Free Man of Destiny by Rose Burghley Page A

with Portugal—” she paused, as if she was giving the matter her serious attention. “To be honest, I’m rather bemused by it at the moment. It’s rather like a slice of very rich iced cake after a diet of plain bread and butter.”
    He elevated his eyebrows a little, as if the simile intrigued him.
    “And you are not afraid that the very rich iced cake will give you indigestion ? In time, if not immediately ? ”
    She shook her head, quite vigorously.
    “Oh, no. On the contrary, I’m a little afraid that it will spoil my palate ... for the plain bread and butter,” with a tiny smile in her eyes as she glanced at him quickly, and then away. “I will let you know, senhor , when Portugal gives me indigestion.”
    “Yes, do,” he returned, with a certain dry inflection, and then stood up. She stood up, also, and he accompanied her to the door. “As to the child’s mother writing to you for information, I wouldn’t bother about that. The senhor Marques is in touch with her, and any information it is desirable she should receive will reach her through him.”
    Richard came running to join them on the drive, and he put them both into the back of the car. Then, just before he closed the door on them, he said, addressing Caroline directly:
    “We mustn’t allow you to become dull and dispirited. I will arrange for some friends to call upon you, and perhaps some excursion can be arranged for you and Richard. As yet you have seen nothing at all of Portugal or Portuguese people. We must do our best to eradicate any unfortunate impressions you received when you first arrived here, and when the time comes for you to go back home to England we will hope you will leave us with regrets.” He bowed, and the car moved forward slowly over the gravel. “In the meantime, take advantage of our wonderful climate. Order your day in any way you please, so long as you have good care of Ricardo !”
    As the car glided smoothly back to the quinta , Caroline lay back against the well-upholstered seat and thought over certain of his words.
    H e had used the expression ‘back home to England ’ ... but nowadays she had no real home in England. And—she glanced about her at the brilliance on either hand, and felt Richard wriggling childishly on the seat, but humming perfectly contentedly under his breath—home is, and always will be, where the heart is. She kept seeing Dom Vasco’s graceful, tall form as he turned to stride back to the house, and she thought of Carmelita de Capuchos, and how warm his voice was when he spoke to her—and tender? A kind of indulgent tenderness...
    And she wished he hadn’t made use of that expression ‘home.’ It made her feel restless, and even under the brilliant sunshine everything seemed a little futile.

 
    CHAPTER SEVEN
    DURING the next few days several people called upon her and Richard, and without exception they were pleasant and affable in their slightly unbending, Portuguese way. Although she was only an employee they didn’t condescend to her, and they made suggestions about dinner-parties and afternoon tea-parties, to which, they intimated, she would sooner or later receive invitations.
    They spoke about the few English people there were in the district, and thought it would be nice for her to get to know them. They also brought presents for Richard, and praised him for being such a charming, well-behaved little boy.
    The realisation began to sink in that they had been more than half afraid that, having an English mother, he would not be well-behaved. And the fact that he had an English governess could hardly have filled them with reassurance, either.
    Amongst the visitors was Carmelita de Capuchos, who arrived without warning and stayed for less than twenty minutes, but during that twenty minutes she managed to convince Caroline that she, at least, was on excellent terms with Dom Vasco, and that anything that interested or concerned him interested and concerned her, also.
    At the