Corinne took a deep breath and tore her gaze away from the stupefied Joy; whose wide eyes said more than words. If only Clair knew that her observation was the last accusation one could level at Juan Martel. 'I do say so,' she answered, forcing herself to remain calm. 'But if you're going to be awkward about it, then I shall simply back out of everything, but don't blame me if you lose out on the inheritance. It won't look too good for you, will it, if everything comes out ?' she stated quietly.

  It was plain to see that Clair had not ever envisaged such a happening, and now that she thought about it, she was not at all keen on the idea. 'I was only thinking of you,' she said, hastily backtracking on her previous outlook. 'And that I shall miss you,' she added plaintively. 'I suppose I was really

  ISLA1ND FIESTA 85 only thinking of myself. You must accept his offer. I would have done if I'd been you,' she added placatingly, and gave a feigned resigned sigh. `I'm only glad for your sake that he's stout and balding, and not the type to push his luck,' she tacked on, a little spitefully to Corinne's way of thinking. She then gave an exaggerated shrug. 'Oh, I know you won't have anything to worry about in that direction,' she ended piously.

  Will someone please tell me what's going on ! ' demanded Joy, who looked about to explode.

  `Go and put her in the picture, Corinne,' said Clair, with a touch of exasperation. 'I've some phone calls to make.'

  Corinne was only too pleased to comply with this autocratic dismissal of Clair's. 'Come on, Joy, let's go to my room,' she said, her voice sounding as relieved as she felt. Clair would not put up any more opposition to their going to the Canaries.

  Joy had said nothing while they had gone up the stairs and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, but hardly had the bedroom door closed behind them than she rounded on Corinne with, 'What exactly did she mean by my being de trop ?' she demanded.

  Corinne looked away from her indignant eyes and wondered how to explain this very uncalled-for remark of Clair's. 'Well, it's just a phrase that was as far as Joy allowed her to get.

  'I know what it means ! ' she said indignantly. 'I want to know why she said it. And why you married someone you don't really know, if you did !' she ended unbelievingly.

  Corinne patiently explained the circumstances that had led up to the wedding, giving Joy the same ver

  86 ISLAND FIESTA sion that she had given Clair. It sounded better that way. 'And so when he offered me the chance of a job out there well, I accepted it. I mean, we'd never get the chance of going to such a place for a holiday, would we ?' she appealed to the now incredulous-looking Joy. 'We can look on it as a long holiday, can't we ?' she went on hastily. 'And if we don't like it out there, I suppose Clair will always take us back,' she ended lamely, wishing she could believe in what she was saying, for she was almost certain that Juan Martel had no intention of releasing her from her obligation, regardless of whether they were happy or not.

  'This Juan Martel,' began Joy, favouring Corinne with a searching look. 'Is he as dumb as Clair thought ?' she asked the now wary Corinne.

  Corinne shook her head, making the waves of hair curl close to her small heart-shaped face and emphasising her attractiveness to her young sister's knowing eyes. 'No, he isn't,' she replied firmly. 'It's a business arrangement, and really we ought to be grateful to him. He's offered us a home as well.'

  'Oh, dear,' Joy sighed, 'now I know what Clair meant by my being de trop ! What if he knew what he was doing ?' she asked.

  'I'm not quite sure what you're getting at,' lied Corinne stoutly.

  'Of course, you wouldn't be !' replied Joy, in the manner of an adult speaking to a child. 'You're too trusting, that's your trouble. It would have been easy for him to work things his way, though, wouldn't it ? Suppose he took a fancy to you ?' she demanded. 'If he's out to ravish you, you'll spend most of the time dodging his pudgy advances. Have you thought

  ISLAND FIESTA 87 of that ?' she asked the astounded Corinne, who was wondering just who was the elder of the two of them !

  'Where,' she asked when she had got her breath back, 'did you get such a ridiculous idea from ? Ravish indeed ! Have you been reading some Victorian novels ?' she demanded.

