The Flesh and the Devil by Teresa Denys Read Free Book Online

his
noble gesture had come several months too late. She had forgotten more about
the squalid side of life than her little mistress had ever known, and now she
was partly amused, partly irritated to see Juana taking the little matter of a
husband so seriously. Juana stood to gain what Michaela valued much more —
wealth and pretty clothes, and the freedom of a married woman instead of the
almost nunlike seclusion of a spinster — and if she found that she disliked her
husband, a lover would be easy enough to find. It irked her that Juana should
have considered sacrificing so fine a prospect for both of them simply because
of Senor Jaime and his handsome face. The gentle courtesy that fascinated Juana
struck Michaela as boring.
             
             
             
              'Every hour lost makes my position weaker. I meant to see
him at once, explain to him — I might have got leave to go home again before my
luggage was even unloaded! Now — ' Juana bit her lip.
             
             
             
              'Now, senorita, you must not be too hasty. It is unfair to
condemn a man you have not seen. He may be as handsome as Senor Jaime, for all
you know.'
             
             
             
              Juana's lip curled. 'If that were so, he would have been
married long ago. And that is another thing — why is he a bachelor so late? My
father was content to think it was because he is sickly, but so are the King's
own children. The Infante was betrothed in the same year that he died, was he
not? And he was not fifteen.'
             
             
             
              'And his bride made haste to marry his father,' Michaela
concluded cynically, 'and became Queen of Spain even though she could not have
a young husband. You should learn from her, senorita; she is a wise woman.'
             
             
             
              'You talk like Senor de Castaneda. Do they think I shall
change my mind if they keep me waiting long enough, and give me toys to divert
me? Look at this place! Are they trying to get a show of consent by lodging me
here?'
             
             
             
              'Senorita, be calm.' A spark of genuine worry lit
Michaela's eyes. 'You have not had any real sleep since we left Navarre — I
know, I have heard you weeping, but it will do no good to grieve! Even if you
were to be at home this minute, Senor Jaime would be lost to you. You swore
that you would never trust him or any man when he failed you, remember. So why
not accept this fine marriage with the Duque? You will torment yourself to
death else.'
             
             
             
              'Could you take a husband, loving someone else? Even though
he loved you less than you loved him?'
             
             
             
              Michaela was briefly silent, then she shrugged. 'My kind of
love is not so pure as yours, senorita. I love as long as I take pleasure in it
— after that, I love someone else. It is natural.'
             
             
             
              Juana went white. 'Are you saying that Jaime — that Senor
Jaime fell in love with someone else?'
             
             
             
              'No — ' the maid's gaze shifted — 'only that you should not
think too much of what is past. Senor Jaime loved you, everyone knew that, but
it takes a brave man to steal his bride and defy the whole world in marrying
her.'
             
             
             
              'Yes, I cannot blame him for that.' Juana's tone was
bitter. 'I know I should not have asked it of him, but how else was I to
prevent . . . all this?' She gestured jerkily around her. 'I was so sure he
would come