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.Leaning against the casement, he said:'A pleasant view, is it not? Although I spend much of my time in Lisbon, I find I am always reluctant to return there after a spell at the castelo.I am sure you must appreciate this also.'Toni shut her eyes for a moment, as though in exasperation, and then turned her attention to the newspaper he had flung so carelessly across the table.Although she could not read Portuguese she could look at the pictures, and this she did, ignoring him completely.With a lazy, yet ruthless, gesture, he walked across and lifted the paper from her unresisting fingers.'When I speak, Toni, you will listen,' he said decisively.Then he straightened.'So - now we will make plans for this morning.I suggest we take a drive.Francesca can come with us, and I will show you a little of what it means to be the Conde della Maria Estrada.'Toni looked helplessly up at him.'Do I have a choice, senhor?'He smiled.'No.Go get ready if you have finished your breakfast.'Toni rose from the table.She contemplated arguing with him, but then her own lack of confidence could not go unnoticed, and she had no intention of allowing him to see how nervous she really was.Instead, she turned and walked out of the room just as Francesca was entering.The girl looked a little distressed when she saw Toni, and Toni stopped a moment.'So, Francesca,' she said coldly, 'you were not my friend at all, just my keeper!'Francesca looked at her father.That's not true! Papa, what have you told Toni?''The truth, that is all, querida.'Francesca gave a helpless shrug of her shoulders.'But -but what do you mean, then, Toni?'Toni looked puzzled.'What do I mean?' she echoed.'When you actually telephoned your father to tell him I was leaving — to enable him to get here in time to stop me!''That's not true!' Francesca was obviously hurt.'Papa!'Toni looked at Raoul.'Well, senhor? Is that not what you said?'The Conde drew on his cigarette.'No.It is not what I said.I said Francesca had told me that you were feeling much better - and so she had.She also told me you were leaving in the morning - on my arrival here.It was all presumption on your behalf that put two and two together and made five!'Toni heaved a heavy sigh.'I see.I'm sorry, Francesca.I seem to have made another mistake.'Francesca looked anxious.'That is all right, Toni.But - but you are staying, aren't you? You will stay and be my governess, won't you?'Toni shook her head.'You had better ask your father that question too, Francesca.Your answers seem to be more understanding than mine.' And with that she left the room.In her own room she sat on the bed wondering how on earth she had allowed herself to get into this situation.She had to leave - she must leave, but how could she do so without causing Paul a great deal of trouble.And yet would the Conde really implicate his own nephew? It was a gamble she was not yet prepared to take.She would have to stay on at the castelo, at least temporarily, and play the cards as she was dealt them.One thing was certain, the Conde della Maria Estrada would not find her a willing victim.She changed into a flared linen skirt and a pink candystripe blouse that complemented the tan she was acquiring.Then with sandals on her feet she again went downstairs.The Conde and Francesca were awaiting her in the hall, and she managed to smile quite naturally at Francesca as they went out into the courtyard.They climbed into an open tourer, all three together in the front, with FRANCESCA in the middle, and drove away east into the rising sun.For all Toni's apprehensions, it turned out to be a wonderful and interesting day.They drove to the scorching, arid slopes above the Douro, and Toni saw the grapes ripening in the burning heat of the sun.At last she was beginning to learn a little about the wine that gave Portugal its fame.Interested in the object of their expedition, for a while she forgot to be antagonistic towards Raoul della Maria Estrada and discovered instead that he could talk with ease about so many things, most particularly his vineyards and his estate.Until then she had never looked for this intelligent mind behind his facade of INDOLENCE which she had guessed all along was there.She had been so busy arguing with him that she had almost forgotten his part in the family business, that of supervising the many aspects of the estates and its environs.It was hot in the valley of the upper Douro, and Toni found a piece of string and tied up her hair off her neck.Francesca's plait became heavy, too, and only the Conde in his thin silk shirt, almost open to his waist, seemed unaffected by the sun.Seeing him like this, muscular and tanned, lazy and relaxed, disturbed Toni more than his continual baiting, and she was glad Francesca's presence forestalled any overtures on his part.After lunch, which they ate at the home of Vasco Braganca, the manager of the vineyard, they drove nearer to the coast again, where in the chalk cliffs, caves provided the natural fermenting cellars for the wine.Here there were galleries with rows of bottles and vats, and Toni wandered, amazed at the intricacies of the timbered workrooms.'You see,' said the Conde, close beside her, 'it is no easy matter to produce a perfect wine.The grapes must be picked at the exact moment of ripening.This differs according to exposure and altitude; sometimes one vineyard is completely gathered in before another higher placed vineyard is quite ready [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]