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Authors: Jane MacKenzie
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because no woman could ever make a real lawyer. He’s crude, and basic, and has manipulated his way to the top, and I hate him, Luc. I hate him so much I just can’t hide it, and so he hates me even more, and wants to control me more, and keep me down, and down, and down.’
Luc shifted his position on the bed so he was besideCarla on the pillows, and took her into his arms.
‘Don’t cry, carinyo ,’ he said quietly, into her hair.
‘No,’ she answered, blinking back the tears, and taking a deep breath. ‘Sorry! That’s why I don’t talk about him, because it gets to me like that.’
‘But that doesn’t answer the question,’ he brought her back to the main issue. ‘Will he take his need for control far enough to track you if you disappear? After all, he has already disowned you!’
‘It will depend whether he thinks I could damage his name in any way, I guess.’
‘Like by marrying the son of an outlawed Republican medic?’
Carla grinned, and dropped a kiss on the hand that was hugging her close. ‘Exactly, and even more so if he has led a student revolt!’
‘I’ve been nothing in the revolt, really, but I do take your point! But you know, your father won’t want you to marry some high-up official either, because from what you’re telling me he would never believe you would behave yourself! I can’t help thinking if you just quietly disappear he would be quite relieved!’
‘He might. You’re actually quite possibly right. As long as he doesn’t learn about you, though.’
‘There’s no reason why, not when you’ve been so careful. I have to admit I thought all the subterfuge was excessive, but now I can see you were right.’
‘Of course I was, and from now on we take even more care. We finish our studies like good little students, and I go home quietly each night to Uncle Josep’s, and let myfather’s spies watch me to their hearts’ content. No more visits here, even, and not even Uncle Josep must suspect I’m pregnant. I’ll just be the studious Carla Olivera, with my only concern to get my degree.’
‘The studious Carla Olivera indeed! All right, for the next while you’ll be like Lorca’s hidden treasure to me. But then,’ Luc leapt up from the bed and dropped to one knee. The bed creaked alarmingly and a pillow fell to the floor. ‘But then,’ he repeated magniloquently, ‘once the exams are over, Carla Olivera, will you consent to be my wife, and disappear with me into the night?’
Carla rescued the pillow, and hugged it to her. ‘Only if you promise not to break all the furniture!’ she replied, sternly. ‘But yes, my clumsy idiot, when we finish the exams, then I’ll disappear with you to wherever you want to take me!’
But three months later, when Carla stood at the railway station with her suitcase, waiting for Luc, he didn’t appear. And when she and Uncle Josep went fearfully together to the attic flat, the door was bashed in, and the bed had collapsed, and it certainly wasn’t Luc who had broken them.
C HAPTER S IX
Carla struggled along the broad Girona boulevard towards Grandma’s little side street, and paused for a moment to put down her shopping bag and ease her tired muscles. Just a few weeks now from giving birth, it was getting tougher to carry heavy loads, and the weight she’d lost since Luc’s disappearance didn’t help.
The thought of a sit down and a coffee made her pick up the bag and plod on – just a few metres to go and she would be home, and Grandma would have lunch cooking. Carla had no appetite, but the smells which came out of Maria’s tiny kitchen turned their shabby apartment into the homeliest refuge in Girona.
Carla had been in Girona for nearly four months now, having fled to Grandma and Uncle Victor’s arms soon after Luc was taken. It was the closest she could come to solace.
As she turned the corner she was just in time to see Tonistep out of her mother’s Mercedes. He had drawn up right outside
Luc shifted his position on the bed so he was besideCarla on the pillows, and took her into his arms.
‘Don’t cry, carinyo ,’ he said quietly, into her hair.
‘No,’ she answered, blinking back the tears, and taking a deep breath. ‘Sorry! That’s why I don’t talk about him, because it gets to me like that.’
‘But that doesn’t answer the question,’ he brought her back to the main issue. ‘Will he take his need for control far enough to track you if you disappear? After all, he has already disowned you!’
‘It will depend whether he thinks I could damage his name in any way, I guess.’
‘Like by marrying the son of an outlawed Republican medic?’
Carla grinned, and dropped a kiss on the hand that was hugging her close. ‘Exactly, and even more so if he has led a student revolt!’
‘I’ve been nothing in the revolt, really, but I do take your point! But you know, your father won’t want you to marry some high-up official either, because from what you’re telling me he would never believe you would behave yourself! I can’t help thinking if you just quietly disappear he would be quite relieved!’
‘He might. You’re actually quite possibly right. As long as he doesn’t learn about you, though.’
‘There’s no reason why, not when you’ve been so careful. I have to admit I thought all the subterfuge was excessive, but now I can see you were right.’
‘Of course I was, and from now on we take even more care. We finish our studies like good little students, and I go home quietly each night to Uncle Josep’s, and let myfather’s spies watch me to their hearts’ content. No more visits here, even, and not even Uncle Josep must suspect I’m pregnant. I’ll just be the studious Carla Olivera, with my only concern to get my degree.’
‘The studious Carla Olivera indeed! All right, for the next while you’ll be like Lorca’s hidden treasure to me. But then,’ Luc leapt up from the bed and dropped to one knee. The bed creaked alarmingly and a pillow fell to the floor. ‘But then,’ he repeated magniloquently, ‘once the exams are over, Carla Olivera, will you consent to be my wife, and disappear with me into the night?’
Carla rescued the pillow, and hugged it to her. ‘Only if you promise not to break all the furniture!’ she replied, sternly. ‘But yes, my clumsy idiot, when we finish the exams, then I’ll disappear with you to wherever you want to take me!’
But three months later, when Carla stood at the railway station with her suitcase, waiting for Luc, he didn’t appear. And when she and Uncle Josep went fearfully together to the attic flat, the door was bashed in, and the bed had collapsed, and it certainly wasn’t Luc who had broken them.
C HAPTER S IX
Carla struggled along the broad Girona boulevard towards Grandma’s little side street, and paused for a moment to put down her shopping bag and ease her tired muscles. Just a few weeks now from giving birth, it was getting tougher to carry heavy loads, and the weight she’d lost since Luc’s disappearance didn’t help.
The thought of a sit down and a coffee made her pick up the bag and plod on – just a few metres to go and she would be home, and Grandma would have lunch cooking. Carla had no appetite, but the smells which came out of Maria’s tiny kitchen turned their shabby apartment into the homeliest refuge in Girona.
Carla had been in Girona for nearly four months now, having fled to Grandma and Uncle Victor’s arms soon after Luc was taken. It was the closest she could come to solace.
As she turned the corner she was just in time to see Tonistep out of her mother’s Mercedes. He had drawn up right outside
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