The Golden Collar by Cadell Elizabeth

Author:Cadell, Elizabeth [Cadell, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: The Friendly Air Publishing
Published: 2016-06-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

There was a large group gathered outside as David stopped the car; for a moment he wondered whether Senhora Crespo had been taken ill again. Then he saw Senhor Crespo coming out of the house to greet him, his expression reassuringly cheerful. Smiling, he explained to David that he had just returned from a short, a very short walk with his mother. She was refreshed, she was not at all tired. Their anxiety at rest, the waiting villagers dispersed.

“Come in, please, Senhor Eliot.” Senhor Crespo took David’s hands in his own. “Please come in. I did not expect you so soon. When I telephoned to the hotel, they said they could not find you, but I left the message and they promised that it would reach you—and so it did, and now you are here almost at once. Perhaps you were surprised to learn that Senhora Silva had offered today, this very morning, for your meeting with her?” David, deciding to dispense with explanations, said that he had indeed been surprised.

“So we shall go together.” Senhor Crespo was ushering him into a large, glacial hall. “But I have, first, a favour to beg of you.” He indicated one of the hard, high-backed chairs. “Will you sit here, or would you prefer to go on to the terrace?”

“If we’re going to see Senhora Silva—”

“You are quite right; it will be better here. Sit down, please, and I will explain this favour which I am going to ask. Will you take a little refreshment?”

“No, thank you.”

“Then let me begin. When I received the message from Senhora Silva, I went to see my mother, and I found that she had awakened feeling better than she has felt for months past. When I told her that I would have to leave her in order to accompany you to the Quinta do Infante, then...you will not believe this, but she actually expressed a wish—how can one not believe that this is an answer to all our prayers?—she actually said that she would like to take this opportunity of going to see her goddaughter. Yes, Ofélia Silva is her goddaughter, just as Teresa is mine. So, Senhor, the favour is this: Would my mother’s presence in your car in any way incommode you?” David took a moment to realise what was wanted of him. “You mean...she’d like to come with us?”

“You may well be astonished, Senhor. I cannot yet believe it. I wished her to forgo our little passeio, but she said she would go a little way; she did not wish to disappoint those who were waiting to see her, those people you saw at the gate.”

“I’d be happy to take her,” David said.

Senhor Crespo rose and came forward to press his hands once again.

“I cannot thank you enough,” he said. “I will go and tell her, and she will make herself ready. Excuse me.”

Left alone, David shifted on his seat, contemplated the eight holy pictures round the walls and wondered whether he could open the door and escape into the warmth and sunshine outside.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.