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She turned to say good-bye to her sister, but Perlita had disappeared back inside the house. “You forgot this,” she said, returning with the little cloth doll. “Take it with you and keep it in memory of your foolish sister.”

She hugged Bella tightly, kissing her on both cheeks. Bella fought the tears. Perlita made no attempt to hide hers.

Bella turned to get into the carriage, then changed her mind. She marched back up the stairs toward Ramón, grabbed him by the shirtfront, and dragged him aside.

“Marry my sister!” she said. “You’re a stupid, thickheaded, blind fool and a disgrace, and I cannot think why she loves you, but she does, and you don’t deserve her. I wanted to take her to London with me and introduce her to society—”

Ramón’s face darkened. “You won’t take my Perla—”

“Only because she wouldn’t go.” Bella thumped him angrily on his chest. “She could have made her come-out in society. She’s so beautiful she would have had all the men—rich men, lords, handsome men—”

Ramón grinned. “But she chose me.”

“Oh, wipe that disgusting grin off your face, you stupid, smug, self-satisfied oaf!” Bella snapped. “She’s only nineteen and her life is already over—because you’ve ruined her. She has no friends, no relatives—only me, and I will be in England.”

Ramón scowled. “She has me.”

“And you think you’re such a bargain, don’t you?

You who make no secret of wanting to marry a rich woman!

” Bella poked him in the chest. “Perlita is a treasure, but you’re too stupid to see it.

She should be your wife , Ramón, building Valle Verde with you, not sitting in an empty house, seeing no one, and dressing dolls instead of having your babies.

You, Ramón, are a big, fat fool. And you disgust me!

I pray for the day Perlita grows up and sees you for the selfish pig you are.

And when she realizes what she really wants in life, Ramón, then I will be waiting to help her get it, and she’ll be out of here so fast you won’t know what hit you.

And then you’ll only have a big house and your own stupidity for company. ”

Ramón glowered, his brow thickly knotted. “Little viper. Thank God I never married you.”

“I thank Him for the very same thing.” She wanted to hit him with frustration. Couldn’t he see what he’d done to her sister? She’d come here to help her and nothing had changed, nothing.

Luke slid his hand under Bella’s elbow. “Come on. You’ve done what you could.”

Ramón waved his hand. “Yes, take her away, Englishman. You have my sympathy.”

“Oh, I’m well content with my choice, Spaniard. It’s as my wife said; you don’t recognize gold when it’s under your nose.”

Bella hugged her sister one last time, saying, “Write. And come to us anytime you like,” and then she marched down the steps of El Nueva Castillo and climbed into the carriage.

“W ell, you got that off your chest, at least,” Luke commented as the carriage pulled away.

“I should have let you kill him,” she muttered. “Then Perlita would have had no choice but to come with us.”

“I thought you wanted to give her the choice.”

She said nothing, just stroked the little doll Perlita had given her.

“You can’t rescue someone who doesn’t want to be rescued.”

She sighed. “I know.”

“Your sister is a strong-minded young lady. Family resemblance there.”

They traveled in silence for a while. “You know, I wish Perlita had stolen my pearls. It would have made it easier to leave her there.”

“How so?”

“If she had them, then if and when Ramón finds his heiress, she could sell them and leave, make a new life somewhere else. That’s all I really want—for her to have the choice. But since the pearls are in his possession…”

“She’ll never leave him.”

“I know.” She sighed.

“No, I meant, even if she had the pearls and the choice and he found his heiress, she’d still never leave him.”

“I know. She loves him.” She glanced at him. “Mama always said that love was a curse.”

“Your mother was right.” He had the bleak, faraway look in his eyes she’d come to recognize.

The landscape slipped past. They would be back in Huesca by early afternoon.

Traveling in a carriage was nearly as boring as sewing sheets, Bella decided. Luke was about to doze off, she could tell, and she would not sit here, bored witless, bouncing around in a carriage while he slept. She poked him awake. “You can tell me now.”

Luke stretched and responded sleepily, “Tell you what?”

“What provisions you made for me in your will. You said you’d tell me when we left Valle Verde, and we have. So I want to know now—and I’m warning you, Luke, I don’t care how kind your mother and sister are, I won’t be dependent on them.”

