Read Online Colonel Rutherford's Colt by Lucius Shepard - Free Book Online

do, and I advised him to break it off. No matter how much he loved this woman, I said, it would be the act of a fool to surrender his life to what was on the face of it a hopeless passion. But Luis shook his head, said, “No, no! There must be a way to make her know . . . to make her see . . .”
    â€œÂ â€˜He was fanatic in his devotion to the woman. Even obsessive. I could not convince him that he was on the road to disaster, that the physical, mental, and moral dangers he confronted were likely to destroy him. In hopes of finding some means of persuading him, I convinced him to tell me more about the relationship.’ ”
    Doctor Lens leaned forward and said in a lowered voice, “I will spare you the intimate details, if you wish.”
    â€œNo,” said the colonel, who felt cold and immobile, as though imprisoned within a block of stone. “No, I want to hear it all.”
    As he listened to Doctor Lens describe the woman’s passion, the unalloyed freedom with which she employed her body in the service of her lover’s pleasure, Colonel Rutherford began to take heart. This woman, with her unending avidity and sexual inventiveness . . . She could not be Susan. Either Carrasquel was lying, or he was describing someone else entirely. But then the doctor related how Luis gained entry to the estate. The ceiba tree, the sapling palm, the doorway leading to the housekeeper’s apartments, the vines crawling over the yellow stucco. Only a single shred of doubt remained in the colonel’s mind.
    â€œDid Carrasquel ever speak this woman’s name?” he asked.
    After a hurried consultation with Odiberto, Doctor Lens said, “ ‘Several days following our initial conversation, Luis and I were walking in the market, taking our lunch al fresco , when Luis stopped to stare at a pale beautiful woman who was shopping with a servant. He appeared absolutely devastated by the sight. A moment later the woman lifted her head and their eyes met. The exchange was not casual. For the longest time they seemed unable to move away from one another, and after the woman had left. In a great hurry, I should say. After she left, Luis was beside himself. Flustered, incoherent. His eyes filled with tears, and he refused to speak other than to insist we return to the bank at once. I later ascertained that the name of the woman who provoked this reaction was Susan Rutherford.’ ”
    The colonel lowered his eyes to the carpet. “Is there more?” he asked grimly.
    â€œOnly this,” Doctor Lens said. “And it is I, now, who speak. I hope you will accept that I speak as a friend.” He fingered the beak of the gold macaw. “No one, not even General Ruelas, will blame you if you seek revenge for this betrayal. However, I beg you to be moderate in your judgment. Not only are the lives of Carrasquel and your wife in the balance, but your own. Should your vengeance be a bloody one, your career may suffer. Cuba needs American friends such as Colonel Hawes Rutherford.”
    These last words, imparted with a sly oiliness, made clear to the colonel that Doctor Lens’ motives in telling him the story were, like Odiberto’s, less than pure. The doctor wanted something, and consequently, he must have something to give. It occurred to the colonel that he was being subtly and unobtrusively blackmailed—in effect, being offered carte blanche as regarded his handling of the infidelity in return for some favor yet to be determined.
    â€œYou say your wife cannot be controlled?” he asked.
    â€œNot easily controlled, at any rate,” said the doctor. “Though I suppose it might be possible, with great effort, to restrain her.”
    â€œAnd can you guarantee Odiberto’s silence?”
    â€œOdiberto understands that his revelation will only profit him if”—the doctor appeared to be contemplating a choice of words;