Love and Honor: The Coltrane Saga, Book 7 by Patricia Hagan Page B

Azahar for the sweet fragrance of the orange blossom that drenched the countryside. Carasia had delightedly told her that Señor Tanner was said to own over two thousand acres of land, extending from the shores of the Mediterranean eastward to the section the Phoenicians had called Spagna, meaning “the hidden land”, because of the menacing mountains along that rugged coast. It was the region beyond where Señor Tanner raised his prize cattle.
    “He is very, very wealthy,” Carasia had said, “one of the richest men in all of Spain. He has mucho gold…and many women.”
    Carasia had giggled, but Kit had not been amused. When Carasia saw her look of disgust, she asked what was wrong. Kit told her about the dance and the kiss, but not the way he had touched her so intimately.
    “ Caramba! ” Carasia had squealed. “What I would not give to have such an amante !”
    She had then lowered her voice to an intimate whisper. “They say he knows how to make a woman happy beyond her wildest dreams. They say the richest women in Europe have tried to buy his love, but of course, he is above that. They say that for a time he was engaged to a princess from Denmark, a golden-haired beauty with blue eyes and the face of an angel.”
    Kit had cursed herself for her curiosity, but she could not resist asking, “Why didn’t he marry her?”
    Carasia felt superior with her knowledge of Kurt Tanner, and airily disclosed, “Her name was Princess Nedjelja, but he called her Nebula, because, it was said, he found her to be as beautiful as a star. Near Sagunto, there is a place where the ramparts of a medieval castle extend for over a kilometer across the hilltop of an ancient acropolis. You can see the beginnings of the new castle he was going to build for her there when they married.”
    Kit wondered what it would be like to be so loved by a man. She quickly pushed such thoughts aside and pretended only mild interest. Shrugging as though it didn’t really matter, she asked, “So? What happened to the great romance?”
    “No one knows for sure, but it must have been something terrible, because they say Señor Tanner forbids anyone to mention her name. It is as though she never existed.” Carasia’s eyes glittered as she hurried to share her gossip. “My aunt is his housekeeper, and she said there was a portrait of Princess Nedjelja on the wall above the big stone fireplace. One morning when she went to work, the portrait had been slashed to ribbons.”
    Curious, Kit had asked, “Why is Señor Tanner living in Spain? He’s an American.”
    “There’s a story about that, too.”
    Kit had sighed, again pretending that she really didn’t care. “Well, you might as well tell me the rest, I suppose.”
    So Carasia had told her the rumor about how Señor Tanner was said to have been a wanderer, and happened to be in Texas at the same time as Francisco Madero, who had just escaped from jail in Mexico. The two became friends, and Tanner had aided Madero in his successful attempt to unseat Porfirio Diaz and become President of Mexico. Afterward Tanner could have stayed on in Mexico, an important friend of the government, but revolution and politics were not to his liking. Madero had understood and rewarded him for his loyalty and help by deeding him over a thousand acres of valuable land in Spain. Tanner had, in a short while, become one of the wealthiest ranchers in the country.
    Kit now chided herself for dwelling on Kurt Tanner again. The sun was high, and she’d wasted too much time thinking about the brazen Señor Tanner already!
    She mounted Belle and was about to ride on when she saw vaqueros in the meadow below. She paused, curious, when she heard excited shouts. Then she saw two riders galloping side by side across a clearing to where a man waited to mark the finish line. She watched as one pulled ahead of the other to win the race.
    Kit trotted Belle down the slope. She had many friends among Doc Frazier’s vaqueros and