Conquistadora - Esmeralda Santiago [26]
“We were supposed to always be together,” she murmured.
“I’m here,” Ana said, turning her around and kissing the top of her breasts.
That afternoon, Ana and Elena joined doña Leonor in her sitting room. “I separated what’s essential from what can be sent later,” Ana told her. “Elena helped. Ramón’s and Inocente’s clothes as well as mine fit nicely in the trunk you so kindly gave me.”
“We’ll send them as soon as possible,” doña Leonor said.
“Thank you.” After a moment, Ana jumped up, startling doña Leonor and Elena.
“¿Qué pasó?”
“I almost forgot! I’ll be right back.” Ana ran from the room.
“She gave me such a start,” doña Leonor said.
Elena smiled. “She has such energy.”
“Is there much to send later?”
“The trunk is full. She’s only taking one formal frock and slippers, two plain cotton dresses specially made, two skirts and bodices to match, and two pairs of leather shoes. She’s also taking her riding costume and boots.” Elena picked up an unfinished shirt from the pile and began stitching. “It’s impressive how well she’s thought it out. It’s as if she’d prepared for this trip her whole life.”
The older woman grunted. “Her whole life … Está loca.”
She was interrupted by Ana’s return.
“Please keep these for me.” Ana handed Elena a black velvet pouch. Inside were a pearl necklace with a diamond pendant, and pearl and diamond drop earrings.
“These are lovely,” she stuttered as she caressed the jewelry. “Why wouldn’t you want to take them?”
“They’re from my great-grandmothers,” Ana said. “I don’t want to risk losing them. Promise me you’ll wear them.”
“Ana, I can’t, they’re too—”
“They look good on you.” Ana held the necklace close to Elena’s face. “Don’t you think pearls are perfect for Elena?” she asked doña Leonor. “Her complexion is … well, they look much better on her than on me.”
Elena was blushing so much that the pearls acquired a whiter brightness. Ana smiled, kissed Elena’s cheek. “Keep them safe until I come back.” Elena put on the earrings in front of a small mirror between the windows. Ana fastened the necklace and admired how the pearls glimmered against Elena’s skin. “Beautiful,” she said. Elena blushed deeper. Ana pushed the curls from her own face to show doña Leonor her earlobes, bedecked with ruby earrings. “I’m only bringing these with me because they were Ramón’s engagement gift. And of course”—she waved her left hand—“I’ll never take off my wedding ring.”
“I should hope not.”
Leonor looked at both girls standing next to each other, one tall and slender, the other smaller, wiry, freckled as a peasant. She didn’t understand what Ramón saw in Ana. Maybe it was her restlessness, so unbecoming in a proper señorita. Ana, though not classically beautiful like Elena, had turned Ramón’s head, and because Inocente did whatever his brother did, she turned his as well.
Leonor hadn’t imagined that she’d lose her sons to someone who looked so inconsequential. Until Ramón met Ana, her boys had been devoted sons, seeking her approval for their plans and dreams. Now Ana’s small person dictated every move; her eccentric notion to replicate her ancestor’s exploits determined all their futures. Leonor pleaded, cajoled, cried, even threatened to withhold their inheritance, but Ramón and Inocente wouldn’t budge once they’d decided to come to Puerto Rico. It irked her that the only way to keep her family together was through this girl, this spirited, stubborn, willful girl. And now, after she’d given in, after the long trip across the ocean, after leaving their friends and family in Spain and settling in this outpost, Ana was making her sons go farther, to a godforsaken plantation that even its owner never visited because it was too far from the capital, too inaccessible. And the only way to keep from losing her sons to an uncertain fate in the jungled interior of this island was to be on this girl’s good side.
“I wish you’d stay here,