Sweet Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page B

you, yes?'
    'Thank you,' Toni smiled, and Luisa withdrew. After she had gone, Toni explored her domain further. From her windows she had an uninterrupted view of the shoreline, the rocky coast which hugged the waters of the Atlantic in its narrow coves and bays.
    Then she left the window with a brief sigh, and looked into the bathroom. It was satisfactorily modern, and she smiled. She had never had a bathroom all to herself before.
    A tap at her door heralded the arrival of Jose with her cases. She thanked him and after he had gone set about unpacking. It did not take long and afterwards she looked at her watch. It was a little after six, time for a bath before changing for dinner. She stripped off her travelling clothes, and studied her reflection in the long mirror of the wardrobe. She saw a tall, slim girl, with firmly rounded breasts and hips, and long slender legs. She knew she was attractive, and yet she could never understand that anyone could find her beautiful. Looks could be quite a drawback, she thought gloomily, remembering Miguel de Calle, and the boy from the restaurante. Then with a resigned sigh, she went for her bath. Afterwards, she dressed in a tunic of navy tricel, with ,a wide white Puritan type of collar, which was belied by the shortness of its skirt. She wound her hair on to the top of her head in a Grecian knot, and studied her appearance again. Did she look too modern, too careless to be the kind of girl Paul's grandmother would wish him to marry? Well, she would have to take her as she found her. After all, this was Paul's idea, and so long as he was satisfied, that should be all that mattered.
    She left her bedroom before she could criticize herself still further. She followed the corridor back to the main one, and turned left instead of right, as Luisa had told her. Then she looked for the small staircase. Whether it was the atmosphere of the place, or just her own nerves, she didn't know, but she had the awful feeling that she had taken a wrong turning somewhere. She seemed to be getting nowhere, and she had an uncomfortable apprehensiveness of meeting a ghost or some- other strange being. She felt rather like Alice in Wonderland, and she wished she could meet somebody, some human, anybody!
    Eventually, she stopped and looked back. She had not missed a turning, she couldn't have done. Maybe she had turned the wrong way in the beginning. Maybe she was in that part of the castelo that was unoccupied. What had Luisa said: dust-covered and locked. It was an eerie thought. But Toni refused to be panicked into shouting for help. Instead, she determinedly crossed to the nearest door and turned the handle briskly, peering into the room.
    She saw a huge fourposter bed, illuminated by concealed lighting above the corniced walls; the bed was hung with tasselled bedcovers, from a central device which she realized provided a complete screen when let down; there was an enormous dressing table and wardrobe, but when a figure detached itself from a wickerwork bedroom chair, Toni gave an involuntary gasp of surprise.
    'Boa noite, senhorita. Muito prazer em a ver. Entrar. Seja benvindo!'
    Toni stifled an exclamation, and cautiously moved round the door. 'I - I'm afraid I don't speak much Portuguese, senhora,' she murmured awkwardly.
    The old lady smiled. 'Ah, you must be Senhorita West, my grandson's fiancee.' Now she spoke in English.
    'Oh, Condessa!' Toni swallowed hard. What had she done? 'I'm sorry to intrude! Yes, I'm - I'm Janet West!'
    The old lady came forward, shaking her head, and reaching for Toni's hand. 'You do not intrude, my dear. I am glad of this opportunity to speak with you, without all the preliminaries of introduction, and so on. But I would like to know, are you lost? Or did you come to find me?'
    'I'm afraid I was looking for a staircase, leading down to the apartments which are in use. I was afraid I was in the part of the castelo which is unused. I thought if I looked into a room ...' Her