“You would get what you could. Well, you won’t. Whatever was left in this house eight years ago now belongs to Ramón and is his to do with what he chooses.”
“I didnotcome here to get what I could. Besides, those pearls belonged to me, not the estate.”
Perlita shrugged. “What do you care? You are married to a rich man; he can buy you more pearls.”
“It’s not the same. They were a wedding present to my mother from her mother and father. My grandfather collected the pearls himself from the South Seas.”
“Too bad. You should have taken them with you when youleft.”
“I suppose Ramón sold them. He’s sold everything else ofvalue.”
“Ramón does what he must to make the estate flourish.”
“Including marrying the first heiress who comes along? And what of you, Perlita? Where will you and your loyalty be then?”
“Do not look down your nose at Ramón,” Perlita flashed. “He is no different from your father—our father.”
Bella was outraged. “Papa was nothing like Ramón! He—”
Perlita made a sharp gesture. “Hah! Papa married your mother for her fortune, did he not? For the sake of Valle Verde, no? It is exactly the same.”
“It is not the same!”
“No, because Papa’s sacrifice was in vain. Your grandfather cheated himby making sure he could not use most of the money, by ensuring most of the money went to the children of the marriage. To you.”
“My grandfather did?”Bella knew nothing of this. She’d always known Mama’s fortune would come to her and not toPapa’s heir, but not that Papa felt he’d been cheated. He never discussed such matters with her, and she’d been too intimidated—and probably too young—to ask.
“It’s why he would never let your grandparents visit.”
“They didn’t visit because they died shortly after Mama died.”
“Did they?” Perlita said incuriously. “It’s not what my mother said.”
“Anyway, I would have given Papa whatever he needed—”
Perlita snorted. “He tried to get his hands on some of it during the war. I heard him and Mama talking about it. Neither you nor he could touch it. It’s in some kind of trust until you turn one-and-twenty, or were married.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I suppose, being rich and spoiled all your life, you never think about where the money comes from.”
Bella gave her half sister an incredulous look.Rich and spoiled all her life?She’d been rich only in theory, and as for spoiled, Papa had been a harder taskmaster than the most severe of the nuns at the convent. And for a good part of the last eight years she’d lived on the verge of starvation. That’s why she was all skin and bones.
Shewasn’t the one with the lush figure.Or the beautiful dresses. Perlita had changed into another dress after the siesta. This one was shimmering gold. It brought out the gold in her hair.
Ramón might have to sell paintings and other people’s pearls to raise money for the estate, but he didn’t stint on Perlita’s clothing.
She opened her mouth to explain to Perlita just how rich and spoiled she hadn’t been, when Perlita turned and walked onto the terrace. Bella hurried to catch up with her. “I didn’t know anything about it,” she repeated. She felt so foolish, discovering all this from a younger half sister.
Perlita glanced at Bella over her shoulder and asked, “Did you never wonder why Papa hated your grandfather?”
“Not really. Most of the time he never even spoke of him. One time I heard him say Mama’s father was a pirate and a thief, like all the English.”
Perlita curled her lip. “Because he tricked him in the marriage settlements and robbed him of his pride. Papa should have had all the money. It’s why he married your mother, after all. God knows he never loved her, plain little dab of a thing that she was.”
“Do notdareto insult my mother!” Bella flashed, her fists clenched.
There was a short silence. “I apologize. It is how my mother spoke of her. She was… envious.” Perlita laid a hand on Bella’s arm and said softly, “I’m sorry. I did not think.”
