He was now quite convinced that there was something strange about Lady Mary and the circumstances which had brought her to Ardsley Hall.
It was something he could not exactly put into words, but it was a tangled skein, which he was determined to unravel and he found himself interested and intrigued in a way he had not been for a very long time.
He joined his guests in the drawing room and Indira reappeared just before luncheon was announced.
As the Marquis watched her come through the door, he thought for a second that she looked different.
Then he realised it was because for the first time since she had been in his house, she was not looking worried, tense or apprehensive, but happy.
*
When Indira went to bed that night, early because she wanted a good night’s rest before the steeplechase the next day, she lay thinking how extremely fortunate she had been in coming to Ardsley Hall.
She could not explain to herself now why she had been so foolish in giving way to the despair and misery that had encompassed her like a cloud after her father’s death.
She had loved him so deeply and he had meant so much in her life that when he died she felt as if part of herself had gone with him and she was no longer a whole person.
She was sensible enough to know that the shock from which she was suffering was mainly physical and now she was ashamed and in a way humiliated that her beliefs and her faith, which had glowed like a light, had been tried to the point where she had not applied to her personal sorrow all that she had learnt.
She had not realised, as she did now, that her father was not dead but was near her, loving her and being part of her as he had always been.
‘How can I have been so idiotic, Papa,’ she asked in the darkness, ‘as to have forgotten all we talked about so often? And we both know – how much it guided your life – and of course mine.’
It seemed extraordinary that it should have been left to a perfect stranger and, of all people the cynical supercilious Marquis of Ardsley, to reveal the truth to her.
Now, as if he had lit a blazing light to show her the way, the clouds had vanished and she could see, hear and think and she was no longer unhappy or even afraid.
Looking back, she supposed it was immediately after her father’s funeral, which had taken place within six hours of his death, that she became aware of being menaced by the people who surrounded her.
The burial at sea was very moving and many of the passengers wept in sympathy, although Indira had remained dry-eyed and calm until she was alone.
Then she wept tempestuously, not only at the misery of losing somebody she loved so deeply, but also at the terror of being alone.
After that, everything had seemed a little muddled and indistinct, as if she moved in a fog and she felt as if everything that happened was a nightmare from which she could not awaken.
‘How could I not have tried to reach Papa with my prayers and the vibrations that always existed between us?’ Indira thought and felt as if he was now near her, as he had not been since she believed he had died.
‘I am not alone! I am not alone!’ she said to herself. ‘Papa is here, thinking of me, guiding me, protecting me!’
She was quite sure now that it was her father who had helped her to escape from the hotel and Mr. Jacobson and who had brought Charles and Jimmy to her rescue.
Also undoubtedly he had brought her to Ardsley Hall, so that she should learn how foolish she had been.
She could feel the T’ang horse beneath her fingers and she knew it was that even more than the Marquis’s words, which had reminded her that life is eternal and death nothing more than the shedding of an unwanted garment.
‘I understand now, Papa, and I am no longer afraid. I am sorry, very sorry that I failed you, and myself, in such a foolish manner.’
She felt as if her father was smiling at her and she could feel the power of the faith in which they both believed seeping back into her and driving out the last remnants of doubt and fear.
‘How could I ever have thought of imprisoning myself in a Convent?’ she asked herself. ‘I should have been thinking of ways in which I could spend the money you left me for the benefit of other people.’
At the same time, now that her brain was functioning clearly, she realised that it was going to be hard to know exactly what she could do in a country which, while she belonged to it, was as strange to her as if she had suddenly found herself living on the moon.
‘I must find Papa’s relations and I am sure they will help me,’ she determined.
She wondered if perhaps her father’s bankers might be able to help her. Then she remembered that everything in England was in the hands of the firm of Solicitors he had trusted.
In any case, Indira was sure that no Solicitors, however honourable, would be the right people to advise her on the spending of her fortune.
Then an idea came to her that made her stare blankly into the darkness.
It was that the one person who could really help her and advise her was the Marquis.
