Black Sheep's Daughter Read Free Page A

Catholics are not allowed at Oxford and Cambridge, though many Emancipation bills have been presented in Parliament and perhaps one has passed since I left."
    "Oh, I am not a Catholic. Papa would not permit Mama to have us baptised. It is one of the few things they ever argue about. Papa says he is still an Englishman and an Anglican though he has not set foot in England or in church for a quarter of a century, and as far as he is concerned we, as his children, are all honorary Englishmen and Anglicans. No, that is not a problem. The problem is getting to England in the first place."
    Andrew looked at him. "If Oscar is to go with me to Jamaica..." he said slowly.
    "You don't suppose you could persuade...?"
    "I shall see what I can do," promised Andrew recklessly, then wondered why he felt he was letting himself in for far more than he realised.
     

Chapter 2
     
    Teresa woke to a feeling of anticipation.
    Why? she wondered sleepily. In all her twenty-three years, only her birthday in October and the August fiesta in Cartago, in honour of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles, had made her feel this way, but this was June. Besides, for the past few years even those great events had lost their attraction. Life was dull.
    Then she remembered: the Englishman Papa had brought home with him. She was to spend the day showing him the hacienda.
    Tossing the patchwork quilt around her shoulders against the morning chill, she went to the window. The sky had scarcely begun to pale in the east but it was clear, full of stars. The summit of Irazù loomed black against the deep blue, seeming near enough to touch. Her father had been to the top once, when he first  settled in the area, and her brothers had often talked of going up to see the crater, but somehow there were always too many other things to be done.
    This was her opportunity, she thought in sudden excitement.
    It would be much more interesting than looking at crops and livestock. Sir Andrew had not mentioned ever seeing the inside of a volcano on his travels, and if it was clear enough, according to Don Eduardo, they would be able to see both Atlantic and Pacific from the top. Perhaps the sight would wipe that censorious look off his face.
    She scrambled into her riding skirt and snatched up a broad brimmed hat, then ran along the gallery to tap softly but insistently on his door.
    "Señor!" she hissed at the window. "Wake up, please wake up."
    "Miss Danville!" His sleepy face, fair hair tousled, appeared between the curtains. "What is it?"
    "I want to take you up the volcano, and we must leave at once if we are to get there before the clouds gather."
    "Huh?"
    "I'll explain later. Get dressed while I go and make some coffee to wake you up properly. Don't be long!"
    He joined her in the kitchen ten minutes later, still tousled. A cup of coffee roused him to the point where he began to think.
    "Does your father know about this?" he asked suspiciously.
    "I've left a note so they know where we are going," she said, impatient. Picking up a saddlebag full of food, she hurried him towards the stables.
    Gayo greeted them vociferously, launching himself from his perch with a shriek of "Hello, hello, hello!"  Then he spotted his new friend and flapped across to Sir Andrew. "Dinner," he said in a friendly voice. "Hello, dinner."
    "Oh dear," said Teresa, chuckling as she led out a pair of small but frisky horses. "Now he has associated you with that word he will never forget it. I think he had best stay behind today. Will you saddle the horses while I tie him?"
    She hooked a tether to the parrot's leg ring, to his noisy disapproval, and made sure he had food and water.
    The rest of the household was astir as they trotted round the side of the house, and as soon as they were clear Teresa led the way at a gallop. It was still cool, though the sun was just rising on their right. The muddy track--with the rainy season well under way, everything was muddy--ran between fields of crops among which