“I loathe him! Do you hear me, Bettina? I loathe him!” Lord Eustace replied violently, “and once we are married we will never, either of us, ever see him again.”
He looked at her with dark glowering eyes to see if she was prepared to argue.
Then he said,
“Thank God I have enough money of my own not to be dependent on the charity of that profligate.”
“You are not to speak like that,” Bettina interposed. “This hatred will harm you. And if you go on, it will twist your character and you will become abnormal.”
Lord Eustace laughed unpleasantly.
“My dear child, what do you know of abnormality or of men for that matter? I suppose in a way you are beguiled by Varien’s face and appearance and the fact that he has a coronet on his head.”
He laughed again.
“All women are the same and you are no exception, but I will teach you to appreciate the real things, the real values of life and about people who are not hypocrites and don’t disguise licentiousness under a smiling mask.”
Bettina sighed.
“I am waiting to hear your pamphlet, my Lord.”
“You will hear it when I am ready to read it to you,” Lord Eustace snapped. “Let me make this quite clear from the beginning, Bettina, that I am your Master. I decide what will and will not be done and you will obey me.”
Bettina contemplated rising to her feet and leaving him.
Then, because they were alone in the Saloon, she thought that he might try to stop her and she could not bear the thought of his touching her hand or her arm.
She escaped as soon as she could and was delighted to hear the next morning that Lord Eustace as well as two other gentlemen in the party were too unwell to leave their cabins.
Once again The Jupiter had run into bad weather and this time they had a head sea, which made it difficult to move around.
All the same Bettina was determined to go on deck.
She dressed herself in the warm coat that she had worn before and put over it the oilskin that had been intended for use by the sailors.
She tied the white strings of the oilskin hat under her chin and, moving very cautiously, she made her way out on deck.
It was certainly very rough with the waves washing over the rails, each one seeming higher and more majestic than the last.
Bettina moved a little way towards the bow feeling that it was somehow a breathless excitement to watch the yacht forging ahead in what seemed almost impossible conditions.
The waves, green with their curved white crests, reared up in front of the vessel almost like dragons and yet fearlessly The Jupiter rode them and then challenged the next one.
Bettina felt that the yacht was a white Knight battling his way through hostile foes and always emerging the victor.
The wind grew stronger, and the sea more turbulent and she realised that her oilskin was running with the spray and she was now feeling rather cold.
She turned to struggle back to the door and as she did so her feet slipped on the wet deck.
She gave a little cry and would have fallen but two arms were round her holding her close.
She realised with a sense of relief that the Duke had been standing behind her, but the noise and tumult of the sea had stopped her from realising it.
He held her against his chest and she looked up at him with a smile.
Then, as her eyes met his, she felt as though something strange happened to her heart as it turned a somersault within her breast.
For the moment everything seemed to stand still and there was only his eyes gazing down into hers.
Then, as the spray of the waves splashed over them both, she knew that she loved him!
Chapter Six
Bettina stood on deck to watch the yacht come into Port at Southampton.
She was feeling relieved that the voyage was now over.
There had been a tension that was unmistakable ever since they had reached calmer waters and Lady Daisy and Lady Tatham had risen from their sick beds to continue fighting each other and fawning over the Duke.
Sir Charles was aware, although Bettina was not, that the main reason now for their animosity was that each of the ladies was certain that the Duke was bestowing his favours on the other.
Actually he spent most of his time either on the bridge with the Captain or in his own sitting room.
But the jealousy and suspicion between the two beautiful ladies affected the whole party and Bettina reflected that she would never have believed that she would actually welcome the end of the glamorous voyage.
She was also worried about Lord Eustace, who reiterated every moment she spent alone with him that they were to be married and he would listen to nothing that she might say to the contrary.
‘Papa will have to tell him once we are back in England,’ she thought.
However she could not help feeling a little ashamed that her father had encouraged Lord Eustace to believe that he would be a very acceptable son-in-law.
Ever since she had fallen in love with the Duke, she had said a grateful prayer every night that she did not have to marry Lord Eustace.
Every time she looked at his dark scowling face and listened to his violent denunciation of his half-brother and his friends, she knew that she had had a very lucky escape.
‘How could I have endured years of that?’ she asked herself.
Yet she knew that, had Lord Eustace offered for her before the Duke, she would have been obliged to accept him whatever her feelings were in the matter.
But now everything was different and, although the sky was dark and glowering, she felt that England was bathed in sunshine.
Once they had said their farewells to the other members of the party, she would be alone with the Duke and her father and she knew that she had been looking forward to it with an eagerness that seemed to increase with every hour that passed.
‘I love him! I love him!’ she had told herself when she was lying in bed at night.
She knew now that, although she had not acknowledged it before, she had been in love with him almost from the first moment she saw him.
He was so magnificent, so imperious and even at the same time a little frightening.
