‘Señora Mariana, what a surprise,’ said Estella firmly, attempting to hide the tremor in her voice. ‘Let’s talk outside, it’s very hot in here,’ she said, ushering her former employer out onto the veranda. Mariana was disappointed. She had wanted to see the house. But her good manners prevented her from requesting a tour.
‘I’m sorry I came unannounced. Are you alone?’ she asked.
Estella noticed her eyes rest on the pair of shoes by the door. ‘Yes, I’m alone,’ she replied casually. ‘Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable.’ She gesticulated to the chair with the shirt hanging off it. Estella removed the incriminating item and placed it inside the front door along with the shoes. Mariana noticed everything and wondered why she was so embarrassed. Then it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps the man sharing her house was not the father of her child.
‘I see you are quite happy,’ said Mariana tactfully. ‘You have a beautiful house.’
‘Thank you, Señora Mariana.’
Mariana noticed how nervous the girl was and concluded that it was only natural after Ignacio had so brutally asked her to leave his employment. ‘I’m so
sorry about your job,’ said Mariana, desperately trying to put the girl at her ease. ‘Ignacio can be very insensitive. He doesn’t mean to. It’s his way. But not everyone understands him like I do. Are you being taken care of?’ It was a clumsy question but Mariana couldn’t resist. Estella stiffened and her eyes lowered as if she were ashamed to look at Mariana directly.
‘I am very content,’ she replied simply.
‘You have a little baby now. A boy?’ Estella nodded and she smiled without restraint. ‘He’s obviously giving you a lot of pleasure. I adored every one of my eight children and grandchildren,’ she sighed. ‘Grandchildren give me the same pleasure all over again.’ Then she thought momentarily of Federica and Hal and her eyes misted. ‘What is he called?’ she asked, deliberately forgetting her own melancholy.
Estella’s cheeks burnt with guilt. She could tell the truth and risk suspicion or she could lie. She raised her eyes to Mariana’s and decided that lying was without doubt the only option.
‘I have not decided yet,’ she said, looking steadily at the other woman in an effort not to appear shifty.
Mariana was surprised. ‘You haven’t decided yet?’
‘No.’
‘Well, you must call him something!’
‘I call him Angelito. My little angel,’ she said quickly.
Mariana smiled. ‘Angel. That’s a nice name,’ she said, but her intuition told her that something wasn’t quite right.
‘I’m glad things turned out well for you. Last summer I was very worried.’
‘Me too.’
‘But you have a lovely house, a little boy and’ - she hesitated but then threw aside her reservations and continued without inhibition - ‘you have a man to take care of you.’ She watched as Estella’s face burned again and her eyes shone awkwardly. ‘Don’t worry, my dear, I’m not prying,’ she reassured her quickly, thinking of Gertrude and wishing that she hadn’t gone so far. ‘I don’t need to know who he is, it just makes me happy that you’re happy. I am very fond of you, Estella, and it gave me much grief to see you suffering. You’re a good girl and you didn’t deserve to be treated with such callousness. There are plenty of girls who deserve that sort of treatment, but not you, you’re a cut above them. I wanted to tell you that if you ever need anything to come and see me. I’ll always try to help you in any way that I can. A reference perhaps or
advice. I’m here to talk to if ever you need someone who’s detached from your family. An outsider. I would only be too happy.’
She watched Estella’s face relax and the colour drain away again as her embarrassment was replaced with gratitude. ‘You’re very kind, Señora Mariana. A girl like me is very lucky to have a protector like yourself. I’m very privileged and I thank you,’ she said, wondering how Mariana would feel if she knew they were Ramon’s shoes in the doorway and Ramon’s shirt that had hung over the back of the chair. Estella doubted she would offer her protection if she knew her son was committing adultery with a lowly maid.
Mariana rose to leave. She swallowed her curiosity and restrained herself from asking to see inside the house. But before she left she felt it wasn’t unreasonable to ask for one thing. ‘Estella, I would dearly love to see Angelito,’ she said.
Estella went pale. ‘Angelito,’ she repeated.