Dolores huffed and threaded her needle. “The only eligible man left in Cabrera—of noble blood, I mean—is the oldvizconde, who is past sixty, twice widowed, and desperate to get an heir. If it is him your brother is courting, I pity you.”
Alejandra shrugged. “I would rather wed an old man than be forced to become a nun.” The girls glanced at Sister Beatriz, but the elderly nun snored gently on, oblivious. “Besides,” Alejandra continued, “as my father said, he is rich, and old men die. Then I will be free to do as I want.”
Another girl spoke up. “They say the oldvizcondeis poxed and that is why he could not get a son on either of his wives.”
The girls exchanged glances.
“That cannot be true. My father would not marry me to a poxed man,” Alejandra said into the silence. “He would not.”
The others nodded, murmuring reassurance. But they had all heard the tales that lying with a virgin could cure a man of the pox…
“Papa would not do such a thing,” Alejandra repeated. “He is too fond of me, I’m certain.” But her confidence was clearly shaken, and it was more a prayer than a certainty.
It would be her father’s decision and thevizconde’s, not hers. She was just a daughter, to be given where it would do her family the most good. And times in Spain these days were desperate.
“If he does, you must refuse,” Bella told her.
“Refuse?” Alejandra gasped. “Disobey myfather? Are youmad? I couldn’t!”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” Alejandra repeated. “Because I couldn’t.” She added, after a moment, “I have never disobeyed him in anything.Never.”
Bella knotted her thread. “Then it would be good for him to experience something new.”
All the girls stared at her, shocked.
“How do you think he would react?” she asked Alejandra.
“He would kill me!” she said with a shudder.
“Kill you, or merely beat you?”
“Merely? He would thrash me to within an inch of my life!”
“One recovers from a beating. A poxed oldvizconde, though…” Bella let that thought sink in. “Has your father ever beaten you before?”
“Never,” Alejandra said proudly.
“Then why do you think he would beat you now?”
Alejandra looked surprised, then thoughtful. “It’s my duty to my family to marry well.”
“It’s a father’s duty to find you a decent husband,” Bella countered.
Alejandra bit her lip. “I don’t know… Papa would be so disappointed in me.”
Bella snorted. “He will survive his disappointment. He might also come to respect you.” She shrugged again. “It’s not my business what you do, but if it was me, I’d refuse.”
“Which is why you’re always in trouble,” Alejandra retorted.
Sister Beatriz snorted and sat up. “What’s that? Tongues wagging? Sewing, girls! Sewing!” She clapped her hands in a brisk manner, and the girls bent over their sewing. Needles flashed in silence, and in a short while the elderly nun dozed off peacefully again.
“Isabella’s husband might come for her soon,” Paloma said on a bright, let’s-change-the-subject note, and Bella groaned silently. She knew what would come next.
Alejandra gave a scornful snort. “Who, the imaginary one?”
“He’s not imaginary, is he, Isabella?” Paloma turned to Bella.
