Dennis Wheatley - Vendetta in Spain

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.'

'So be it then.' She gave a sigh of resignation but at the same time smiled at him. 'Once more I'll put away my wicked dreams and try to look on you as a brother. I think I can promise, too, that I'll give you no cause for jealousy. With you about all other men will continue to seem poor game to me, so it's very unlikely that I'll take another lover until I return to Madrid in the autumn.'

Coiling her Titian hair up into a bun she pulled her rubber cap over it, and added, Til play the game by refraining from tempting you further. But should you change your mind before we leave San Sebastian - well, let me know.'

Before he had time to reply she had slid off the rock and was swimming for the shore.

During the next few days and nights she was rarely out of de Richleau's thoughts. His conscience told him that he had done the right thing, but that was little consolation for having deprived himself of what he believed would have been two or three months that he would have been able to look back on as one of the high-spots of his life.

He tried to excuse himself for having deprived her of the happiness she sought by arguing that it was not love that drove her to pursue him. Three years ago he believed that it had been. He felt sure that although she might have contemplated taking a lover before they met, she had not done so; and that a woman of her kind would have had to be in love before, for the first time, making up her mind to be unfaithful to her husband. That he, her husband's devoted friend, should have chanced to be the man on whom she had set her heart had been hard indeed.

But now matters were different. Her love for him could not have endured since she admitted to taking four lovers. Now it could only be the aftermath of the old physical attraction that she felt. It was no longer love but lust that had caused her to renew her attempts to seduce him from his loyalty to his friend. The proof of that was the casual way in which she had spoken of taking another lover when she returned to Madrid in the autumn and in her reaction to his refusal to make her his mistress. If she had loved him she would have pleaded with him and burst into tears. Instead, she had taken his refusal quite calmly, and cynically told him that should he change his mind he had only to let her know.

He asked himself then if he loved her, but about that he could not decide. She delighted him in so many ways, yet simply to be in her company was not enough; his whole being yearned for her embrace so that at times he actually felt a physical pain from it deep down in his body. And what was that if not lust? Yet where did lust end and love begin? It was an age-old problem and insoluble. He had to admit to himself that there could be little to choose between their feelings for each other and that it was unfair to her to assume that love played no part in her desire for him.

On the Thursday evening there was a big farewell party at the villa for de Vendome, and on Friday morning they all went to the station to see him off. The de Taranc6ns left by the same train, but even after their departure Gulia continued to play the game as she had promised, neither going out of her way to be alone with de Richleau for a few moments, nor seeking to arouse his jealousy by flirting with other men who came to the bathing parties at the villa. Yet every now and then during these days he, perforce, caught her eye and was tortured by the knowledge that he had only to say the word for her to give him a secret rendezvous that would open the gates of heaven for them both.

As he was so deeply committed to her social circle there was no way in which he could avoid meeting her daily as long as he remained in San Sebastian; so he seriously contemplated leaving the city, and would have done so but for his promise to remain there at Don Alfonso's disposal until the King should consider the time ripe to let him off his chain. It was therefore with relief that on returning to his hotel on the Friday night after a dinner party given by the Dencases that he found a letter commanding him to lunch at the Palace next day, and for a few hours he was able to banish Gulia from his mind by searching it for people he had met in Barcelona who knew Ferrer.

The lunch proved to be a men's party of only six, all of whom were soldiers, and before they went in to lunch the King said to de Richleau, T thought it would interest you to join us today, Duke, because we are going to discuss the campaign in Morocco. As you served with the French Army in North Africa you must be well acquainted with the sort of problems we are faced with, and may be able to offer us some sound advice.'