“I heard you on the telephone. You are going to take photographs of the bull fights, aren’t you? Well, I’m coming with you.”
“But you can’t do that.” Desire for the moment satisfied, he was able to think of Barreda. “Are you forgetting you aren’t alone here? You must think of him. What will he say?”
She lifted one long leg and peered in the half-light at her small, shapely foot.
“My foot is pretty, isn’t it?” she said. “Look. Not many girls have such a pretty foot.”
He sat up abruptly.
“Now, listen. We shouldn’t have done this! He is ill. He is in love with you. He...”
“He is old, and he bores me,” Juana said, lowering her leg. “I have packed everything. My luggage is with the Hall Porter. I am going to Mexico City with you tomorrow.”
“I can’t let you do it! He didn’t bore you before you met me. I’m not...”
“He has always bored me. I should never have come here with him. It was a mistake. What have I to do with an old man like him? I am going back to Mexico City. If you don’t want me, say so, and I will go alone.”
“But what will you say to him?” Cade asked, worried. He leaned over her, trying to see her face in the half-light.
“I shall say nothing. He gets up late. By the time he is up, I shall be gone.”
Cade was genuinely shocked.
“That’s no way to behave. At least you must send him a note.”
“There is no need to send him a note. The Hall Porter will tell him I have gone. That’s all he needs to know.”
“You can’t do a thing like that! It would be humiliating him. You must either see him or write to him. I’ll help you write a letter. Let’s do it now.”
“Now we will make love again,” she said, turning to him. She put her arms around him, her mouth seeking his, her body arching against his naked flank.
When next he woke, Cade saw it was 08.00 hours. In the rush to get dressed, to get his check settled and his luggage in the car, the letter to Barreda was forgotten.
It was only when they were half-way to Mexico City that he remembered and by that time it was too late. He thought of the old man and he felt a little sick. He looked at Juana, sitting contentedly at his side. Seeing her smile to herself, so obviously happy, he found it difficult to believe she had this callous, hard streak in her, but her attitude to the old man left him in no doubt that she did have it.
“I know of a little house that we can rent,” she said, seeing he was looking at her. “It is facing the Chapultepec Park, and it is very nice but a little expensive. We can rent it for a week, a month or a year. It would be nicer than staying at an hotel, wouldn’t it? I am a fine cook. I will look after the house and cook for you. You would like that, wouldn’t you?”
She was wearing an expensive sleeveless white dress. Her hair was piled high on the top of her shapely head and she wore flat gold ear clips and a gold collar around her throat. The very idea of such a beautiful, sophisticated woman running a house and cooking made Cade laugh.
She frowned.
“You don’t think I can cook?”
“I didn’t say that,” he said, seeing he had hurt her. “I am sure you can, but how many servants will you want?”
“Servants?” She grimaced. “I don’t want any servants. If we have servants how can we make love when we want to — any time during the day? Who wants to share a house of love with servants?”
He was touched. All the women he had previously known had submerged him with servants.
“I think that’s wonderful,” he said enthusiastically. “Let us rent a house then.”
She stroked his hand, smiling at him.
“I will arrange everything. Have you any money for me? I shall need money to make you comfortable.” She opened her bag and looked inside. “I have only six hundred pesos. Poor Manuel is very mean.”
“That reminds me. You really must send him a telegram.”
“I asked if you have any money to give me,” she said, withdrawing her hand. “It bores me when you talk about Manuel.”
Cade sighed. He took out his billfold and gave her five thousand pesos bills.
“I will cash a cheque when we get to Mexico City. That’s all I can spare right now.”
“It is enough. You will find I am very thrifty.” She began to stroke his hand again. She looked up at him, her luminous dark eyes expressive. “I love you very much. We are going to be very happy together. I would like it very much if we could make love now.”
“So would I,” Cade said, his hand closing over hers. “But I don’t think these other people would be too happy about it, do you?”
She giggled.
“There is that,” she said.
They arrived at Mexico City a little after 11.00 hours. Adolfo Creel, Sam Wand’s Central-American representative, was there to meet them. He was a fat, balding man with a seedy air and a bland manner. He wore a panama hat with a curly brim and light brown suit that was a little too small for him and liberally sprinkled with food stains.
He made no attempt to conceal his admiration when Cade rather perfunctorily introduced him to Juana. Creel swept off his hat and bowed so low Cade thought he was going to fall flat on his face.
“Did you get the tickets?” Cade asked as Juana, flattered, gave Creel a dazzling smile.
“Certainly,” Creel said. “You will be perfectly satisfied, senor. Everything is as you ordered.”
“When do I see Diaz?”
Creel lost his bland smile. He looked inside his hat, frowned, then sadly shook his head.
“That unhappily, senor, is impossible. A thousand regrets. Senor Diaz never sees anyone before he fights... not even the President. He is a very religious man. He prays and prays before he enters the ring. No, it is not possible.”
“I have to see him before he fights,” Cade snapped. “I told Mr. Wand to fix it with you.”
Creel skipped from one foot to the other. He beat his fat leg with his hat.
“Senor Cade, I swear I have done everything possible. No one could have done more than I have, but Senor Diaz is very firm about this. He sees no one before or after the fights.”
“Diaz is a stupid blown-up frog!” Juana exclaimed, her eyes flashing. “If you really want to see him, cariño, I will arrange it for you. You will find that there are many things in Mexico that I can arrange for you. Now I leave you. I must arrange about the house. We will move in tomorrow. Let us spend tonight at El Presidente. Wait for me there. I will be with you late this afternoon.”
“Hey, wait a minute,” Cade said. “You really mean you can fix Diaz for me?”
“Of course. I never say anything unless I mean it.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. “I love you, cariño. Look after my luggage,” and she was gone.
Cade looked at Creel who was simpering into his hat. Catching Cade’s eye, he said, “You are very fortunate, senor, to have such a beautiful lady who is able to achieve the impossible.”
“Yes,” Cade said, and picking up his overnight bag, he walked to where the luggage was waiting.
Since Cade was basically a simple and decent man, he had never ceased to wonder at and be grateful for his continuous success. He still often recalled his first overwhelming excitement when at the age of ten, he had won the one thousand dollar prize for the best amateur photograph in a World competition. From then on, he had led a charmed life. He had never had a serious illness. He couldn’t remember when he hadn’t owned a car. He had never been short of money. He had never been hungry. He had never been seriously unhappy and he had never been without some glamorous woman who was willing to share his bed.
Perhaps because of all this, Juana Roca’s abrupt appearance in his life hadn’t utterly surprised him as it might have surprised a less fortunate man. But that didn’t mean that Cade wasn’t a little dazed and didn’t fully appreciate this extra lavish gift from the gods.