The Tiger Lily by Shirlee Busbee Read Free Book Online

match
between her son and his daughter, she would have been outraged and incredulous.
She had not loved their longtime neighbor in Mexico, Luis de la Vega, when Don
Enrique had arranged her marriage to him, but what did that matter? Luis,
though a younger son, had been wealthy enough, and he had been blue-blooded
enough to satisfy Don Enrique.
     
    It
had been her duty to marry as her father demanded, and she had done it without
argument. It had also been her duty to follow her husband when, much to her
fury, he had decided to follow his brother-in-law's lead and remove his family
from Mexico and settle in the Nacogdoches area. Francisca absolutely hated
living in this barely civilized outpost of Spanish dominion, and through the
years she had complained bitterly about its lack of the elegance of life.
Elegance she would have enjoyed had they remained in Mexico. But it had been
her duty to stay with her husband and run his household and bear his four
children, including Carlos, the youngest, the only son and heir. Why couldn't
Sabrina do the same?
     
    If
Francisca and Alejandro were far apart philosophically, they were also greatly
dissimilar physically. Francisca was the epitome of a highborn Spanish matron. Swathed
in bright silks and glittering, heavy gold jewelry, she was a little plump and
not very tall, with lustrous dark hair not as yet showing any sign of silver,
and possessed a pair of lovely, liquid brown eyes. She, too, carried her age
well, her aristocratic features still showing signs of the beauty she had been.
Unfortunately, neither she nor her sister, Ysabel, shared their brother's
lively sense of humor or zest for living, nor would either of them have
understood his reasons for not agreeing to a match that was so advantageous.
     
    Which
brings me back to where I started, Alejandro sighed with frustration.
     
    As
he remained silent, making no reply to her statement, Francisca grew impatient
and demanded sharply, "Have you nothing to say?" And when Alejandro
merely shrugged his shoulders, she added heatedly, "Why will you not admit
that their marriage would be a splendid thing? I do not understand you, mi hermano! Surely you can have no objections?"
     
    Reluctantly
Alejandro confessed, "No, I would have no objection ... if it were what
Sabrina wanted."
     
    Francisca
looked offended at the notion that Sabrina could have any say in their plans
for her future, but deciding not to be sidetracked by such nonsense, she
pressed on. "I didn't agree with you when you suggested we postpone any
serious settlements when Sabrina was younger, but as there was no real urgency
to the matter being decided then, I held my tongue. Now, however . . ."
     
    His
eyebrow rising sardonically, Alejandro murmured, "Do you ever hold your
tongue?" But before she could reply, he asked innocently, "You
mentioned urgency. Is there some urgency now? And as I recall, you made quite a
few objections when I wouldn't discuss a marriage between them before Sabrina
went to spend those six months with Ysabel when she was fifteen. Could it have
been that you were frightened she might have found a young caballero in Mexico
City who would have suited her better than your son? Like perhaps Ysabel's
oldest son, Domingo?"
     
    Francisca's
opulent bosom swelled with indignation. "There is," she spat
furiously, "no one better than Carlos!"
     
    Suddenly
enjoying himself, Alejandro said meekly, "Ah, forgive me, what you say is
perfectly true. But tell me, why are you so insistent that we decide anything
now? Nothing has changed." His tongue in cheek, he added, "Unless
Ysabel has written to say that Domingo is coming to visit?"
     
    Francisca's
dark eyes flashed, and her full mouth tightened. Controlling her temper with an
effort, she ignored his provocative statements and said levelly, "Sabrina
is now seventeen years old. There is no reason why an engagement cannot be
agreed upon."
     
    Annoyed
with her persistence, Alejandro finally muttered,