The Ornaments of Love

Chapter Twenty-One

The details of the plan eluded her at first, they always did. She could be certain of the means to and the result of any of her ambitions, but the finer points of intricacy always seemed tiresome and hazy in the beginning.

Marcelina did not have the slightest doubt that she could seduce the young man, the boy with the supernatural green eyes who worshiped her niece with his uncontrollable stare. On the contrary, seduction would be the easiest of her trials. Marcelina knew she was a beautiful woman and that he was a boy of barely eighteen who, if memory served, couldn't sit still, he was so full of youthful exuberance. Winning him over would hardly be a task.

And she had little doubt as to his discretion. She would not have entertained the thought of this enterprise had she believed he was not a gentleman. And just whom would he tell if he wasn't? No one of any importance, she mused.

The trick was to provide the opportunity for them both. Discretion in this venture was beyond important, not so much for the boy's sake as it was for Veronica's. If rumors of something scandalous were to surface about the young man, they might serve to lionize him, but then they might not. Rumors certainly wouldn't have the slightest effect on Marcelina, they never had in the past; her money had seen to it.

But rumors might very well injure Veronica, not so much her reputation as her feelings. Marcelina was not impervious to the girl's alarming youth, and regardless of the toils she had taken in educating her, eradicating the potent possibility of injuring the unstable emotions of a fifteen-year-old girl was not an achievement that should be expected.

Marcelina would have to ensure a way of educating both her precious pupils in a discreet manner that would ensure that neither of them ever realized the other's experience.

"If he only has a few more weeks before entering the academy, you must be sure and give him leave to visit Veronica anytime he wishes. Surely, you will not force him to drag one of you along whenever the boy wants to see her. As long as one of us are present when they are together..."

The Marquesa was in rare form, she thought. She spent the lazy Sunday afternoon with Francesca, who had accompanied her from morning mass back to the Castell de Amontoní. Veronica had remained at home for feminine reasons that the two ladies spoke vaguely of in hushed tones, and Dídac had escorted his father on another one of his endless trips downtown to speak with a dozen colleagues.

The two ladies were more than delighted to stroll through the grounds, now that the weather had blessedly lightened up. They walked slowly together, arm in arm, followed by both ladies' entourages, none of whom had yet been given leave to re-enter the house after mass.

The cooler air had made the day spectacular, the Marquesa thought. The sea air drifted in moist fragrant gusts through their skirts and over their sun hats, instilling the most pleasant, lazy contentment in their joints. They strolled along the gravel pathways, stopping only now and again to sit and enjoy the lovely blooms, which had somehow not been destroyed by the weeks of blistering heat.

Marcelina could not have hoped for a greater sign of approval from Heaven than this glorious day. The very air was such that she felt the world might kneel before her and conform to her every design. It was as if the very crystal hue of the azure sky had been tinted the perfect shade, the sun's warmth erecting the heavens marvelously on this day so that nothing could interfere with her enterprise.

"Oh, but it is not nearly so demanding for us to accompany Dídac. Really, you make me think you don't want me around," Francesca teased gaily. "And what will happen when he is off at school and I have no reason to come calling? You think I will not suffer then?"

Marcelina was warmed by the words. With Blanca de Flores gone from Barcelona, it had been so long that she had any woman for a friend. How I will adore the woman when all of this is over and done with, the two children married and quarreling all the time, and she and I content with our success, sitting together after lunch every week with our minds at ease, she thought. What an opportunity I will have then!