I trembled in his arms and he said soothingly: “It is not like you to be afraid, my love. We will outwit any who come against us.”
“If you hid me, Felipe,” I said, “would that not be an act against the Inquisition?”
He was silent.
I went on: “You would act against the Inquisition for my sake? You would preserve a heretic in your house because you love her?”
“Hush. Do not say that word, Catalina, even when we are alone. We must be watchful. I will speed on our departure. Once we have left this place we shall be safe.”
The days passed. We were waiting for a ship. When it came we would say good-bye to the Hacienda and Honey, Don Luis and little Edwina. I had prevailed upon Felipe to allow Carlos to come with us. Manuela would accompany us too, with Jennet and young Jacko.
I was desolate at the thought of leaving Honey; but I knew that from now on I was in jeopardy and the tension created by the realization that at any moment there might be that knock on the door was such that one must long to escape from it at all costs.
I heard that Pilar was sick and had taken to her bed. I sent Manuela over to see her. Manuela had been a good and faithful servant and grateful to me for rescuing Carlos whom she adored. I thought that she might discover how far Pilar had gone with her accusations.
When she came back I summoned her to my bedroom where we could talk without being overheard and asked her what she had found.
“Pilar is indeed sick,” she said. “She is sick of heart and sick of body.”
“Did she talk of Isabella?”
“All the time. The maids told me that she wanders about the Casa Azul at night calling for Isabella, that she will not allow them to touch the dolls. She has them there in her room.”
I nodded.
“Manuela, I wish to know all,” I said, “no matter what. I know that she hates me because I married Isabella’s husband. But Isabella was no wife to him. You know that.”
“Always she talks,” said Manuela. “She goes from one thing to another. She curses Edmundo. ‘All for a cross,’ she said, ‘a ruby-studded cross. You remember it, Manuela. She wore it so seldom.’”
“You did remember it, Manuela?”
“Yes, I did. It was a beautiful thing. I noticed it particularly, for I have a special liking for rubies. And it was not found either.”
“Edmundo gave it to someone, I believe that was the assumption. A woman he loved.”
“Who was this woman? They never found her.”
“You would not expect her to come forward. She would be afraid to. Or it may be that he hid the cross somewhere. Perhaps he buried it in the garden. He would have to hide it I suppose. But what does the cross matter?”
“Edmundo was such a gentle man. It seems strange that he should kill for a ruby cross.”
“One never knows what people will do. Perhaps he loved someone and wished her to have the cross. Who can say? And he did it on an impulse and then he was caught and his future threatened. They would hang him for stealing a valuable cross. So he killed to save himself.”
Manuela shook her head. “It was awful when she cursed him. I wanted to run out. But then she talked of you, Mistress.”
“What did she say of me, Manuela?”
“She said that she wished to see you. She said that she would have come to you but because she is ill you must go to her.”
“I will go,” I answered.
Manuela nodded.
I did not tell Felipe I was going. I thought he might prevent me. But I knew I had to speak to Pilar. I must try to explain. I wished I had done so during our encounter in the street, but I had been too taken aback to do so then. I wanted to ask her what she meant by calling me a witch. I wanted to assure her that I was no such thing.
It occurred to me that she knew something about the image. Had she put it there? How could she have done so? She did not come to the Hacienda. Perhaps she had people working for her there, people who hated me as much as she did, who wanted to prove that I was guilty in bringing about Isabella’s death.
I packed a basket with some delicacies from the kitchen and went to see her.
As I opened the gate a terrible revulsion came over me. It was as though my whole being were crying out a warning to me. There was the patio. There was the window and the balcony at which I had seen Isabella with her doll. Here Edmundo had picked her up so gently when she fell. In my mind’s eye I saw Edmundo’s lifeless body hanging from a rope in the plaza of La Laguna.
How quiet it was! I pushed open the door. I could scarcely bear to look. There was the staircase. I pictured her poor broken body lying at the bottom of it.
I stood hesitating.
Go away, said a voice within me. Run … while there is time. Leave this place. You are in imminent danger.
Someone was standing behind me. One of the servants must have seen me enter the house and followed me.
She looked at me, her eyes wide. I could see that she was afraid of me.
I said: “I came to see Pilar.”
She nodded and turned her eyes as though she feared she might be contaminated by some evil.
She started to run up the stairs. I followed her.
On a landing she opened a door. I went in.
The room was dark, for it had been built to keep out the sun. On the bed lay Pilar; her hair streaming about her shoulders gave her a wild look.
I took a step toward the bed and tried to speak normally.
“I’m sorry you are ill, Pilar. I have brought you these. I heard that you wanted to see me.”
“Do you think I’d eat anything that came from the Hacienda … that house of sin? Do you think I’d eat anything you brought me? You … witch! You have done this. You have cast your spells. You lusted for him and you bewitched him. And her death is at your door.”
“Listen to me, Pilar. I am no witch. I know nothing of witchcraft. I was not here when Doña Isabella died.”
Her laughter was horrible, cruel and sneering.
“You knew nothing! You know everything. You, and those like you, are wise in the ways of the Devil. You marked her down, my innocent child. Had she not suffered enough? Nay. You wanted him. You cast a spell. And she died … my poor innocent lamb … my poor sweet child.”
“I cast no spells…”
“Don’t tell me your lies. Save them for others … when the time comes. They’ll not believe you any more than I do.” She thrust her hand under the pillow and when she brought it out she was holding something. To my horror I saw that it was the figure of Isabella.
“Where did you get that? Who gave it to you?” I demanded.
“I have it. The evidence. This will prove to them. And you will die … die … even as she died … and more cruelly.”
“Where did you get that?” I repeated. “I saw it but once when I found it in my drawer. You put it there, Pilar.”
“I? I have not left this bed.”
“Then someone working for you…”
“Tell them that when you stand before the tribunal. Tell them that when you feel the flames licking your limbs.”
I could not bear to stay longer. I knew there was nothing I could say to her. I turned and ran out of the room, down the staircase and out into the fresh air. I did not stop running until I reached the Hacienda.
Felipe was horrified when he heard what had happened.
“If she has informed against you they will strike at any time. We must be ready as soon as the ship comes.”
And so the uneasy days passed. One cannot live at such high tension day after day. One grows accustomed even to that.
Felipe said: “I can’t understand it. If she had informed against you they would have come by now. It is because she is sick that she has taken no action. While she is confined to her room she cannot move against us. While she is ill we are safe. And the ship will be here any day.”