But when he had talked to her under the stars and she had felt that strange sensation because his shoulder was close to hers, it had been love, although because she was so ignorant, she had not recognised it.
The yacht moved towards the quay and now, so unexpectedly that she started, she heard a voice say sharply,
“So this is where you have been hiding yourself!”
She had no need to turn her face to know that Lord Eustace was standing beside her and that he would be looking sullen and disagreeable because she had escaped him.
“We are home!” Bettina declared.
“I hear from your father that you intend staying at The Castle for Christmas.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were coming to London. I intended to call on you tomorrow morning.”
“We are going to The Castle.”
“I do not wish you to go there!”
Lord Eustace’s voice was commanding.
“It is all arranged,” Bettina countered quickly.
“Then I will talk to your father on the train and persuade him to change his mind. We have so much to discuss, Bettina, and the sooner we arrange our Wedding Day the better.”
Bettina held tightly onto the railing in front of her.
She knew that they were all to travel in the Duke’s private train to London, but that he, her father and herself would get off at Guildford and drive from there to The Castle.
Quite suddenly she felt that, if Lord Eustace was to make a scene in front of Lady Daisy and Lady Tatham, she could not bear it.
She drew in a deep breath.
“I have something to tell you,” she said, “but it is a secret and you must swear to me you will not mention it in front of the other members of the party.�
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“I have no intention of even speaking to them if I can help it,” Lord Eustace replied. “I can only assure you that in future neither you nor I will come in contact with Varien’s friends unless it is absolutely unavoidable.”
‘Then you promise that what I have to say will remain a secret?” Bettina asked him.
“I cannot imagine what you have to tell me, but I give you my word if that is what you require.”
Bettina drew in her breath.
“I cannot – marry you because I am going to – marry – the Duke!”
The words were said and now she waited and realised that she was trembling.
For a moment there was complete silence.
Then Lord Eustace said,
“Are you really telling me that Varien has asked you to be his wife and you have accepted him?”
“Yes.”
“I can hardly believe that you would be – ” Lord Eustace began furiously and then checked himself.
“I don’t suppose you really had any say in the matter,” he said as if he spoke to himself. “It would be exactly what your father would wish and Varien intends to cut me out as his heir.”
Bettina did not answer, she only stared ahead unable to move and almost afraid to think.
Then Lord Eustace said,
“I might have guessed that something like this would happen.”
There was an unrepressed fury in his words as he turned and walked away leaving her alone.
A little later Bettina saw him walk down the gangway onto the quay ahead of the rest of the party and, when they reached the Duke’s private train, there was no sign of him.
She heard the Duke say,
“We are ready to leave. Is Lord Eustace on the train?”
“He informed me, Your Grace, that he was not coming with us,” a servant replied.
The Duke raised his eyebrows, but said nothing and Bettina felt the sudden tension ebb away from her so that she was almost weak with relief that she would not see Lord Eustace again.
The servants then served champagne and Lady Daisy, seating herself in one of the comfortable armchairs near the Duke piped up,
“I hope, Varien dear, you are planning a party for Christmas and that I am to be one of your guests?”
She spoke as if it was impossible that she would not be, but the Duke replied,
“I have not yet decided what I shall do over Christmas. I want to go home first and find out what has been happening while I have been away.”
“If you are expecting an invitation from the Prince of Wales,” Lady Daisy said, “I can tell you that he will be at Windsor Castle very much en famille and you know as well as I do that, once they are all gathered there, it is almost impossible to squeeze many other people in the house.”
She paused and added with a smile,
“You are fortunate that The Castle is so big.”
The Duke rose to his feet.
“I believe my secretary has some mail for me on the train so don’t count me in if you intend to play bridge,”
He walked away and Bettina saw Lady Daisy stare after him with perplexity in her eyes and a tight line to her lips.
Sir Charles, however, tactfully insisted that they should do as the Duke suggested and they had soon made up two tables of bridge, which left Bettina free to read.
She found it difficult to concentrate on anything but her anticipation of what lay ahead.
Now she would be able to talk to the Duke without being afraid of being seen. Now they would discuss when they were to be married and her heart seemed to beat more rapidly at the idea.
The Duke reappeared when it was time for luncheon and, almost as soon as the meal was over, the train drew into Guildford Station.
“I had no idea that Charles was going with you to The Castle,” Lady Daisy remarked.
Bettina realised that she did not mention her because she was too insignificant for it to matter.
“Charles is coming to help me exercise my horses,” the Duke answered with a smile. “I am sure that they have all become fat and lazy while I have been away.”
“I expect the ground will be too hard for you to hunt,” Lady Daisy commented almost spitefully.
“There is more snow than frost,” the Duke reacted optimistically.
“You must come up to London as soon as possible,” Lady Daisy said insistently, “and don’t forget my invitation for Christmas.”
As if Lady Tatham realised that her rival was making somewhat of a nuisance of herself, she took a very different line.