  Joy tried hard to look indignant, but her sense of humour let her down and she gave a little chuckle. Not Victorian,' she replied airily, 'some of Jean's romances. She gets them from the library. According to most of them, you haven't lived unless you've had to fight for your honour ! '

  Corinne's dark blue eyes opened wide at this. 'You don't believe everything you read, do you ?' she asked in a reproving tone.

  'Of course not ! ' replied Joy loftily. 'All the same,' she added meaningly, 'just let him try it on, that's all ! It's as well I'm going with you. I'll look after you if he gets any amorous ideas where you're concerned ! ' she declared with a glint in her grey eyes.

  Corinne blinked at this firm assertion, and it occurred to her that in future she would have to keep a wary eye on her young sister's reading matter, although she had to admit to herself that once Joy had met the handsome Juan Martel, all she had read in the romantic line would inevitably cause her to have second thoughts on the matter. But it was not like that at all, Corinne thought bleakly, and Joy would be in for a big let-down before many days had passed.

  CHAPTER SIX

  TEN days later Corinne and Joy were on their way to Las Palmas Corinne with an assurance from Clair that if things got tough, and it didn't need much imagination on Corinne's part to know what she was referring to, they would always be welcome at the Manor.

  During the short interlude between their packing and making the necessary arrangements for the journey, Clair had constantly referred to her new home as 'The Manor', in spite of the fact that the actual name of the property was Larkfield Hall, and Joy for one was heartily sick of the subject.

  'I'm not sorry we're going,' she confided to Corinne a few days before their departure. 'You'd be run off your feet with all those parties she's planning on giving.'

  These sentiments were heartily endorsed by Corinne, and it took the edge off her anxiety for their future welfare. As the time had drawn nearer for their departure, she had constantly reminded herself what life would have been like for her and Joy if it had not been for Juan Martel's ultimatum. It was quite plain to her that they would have eventually had to make the move away from Clair and her grandiose schemes for the future, if she didn't want to find herself completely embroiled in the dual role of housekeeper and social secretary, a job she would have hated, and as for Joy, there was no doubt in 88

  ISLAND FIESTA 89 Corinne's mind that when she left school in six months' time, her services would also be called upon, in one capacity or another, and that was something Corinne would not stand for, not to mention Joy's thoughts on the matter !

  As the plane winged its way through the blue skies, and towards their destination, Corinne glanced at Joy whose eyes had scarcely left the small round window beside her, and Corinne could sense her pent-up excitement with the flight. It was a completely new experience for her, as it had been for Corinne during her first flight to Las Palmas, but most of Corinne's earlier travels had been taken in a state of anxiety, and she had not had the time to savour any pleasure from the journey. Coming back had been worse than going, she recalled, as she remembered her stunned feelings at that time.

  Her lovely dark blue eyes softened as they rested on Joy's animated features as she gazed out of the plane window, afraid to look away in case she missed anything. Whatever the future held, she told herself, she was grateful for the chance of giving Joy this pleasure, and somehow she would try and see things through. Whatever position Juan Martel had in mind for her, it could not be worse than the one Clair would have pushed her into. One thing she did know, and that was that Joy's fears of spending her time dodging Juan Martel's advances would soon sink into oblivion. As to how Joy would react to the forceful Juan's autocratic way of going about things, she couldn't even hazard a guess. The only man in her life from her babyhood had been her grandfather, who had been a mild-tempered man, and who had always found time for his granddaughters, even

  90 ISLAND FIESTA though he must at times have been very tired.

  She watched as Joy slipped off her school raincoat, still keeping her eyes on the panorama around her, and once again took pride in her younger sister's flair for dressmaking as her eyes fell on the blue and white polka-dot dress she wore, one that she had made herself.

  With not a great deal of money to spend on clothes, this natural flair of Joy's to make or renovate dresses had been a blessing for Corinne, and Joy had had the added advantage of being able to watch her grandmother, who carried on a small dressmaking business at home, at work during her growing-up years. When it was realised that Joy had inherited her grandmother's skill with the needle, her grandmother had encouraged her to use this skill by passing on some of the work for her to do, while supervising every step of the way.

