Page 136 of The Seven Sisters

‘Enjoying the coolness of the evening air,’ she said abruptly, unable to stop herself outwardly blushing from the hidden thoughts inside her head.

‘Yes,’ he said, sitting down. ‘It certainly became heated in the senate today. Apparently on Wall Street, they’re calling today “Black Tuesday”. The Dow Jones has lost an additional thirty points from yesterday and the Rockefeller family has been buying large amounts of stocks to shore up the market. I don’t think it’s worked, but we won’t know until tomorrow exactly how much has been lost. Anyway, at least my father seems to have made some sensible decisions over the past few months, unlike others. How was your father today?’ he asked her.

‘Dreadful. I think he is one of those you just mentioned who has gambled and lost.’

‘Well, he mustn’t feel ashamed. There are many of them in the same boat. They weren’t to know. None of us were.’

Bel turned to him, appreciating his calm words of wisdom. ‘Perhaps you would go and see my father. Tell him what you’ve just told me.’

‘Of course.’

‘It is almost seven and my bath will be getting cold,’ she said, standing up from the bench. ‘Thank you, Gustavo.’

‘For what?’

‘For understanding.’

Bel made to walk around the corner of the house and back inside.

‘By the way, how was your fitting at the dressmaker’s?’ he asked her, watching as she paused at his words, her back to him.

‘It was most successful. Thank you for asking.’ She turned and smiled at him before disappearing out of sight.

43

After a further restless night, Bel awoke groggy and exhausted, having finally fallen asleep as dawn broke. She saw the space where Gustavo lay was empty next to her. As she made her way to the bathroom, she thought how this was unusual in itself; Gustavo was never normally up before her. Perhaps he really did mean to turn over a new leaf. When she went downstairs for breakfast, she found only Luiza at the table.

‘My husband and yours are together in the study looking at the morning papers. You will have heard from Gustavo yesterday, I’m sure, that Wall Street crashed again. They will both be heading back to the senate soon to discuss what can be done to save the coffee industry in the wake of this disaster. Will you be going to the Igreja da Glória today?’ Luiza queried blandly, as if nothing had changed since yesterday and half the world hadn’t woken to find themselves bankrupted this morning.

‘No. I must go and see my father. As you can imagine, he is currently . . . out of sorts,’ Bel replied in a similarly neutral tone.

‘Of course. Well, everyone reaps what they sow, as I’ve said before.’ Luiza stood up. ‘Then I shall continue in your absence to do our family duty and take your place at the church.’

Bel watched the woman as she swept from the room, and felt breathless with astonishment at Luiza’s insensitivity. Made even more unbearable by the fact that her mother-in-law’s continuing financial stability – including this recently renovated house – had been aided and paid for by Antonio and his hard work.

Bel took an orange from the bowl and threw it against the wall in frustration, just as Gustavo entered the room.

He raised an eyebrow as the orange rolled back towards her under the table. ‘Good morning, Izabela,’ he said as he knelt to retrieve the fruit and put it back in the bowl on the table. ‘Practising your tennis?’

‘Forgive me, Gustavo. I’m afraid your mother made a particularly insensitive comment.’

‘Ah yes, well, that will probably be due to the fact that my father informed her before breakfast this morning that you will be taking over the household accounts from now on. As you can imagine, she hasn’t taken it well. I’m afraid you will simply have to ignore any tantrums the news has solicited.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ she agreed. ‘I hear you’re going to the senate again this morning?’

‘Yes. News is gradually trickling through from New York. Apparently, yesterday was a bloodbath,’ Gustavo sighed. ‘There were men throwing themselves out of windows all along Wall Street. Thirty billion dollars has been wiped off the value of stocks. Within a few hours, the price of coffee per pound plummeted.’

‘Then my father was right to think it was all over for him?’

‘It’s certainly a huge disaster for every producer, and, more importantly, for Brazil’s economy as a whole,’ Gustavo explained. ‘Can I suggest that your father joins us for dinner tonight? Perhaps I can find a means of helping him in some way. At the very least, my father and I can tell him what the government is saying, if he can’t face appearing at the senate himself.’

‘That would be most kind, Gustavo. I’m going to visit him later and I will suggest it,’ Bel replied gratefully.

‘Good. And may I say how very beautiful you look this morning.’ Gustavo kissed her gently on the top of her head. ‘I will see you at luncheon.’

Having telephoned Gabriela to be told that Antonio had ventured into the office this morning, she told her to inform him of the dinner invitation for this evening. Climbing back up the stairs to her bedroom, Bel watched from the window as Jorge returned from chauffeuring Maurício and Gustavo to the senate building in Rio. Then, twenty minutes later, the car left again with Luiza inside it.

Bel walked back downstairs and wandered along the hall, glad to have the house to herself. On the silver tray, she saw a letter addressed to her. Picking it up, she opened the front door and walked round to the bench on the back terrace to read.