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and crossed his long, booted legs. “I told Ramón the truth; I left you nothing in my will.”

She narrowed her eyes. His eyes were dancing. She caught a gleam of blue in the darkness and the sight heartened her. “Stop teasing.” She tried to look stern.

“It’s true.”

She threw the doll at him. It bounced off him and hit the carriage floor with a bump.

“Ow,” he said mildly. “That doll packs a wallop.”

She snorted. “It’s a rag doll. I know you’ve done something sneaky about the will, so tell me at once, or worse than a flying doll will befall you.”

Luke said thoughtfully, “For a rag doll it’s quite heavy.”

Bella said impatiently, “Perlita restuffed it when she repaired it. She probably used sawdust or something. Now Luke, don’t be so tedious—tell me.”

Luke picked up the doll and examined it. “It’s not sawdust. It feels like… pebbles or something.” He took out his knife and glanced at her. “Do you mind?”

“No.” She was curious, too.

He pulled back the doll’s skirt and slit the stitching down her middle. He parted the seam, closed it, and tossed her the doll. “See for yourself.”

Bella looked. And gasped. From the doll’s stomach she drew a long string of pearls, South Sea Island pearls. “She stole them back for me.”

She ran the pearls through her fingers. They were even more beautiful than she remembered, glowing with a creamy sheen. Each one was perfect. She slipped them over her head, and they went around twice, with room to spare. “Mama’s pearls.”

“I thought you said you didn’t care about those pearls,” he said grimly.

“I lied. I didn’t want you to fight Ramón.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake—”

She looked up, worried. “They must be priceless. When Ramón finds out…”

“She will handle him,” Luke said. “Your sister has a great deal more character than I thought. You might want to settle something on her.”

“Settle something? What do you mean?”

“Some of your inheritance.”

“But… I don’t have an inheritance. You said—”

“No, I said I’d left you nothing in my will. I don’t need to. You still have the fortune your mother left you.”

She gaped at him, speechless. “But, how? When a bride marries, everything she owns belongs by law to her husband. I know that is true. They taught us that at the convent. Unless the bride’s family negotiates settlements, and I know nobody negotiated anything for me. There wasn’t time.”

Luke grinned, enjoying her amazement. “Ah, but your groom did it for you. I promised to look after you, remember? Some protector I would have been if I gained your fortune through marriage one day, and was killed the next. And in wartime there was every likelihood of that.”

She crossed herself. “Thank God you weren’t. But I still don’t understand.”

“I owned your fortune—whatever it is, I still have no idea—for barely a day. When we got to the convent, I wrote out a document returning to you every penny of your mother’s fortune, and anything else that you owned before the marriage, to be held in trust until you turned twenty-one.

I made two copies and left one with your aunt, who witnessed it.

She still has one copy. The other one is here.

” He drew a packet of papers from the breast pocket of his coat, selected one, and handed it to her.

“That’s why I left you nothing of mine in my will. You’re a rich woman, Lady Ripton.”

Stunned, she stared at the document. It was as he said. He’d signed everything back to her almost immediately after the wedding. She swallowed. “That is why my aunt was so sure this marriage was the right thing for me. She knew you were a man of honor. But why did she never tell me?”

Luke said dryly, “Perhaps she thought if you had plenty of money you might run off and abandon me. Any idea why she might think that?”

Bella dismissed that with a wave of her hand. “She never told me anyth—” She broke off, as a thought occurred to her. “But… if I were a widow—”

“You’d be a very rich one, yes.”

“You fool! You crazy, reckless fool!” She flew at him and thumped him on the chest.

“What? I thought you’d be pleased.”

“So Ramón could have killed you and forced me to—!”

“Oh, Ramón.” He rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone assume that I can’t handle Ramón—will you stop that, you violent little hussy? This is the correct response to learning of a husband’s nobility of character.” His mouth came down over hers, silencing all protests.

After a moment he murmured, “Yes, that’s the kind of thing I mean. Now, let me introduce you to one of the benefits of traveling by carriage.”

Just then there was a loud crack, the carriage listed to one side and slowly ground to a halt. “Problem with the wheel, senor ,” the coachman called out.

Luke cursed and released her.