  Corinne had wanted her to eventually go to college to study dressmaking, for although she had a natural aptitude for fashion, jobs were not all that easy to come by unless you had qualifications. Given that chance, Corinne was certain that Joy could become a top designer. She had no ambitions for herself, but where Joy was concerned, she had many. She sighed. What would happen to those ambitions now ?

  Approximately four hours later the plane touched down at Las Palmas' small but busy airport. Corinne had been instructed to let Juan Martel know their departure time from London Airport, and having done so, she was certain he would be waiting for them at the airport.

  For Joy's sake she had managed to maintain an outwardly calm composure during the flight, but as

  ISLAND FIESTA 91 her eyes skimmed over the small knot of people waiting in the airport lounge to greet the new arrivals, her pulse rate soared to a tattoo when she encountered the cold grey eyes of the man standing a little apart from the others. The man who was now her husband, and whom she knew nothing about, apart from the fact that he knew what he wanted out of life, and went single-mindedly after his goal, regardless of the cost to others.

  Joy, ignorant of the fact that her new brother-in-law was now striding towards them, said, 'Which one is it ?' as her glance rested on two elderly balding men waiting near the door of the reception lounge.

  Corinne was saved the necessity of replying as Juan, covering the short distance between them in his long lazy stride, was holding a lean tanned hand out towards the amazed Joy. 'So you're Joy,' he said in that deep well-modulated voice of his. 'Welcome to Las Palmas, and your new home.' He then turned his sardonic gaze on to the apprehensive Corinne. 'I trust you had a good flight out ?' he queried politely.

  `Yes, thank you,' replied Corinne, slightly surprised at the calmness of her voice, and wondering if she ought to introduce Juan to Joy, as her new brother-in-law, but she was given no opportunity as Juan requested that she show him which were their suitcases.

  `I suppose he was too busy to meet us,' whispered Joy to Corinne, as they watched Juan collect the cases indicated by Corinne. 'Still, he sent a nice reception committee, didn't he ?' she added appreciatively, as Juan signalled a porter to take the luggage out of the airport and stow it in his car parked in front of the reception lounge.

  92 ISLAND FIESTA

  Joy gave another show of appreciation at the sight of the gleaming Mercedes, and gave Corinne a nudge. `I think I'm going to like Las Palmas !' she murmured in a low voice, after Juan had settled them in the back of the car, then closed the boot and tipped the porter, and got in the car.

  Corinne was given no time to have a private word with Joy to warn her against making any references to her 'podgy' husband in Juan's hearing, and sat in agonised suspense as the car swept out of the airport precincts and towards their destination.

  Corinne's first impression of Gran Canaria had been a disappointing one once they had left the airport behind, for the scenery was bare and deserted-looking, not unlike desert country with patchy scrub land that would barely provide a living for those who worked on the land, and was hardly in keeping with the tourist image of the Fortunate Islands.

  Now, as she watched Joy's eager gaze as she stared out at the passing scenery, she wondered if her impressions were the same. She did know that the island was short of water, and had had to import it, for there had been a notice up in her hotel bathroom requesting frugal use of the water, politely requesting that a shower would be more economical than a bath. It appeared that even here in the isles of eternal sunshine, climatic change had brought about a period of drought, in spite of the fact that the Isles enjoyed spasmodic rainfall throughout the year.

  The journey to Las Palmas took forty minutes, and if it seemed a long time to Corinne on her previous visit, it seemed even longer on her return.

  Juan gave them a summary on the Islands' history, and how they had been conquered by the Spanish in

  ISLAND FIESTA 93 a long-drawn-out war that had begfun five centuries ago, and had taken half a century to end. Corinne suspected that this commentary was given purely for Joy's benefit, and knowing that Joy had done her own research on the Islands' past, was vaguely amused by her rapt attention to Juan's remarks.

  It was when Joy began to ask Juan a few personal questions that Corinne began to feel apprehensive again. Her innocent, 'Have you always lived here ?' question made Corinne dart her a quick frowning look in the hope of dissuading her from following this very personal line of conversation. However, the question had now been asked.

  'My forebears took part in the conquest,' he replied, with a hint of pride in his voice.

  Far from being discouraged, Joy then asked quickly, To you work for Mr Martel ?' for which she received a sharp dig in the ribs and a warning look from Corinne, who wished she could somehow become invisible.

