“Very well,” Lord Stacey said, “if Lord Winton vouches for you that will be that. Is he here?”
“No, he went out early today and will not be back until late.”
“How unfortunate!”
On the contrary, Michael was thinking. Win’s absence was the most fortunate thing that could have happened. With reasonable luck, he should be able to get a message to him warning him of the questions that Lord Stacey was likely to ask.
He had no doubt that Win would give the right answers. He was a good friend.
But he had to admit to himself that it was all becoming a lot more complicated than he had planned.
And then, the worst nightmare that could possibly happen, did happen.
There was a sound from the hall outside. Footsteps, followed by Win’s voice, calling,
“I say, Danesbury, old fellow, are you in there? I must talk to you at once. It’s dashed urgent!”
CHAPTER TEN
Michael and Bettina exchanged glances, each frozen with horror at the disaster that would now inevitably engulf them. Everything was lost.
Luckily Lord Stacey did not notice them. His attention was fixed on the door, through which Win strode, his hand clasped in Katherine’s.
“Win,” Michael called quickly. “What a surprise!”
“Do I understand,” Lord Stacey intervened, “that this is Lord Winton Shriver?”
“It is,” Michael said. “But perhaps we can delay any further – ”
“Lord Winton, I am delighted to meet you,” Lord Stacey announced, extending his hand. “I am Lord Stacey, here as the Queen’s Messenger.”
At the words ‘Queen’s Messenger’ Win stiffened like a deer in a forest, listening for danger and ready to vanish in a moment.
“Er – charmed to meet you,” he murmured, shaking hands.
“I am hoping that you can help me,” Lord Stacey continued. “I find all this talk of a secret marriage somewhat confusing, but I am assured that you can supply the answer.”
Win stared at him before asking hoarsely,
“But how did you – ? Now look here, there’s nothing wrong with secret marriages. They are not illegal or anything.”
“But a little clandestine, surely?”
“A man may have good reasons for not inviting the world to his wedding,” Win declared hotly. “Dashed if I see that it is any business of yours. Come to think of it, big Society weddings are a load of rot. What does a man need except a bride, a preacher and a best man?”
“And witnesses?”
“Well the best man can be a witness, can’t he?” Win expostulated. “Never heard of any law against it.”
“Ah, yes, a best man. Perhaps we could discuss him.”
“Excuse me, we are forgetting our manners,” Michael intervened, drawing Katherine forward. “This lady is Miss Katherine Paxton, a great friend of my wife.” He turned swiftly to Bettina. “Isn’t that so, my love?”
“Yes, indeed,” Bettina responded.
Win gazed at them blankly.
“Eh? What?”
“So your secret’s out at last?” Katherine exclaimed. “I am so glad. It’s about time you told the world.”
She embraced Bettina, managing to whisper in her ear,
“Have I got it right?”
“Yes,” Bettina whispered.
As she stepped away from Katherine, she raised her voice.
“Well, I thought so too, Katherine dear. But I left such a decision to Lord Danesbury. Men are so much better at deciding these matters than we poor females, and of course it is a woman’s duty to defer to her husband’s superior intellect.”
She gazed up at Michael, fluttering her eyelashes in a theatrical manner that almost ruined his composure.
“Oh, how romantic!” Katherine sighed ecstatically. “Of course, a secret wedding ought not to remain a secret for too long. It really was very naughty of you not to tell Lady Alice yesterday. But I quite see that could have been difficult.”
Win gazed at Katherine in admiration as his slower wits began to catch up with hers.
“I say, by Jove!” he said, feeling that these words were safely vague.
“Sorry to have to drag you in, old man,” Michael said, clapping Win on the shoulder heartily, “but naturally the marriage has to be proved and since you were my best man, and a witness, you are the obvious person to prove it.”
“Of course,” Win agreed valiantly. “I will never forget that day.”
“Or the way we had to sneak out from The Manor because my aunts had to be kept in the dark, eh?”
With this clue Win’s head cleared a little. He recalled the visit to Michael’s aunts in Sheffield, a few weeks previously.
Lord Stacey eyed him narrowly.
“Do I understand that you can confirm this wedding, Lord Winton?”
“Of course I can confirm it. I was there.”
“And where did it take place?”
“In Sheffield,” Win recited.
“When?”
“I say, you ask a dashed load of questions?” Win retorted indignantly. “How do I know? It was several weeks ago and it was raining. I remember that because my boots got wet. Jolly uncomfortable being a best man with wet boots.”
Katherine turned away to hide her laughter.
Faced with this united front, Lord Stacey had no choice but to accept defeat.
“Very well,” he said at last, “I will convey this intelligence to Her Majesty who, no doubt, will express her own views on the subject, which she will probably convey to you directly.”
“I am certain that she will,” Michael concurred gravely. “But her felicitations may well miss us, as my wife and I are planning to go abroad for a short honeymoon.”