“It has been such a marvellous trip, Varien,” she cooed. “I cannot thank you enough for taking me to such an historic Ceremony, which I shall always remember.”
She looked up into his face with her slanting green eyes and added softly,
“I intend to give you something very special to commemorate the happy times we have spent together.”
Bettina saw the fury on Lady Daisy’s face, but at that moment the train came to a stop and the Duke had every excuse to make his farewells quickly to the other members of his party.
Sir Charles and Bettina did the same. Then, without waiting to see the train on its way, they proceeded to where the Duke’s carriages were waiting for them.
Drawn by four magnificent bay horses, the travelling cabriolet with the Ducal arms emblazoned on it was more comfortable than Bettina had ever imagined a carriage could be.
There was a landau for the servants and the luggage so they drove off at once and seemed to travel at an almost incredible speed once they were outside the town.
Now Bettina could see that the countryside was white with snow and in consequence very enchanting.
“It was a great party, Varien,” Sir Charles said lighting a cigar, “but like most parties it went on too long.”
“I agree with you,” the Duke answered. “I thought afterwards that I should have sent my guests overland from Marseilles. I don’t believe that anyone except you and Bettina enjoyed the Bay of Biscay.”
“Bettina is as good a sailor as you are, Varien,” Sir Charles mentioned proudly.
“Which is something else we have in common,” the Duke remarked to Bettina.
She wondered what the other things were, but she was too shy to ask and merely sat in silence beside the Duke on the back seat while her father, sitting opposite them, had plenty to say.
“I wonder if Daisy is right and the ground will be too hard to hunt,” Sir Charles asked.
“I hope she is wrong,” the Duke replied, “but we shall know as soon as we arrive. It is extraordinary how women are always jealous of a man’s sport.”
Bettina made an inward resolution that this was something she would never be and her mother had said to her many years ago,
“I am always so glad when your Papa is out in the open air. It is so much better for him than sitting at a card table that he cannot afford and smoking too many cigars, which are bad for his chest.”
“But he leaves you behind, Mama,” Bettina had questioned.
Her mother smiled.
“He comes home to me, darling, to tell me of his triumphs and that is what is important.”
‘I wish I could remember all the things Mama said to me,’ Bettina thought now, but she told herself that perhaps her love and her instinct would guide her.
They drove for nearly three quarters of an hour before suddenly she saw The Castle ahead of them.
From all she had heard about it, Bettina had expected it to be impressive, but it was larger, more awe-inspiring and indeed more beautiful than she had anticipated.
The Duke’s standard was flying over the huge roof with its turrets, its cupolas, its statues and its chimneys and it was surrounded by terraces, walls, gardens, shrubberies and woods with a stream flowing through the parkland.
She felt that anything she could say would be inadequate and so she just sat staring at it with wide eyes.
As they arrived, there seemed to be an army of liveried footm
en to greet them in a huge marble hall with a curved oak staircase.
As they were shown into a salon that was as large as a ballroom, Bettina suddenly felt afraid.
It was one thing to think of being married to the Duke when they were in the confines of the yacht, large though it was by other people’s expectations.
But it was quite another to imagine for one moment that she could be the Mistress of this colossal edifice with its hordes of servants, its vast estate and all the other ramifications of wealth.
‘I shall be lost – smothered,’ Bettina thought in a sudden panic.
Then she felt the Duke take her hand and say quietly in his deep voice,
“Welcome to my home, Bettina. I hope you will learn to love it as I do.”
Bettina felt a thrill run through her at the touch of his hand and the kindness in his words.
She knew at that moment that, if he had asked her to live in a place the size of an Army Barracks or on top of the Himalayas, she would have agreed to do anything he asked of her.
“I expect you would like a drink, Charles,” the Duke suggested, “but Bettina will prefer tea and it will be ready in a few minutes.”
He smiled at her,
“Why not go upstairs now and take off your bonnet and cape? You will be far more comfortable.”
“Yes, of course,” Bettina nodded obediently.
The Duke walked with her back into the hall and spoke to the Clerk of the Chambers.
“Tell Mrs. Kingdom that I wish Miss Charlwood to have the Garden Room and for Sir Charles to be near her.”
“Very good, Your Grace.”
The Clerk of the Chambers escorted Bettina to the top of the stairs where a housekeeper rustling in black, a silver chatelaine at her waist, was waiting.
“Miss Charlwood is to have the Garden Room, Mrs. Kingdom.”
The housekeeper curtseyed and Bettina held out her hand.
“This is a very magnificent Castle, Mrs. Kingdom.”
“It is indeed, miss.”
The housekeeper bustled ahead leading Bettina down a long passage ornamented with fine pieces of furniture and with gilt-framed portraits on the walls.
She longed to stop and look at them knowing that they were the Duke’s ancestors, but then remembered that there would be plenty of time later to explore the whole Castle.
The Sign of Love Page 12