Redemption of a Fallen Woman Page 0,35

plaza. Lanterns suspended from the branches lent the whole scene a fairy-tale atmosphere. There was music and wine, and the air was redolent of roasting meat and wood smoke. Later there would be dancing and fireworks.

Elena threw a sideways glance at the man beside her, wondering if he liked to dance. More and more she wished she were wearing something more suited to the occasion. Intercepting that look Harry smiled faintly.

'You have something on your mind?'

'Is it so obvious?'

'Your face often speaks before you do.'

'In that case I should make a wretched politician and a worse card player.'

'I fear you would.' He paused. 'However, you still haven't answered the question.'

Under that searching gaze she felt suddenly self-conscious. 'I was just thinking how long it has been since I last attended a celebration like this. I didn't realise that I had missed it.'

'The fiesta is an integral part of Spanish culture,' he replied. 'A very vibrant part too. How could you not miss it?'

'Do you enjoy such things?'

'In truth I did not get much chance to enjoy them. Duty kept getting in the way. Occasionally I was lucky though.'

'That's good. What is it that you say in your country about the consequences of always working and never taking time off?'

'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'

'That's it.' She grinned. 'But I think you were never dull.'

'I hope not. Besides, it would be impossible to be dull in your company.'

She could not detect the least irony in his expression. On the contrary she saw something there that was remarkably like admiration.

'Would you like a cup of wine?' He gestured towards the tables that had been set up outside a small tavern.

'Why not?'

She turned to look at Concha. However, the maid shook her head. 'If you don't mind, Dona Elena, I want to look around a little more.'

'Just as you like.'

'I'll stay with her, my lady,' said Jack, 'an' see as all's well like.'

Concha gave him a haughty look. 'I am quite capable of looking after myself, Englishman.'

'Aye, I know that. It's t'other folk I'm worried about.'

She sighed. 'Very well, since you insist I suppose there's no help for it.'

'That's right, but I'll bear it as best I can.' He made an elaborate gesture with his arm. 'Shall we?'

Concha lifted her chin and muttered something under her breath as she walked past him. Jack grinned broadly and set off in her wake.

Elena laughed. 'You know, I suspect that she rather likes him.'

'You think so?' said Harry. 'I was rather under the impression that she did not.'

'She hasn't hit him or shot him. It's a positive sign.'

His lips twitched. 'You haven't hit or shot me. Am I to take that the same way?'

'You may take it as a sign of respect.'

'Respect - how very reassuring.' He poured wine into horn cups and, having handed her one, raised his own. 'Here's to continued respect.'

Elena sensed that more lay beneath those words but she drank anyway. The wine was deep red and deliciously mellow. She suspected it was also quite potent. When combined with the present company it was a heady and dangerous mix.

For a while they sat in companionable silence watching the people pass by. In spite of all that had happened she felt oddly content. Perhaps the secret was not to think too far ahead and just live in the moment.

'Do you not miss your home?' she asked.

'Sometimes. What concerns me more is to see justice done.'

'Towards the new claimant to the title?'

'If the boy really is my brother's child, then yes.'

'Do you find the claim credible?'

'The lady in question - Alicia - is pretty enough, and genteel. Her birth is respectable, if not noble. I could envisage Jamie falling in love with such a woman.'

'It was a wartime romance, no?'

'Apparently so.'

'To lose her husband so soon after marriage must have been a terrible shock for the lady. To be left alone like that with a young child cannot have been easy.'

'I don't suppose it was.'

'No doubt she will be relieved when the matter is settled,' said Elena. 'I am sure that you will find the answers you seek when we reach Seville.'

'I hope so. It would be something to put an end to all the uncertainty.' Harry toyed with his cup. 'A talk with Garrido and Sanchez should do that. Then we can all move on.'

'How will your family respond when they find out that you are married?' she asked.

'With some surprise, I expect.'

'An understatement if ever I heard one.'

He