“No, no, of course not!” she said aloud. “He is the last person who must know who I am. To tell him would be to betray Charles and Jimmy, who have been so kind to me.”
At the same time it was difficult not to remember that it was the Marquis and his T’ang horse who had not only pointed the way but brought her peace of mind and the courage she should never have lost.
*
The next morning was bright and sunny, and Indira rose earlier than usual because she was not only excited at the idea of the steeplechase but also, although she would not have admitted it to herself, eager to see the Marquis again.
She had awakened several times during the night to think about him and found it extraordinary that a man she had come to the house prepared to despise and dislike had instead been the guide, the guru, which every student of Eastern religion knows appears whenever the pupil is ready.
She thought it would be impossible to explain to Charles or Jimmy what had happened and she would certainly not attempt it.
But, when she had least expected it, the guru had come and, although she thought that the Marquis would be totally unaware of it and would certainly not be interested, he had during those few minutes in the library changed her whole attitude towards the future.
Because of what she had learnt in the East, she did not for one moment question that this was what had happened or suspect that what had occurred was just chance.
It had all happened in a calm, mysterious way, but the pattern was there. The path that for a time had been twisting and indistinct had still to be followed and now she was no longer indecisive but determined to go ahead.
‘I want to talk to him and perhaps there are other things he could tell me,’ she thought.
Equally she was well aware that today of all days the Marquis would not be thinking of her, but of his steeplechase and the many people who would be arriving to take part in it.
When she was dressed, wearing a riding habit that had come from Paris and which because it was the deep blue of the sea made her skin dazzlingly white and her hair vivid as a flame, Indira went down to breakfast.
She had expected that nobody would be down so early and was therefore surprised to see the Marquis there and, as he rose to his feet at her entrance, she exclaimed,
“I did not think anybody would he as early as I am!”
“When I am planning anything as important as a steeplechase,” he replied, “I find that there are always difficulties at the last moment that have been overlooked and even fences erected in the wrong way unless I inspect them.”
Indira sat down at the table beside him and he said,
“I hope Meteor carries you to victory.”
“I hope so too,” Indira replied. “Last night I dreamt I was riding your T’ang horse, but instead of galloping over the ground he flew with me towards the moon.”
“I suppose that was the influence of the poem and of course the horse
himself,” the Marquis said and after a moment he added,
“I too thought about the poem you read to me and tried to sort out the picture it made in my mind.”
The Marquis’s lips twisted a little before he went on,
“It is something I have not done since I was at Oxford and I feel as if you have rolled back the years for me. Everything I thought then has become important again, almost as if it was waiting for my return.”
“My teacher would have said that when we leave the path, whether by mistake or – deliberately,” Indira said in a low voice, “the path does not change, but waits until we find out the – mistake we have made and go – back.”
The Marquis was about to reply, but at that moment the door opened and Charles came into the room.
“Good morning, Ardsley!” he said to the Marquis. “Good morning, Indira! You are very early!”
“What did you call Lady Mary just then?” the Marquis enquired in surprise.
“Jimmy and I call her by her second name because she has been in India,” Charles replied, “and anyway, I think it is far more attractive than ‘Mary’, which is somewhat ordinary.”
“I agree with you,” Indira said quickly, realising that he had made a mistake in the way he had addressed her. “It was my mother who chose ‘Indira’ and she thought it very appropriate because my father loved everything that was Indian and they became engaged when they were in Simla.”
The Marquis did not say anything.
He merely thought this was another link in the puzzle he was trying to solve.
Then other guests appeared for breakfast, all of them men.
The Marquis finished and left the room and Charles, sitting next to Indira, said,
“I want to talk to you. It was impossible last night after dinner to have a moment alone.”
“Yes, I know,” Indira replied, “and anyway I went to bed early.”
“You were very sensible,” Charles said, “and actually Jimmy and I did not stay up late. I may not win, but I am determined to complete the course.”
Jimmy sat down on the other side of Indira.
“We shall be lucky if we do,” he remarked. “The jumps are far higher than they were last year.”
