Dancing in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF

ill. What more can I say? What can I give you? Is there anything you desire?’
    â€˜I want to go home.’
    â€˜Home? You mean England?’
    â€˜Yes, señor.’
    â€˜In a big aeroplane?’ The eyes narrowed in tease, then in kindness. ‘It is not possible, even if we were content to let you go. You are not well enough to tackle the flight, even supposing you had someone to look after you at the other end.’ Answering the pained look in Dorcas’s eye, he explained: ‘I made it my business to look into your background.’
    â€˜What did you find, señor?’
    â€˜Your only relative is a brother who is at the moment somewhere in France. We are trying to locate him through the French police. He has a right to know what is happening to his sister.’
    As if he would care, thought Dorcas, her mouth sliding into hurt.
    â€˜Meanwhile, arrangements have been made for you to convalesce at my home, the Villa Serena. I hope you will find—’ A pause; a smile ‘—serenity and happiness there. Certainly, I and my family will do everything possible to make your stay enjoyable.’
    â€˜You are too kind, señor,’ said Dorcas, dismayed at her own meek acceptance. But what else could she do? She couldn’t walk away. Not on these legs.
    Following her glance, Enrique Ruiz became briskly practical. ‘It can be arranged for a local nurse to come to the villa to dress your leg. How is the leg, by the way?’
    â€˜Stiff, señor. I’ve been told it will be at least twelve months before it can regain its normal strength.’
    She tried to say this as naturally as possible. She couldn’t be sure how deeply Señor Ruiz had probed into her background. If he knew she was a dancer, he would know damage to her leg was the worst possible blow that could befall her. If she was out of circulation for a year, she could consider her dancing career at an end. She would have to look to some other means of employment to earn her living. She didn’t want the señor and his family to know this. She didn’t want them to feel more beholden to her than they already did.
    â€˜There is something bothering you that we haven’t touched on yet. Please tell me what it is,’ Enrique Ruiz demanded in crisp but kind enquiry.
    â€˜You are very perceptive, señor. I won’t deny there is something. I’ve asked the doctors and nurses several times, but they sweep my enquiry aside as something of no consequence, which it is. I do not like to tell you in case you think me vain.’
    â€˜A woman entirely without vanity is like a flower without a scent. For me, a flower without a scent has no appeal whatsoever. Tell me what is troubling you.’
    â€˜I know it is trivial and small-minded of me, but . . . will I carry a scar on my leg? At the moment the skin is puckered and it is very ugly. Will it always be like this?’
    â€˜Ah!’ His mouth pursed. ‘If you were a man, it would not matter. But a pretty young woman cannot be content to hide her legs beneath long skirts for ever. It is true that you will carry the scar for a while. Time will fade it.’ His voice sounded far from convincing, and a tuck appeared between his eyebrows. ‘And if it doesn’t, no matter. Have you never heard of cosmetic surgery?’
    â€˜I have heard of it, señor. I have heard it comes expensive.’
    â€˜That is the least of your worries. You might have been foolhardy in flawing your skin to save my kin, but at least you had the good sense to put a wealthy family in your debt. That was meant as a joke,’ he said, as a stricken look came to Dorcas’s eyes.
    Dorcas had no wish to take from these good people. Already she had tasted generously of the Ruiz wealth. Her own suitcase had not been located in the wreckage and she was coming to terms with the fact that it might never be reclaimed. The nightgown she was wearing