She gazed at the burnt rose bushes thoughtfully. Such devastation made her almost want to cry. Katherine missed her rose bushes so much it hurt.
One rose bush, gnarled and ancient stood at the centre of the blackened branches of its companions. It was covered with scarlet blooms, red as blood and with thorns to pierce the careless admirer.
She smiled wistfully as she expertly plucked a full blossom. Wondering if the other bushes had been as red, she breathed in the perfume. Its fragrance was heady and aromatic, ideal for the rose water she had forgotten at home.
She knew she could resurrect the little garden. She wondered if she would be given permission. Glancing back towards the hacienda, she had the misfortune to meet her husband's cold blue eyes. He was watching her carefully from the patio, standing stiffly with arms folded, more like a stern guardian than a loving husband. She had the distinct impression that she was trespassing on something sacred, and she shivered.
Katherine glanced away. Diego wasn't cruel and he never demanded anything at all from her. Soon he would, she realised, holding her breath. Every marriage of convenience did require something of value from both partners . It was hardly convenient if it didn't. She knew exactly what was expected of her, didn't she? Diego wanted a son, an heir. Just as every husband wanted an heir.
After their embarrassing wedding night and her tendency to develop migraines under pressure, Diego had avoided any attempt at physical intimacy. He rarely held her hand, or touched her in any way if he could help it. When he did brush against her skin, it was as if she was too hot to touch. He wore gloves for most of the day, as if protecting himself from her.
Diego's voice was always calm, always even tempered. To her, to everyone, even responding to an anxious father's rising temper with a calm even tone. How long could that continue? She saw the sparks of answering rage in those blue eyes, hinting at a passionate nature hidden under the surface.
The air was starting to cool, and she pulled her woollen shawl closer to her body. Turning, she glimpsed the sunset, and she was stared at it in wonder for a while. The landscape and surroundings, so drab and strange, were as different to her home as the Earth was to the moon. She had not found her feet yet.
"Red sky at night," she whispered. Robert had told her the sayings that had been passed down to him from his mother. The friendly woman had come from a seafaring family. She wished she was with him now, wrapped close and warm against his chest, knowing she was loved and wanted and desired. Why had everything gone so wrong?
"Red sky at night, shepherd's delight," Diego said, his deep voice completing the saying. Only it wasn't right – it was wrong on so many levels.
"My friend used to say 'red sky at night, sailor's delight'," she murmured, as if correcting him. She shivered and shook her head slightly. It wasn't at all what she had meant to do. "Same thing I suppose," she added, staring nervously at the ground.
"It means it's warming up for a few days. Air currents and things charge the colour of the clouds...blah...blah...blah." Katherine lost the track of his words as he wandered into the theories of weather that he sometimes studied. It didn't matter in the least how the colours changed. Nothing in the sunset really mattered. Diego was talking for talking sake. "It does mean no frost, so that is good. For the rose bush…" He petered off, a little uncomfortable with his immediate environment. He eyed the rose bush as if it would leap up and demand justice for its companions, and stared back at the hacienda.
She glanced up at him with concern. He seemed so edgy she wanted to reach out and touch his shoulder, just to assure him that she was there. Only he wouldn't want that. Not really. She sighed and glanced down at the ground again. Why did everything seem so hard, so difficult?
"Ouch," she cried out softly, rubbing her bare lower arm. A welt was already forming, and it was itchy.
Diego examined it silently, with sharp eyes. "A mosquito," he said with a slight smile. "You don't get them in England?"
"Not where I live…lived…" She frowned a little. "I will be covered in bites soon."
"It's best to come indoors then," Diego said, a little unhelpfully. She eyed him carefully, wondering if he was laughing at her. There was a twinkle in his normally expressionless eyes, but he was controlling any urge to laugh very admirably.
She nodded. She wondered if he would pat her hand, patronizingly, or place it on his arm to lead her inside, but Diego refrained. His awkward glance at her told her he knew the gentlemanly custom, but she started to head back a little ahead of him. The protective gesture never came.
She waited for him at the gate to the rose garden, and together they entered the hacienda.
"What a lovely couple you make!" Alejandro was beaming at them proudly as he did often. She wondered if the older man expected her to be already carrying a child.
She shivered at the imagined pressure, and immediately felt Diego's glance.
"Oh dear," he murmured. "It was cool outdoors. Sit by the fire. Dinner will be ready shortly."