Lord Stacey was obviously overcome by these developments and was anxious to retreat.
Michael showed him to the front door. As soon as he was out of the room the other three gave huge sighs of relief.
Win slipped his arm tightly about Katherine’s waist, although whether he was being possessive or holding onto her for safety, Bettina could not be sure.
Michael returned, his eyes gleaming.
“Safe!” he said. “We have won. Miss Newton, you were wonderful.”
He took both her hands, laughing into her eyes, and Bettina felt a pang of happiness.
“We were lucky,” she said. “If Lord Winton had not joined us just at that moment, saying the right things – ”
Then a thought struck her.
“Lord Winton, how did that happen? When that man mentioned a secret marriage, you seemed to know exactly what he was talking about.”
“Ah!” Win exclaimed.
“And what was it you wanted to say to me that was so urgent?” Michael asked.
Win took a deep breath, clasped Katherine even more firmly and said,
“I want you to be my best man.”
“Glad to, old fellow. So you really have met your fate at last!”
“I certainly have,” Win answered, looking happily at Katherine.
“But surely you do not need to go through a secret marriage,” Bettina objected.
“Papa is being very unreasonable,” Katherine explained. “He says that Winton is not reliable.”
“What nonsense!” Michael declared firmly.
“He has refused his consent to our marriage,” Katherine sighed, “but as I am of age he cannot prevent us and so we mean to marry without his consent.”
“Well done!” Bettina cried at once.
“My darling knows she is getting a very poor bargain,” Win said humbly. “I have a tiny estate that my grandmother left me and we intend to live there. I am going to tell my father that it is time I managed without the allowance he gives me.”
“He will be so delighted that you are to marry a woman of strength and character that he will probably double it,” Michael observed, kissing Katherine on both cheeks.
“But do not marry secretly old fellow,” he added. “A
s Miss Paxton has said, she is of age and nobody can halt the wedding. So, invite your parents and hers. Do not estrange them unnecessarily.”
“He is right,” Katherine said. “We should marry openly.”
“Whatever you say, dearest,” Win agreed meekly.
“And you can hold the reception at the castle,” Michael offered.
Win coughed delicately.
“Very good of you, old fellow,” he replied, “but haven’t you forgotten something?”
“What?”
“Well – er – difficult situation and all that – er – the fact is – what are you going to do now?”
“Do?”
“When we have this wedding reception at the castle – will Lady Danesbury be presiding?”
“Win, you have windmills in your head. There is no Lady Danesbury.”
“But you have just told the world that there is one,” Win pointed out. “Once that fellow returns to London and starts talking, I would not be surprised if it is in The Times tomorrow.”
Michael and Bettina exchanged shocked glances.
“We never thought this far ahead,” Bettina whispered.
“So what are you going to do?” Win persisted.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“I, too, would like an answer to that question.”
They all turned to see Major Newton standing there, a frown on his normally amiable face.
The others were too shocked to speak.
The Major advanced into the room and confronted Michael. It occurred to Bettina that she had never seen him quite like this before.
“I have just finished the most interesting – not to say astonishing – conversation with Lord Stacey, as he made his departure,” he said. “One of the gardeners happened to address me by name as his carriage was passing, whereupon he stopped the carriage, descended, and proceeded to congratulate me on my daughter’s marriage.”
“Oh, Papa, what did you say?” Bettina begged.
“Nothing that mattered. I made vague noises which he took to be agreement, which is what a soldier is taught to do when confronted with information that he has not had time to assimilate.
“You must allow your father to congratulate you, my dear. Although why you should have married without telling me is beyond my powers of comprehension.”
“Oh, Papa, but of course I am not married.”
“Then why does Lord Stacey think that you married in Sheffield some weeks ago?”
“I can explain – ” she began.
“I think it is for Lord Danesbury to explain,” the Major said. “My Lord, I gather that you have persuaded my daughter to pose as your wife in order to extricate yourself from considerable difficulty with Lady Alice.
“What I would like to know is what your intentions are now that you have thoroughly compromised her.”
“Papa, he has not – ”
“You think not? See what your position is when this news circulates and the village discovers the truth. Do you think Lady Lancing will not make the most of it? You will have to go away and hide.”
“No, she will not have to do that,” Michael interrupted. “Because it is my intention to ask Miss Newton to become my wife!”
For one blissful moment Bettina heard only his beautiful words before reality rushed in and made her burst out,
“Oh, no, no, no!”
To marry the man she loved, only because he had been forced into it by duty?
It was unthinkable.
It would break her heart to refuse him, but she would live broken-hearted all her days rather than destroy his life with a forced marriage.
Michael took her hands between his. He was very pale.
“My dear, your father is correct. I had no right to embroil you in this tangle just to save myself. It was selfish and thoughtless, for I never looked ahead to the harm that I might be doing you. But I certainly should have done.”
“It does not matter,” she cried desperately. “I will not marry you.”
