Read Online A Stormy Spanish Summer by Penny Jordan - Free Book Online
Authors: Penny Jordan
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echoing through the marble-floored hallway beyond the half-open library door silenced any further comment Fliss might have tried to make.
No doubt feeling that he had triumphed over her, Vidal strode away from her. Fliss could hear him greeting and welcoming another man, whose voice she could also now hear.
‘Coffee in the library, please, Rosa,’ Fliss heard Vidal instructing the housekeeper as the two men approached the open doorway.
She had no real reason to feel apprehensive or even nervous, but she
did
feel both those emotions, Fliss admitted as Vidal waved the small dark-suited man who must be Señor Gonzales into the library ahead of him, and then introduced him to her.
The lawyer gave her an old-fashioned and formal half-bow, before extending his hand to shake hers.
‘Señor Gonzales will go through the terms of your late father’s will in so far as they relate to you. As was explained to you in the letter I sent, as your father’s executor it is part of my role to carry out his wishes.’
As he led them over to the imposing dark wood deskat one side of the room’s marble fireplace, Fliss recognised that note in Vidal’s voice that said there had been no need for her to come to Spain to hear what had already been reported to her via letter, but Fliss refused to be undermined by it. The lawyer, polite though he had been to her, was bound to be on Vidal’s side, she warned herself, and she would have to be on her guard with both of them.
‘My late father has left me his house. I know that,’ Fliss agreed once they were all seated round the desk. She broke off from what she was saying when a maid came in with the coffee, which had to be poured and handed out to them with due formality before they were alone again.
‘Felipe wanted to make amends to you for the fact that he had not been able to acknowledge you formally and publicly whilst he was alive,’ Señor Gonzales said quietly.
Silently Fliss digested his words.
‘Financially—’
‘Financially I have no need of my father’s inheritance,’ Fliss interrupted him quickly.
She was
not
going to allow Vidal to think even worse of her than he already did and suggest that it was the financial aspect of her inheritance that had brought her here. The truth was that she would far rather have had a personal letter from her father proclaiming his love for her than any amount of money.
‘Thanks to the generosity of one of my English relatives my mother and I never suffered financially from my father’s rejection of us. My mother’s great aunt didnot reject us. She thought enough of us to want to help us. She cared when others did not.’
Fliss felt proud to be able to point out to the two men that it was her mother’s family who had stepped in and saved them from penury—who had cared enough about them to
want
to do that.
She could feel Vidal watching her, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of looking back at him so that he could show her the contempt he felt for her.
‘Are there any questions you wish to ask now about your late father’s bequest to you before we continue?’ the lawyer invited.
Fliss took a deep steadying breath. Here it was—the opportunity she so desperately wanted to ask the question that she so much wanted answering.
‘There is something.’ She had turned her body slightly in her chair, so that she was facing the lawyer and not Vidal, but she was still conscious of the fact that Vidal was focusing on her. ‘I know that there was a family arrangement that my father would marry a girl who had been picked out for him as his future wife by his grandmother, but according to the letter you sent me he never married.’
‘That is correct,’ Señor Gonzales agreed.
‘What happened? Why didn’t he marry her?’
‘Señor Gonzales is unable to provide you with the answer to that question.’
The harsh, incisive slice of Vidal’s voice lacerated the small silence that had followed her question,
No doubt feeling that he had triumphed over her, Vidal strode away from her. Fliss could hear him greeting and welcoming another man, whose voice she could also now hear.
‘Coffee in the library, please, Rosa,’ Fliss heard Vidal instructing the housekeeper as the two men approached the open doorway.
She had no real reason to feel apprehensive or even nervous, but she
did
feel both those emotions, Fliss admitted as Vidal waved the small dark-suited man who must be Señor Gonzales into the library ahead of him, and then introduced him to her.
The lawyer gave her an old-fashioned and formal half-bow, before extending his hand to shake hers.
‘Señor Gonzales will go through the terms of your late father’s will in so far as they relate to you. As was explained to you in the letter I sent, as your father’s executor it is part of my role to carry out his wishes.’
As he led them over to the imposing dark wood deskat one side of the room’s marble fireplace, Fliss recognised that note in Vidal’s voice that said there had been no need for her to come to Spain to hear what had already been reported to her via letter, but Fliss refused to be undermined by it. The lawyer, polite though he had been to her, was bound to be on Vidal’s side, she warned herself, and she would have to be on her guard with both of them.
‘My late father has left me his house. I know that,’ Fliss agreed once they were all seated round the desk. She broke off from what she was saying when a maid came in with the coffee, which had to be poured and handed out to them with due formality before they were alone again.
‘Felipe wanted to make amends to you for the fact that he had not been able to acknowledge you formally and publicly whilst he was alive,’ Señor Gonzales said quietly.
Silently Fliss digested his words.
‘Financially—’
‘Financially I have no need of my father’s inheritance,’ Fliss interrupted him quickly.
She was
not
going to allow Vidal to think even worse of her than he already did and suggest that it was the financial aspect of her inheritance that had brought her here. The truth was that she would far rather have had a personal letter from her father proclaiming his love for her than any amount of money.
‘Thanks to the generosity of one of my English relatives my mother and I never suffered financially from my father’s rejection of us. My mother’s great aunt didnot reject us. She thought enough of us to want to help us. She cared when others did not.’
Fliss felt proud to be able to point out to the two men that it was her mother’s family who had stepped in and saved them from penury—who had cared enough about them to
want
to do that.
She could feel Vidal watching her, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of looking back at him so that he could show her the contempt he felt for her.
‘Are there any questions you wish to ask now about your late father’s bequest to you before we continue?’ the lawyer invited.
Fliss took a deep steadying breath. Here it was—the opportunity she so desperately wanted to ask the question that she so much wanted answering.
‘There is something.’ She had turned her body slightly in her chair, so that she was facing the lawyer and not Vidal, but she was still conscious of the fact that Vidal was focusing on her. ‘I know that there was a family arrangement that my father would marry a girl who had been picked out for him as his future wife by his grandmother, but according to the letter you sent me he never married.’
‘That is correct,’ Señor Gonzales agreed.
‘What happened? Why didn’t he marry her?’
‘Señor Gonzales is unable to provide you with the answer to that question.’
The harsh, incisive slice of Vidal’s voice lacerated the small silence that had followed her question,
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