A Miracle in Mexico by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland [Cartland, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788672214
Published: 2019-07-14T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Orina stared at him.

Her eyes seemed to fill her whole face.

“Is this – a joke?” she asked.

“Certainly not!” Juarez replied, “but it is the only way that I can obtain the money I so desperately need.”

Orina drew in her breath.

“I have already offered you any money – you may require,” she said slowly, as if he was being particularly stupid.

“And find myself arrested on a charge of kidnapping for the extortion of money?” he answered her. “It is a serious offence in Mexico and means about ten years in an extremely uncomfortable prison.”

Orina began to feel frightened.

“I am sure we can arrange something – in a satisfactory manner,” she breathed at length.

“On the contrary, the only thing that will make me sure of finishing my dam and saving the lives of those people out there is if you are my wife!”

“Which I refuse – absolutely – refuse to be!” Orina replied.

“There is, I suppose, an alternative,” he said slowly.

“And – what is that?”

She tried to speak defiantly, but she had the feeling that her voice was rather weak and stuttering.

She wondered if this was because of the drug that had been put in her coffee.

“I can make you mine,” Juarez went on, “and, if I give you a child and you still refuse to marry me, then I can fight in the Courts for the custody of the baby on the grounds that you are not a fit mother as you would not accept my offer of marriage.”

He spoke in a dry businesslike manner, but Orina felt as if he menaced her like a dark savage animal.

She was trying to think of what she should say next and equally her father had taught her to always think quickly, objectively and decisively, especially in really difficult and hostile situations.

She knew that, if she was honest, his argument was irrefutable.

“I will – not marry you! I will – not!” she cried.

“In point of fact,” Juarez parried quietly, “we are already married!”

“W-what do you – mean by – that?”

“Yesterday, when I saw you in Sadaro, I recognised that you were my only hope and I therefore made quite certain that you could not escape.”

“I-I don’t know what – you are – saying.”

“Then let me explain it. I went into Sadaro to make a last fervent plea to obtain a grant from the Governor. He was, as usual, drunk and he made it quite clear to me that any money he had to spend in this Province would be spent on his comfort.”

Orina knew that it was why Government House looked so different from the dilapidated houses around it.

“In despair I went to see a Priest,” Juarez was now saying.

“He has supported me in every way he could since I started trying to save the people outside from starvation. He is well aware that I have spent every penny of my own money and everything else that I could beg or borrow from every friend I ever had.”

He spoke quietly without bitterness and,

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