  Juan's grey eyes sought Corinne's in the driving mirror above him, and Corinne was obliged to say hastily, 'I didn't have time to introduce you. This is Mr Martel, Joy.'

  There was a long pregnant silence as Joy digested this information, and she stared accusingly at Corinne. The look plainly said, 'Bald and podgy, indeed !'

  'It is, in fact, Señor Martel,' Juan supplied in a dry tone. 'But you will call me Juan. Your sister is now Señora Martel,' he added significantly, and Corinne's eyes fell quickly to her hands now twisted together in her lap. Corinne felt rather than saw Joy's swift glance at

  94 ISLAND FIESTA her before she said in a voice that showed that she still hadn't recovered from the shock that she had received, 'I suppose I'm Señorita, then ?'

  Juan's white teeth flashed against his deep tan. 'Or Miss Suter. It will be as you wish,' he replied, showing that Joy's reaction had pleased him.

  To Corinne's relief, Joy subsided into a thoughtful silence after this, but every now and again she would cast a surreptitious look at Corinne, who was well aware of the trend that her thoughts had now taken, thanks to the romances read by kind permission of her friend Jean ! She also knew that she was in for a big let-down when she found that Corinne had told the truth when she had said that the marriage was a business arrangement.

  Now they were entering a built-up section, and Corinne breathed a sigh of relief, for she knew that they were on the outskirts of Las Palmas and would soon arrive at their destination, wherever that was.

  Juan's deep voice then broke into the sisters' silent musings. 'We are now coming into Las Palmas,' he commented, as he skilfully negotiated the powerful car through the maze of traffic they had joined, then looked at Corinne through the car mirror again. 'Your hotel was in this section,' he commented, 'though it's not the most popular area for the tourists, they appear to prefer to be nearer the centre of the town. They can always get a taxi down to the beach if they want a day's sunbathing. The taxis, as you probably noticed, are remarkably cheap compared to other places.'

  Corinne preferred this type of conversation to the previous one that had looked like getting a little out of hand. 'I thought the hotel was in a good position,'

  ISLAND FIESTA 95 she said quietly. 'It looked out on to the sea-front, and there seemed to be a lot of guests.'

  'It's just a case of preference,' Juan replied. 'It depends on what sort of holiday you want. There are many such hotels along that particular stretch of beach, but they mainly cater for tourism only. By that, I mean half board a buffet breakfast and dinner in the evening. It works out cheaper than full board, of course.'

  'And your hotel ?' asked Corinne, determined to keep this innocuous conversation going, but was unable to stop a sardonic note from entering her voice.

  She saw him glance swiftly at her again before he answered abruptly, 'You get what you pay for,' and Corinne had a distinct feeling that this reference included more than the hotel business. 'We are known for our service and cuisine,' he went on haughtily. 'We could be classed with Claridges of London. There is only one Martella.'

  Corinne's deep blue eyes widened at this. 'Is that the name of your hotel ?' she asked, then added pithily, 'I rather thought it might be Mowbray and Martel or something like that,' she tacked on waspishly, thinking that the name was hardly in keeping with Gabriel Mowbray's wishes.

  'It has always been Martella,' Juan replied haughtily. 'The hotel has been the family business for over a century. I think perhaps you are referring to the business Gabriel and I were partners in. That is an entirely different project, and need not concern you.'

  Corinne looked away hastily, feeling a flush stain her pale cheeks and Joy's eyes upon her. She felt as if he had slapped her in front of Joy, and she hated him for it. If there was anything good in that cold

  96 ISLAND FIESTA rebuke of his, it was that Joy could no longer be under any illusion as to their relationship, and this would surely make things easier for Corinne in the future.

  The car then glided off the main highway and entered a long curving drive bordered with flowering shrubs, and then as the car swept around a bend, a huge rambling mansion-type house came into full view, built, Corinne presumed, in the Spanish style, for there were numerous balconies with trailing vines and flowers that would provide a breathtaking outward view of the old building during the summer season. It was hard to conceive that although the temperature never went below fifty, this was the island's winter period.