“And I say that you will,” the Major declared in a commanding voice.
Bettina stared. Was this domineering man the gentle, loving father she had always known?
Had he too become infected with the desire to see his daughter marry a title?
“And I say that I will not,” Bettina repeated.
She could hardly bear to look at Michael. What must he think of her?
Then she saw that he was looking at her with a half smile on his face that managed to be both kind and sad at the same time.
Gently he took her hands in his.
“The thought of marrying me is such a terrible prospect, isn’t it?” he asked. “I do not blame you for not wanting to, but – ” he seemed to have some difficulty finding the words, “do you not think you might bring yourself to reconsider?”
Suddenly she wanted to weep. There was an ache in her throat and she could not speak, only shake her head.
She tried to withdraw her hands, but he would not release them.
“Think about it,” he begged. “Surely there is no – other impediment to prevent us marrying?”
For the moment she did not understand him. Then she remembered.
“I regret to tell you, sir, that the ‘other impediment’ is absolute.”
“Then is it not time you told your father about him?”
“Told me what?” the Major asked sharply.
“Be brave, Bettina,” Michael urged her. “Tell him everything.”
“I will not,” she said stubbornly. “This does not concern you, sir.”
“But it concerns your father. He will want to know why you refuse me.”
“I refuse you because I will not marry any man by these methods. The ordeal you dreaded most was to be forced into marriage.”
“To Alice, not to you. And nobody can force me to do what I do not want to.”
It was so tempting to believe him. There was a disturbing light in his eyes. She had dreamed of Michael looking at her like this.
But not in these circumstances.
“Nobody can force me, either,” she declared, trying to sound decided. “I will not marry you, my Lord.”
“Have you taken leave of your senses?” the Major demanded.
“Do not berate your daughter, sir,” Michael said. “She cannot marry me because – ”
“My Lord,” Bettina called frantically.
“Because her heart is given to another.”
The Major stared.
“Eh? What?”
“She has contracted an engagement that she fears would not meet with your approval and she is resolved to be true to her love.”
“Stuff and nonsense!” the Major declared. “Bettina does not know any young men except Melroy Turvish in the lawyer’s office and I would not stand in their way.”
“You always said he was an idiot,” Bettina protested.
“He is an idiot, but he is a respectable idiot, and if you had asked my approval, I would have said yes. Is it him?”
“No,” she said wildly. “No, it isn’t him.”
She swung round on Michael.
“I wish I had never met you! I wish none of this had ever happened!”
She turned and raced away, out of the room, down the corridor, into the conservatory and out of doors, through the gardens and down to the river.
There she leaned against a tree trunk and burst into tears, wishing she could die of shame.
Her father was right. She would be ruined if she did not marry Michael, but after this episode, nothing would ever persuade her to marry him. She would rather live and die an old maid.
And that was exactly what would happen she realised.
But anything was better than living with a man she loved, knowing that he did not love her, seeing reproach in his eyes. Or, if not seeing it, imagining it.
At last she calmed herself. She must disappear from the village as soon as possible and never, never see Michael again.
Sh
e stepped away from the tree. It was time to start her new life, the hard bleak life that stretched ahead of her.
A life without him.
Drying her eyes as she ran, she missed her footing and stumbled against something warm and broad.
“You?”
“You didn’t hear me approach,” Michael said, holding onto her. “And I am glad that you didn’t, otherwise you might have run away again. As it is,” his arms tightened, “I have caught you and I will not let you go.”
“Well, you must,” Bettina replied, although she was not struggling.
“It was almost in this very spot that we first met, do you remember?”
“Yes I do and you behaved shockingly.”
“True. And I am going to behave shockingly again.”
The next moment his lips came down on hers. He pulled her closer and closer to him.
He had kissed her twice before, but this kiss was longer and sweeter.
To Michael it was as if he had suddenly swept her up into the sky and they were touching the stars.
Closer and still closer he drew her to him.
Bettina knew that she should be strong, but somehow she could find no strength to do anything except what he wanted.
Something strange and wonderful was happening to her, something that had never happened before.
To Michael it was what he had always longed for, but had never found until this moment.
At last he drew back and looked at her fondly.
“Please will you tell me the truth. Are you really engaged?”
She shook her head.
“I said it in anger.”
“I hoped it was only that,” he said. “I have been praying for a long time that there was no other man. And now there is no barrier to our marriage.”
“Except that you do not want to marry me,” she cried.
“Are you going to be that kind of wife, the kind who thinks she knows what I want better than I do?”
“I am not going to be your wife at all.”
“Why? Because you do not love me? Your father thinks you do.”
“I – you have talked this over with my father?”
“That is considered normal when a man wishes to marry a woman. I told him that I was in love with you and he said he was sure you felt the same. In fact, he has been convinced of it for some time. That is why he performed his imitation of a heavy-handed Papa. It was his way of playing Cupid!”
Royalty Defeated by Love Page 13