saw the instinctive movement and smiled rather grimly.
'Don't worry, cara. As I was going to say-as it is, I wouldn't soil
my hands with you, so you have nothing to fear.' He turned away.
'And now I'll tell Annunziata to bring you some coffee. You look as
if you could do with some kind of stimulant.'
Dry-mouthed, she said, 'How can I be sure it's safe for me to drink?'
'It's safe.' He gave her an ironic glance. 'I have no Borgia blood,
mia?
'But you drugged me,' she said tonelessly. 'You drugged me and
brought me here, and now you're going to keep me prisoner, and
you really think you're going to get away with it.'
'You were hardly drugged,' he said coolly. 'A harmless sleeping pill,
that was all-a brand that my mother has taken for some time
without ill effects. And-yes, Janina, I do think I'm going to get
away with it. What you say about me, what you do when you leave
here is immaterial. My only concern is that you do not marry my
brother, and he will not stoop to pick up what he will believe are
my leavings. Nothing else matters to me. But if you are so foolish
as to cry your woes to the world, then I leave it to you to judge
whose account of these events is more likely to be believed. I am
not without influence, as you must realise by now.'
'I realise a great many things,' she said, her heart thudding so hard
that it was incredible that he did not hear it. 'And now have the
goodness to get out of my room.'
He gave her a long mocking look from the doorway. 'Something
else for you to realise, cara,' he said almost carelessly. 'This is not
your room. It is mine.'
And on that, he disappeared.
Juliet searched wildly for words to fling after his retreating figure,
but none came to her. When a moment or two had passed and she
was sure that he was not coming back, she turned over, buried her
face in the softness of the pillow and gave way to her overcharged
emotions.
There was little point in telling herself that she could have avoided
all this simply by telling him her real identity. It was too late for
those sort of recriminations now. Here she was, and here she would
stay until, presumably, he decided she had been here long enough,
or discovered his mistake.
She shivered as she lay, her wet face pressed against the softness of
the pillow. In many ways the whole escapade had started out as a
game of chess, in which she, the white queen, was going to
triumphantly overcome the arrogant black king. Now she knew
bitterly that she had merely been a pawn all along. A fierce
gladness rose within her at the knowledge that at least Jan had
escaped him. No matter what humiliation she herself had suffered at
Santino's hands, nothing could take away the fact that he had
ultimately lost. Jan and Mario were safe from his machinations at
least for the time being. What kind of married life they would have
if they were to live perpetually in the shadow of his disapproval,
she did not dare guess at.
Anyway, it was all so unnecessary and unfair. What, really, did he
know about Jan? Not even enough to enable him to distinguish her
from her sister. It followed therefore that his low opinion of her
must be based on hearsay, and there was no justice in that.
Juliet lifted herself up on to an elbow, scrubbing the remaining tears
from her eyes with a childish gesture. Well, even pawns had their
place in a chess game, she reminded herself, and there would be an
immense satisfaction in seeing his face, all his arrogance and power
deflated, when he learned how sadly all his carefully laid plans had
gone awry. Any humiliation she had suffered would be repaid in full
on that day, she told herself fiercely.
She glanced towards the door. It was not even closed now, let alone
locked, as if he felt he had won already. Well, he would discover
his mistake soon enough! She stiffened as she heard the sound of
approaching footsteps, then relaxed again as she realised she was
hearing the unmistakable shuffling of slippers, and not Santino's
quick stride.
A moment later a woman appeared in the doorway. She was a
plump soul dressed in the ubiquitous black, her thick grey hair
dragged back into an untidy bun. She carried a tray of the promised
coffee, and her plump olive-skinned face wore a broad grin. Dark
twinkling eyes candidly assessed Juliet as she approached the bed.
'Buon giorno, signorina. Come sta?' she greeted her.
'Benissima,' Juliet replied with as much sarcasm as she could
muster, but it was entirely wasted, she saw with resignation as
Annunziata's face threatened to split in two with her smiles. She
nodded approvingly at Juliet as she placed the tray on the chest of
drawers, and poured some coffee into the fine china cup.
'Bella, ' she muttered as she handed Juliet the cup, and Juliet felt her
colour rise under the older woman's all-encompassing glance.
She took a cautious sip at the coffee, but this time there was no
underlying bitterness to warn her. It was hot and fragrant and just
what she needed, and in spite of herself she found her spirits
beginning to rise.
'Grazie,' she said, indicating the coffee.
Annunziata broke into a flood of animated Italian, and Juliet with a
laughing shake of her head indicated that she did not understand.
Annunziata's face fell slightly, but she soon made it clear that she
did not consider a trivial language barrier any real obstacle to
having a gossip with her master's latest and unwilling guest.
Though of course Annunziata would not appreciate the fact that she
was unwilling, Juliet thought as she drank her coffee. It was quite
plain what the other woman thought was the true state of affairs,
and there wasn't the slightest hint of disapproval on her plump face
as she stood gazing down benignly on the girl in the bed.
Juliet finished her coffee with a sigh of repletion and placed the cup
back on the tray. The next thing to do, she decided, was obtain
something to wear. Using her few words of Italian and a lot of sign
language, she managed to ask Annunziata if she knew where her
clothes were, and to her relief the other woman nodded excitedly,
her eyes full of laughter as she expressed quite volubly and