‘Too much for all I owe you? No, Margarita. No gift is good enough for you. How wise you were to keep me at a distance. By doing so, you restored my honour. For you, I would have thrown it away-’
‘And regretted it.’
‘Perhaps,’ he said after a moment.
She met his eyes. ‘Yes.’
He didn’t answer this directly, but said with a rueful smile, ‘You were always wiser than I.’
‘Sebastian, can I give you a little advice?’
‘Of course.’
‘Be kind to Catalina.’
‘That was always my intention.’
‘No, I mean more. I mean, be faithful to her. She’s young and very vulnerable. You could make her fall in love with you-’
‘Is it so easy to claim a woman’s love?’ he asked quietly. ‘Well, maybe I thought so once. I will do as you ask-in gratitude. And you? What will you do?’
‘Go home as soon as you are married.’
‘And then?’
‘Get another job.’
‘And live alone?’
She hesitated. ‘You mustn’t ask me that. We must never talk like this again.’
He sighed. ‘I think tonight, and the next few days, are going to be very difficult.’
Catalina appeared. She seemed nervous and distracted, but Maggie put that down to the nature of the occasion. Afterwards she was to wonder how she could have been so blind.
First the long receiving line, with Catalina standing beside Sebastian, smiling mechanically, looking tinier than ever. Everything seemed to swamp her, from the way her long black hair had been taken up and elaborately dressed, to the huge diamond engagement ring that flashed on her finger.
Then everyone crowded to the long tables, with Sebastian’s immediate household on the raised top table. Isabella was there, and so was Maggie, although she wished she wasn’t. She would have been glad to blend in with the crowd, and steal a glance at Sebastian unobserved. But perhaps, she reflected, it was better for her to be near Catalina. The poor girl was looking deathly pale, almost ill.
‘You’re doing wonderfully,’ Maggie whispered as the meal, and the speeches came to an end. ‘Are you all right?’
Catalina turned a distraught face to her. ‘Oh, Maggie, this is too much for me. I must be alone for a few moments.’
‘Do you want me to come with you?’
‘No, no! I must be alone.’ She almost ran in her desire to escape.
Soon it was time for the guests to move from one great hall into another. Here stood the tree, nearly twenty feet tall, brilliant with decorations, packed with gifts at the base, with more gifts piled on tables nearby.
‘Where is Catalina?’ Sebastian murmured to Maggie. ‘She must help me distribute the presents.’
‘She was feeling a little overwhelmed. She slipped out for a breath of fresh air.’
‘But that was nearly half an hour ago. Come, we must find her.’
The search began quietly, for it seemed certain that Catalina would appear at any moment, but soon it became clear that she had really vanished, and Sebastian’s brow darkened. Worse still, some of the guests had realised what was happening and joined in the search with half-malicious interest.
‘Damn them!’ Sebastian said with soft violence. ‘I don’t want this all over town. Where the hell is she?’
‘What about those doors over there?’
‘They lead to the part of the house I use for business. Catalina never goes there. Besides, they’re always kept locked.’
‘This one isn’t,’ Maggie said, trying a handle and finding herself in a corridor.
A plump middle-aged man called Marcos was advancing on them, an insincere smile on his face. He was a political opponent of Sebastian, and-to quote Catalina-a creep.
‘The poor young lady has probably gone to lie down. Is this where you keep your study? A hotbed of secrets, I’m sure.’ He headed for the next door.
‘No!’ Maggie cried. For suddenly everything had become clear to her, and she knew what was about to happen. If only Catalina had had the sense to lock the door behind her…
But she hadn’t. The next moment Marcos had pulled Sebastian’s study door open, revealing Catalina standing there, locked in a passionate embrace with Jose.
Time seemed to stop. In that awful pause, a gaggle of fascinated spectators crowded after them into the room. Both Catalina and Jose seemed too frozen to move. Her elaborately arranged hair had been torn down and hung in disarray about her shoulders. One shoulder of her dress was pushed down, almost exposing a white, beautiful breast. Her lipstick was smeared and her eyes had the cloudy look of a woman driven to madness by kisses.
Of the two, it was the girl who pulled herself together first. Stepping forward, she faced the crowd accusingly.
‘What are you staring at? Have you never seen a woman in love before? This is Jose. He loves me and I love him. I’m going to marry him.’ She whirled on Sebastian. ‘
‘Be silent!’ Sebastian said warningly.
‘I won’t be silent. Who do you think you are to bring me here and say I must marry you, whether I like it or not?’
‘I never-’
‘You did, you did! What choice did I have? The great Sebastian de Santiago favours me, and I’m supposed to faint with the honour. Well, I say no! I won’t marry you. I hate you.’
A guffaw of laughter broke from the ever-increasing crowd. As though the sound was the last straw, Catalina’s courage collapsed and she flung herself, sobbing, into Jose’s arms.
Sebastian took a step forward to Catalina, but in the same moment something snapped in Maggie. Moving quickly, she placed herself in front of the two young people.
‘Leave them alone,’ she told Sebastian quietly. ‘Whatever you have to say, this isn’t the time or place. And you-’ she addressed the grinning spectators ‘-have you no pity for her? She’s a child. She should never have been brought to this. How dare you stand there and enjoy her misery? You should be ashamed, all of you.’
Sebastian was as pale as death, but when he spoke he was in command of himself. ‘As you say, this isn’t the time or the place. Please take Catalina away and look after her. You-’ he indicated Jose ‘-have abused the hospitality of my house and will leave immediately.’
Maggie put a gentle arm about Catalina and led her away. Jose looked confused. ‘Get out of here while you’re still safe,’ Sebastian told him savagely.
The next moment he’d become the host again, smiling, ushering everybody out, apologising for the early end to the party. It wasn’t hard to get rid of the guests. Don Sebastian de Santiago was too rich, too powerful, too handsome, not to have enemies, and they were all eager to start spreading the hilarious news.
When the last guest had gone and Maggie had finished calming first an hysterical Catalina, and then an hysterical Isabella, she returned downstairs and faced Sebastian in his study.
She hadn’t known what to expect, but she was unprepared for what awaited her. The man whose gentle resignation had touched her heart earlier had vanished. In his place was a stranger with glittering, hate-filled eyes.
‘Do you think I don’t know who to blame for this?’ he said in a hard, icy voice.
‘The only person to blame is yourself,’ Maggie told him firmly.
‘Who told me that she would make this happen? Who warned me weeks ago that she would work to undermine me, and humiliate me before the world? Like a fool I didn’t believe her. I trusted her, and I tell you that never again will I trust a woman.’
As his meaning became clear, Maggie turned on him in outrage. ‘Do you mean
‘Who else? You threatened to do all in your power to make Catalina betray me. Don’t deny it.’
