Page 47 of The Seven Sisters

‘No. I thought that for once, I might just arrive late. And see here,’ Antonio said, indicating a silver tray on the table, piled high with envelopes. ‘Already a number of guests have sent their maids to deliver thank-you notes for last night and to invite you to lunch and supper. There’s also a letter addressed to you personally. Of course, I haven’t read its contents, but you can see who it’s from by the seal on the back. Take it, Izabela, and tell your parents what it says.’

Antonio passed the envelope to her, and Bel saw the Aires Cabral insignia stamped in wax on the back of the envelope. She opened it and read the few lines on the thickly embossed notepaper.

‘Well?’ Antonio prompted.

‘It’s from Gustavo Aires Cabral, thanking me for last night and hoping he will meet me again soon.’

Antonio clapped his hands in glee. ‘Izabela, what a clever girl you are! Gustavo is descended from the last emperor of Portugal himself and has one of the best pedigrees in Rio.’

‘And to think, he has written to our daughter!’ Carla clasped her hands to her bosom, she too carried away with the thought.

Bel surveyed her parents’ animated faces and sighed. ‘Pai, Gustavo has simply sent me a thank-you card for the evening. This is not a proposal.’

‘No,querida, but one day it might be.’ Her father winked. ‘I saw how taken he was with you. He told me as much himself. And why shouldn’t he be?’ Antonio held up theJornal do Brasilwith a photograph of a radiant Bel arriving at the party on the front of it. ‘You are the talk of the town, myprincesa. Your life and ours will be very different from now on.’

*

And indeed, in the next few weeks, as Christmas approached and the Rio social season got into full swing, Bel’s feet hardly touched the ground. Madame Duchaine was called back to the house and instructed to make many further gowns for Bel to wear to dances, the opera and a number of dinners at private addresses. Perfectly trained by Senhora Santos, Bel acquitted herself on each occasion with aplomb.

Gustavo Aires Cabral, whom Maria Elisa and she had secretly nicknamed ‘the ferret’, because of his physical likeness to the animal and his habit of constantly nosing around Bel, was present at many of the events.

And on the opening night ofDon Giovanniat the Theatro Municipal, he found her in the foyer and insisted she visit his parents’ box at the interval so that he could formally introduce her to them.

‘You should feel honoured.’ Maria Elisa raised her eyebrows as Gustavo left Bel’s side and walked through the crowd sipping champagne in the foyer before curtain up. ‘His parents are the nearest thing to royalty we have left in Rio. Or at least,’ she giggled, ‘they behave as if they are.’

And indeed, when Bel was led into the box at the interval, she found herself making an impromptu curtsey, as if she’d been meeting the old Emperor himself. Gustavo’s mother, Luiza Aires Cabral, haughty in demeanour and dripping with diamonds, surveyed her through cool, narrowed eyes.

‘Senhorita Bonifacio, you are indeed as beautiful as everyone has remarked,’ she said graciously.

‘Thank you,’ said Bel shyly.

‘And your parents? Are they here? I don’t think we have so far had the pleasure of making their acquaintance.’

‘No, they are not attending tonight.’

‘Your father has a number of coffee farms in the São Paulo region, I am told?’ Gustavo’s father, Maurício, an older replica of his son, asked her.

‘Yes, senhor, he does.’

‘And of course, he is becoming rich off the back of them. There is much new money to be made in the region,’ said Luiza.

‘Yes, senhora,’ Bel agreed, understanding the implicit snub.

‘Well,’ said Maurício hurriedly, shooting his wife a warning glance, ‘we must arrange for them to visit us for luncheon.’

‘Of course.’ Senhora Aires Cabral nodded at Bel, then turned her attention to her neighbour.

‘I think they liked you,’ said Gustavo as he led her back out of the box and escorted her to her own.

‘Really?’ Bel thought quite the opposite.

‘Yes. They asked questions and were interested. That’s always a good sign. I will remind them of their promise to entertain your parents.’

As Bel commented to Maria Elisa when she joined her afterwards, she fervently hoped Gustavo would forget.

*

The invitation, however, duly arrived for the three Bonifacios to attend a luncheon at the Aires Cabrals’ home. Carla worried endlessly about what she should wear for such an occasion, trying on most of the dresses in her wardrobe.