Doctor at Villa Ronda Read Online Free PDF

at the wine-shippers, if they would allow me, or I could go home to London and easily get another post there.”
    His dark eyes regarded her. “Even with your qualifications and experience, I doubt whether you would secure a post here as easily as you could in England.’
    After a pause, she said, “You’re advising me to go home, then, even abandon my search for Lisa?
    “On the contrary.” He stubbed out his cigarette. “I have a proposition to make. Adrienne, as you know, is my niece. Her mother is dead.” A faint spasm of pain seemed to cross his face. “Her father, my brother Eduardo may be in South America, but we have heard nothing of him for almost two years. So you understand that Adrienne is my responsibility.”
    When he paused Nicola waited, wondering what was in his mind.
    “Adrienne needs companionship. She’s seventeen and sometimes rather wild and impulsive. She has opposed all my previous attempts to provide her with a companion near her own age, preferably slightly older, but it seems that she has become very attracted to you.” He gave Nicola a slightly sardonic smile. “She would accept you. In fact, the suggestion has come from her. She asks me to persuade you to stay here.”
    Nicola was dumbfounded. “But I—I’ve no experience of being anyone’s companion—not in the way you mean for Adrienne.”
    “One moment. I have put the cart before the horse, as I think you say in England. I should be glad to use your secretarial experience. When I have the leisure I work on a medical book concerning heart diseases and I am doing the English translation myself so that it can be published in England and America as well as here.”
    “I’ve no experience of medical terms either,” she objected.
    “We have an adequate supply of dictionaries here,” he answered. “You must, of course, take time to think over what I’ve said. Later, if you accept, we can discuss terms, your salary and so on. You would live here in the house, of course. We have a competent staff and I must warn you that Rosana, our housekeeper, will tolerate no interference, not even from me. There is one important condition which you must consider carefully. I shall expect you to stay here for at least one year. I have strong reasons. Adrienne is still rather too young to marry, but in a year’s time—no doubt she’ll be betrothed. When she marries, then my responsibility is ended, or at least diminished.”
    Nicola finished her sherry. She felt she needed it . Her mind was whirling with the impact of this strange proposition from a man she had met only three times. To keep an eye on his niece and in her spare time type his medical notes—it sounded a fantastic situation.
    The doctor poured her another sherry. “I shall not rush you into a hasty decision, but I would like to know soon. If you stay here, you could still continue to look for your sister.”
    He had pointed out one of the strongest advantages of accepting his offer, but she could not disclose that it was just as important to her to earn sufficient money in the next few months to pay Lisa’s debts.
    She left the Villa Ronda after dinner as soon as she could do with politeness, but as she stepped into the car, Adrienne came to wave goodbye.
    “You will come and live with us, won’t you? Please! Without you, my English will go to pieces, so at least you can make yourself useful.”
    “I’ll think very carefully about it,” Nicola promised.
    “ Hasta la vista !” called Adrienne as the car slid away.
    Nicola spent a sleepless night, trying to work out her problem. The offer was attractive in the extreme, but could she bind herself for a year? Yet some immediate employment was an absolute necessity if she was to stay in Spain and unless she could find a well-paid job, she did not know how she could manage to live economically and reserve a monthly sum to pay Lisa’s debts.
    Nicola began to see now that in undertaking her sister’s responsibilities she had