Page 132 of The Seven Sisters
Bel could not help a gasp of horror at Gustavo’s words, given what currently lay secretly inside her. Gustavo took her reaction as shock at his mother’s dreadful damning of their marriage and pulled her closer to him.
‘Of course I was furious with her and told her that if she ever uttered such blasphemy again, it would beherwho was out on the street, not my wife. After that,’ Gustavo continued, ‘I decided I must act. I have asked my father to transfer this house into my name, something I should have insisted on the moment we married, since it is the normal protocol. He has agreed, and will also pass over the running of the family finances to me once I feel equipped and knowledgeable enough to handle them. Therefore, for the next few weeks I will be with my father for much of the time, learning from him rather than wasting my days at the club. Once all that happens, I will be passing responsibility for all domestic matters over to you. And my mother will have no choice but to accept the situation.’
‘I see.’ Bel noted the new determination in his voice and wished that she could find comfort in it.
‘So, later than it should have been, we will finally be in joint control of our own household. As for my drinking, I know it has been excessive recently, Izabela, and I swear to you that for the past few weeks I have only been taking a little wine with dinner and no more. Can you forgive your husband for not acting sooner? I can understand how difficult the past few months must have been for you. But as you have just heard, I am determined to make a fresh start. I hope you can too, because I love you so very much.’
‘Of . . . of course I can forgive you,’ she stammered, unable to utter any other response to his heartfelt words.
‘And from now on, there will be no more forced’ – Gustavo searched for an appropriate phrase – ‘bedroom activity. If you tell me you do not wish to make love with me, I will accept it. Although I hope that sometimes in the future, once you have seen how I mean to continue, you will wish for it. There, that is all I have to say. And now,querida, after the dreadful few weeks you have had, I hope I can hold you in my arms until you fall asleep.’
A few minutes later, Bel heard Gustavo snoring gently and moved out of his arms to roll onto her side. Her heart pounded and butterflies circled around the pit of her stomach as she contemplated her situation. Was there any chance this baby could be her husband’s? She thought back desperately to the last time they had successfully made love, and knew there was not.
As the night hours dragged on and she tossed and turned in misery, Bel knew she must make an immediate decision. After all, Laurent might be horrified if she told him she was pregnant and that the baby was his. This had never been part of the plan for either of them, which was why Laurent had taken all the care he could to protect her from it. Bel’s mind went back to Margarida’s original words of warning: that men such as Laurent did not want or wish for any ties of a permanent nature.
As the dawn began to glow through the cracks in the shutters, all Bel’s old insecurities about Laurent returned with a vengeance. There was only one thing she could do, and that was to see him as soon as possible.
42
‘Where are you off to today,meu amor?’ Gustavo asked, smiling at his wife as he helped himself to more coffee from the silver pot on the breakfast table.
‘I’m going for my final fitting at Madame Duchaine’s before the new season begins,’ Bel smiled brightly. ‘I hope the garments will be ready for me to collect at the end of the week.’
‘Good, good,’ he said.
‘And if I may, I would like to miss luncheon to visit my father. I telephoned him earlier and Gabriela told me that he hadn’t even dressed and wasn’t planning on going into the office today.’ Bel’s features creased into a frown. ‘I’m obviously very concerned about his state of mind.’
‘Of course,’ agreed Gustavo. ‘I am going with my father to the senate building. President Washington Luís has called an emergency meeting of all the coffee barons to discuss the continuing crisis in America.’
‘I thought your father no longer had an interest in coffee farming?’ queried Bel.
‘He has very little, but as a senior member of the community here in Rio, the President has asked for him to be there.’
‘Surely my father should also be attending?’
‘Yes, he should, of course. The situation is deteriorating by the day. But please tell him that I will be happy to brief him on what is said. I will see you before dinner,querida.’ Gustavo kissed Bel gently on the cheek and rose from the table.
Once Gustavo had left with his father for the senate and she knew Luiza was sequestered in the kitchen with the cook organising the menus for the next week, Bel hurried upstairs to find her address book. Running back downstairs to the hall, her hands shaking, she picked up the receiver and asked to be put through to the number Laurent had given her.
‘Please be at home,’ she whispered as she heard the line ring at the other end.
‘IciLaurent Brouilly.’
The sound of his voice made her stomach churn with nerves and anticipation. ‘It’s Izabela Aires Cabral,’ she replied, just in case Luiza decided to emerge unexpectedly from the kitchen and into the hall. ‘Is it possible for me to book an appointment for this afternoon at two o’clock?’
There was a pause before Laurent answered. ‘Madame, I am sure I can accommodate that. Will you be coming here?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then I will look forward very much to seeing you again.’
She could almost hear the wry smile in his voice as he joined in with the game. ‘Goodbye then.’
‘A bientôt, ma chérie,’ he whispered as Bel abruptly replaced the receiver.
Her fingers hovered over it for a few seconds as she thought of calling Madame Duchaine to book an appointment with her as an alibi, but she knew that she could not yet chance Madame’s beady eyes falling on her newly rounded stomach and gossiping to others about it. So she called and made an appointment for two days’ time instead. Grabbing her hat and informing Luiza she was on her way to see her father and then on to her dressmaker, Bel climbed into the back of the car and asked Jorge to take her to Mansão da Princesa.
Gabriela was at the front door before she had even climbed the steps, her face full of concern.
