Page 118 of The Seven Sisters

Darting inside the entrance, she moved towards the stairs and began to climb them, noting the numbers on the apartment doors.

When she reached number six, she hesitated, then, closing her eyes and sending up a silent prayer, she knocked on the door.

She heard footsteps crossing the wooden boards, and when the door opened, Laurent stood in front of her.

‘Bonjour, Madame Aires Cabral. Please, come in.’

He smiled at her, holding the door open so she could walk through it. Closing it behind him, he double-locked it, just in case Monica the maid should make an unexpected appearance. Having finally got Bel alone, he wanted no disturbances.

‘What a wonderful view,’ she said nervously as she stood in the drawing room and gazed out over the ocean.

‘Yes, it is, isn’t it?’

‘Laurent . . .’

‘Izabela . . .’

They smiled at each other as they spoke at the same time.

‘Shall we sit down?’ she asked him, walking to a chair and seating herself, trying in vain to calm her rapid breathing.

Laurent pulled up another chair so that it was facing hers and sat down. ‘So, what would you like to talk about?’

‘I . . .’ She shook her head and sighed. ‘It’s no good. I shouldn’t be here.’

‘Neither should I,’ he agreed. ‘But it seems that in spite of our determination not to be, here we both are.’

‘Yes.’ Bel took a deep breath. ‘I’ve come to tell you that we can’t possibly meet again.’

‘That’s what you said in the park in Paris. And look where it got us.’

‘I didn’t ask you to come here to Rio.’

‘No, you didn’t. Are you sorry I have?’

‘Yes . . . No . . .’ Bel sighed in desperation.

‘You’re married,’ he said flatly.

‘Yes. I know that the situation is impossible.’

‘Bel . . .’ He stood up from his chair and walked swiftly towards her, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hands in his. ‘Last night, I asked if you were happy and you replied that you weren’t.’

‘But—’

‘And then I asked you if you still loved me, and you said you did.’

‘I—’

‘Hush, let me speak. I understand your circumstances and how inappropriate and badly timed my arrival here is. And I promise you, if you tell me now to my face to go away, as you did in Paris, I swear I will leave Rio as soon as I can book my passage. You have to tell me what it is you want. Because I think I’ve made it obvious what I want.’

‘To be my lover?’ She glanced down at him. ‘Because that is the most I can ever offer you. And it’s not what you deserve,’ she added.

‘What I deserve has no bearing on the situation. Fate has decreed that you’re the woman I want. And try as I might, I can’t seem to live without you. Ideally, yes, I’d like to kidnap you right now, put you in my suitcase and drag you off to France so we could live together for the rest of our lives. But I’m prepared to compromise. Are you?’ His soulful eyes were darting across her face, searching it for clues, drinking in her features.

Bel looked down at him, wondering how she could ever have doubted his feelings for her. He had walked away from his life in France and followed her across the world to Rio, even though he had no guarantee that he would even find her here. And unwittingly, her poor husband had played a part in their reunion. Thinking of Gustavo brought her to her senses.

‘What’s past is past,’ she said as firmly as she could manage. ‘And it’s not fair for you to simply arrive here, making me remember, when I had done all I could to tell you goodbye, to try to forget you. I . . .’ Tears came to her eyes and her voice trailed off.