Rafael's Convenient Proposal

“Yes. I don’t know that word.”

She choked down more laughter. Wait till she told Lianor. “I think he got it mixed up with the word industrious. It means I like to work and use my brain.” She tapped the side of her head so the girls would understand.

“But he frowned like this when he said it,” she informed her before doing a great imitation of one.

“Violente?”

At the sound of a male voice, all three of them turned in time to see a well-dressed man around forty enter the foyer. He signaled for his daughter to come. She waved goodbye to them, then ran toward him.

No sooner had they left the foyer than Lianor appeared on the stairs. Apolonia rushed toward her aunt and started talking in rapid Portuguese.

“Why don’t you speak English in front of our guest. It will be good practice for you.”

“She already has. Very beautifully I might add,” Mallory said after catching up with them. “In fact I found out something quite interesting.”

Quickly she related her exchange with Apolonia. Lianor fought not to laugh in front of her niece. “Your father’s English is excellent, Apolonia, but sometimes even he makes mistakes.”

Mallory’s gaze rested on the girl. “I can’t imagine being able to speak fluent Portuguese when I was your age. You have superior intelligence just like your aunt.”

Her sweet face lit up. “Thank you.”

“Come with us,” Lianor urged. “We’ll show you to your room.”

Mallory followed them to the second floor. The staircase curved around, giving out on a corridor that ran the length of the palace. In between paintings and tapestries, she glimpsed double doors to the various rooms.

They passed another exquisitely shaped marble staircase before reaching a pair of double doors facing them at the south end. They looked massive and impregnable.

Behind them was another set of doors. Above those she saw an inscription set in the colorful azulejo tiles for which Portugal was famous.

“What does it say?”

“Our lips easily meet high across the narrow street. It’s a saying of the poet Frederico de Brito who wrote about the Alfama district of Lisbon where the streets between the houses are only four feet wide. The people on opposite sides can reach out of their homes and touch each other.”

Lianor rolled her eyes. “Someone in the D’Afonso family who had romantic notions put it there. Most likely it was a man who wanted to remind his wife of her marital duty,” she muttered sotto voce.

“No doubt,” Mallory concurred with a grin. She looked down at Apolonia who couldn’t quite follow their whole conversation. Wanting to include her she said, “Why are there two sets of double doors?”

“This is where the king stayed. He kept soldiers by both doors.”

“If we’re talking about Pedro II, I can see why,” Mallory murmured. “The man must have had some serious enemies.”

Lianor’s eyes met hers and they both chuckled. But Mallory’s laughter ceased the moment she stepped inside the suite and got her first look at the royal apartment which was really a small palace within a palace.

The melange of Muslim, Arabic, Visigoth and Moorish accoutrements filling the huge rooms defied description.

Both D’Afonsos took her on the grand tour which included a living room with a priceless Moorish tile floor put down in bands of blue and white that undulated like the rolling waves across an ocean. Dark crisscrossed beams defined the painted ceiling of flowers and angels.

There was a library worth a king’s ransom, a delightful airy music room with an antique piano, a sitting room, another bedroom, a kitchen and dining room which faced west and opened on to a private balcony that overlooked the ocean.

Lianor had to drag Mallory away from the view in order to show her the superb bedroom with its giant canopied bed and private balcony. It gave out on an unparalleled vista of the beach and ocean to the southwest. The constant crash of waves upon the sand far below set the rhythm of her heart. She felt enchanted.

Throwing back her head, she stood there breathing in the sea air while her long hair swished around her in the night breeze.

“Do you like it?” Apolonia asked.

Almost too enthralled to speak, she finally answered the girl’s question.

“I love it so much, I think I shall sleep out here tonight in that lounger next to the table and dream.”

“What will you dream about?

“Portuguese navigators who bravely set sail across the ocean to explore new worlds.”

Apolonia looked delighted with that answer. “I love the ocean too.”

“Living here, how could you not?”

“Do you like to swim?”

“It’s my favorite sport.”

“Mine too. My father taught me.”

“Speaking of your father,” Lianor broke in, “I bet he’s looking for you.”

She shook her head. “He went to see Maria in the hospital. I hope he says she can come home tomorrow.”

A signal of distress passed from Lianor to Mallory.

“I’m sure he’s back by now so you can ask him. It’s getting late and I think everyone’s tired, especially Mallory. She’s flown all the way from New York.”

She put her arm around her niece’s shoulders. “Let’s go to bed, shall we?”

The three of them walked to the first set of doors. Lianor turned to Mallory. “What time do you want breakfast served in here?”

Knowing it wouldn’t do any good to tell her not to go to the trouble she said, “How about ten o’clock after my morning swim? But only if you and Apolonia join me.”

“We’ll be here.”

Apolonia looked up at her. “Do you like salsicha?”

“It’s Portuguese sausage,” Lianor supplied.

“Is that your favorite?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll definitely try it. Good night, Apolonia.” They hugged again. What a wonderful girl she was. If Mallory had a daughter, she’d want her to be exactly like Lianor’s niece.