She smiled a little, unaware that as she did so her whole face lit up in the candlelight, highlighting the perfect symmetery of her cheekbones and the innocence of her smile. Their eyes met, and Diego flushed a gentle pink colour, before it faded away.
Diego was very aware of her, she realised. He was a perfect gentleman – a little too perfect at times. Sometimes she found herself wishing to feel strong arms around her, and to be drawn into a breathless kiss. She felt her own cheeks warm, and she sighed away the idea. They were still in love with their soul mates. She just missed Robert too much. Diego wasn't attracted to her, he was too much in love with Victoria.
"It's not all that cold, Diego. England is so much colder this time of year. I'm not cold. Someone just walked over my grave, that's all," she assured him.
Diego walked over to his easel, and lifted the red covering carefully. He pondered his artwork seriously for a few moments.
"I'm finishing my painting tonight. Hopefully," he murmured, with a slight frown. "I need to be further away from the fire anyway. It interferes with the paint too much…"
She shifted a little in her chair. "Can I watch?" Her question surprised both of them. She had never dared ask to watch before. She had never even considered glancing at the unfinished art under the cover during the day. Diego met her eyes again, and a shiver went through her.
A smile played on Diego's face for a moment, and then faded. The frown didn't return. He ran a finger across his finely groomed moustache.
"No one has ever asked to watch before," he murmured thoughtfully. "My cousin…well Rafael seems to peek at things without permission. No one has ever asked…."
"If it distracts you, I will understand completely if you say no," Katherine murmured. She was unsure if he was annoyed by the question, flattered, or merely intrigued.
"I believe I will cope," Diego said with a smile. "Be my guest." He gestured to a snug armchair nearby in full view of the easel.
"It's a rose garden!" She exclaimed, before she bit her lip with embarrassment.
"It is indeed," Diego said with a slight chuckle. He sobered up quickly, glancing at the window, towards the wreckage of the garden. "The garden that was…"
"Why?"
"Why what?" He dabbed some green paint onto a half finished rose bush.
"Why paint it?"
"I want to remember it more vividly…."
"Why? You could repair the damage. It could be as it was…"
"It might…" He added scarlet to the rose bushes with a gentle hand.
"You don't want to?"
"It would never be as it was…"
"Could I…?" She bit her lip thoughtfully. She was being presumptuous, demanding perhaps.
"Could you what?" He turned and gave her his full attention, so suddenly she almost forgot what she was talking about.
Fighting the urge to drop the subject, she frowned. What did she really want? It would be the ideal time to ask. Would he shout at her? Would she finally see him angry?
"I miss my damask roses," she sighed. "I would like to try to grow them here. Perhaps in the rose garden out there…?"
"That sounds like an idea worth pursuing," Diego said. There was no anger in his voice, no frown on his face. There was a cloying sadness however, heavy and sudden like a impending storm.
"Can I make a request?"
She stared at his profile, as he turned, he met her eyes. Diego's eyes were clear blue like an autumn day after a storm, when the sun had come out again. She almost lost herself in them for a moment, before she nodded.
"No more scarlet roses. Coral, apricots, peachy pinks, yellow, white….any colour at all. Just not scarlet." The beginnings of tears formed in the depths of blue. He blinked a few times to compose himself. Then Diego became lost in his artwork once again.
"What a wonderful idea! A rainbow of colour!" She exclaimed, ignoring the tears. Diego's hand jolted a little. A smear of scarlet had smudged across the landscape unexpectedly. He stared at it with surprise for a moment.
She was certain he would explode in a very justified rage, and she shrunk back with slight fear.
"I'm so sorry…" She stammered.
"Never mind," he said, his eyes considering the glaring mistake. "It may just lend itself to an added element."
She watched as the brush coaxed the colour into the sky, tinging with clouds with a red hue. Other colours were used to complete the process. A reddened sky added a depth to the landscape that had not been there before. Katherine moved away, in case she caused another slip.
"I used to give Victoria roses," he murmured to himself. She suppressed a sigh. The scarlet roses must be a tormenting symbol of what he had lost.
"Much more interesting," Diego said a little louder.
"Is it a sunset, or a sunrise?" She asked, wondering. Art always meant something, she remembered.
Diego glanced at her and didn't answer. He turned to study the painting again, and then continued to touch it up.
What was the saying? Red sky at morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight. A slight shiver went through her. Was the road ahead safe? Were they ever going to get anywhere with their marriage? Were they doomed to a loveless match and discomfort for the rest of their lives?