Free The Butterfly Box by Santa Montefiore Page A

thoughts even without looking at her.
    ‘Good.' he said and nodded gravely.
    At that moment, just when an uncomfortable silence was about to slip into their conversation, Estella appeared on the terrace with a tray of pisco sour. She kept her eyes focused on where she was walking for fear of stumbling and making a fool of herself. Ramon leapt to his feet to relieve her of it.
    ‘Careful, it’s heavy,’ he said, taking the tray.
    She looked up at him from beneath her thick dark lashes and replied in a soft chocolate voice, ‘Thank you, Don Ramon.'
    He smiled down at her and she felt her stomach lurch and her cheeks burn. She lowered her eyes again. Her face was so smooth, so innocent and generous that Ramon’s immediate impulse was to study it some more, but he could feel his parents and wife watching them. Regretfully he tore his eyes away, turned and placed the tray on the table. When he glanced behind him the maid had disappeared into the house leaving only a faint smell of roses.
    Ramon poured the traditional Chilean drink of lemons and pisco and handed them around. Once he had sat back down he noticed the maid appear once again with two cups of orange juice for the children.
    ‘Estella’s new,’ said Mariana quietly. ‘She’s wonderful. Do you remember
    Consuelo?’ she asked. Ramon nodded absentmindedly, with half an eye on the ripe young woman who padded tidily across the terrace. ‘Well, dear old Consuelo died last summer. I was at my wits’ end, wasn’t I, Nacho? I didn’t know where to look.’
    ‘So how did you find her?’ Helena asked, glad the conversation had begun to flow again.
    ‘Well, the Mendozas, who have a summer house in Zapallar, found her for us. She’s the niece of their maid Esperanza. The one with the bad squint,’ she said, then added as an after-thought, ‘poor old Esperanza.’
    ‘So you’re happy with Estella?’ Helena asked, wiping the hair off her son’s forehead and kissing his soft skin tenderly.
    ‘Very. She’s efficient and hard working and gives us no trouble at all.’
    ‘Not like Lidia then,’ Helena laughed. ‘She’s always got something wrong with her. If it isn’t her back it’s her front, her foot or her ankles that swell in the heat. She can barely walk around the house, let alone tidy it up. Dear old Federica does everything.’
    ‘Surely not!’ Ignacio exclaimed, appalled.
    ‘Well, she likes it,’ said Helena quickly.
    ‘She seems to,’ Ramon added in her defence. ‘Helena’s a good mother, Papa,’ he added, glancing at his wife in the hope of winning a smile. She remained tight-lipped as if she hadn’t heard him.
    ‘Of course she is,’ said Mariana. ‘Fede, come here and show me your lovely box,' she called to her granddaughter, who rolled out of the hammock and walked hastily over to her.
    ‘I want to see it too,' said Ignacio, pulling the child onto his lap.
    Federica placed the box on the table. ‘This once belonged to an Inca princess,’ she said gravely. She then paused for effect before slowly lifting the lid. To her delight her grandfather caught his breath and dragged the box closer to get a better look. He pushed his glasses up his nose and peered inside.
    ‘Por Dios , Ramon, where did you find this treasure? It must be worth a fortune?’
    ‘I was given it in Peru,’ he replied. Federica shivered with pride.
    ‘In Peru, eh?’ he mused. Then he ran his fingers over the stones.
    ‘It’s a magic box, Abuelito,’ said Federica.
    ‘I can see that,’ said Ignacio. ‘Here, woman, have a look at this. It’s extraordinary.’ He pushed it across the table to Mariana. Helena felt guilty that she
    hadn’t paid it more attention.
    ‘My dear, it’s beautiful,’ she said admiringly.
    ‘If you move the box about the wings move. Look!’ said Federica, pulling the box back and holding it up, tilting it from side to side. They all stared into it in amazement.
    ‘My dear, you are absolutely right,’ said Mariana, shaking