Fascination by Anne Hampson

censure mingling with the arrogance in his tone which Gasper chose to ignore.
    ‘I didn’t come to see you, Carlos; I’d been speaking to Isobella and decided to come along and introduce myself to your charming wife.’ Was there a challenge in the words? Hydee felt uncomfortable and lowered her eyes.
    ‘I’m giving a dinner party so that you can all meet Hydee,’ returned Carlos in cold tones. And, after a slight pause during which his gaze was fixed, unmoving, on his wife’s bent head, ‘You decided to come after talking with Isobella, you said?’
    ‘That’s right.’ Hydee glanced up swiftly, her nerves drawn tight as she feared Gasper would say too much to his cousin. But she need not have worried; he caught her pleading glance and added mildly, ‘As long as Isobella had informed me of your marriage, it would have seemed wrong if I’d not come over at once to meet my new cousin.’ He looked all charm at this moment, a half‐smile on his lips, a glimmer of good humour in his slate‐grey eyes. ‘I think you must agree with me, Carlos?’ Watching her husband’s expression, Hydee was filled with misgivings without being able to explain them. He seemed so stern, so vexed that his cousin had called. She supposed it was not the thing for Gasper to be holding her hand like that, and yet why should Carlos care? She was nothing to him, and it wasn’t as if Gasper had shown his affection in front of company.
    ‘As I said,’ returned Carlos, the piercing curtness of his voice cutting the atmosphere, ‘I intend to give a dinner party so that Hydee can be formally introduced to the family.’
    ‘She doesn’t particularly want to be introduced formally,’ Gasper took it on himself to state. ‘This kind of introduction’s far less unnerving than being confronted by a host of strangers all at once.’
    ‘I think it is I who shall decide what is good for my wife.’ Etched into Carlos’ austere features was a harsh, uncompromising quality which sent an involuntary shiver along Hydee’s spine. However, as Gasper chose not to comment, the awkward moment passed, and for the next few minutes the two men talked inconsequentially about the vintage, and then Gasper rose from his chair.
    ‘I shall see you both at the dinner party.’ He smiled reassuringly at Hydee and went out.
    Carlos looked at his wife across the distance separating them and said coldly, ‘Gasper’s the family’s flirt—but I assume you gathered that much?’ There could be no doubt as to his meaning. Hydee averted her head, aware of a little access of anger rising within her because of his attitude. At this moment he was like his sister: arrogant, distant, superior.
    ‘I found him pleasant to talk to,’ she responded quietly. ‘He certainly didn’t do anything I could resent.’ Despite her frayed temper, she was nervous; it was an uncomfortable feeling, which she tried vainly to shake off.
    ‘Gasper doesn’t like my sister.’ Carlos spoke brusquely, making no comment on what she had said. ‘What did he have to say about her?’
    ‘Nothing much,’ she prevaricated, and saw at once that it was not the answer her husband had asked for. His frowning gaze bit into her, and his mouth, compressed into a thin line, seemed almost cruel. ‘Isobella doesn’t like me,’ she continued, then stopped as he made a swift gesture as if to repudiate the statement.
    ‘It’s Gasper who doesn’t like her,’ he corrected. His eyes were coldly curious as he repeated, ‘What did he have to say about her?’
    ‘It was nothing derogatory,’ she murmured, a dryness catching at her throat.
    ‘Derogatory,’ he repeated, and there was no mistaking the significance of the word. Hydee knew she had made a slip, one which she realised could not be rectified.
    But what must she do? To repeat what Gasper had said was unthinkable. ‘I’d rather not carry on this conversation,’ she offered at last, conscious of a little twinge of desolation at the