For a few minutes they sat in silence, getting back their breath, then Gulia pulled off her swimming cap, shook out her hair so that it fell over her shoulders, and said, 'Now, Armand, I want to hear what really happened to you in Cadiz. All you've told us is that you killed Sanchez in a fight, but his friends caught you and shipped you off to South America. I want to hear every detail from the moment you left me.'
She alone knew that it was not so much Sanchez that he had gone after as the photograph with which he feared Sanchez meant to blackmail them, and he now gave her the full story of his doings in Granada with La Torcera, in Cadiz with red-headed Inez, and the final scene in the Silver Galleon.
When he had done she sighed. 'And to think that negative had already been ruined before Sanchez made his escape from you in the garden. If only we had known. You would never have been shanghaied, and I would have been spared the worst month of my life. I nearly died from an agony of uncertainty about what had happened to you.'
'My dear,' he murmured gently. 'It distresses me greatly that you should have suffered so much on my account.'
She turned and looked at him, her eyes shining. 'How could it have been otherwise? I loved you desperately. I feared that those devils must have killed you and that I would never see you again.'
'The moment I reached Rio I sent a cable to Frangois and wrote fully to Jos6. It was impossible to let you know what had become of me any sooner.'
'I know; but you might also have written a personal letter to me; if only a line to say that you still loved me and that I need not fear that photograph being produced.'
'I did consider doing that,' he replied after a moment, 'but I felt there was too great a risk of such a letter falling into wrong hands. Had Jos6 chanced to open it by mistake, or should you have had an accident or been taken ill, or had he recognized my writing and asked you what was in it, the fat would have been in the fire. He could only have assumed from it that you had become my mistress; and as things never reached that point such a denouement would have been doubly unfortunate.'
Her full lips twitched in a little smile as she asked, 'Have you ever regretted that they didn't reach that point?'
'Often,' he admitted frankly. The man isn't born who, having had the chance to make love to you and did not take it, would not afterwards ask himself if he had not been stricken with madness.'
Thank you for the compliment.' Her smile broadened. 'But I don't doubt you found plenty of lovely young women to console you while you were in the Americas!'
He gave a little laugh. 'Plenty implies a lot; and I have always been a gourmet rather than a^gourmand in such matters. But I'd be a poor fish if for three years I had lived the life of a monk; and the gods were kind enough to send me a few very delightful companions to solace me in my widowerhood. Now tell me about your charming self?'
'I was not made to be a saint, either.' She shrugged her fine shoulders. 'Since we parted I have taken four lovers. Mostly out of boredom, it is true; but at least they have saved me from shrivelling up into a mummy physically, and I have had quite a lot of fun pulling the wool over old Dona Eulalia's eyes in order to give my lovers rendezvous without her suspecting anything.'
'Has Jos6 any idea of this?'
'Perhaps; but I rather doubt it. Anyhow, as I told you long ago, I don't think he would have any serious objection provided I managed my affaires discreetly.'
For a moment she was silent, then she turned her head again, looked full at him and asked, 'Tell me, Armand; do you still feel any love for me?'
In a flash he saw the danger signal blazing red ahead. 'No,' he said firmly. 'Affection, yes; but love, no. Time is a great healer and I got over that.'
Her Giaconda smile came again. 'You are lying, Armand. You are lying, and you know it.'
'Dios/' he exclaimed, suddenly turning to look at her. 'You're right, of course. Seeing what passed between us that last night before I left for Granada - that indelible memory of you - how could I possibly be in your company day after day as I have been recently without again succumbing and desiring you most damnably?'
She gave a low, happy laugh. 'I knew you would. But I had to have a little time to bring you to it. That is why I gave you such a cold reception on your arrival. If I hadn't you would have taken alarm and sheered off, wouldn't you?'
T suppose I would,' he admitted a shade ruefully. 'But Gulia, though you may look an angel you are certainly a fallen one.
Only a daughter of the Devil would have laid such a snare for anyone in such a position as myself.'
'I'm nothing of the kind,' she laughed again. 'I am just a woman -a woman in search of a man. It so happens that I have a healthy, lovely body and a very much better brain than most members of my sex. I don't have to be told that, I know it; so why shouldn't I use my assets to secure a lover who is healthy, handsome and intelligent too - a man like you?'
'I don't blame you. And I only wish it could be me.'
'Well, why not?' She raised a well-marked eyebrow in faint mockery. 'Jos6 is thousands of miles away chasing butterflies - real butterflies this time. The de Tarancons are going home at the end of the week, and Francois is leaving too.'
'Is he?' exclaimed de Richleau. 'Why?'
'He has volunteered for service in Morocco, and is going out with the regiment of which last year Don Alfonso made him Colonel-in-Chief. He leaves with the Taranc6ns the day after tomorrow. Ruiz is in Madrid. He may return for a night or two occasionally but, apart from him, that leaves only Maria Alfonsine, her lady Dona Isabella and old Eulalia, and as far as human relationships are concerned they are all as blind as bats. Now that there will be room in the house, since I shall be so heavily chaperoned, no breath of scandal could arise if I invited you to come and stay, just as you did before.'
The Duke put his head between his hands and groaned, 'Gulia! Gulia! When Thais tempted Paphuntius he was subjected to nothing worse than this. You are an experienced woman of the world and must know how greatly I desire you. I am flattered, too, terribly flattered that you should find me more desirable than other men. But you already know why I cannot allow myself to give way to this temptation.'
'If your reason is still the same, an outmoded chivalry towards the husband who has no use for me,' she replied bitterly, 'then I wish you joy of your hair shirt. But why, in God's name, must you play the Puritan with me when you admit to having had affaires with other women?'
'Because Jos6 is my friend. It is that which makes the barrier between us.'
'Such scruples may have been valid three years ago. But in all that time you have not even exchanged a word with him. To continue in such an attitude is farcical. It is the behaviour of a Don Quixote - the sort of fool who tilts at windmills.'
'You may be right,' de Richleau admitted miserably. 'But the fact that I have not seen Jose for three years makes no difference. If he were here he would still count me his friend; so how, without feeling eternal shame at myself, can I take you as my mistress behind his back?'
For a while they were silent, then Gulia said quite calmly, 'Very well. I must accept your decision. There are plenty of other handsome, intelligent men who would willingly become my lover. When I next feel in the mood I'll look round and choose one. All the same I should be loath to lose your friendship. Are you willing that we should forget this conversation and continue to see one another as we have done during the past week?'
He looked up quickly. 'Of course I am. Desire for you physically is only a part of the attraction you have for me. You are more beautiful than any work of art and I delight in looking at you; I love the sound of your voice and watching the workings of that quick mind of yours. I know that I am acting like a fool, but I just can't help it: and half a loaf is better than 110 bread. If you can forgive me for failing you as a lover and let me continue to be your friend I'll honour you all the more.'