Free Savage Enchantment by Parris Afton Bonds Page A

knowing instinctively that the girl disliked her sharing the same household with Simon.
    She smiled faintly at the girl's naïveté. If Francesca could but know of the contemptuous indifference with which Simon held his tutoress ...

* * * * *

    That evening, as the stars came out, fires were lit and the guests dined on barbequed beef, corn griddle-cakes, a thick soup with meatballs and red peppers in it, and the vino del país. Later the older guests retired to the benches to tell stories while the younger ones danced to the gay music of guitars and violins.
    Feeling, as a tutor, not quite a part of the grandee class, Kathleen remained in the shadows watching, observing. During the intervals between the dances she saw Francesca flirting with the admiring caballeros, tapping one on the shoulder reprovingly with her jeweled fan or laughing gaily at another's whispered words.
    Tiring of them, she danced more and more with a handsome black-haired man who seemed to have eyes only for her. Kathleen thought she recognized the man from the mission.
    "That's Dimitri Karamazan, isn't it?" she asked Doña Arcadia.
    "Sí. It is said that he decided to remain in California when his countrymen gave up their settlement at Fort Ross."
    But apparently Francesca grew weary of trying her newly found feminine powers on Domitri, for Kathleen watched the girl's eyes rove longingly in the direction of Simon, who had been engaged in deep conversation with various men the entire evening.
    "You can't really blame Francesca for preferring Simon Reyes over the Russian officer." Doña Arcadia said.
    "Why do you say that?" Kathleen asked, with an inflection of casual interest.
    Doña Arcadia's dark brown eyes regarded Kathleen wisely. "Well, you must admit that Simon is not as handsome, but --"
    The woman's eyes took on a speculative look as Simon turned to find Francesca at his side. He seemed to give the girl his full attention, and a slight smile hovered at the ends of his long lips.
    "There's something about him," Doña Arcadia resumed. "His tough defiance -- and his genuine interest in women ... when he asserts himself ... that makes his rough masculine looks undenyingly attractive."
    Kathleen arched a sceptical brow.
    "Well, never mind," the other woman said, "You'll find out."
    Kathleen's gaze strayed to Simon. Dressed in a jacket of black silk, a richly embroidered waistcoat, short breeches with white stockings, and deerskin shoes made by his Indian workers, his lean, tall physique did indeed cut an impressive figure.
    But, unlike Francesca, Kathleen had no intention of succumbing to the ranchero's rugged attractions.

Chapter 10

    Amelia brushed out the golden hair of her young mistress. The lovely maestra had already, in one short month, captured the affection of all of Valle del Bravo.
    Everyone, that is, thought the plump, brown girl, except el patrón. A pity, she mused. For though Señor Simon looked as ferocious as Satan himself, he had been more than fair in his dealings with the servants since he came to Valle del Bravo.
    And the maestra -- Amelia looked in the mirror at the reflection of the young lady who sat dispassionately before her. Although the maestra was gentleness itself, and very patient in the hours she spent teaching them, there was something about her -- a fierceness that matched el patrón's.
    Perhaps it was the way the violet eyes slanted -- or the tawny mane that framed the golden face. La señorita reminded Amelia of some cat that would come down from the mountains to drink from the ponds ... never to be tamed, only subdued by a mate of equal spirit. Yes, she was glad that el patrón, on his return from the Escandón fiesta, had told her to care for the maestra during the long months of fiestas ahead.
    Simon Reyes occupied Kathleen's thoughts too. Why did she feel so uneasy around him? Not since that rainy night at his cabin had he been anything but polite to her, though in an almost mocking way. True, he had probably