“I expect there will be some casualties,” Charles said, “but I am sure my horse can manage them.”
“I would like to have a look at them before we start,” Indira suggested. “Is that possible?”
“Of course it is,” Charles replied, “and it is what I want to do myself. We don’t want to hang about making desultory conversation with all the other competitors who are already starting to arrive.”
“No, of course not,” Indira agreed.
She went upstairs and put on her riding hat and boots and came down again to find Charles and Jimmy waiting for her in the hall.
As they walked down the steps to where their horses were waiting for them, Charles said,
“I have just thought of something. I don’t want to spoil your fun, but I think it is sensible.”
“What is it?” Indira asked.
“Seeing the way you ride and with the horse the Marquis has lent you, you have every chance of beating Lady Sinclair or any other lady. But I think it would be a mistake.”
“Why?”
“Because, not only will Lady Sinclair make a scene, but also an event like this is sure to be reported in the Social columns of the newspapers.”
“I never thought of that!” Jimmy exclaimed.
“Well, I have,” Charles said, “and if Lady Mary Combe is the acclaimed winner of the Ardsley Hall steeplechase, the Farncombe relations might ask why she is here without their knowledge and try to get in touch with her.”
“You are very sensible,” Indira said, “so I promise you I will not beat Lady Sinclair. She can have all the honour and glory she wants.”
“I am sorry,” Charles said. “It seems extremely unfair and I would not mind betting a considerable sum that you could win.”
“It is important for me to ride but not particularly to win,” Indira said with a smile.
They reached the horses and she patted Meteor and made a fuss of him.
He nuzzled his nose against her and she said in a voice that only he could hear,
“You are very beautiful, but not quite as beautiful as the horse I was riding last night.”
She was smiling at her own fantasy as Charles lifted her into the saddle and, when he and Jimmy were mounted, they rode off to look at the course.
They went slowly, aware that the horses were restless and longing to gallop, but they kept them on a tight rein.
Already there were a number of people gathering in the meadow and the Marquis’s employees were putting the finishing touches to the hedges under his supervision.
They did not ride up to him, but went instead onto the higher ground, so that they could see the whole course below them.
“You jump the smaller fences,” Jimmy said to Indira, “then come on to the winning post to watch Charles and me trailing valiantly behind the Marquis!”
“Do you think he will win?” Indira asked.
“Of course he will!” Jimmy replied. “There can be no question about that, but I would like to be second.”
“That is my place,” Charles exclaimed, “and don’t you dare to do me out of it!”
“I bet you ten pounds I am ahead of you,” Jimmy asserted.
Indira gave a little laugh.
“No, no, you must never bet on yourself. It’s unlucky – at least, that is what my father always thought.”
“Very well,” Jimmy said, “but second is where I intend to be.”
“You are becoming as self-satisfied and as sure of yourself as Ardsley!” Charles complained mockingly.
They joked with each other for a little while, then Jimmy said he wanted to ride down to look at the last few fences to make sure he took them in style.
He left Charles and Indira alone and, when he had gone, Charles asked,
“I may be wrong, but you don’t seem quite as worried as you were when we arrived.”
“I am all right, thank you,” Indira answered, “and I am ashamed of myself for letting two despicable men like Mr. Jacobson and Lord Wrotham upset me.”
“Wrotham?” Charles exclaimed. “What has he done? He is a roué and you are to have nothing to do with him!”
“I thought it would be a mistake to do so,” Indira said demurely.
She felt that there would be no point in telling Charles what had happened, because she was aware last night that the Marquis had kept his word and prevented Lord Wrotham from coming near her again.
She thought that he glared at her from across the room, but she was no longer afraid because she was quite sure that he would not disobey the Marquis’s orders to leave her alone.
Now she could see the Marquis below her, riding from one fence to the other and obviously giving orders, which were quickly obeyed.
She was watching him so intently that she started when Charles said,
“I suppose you realise how magnificent you have been and that the Marquis is captivated by you.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I know by the way he looks at you for one thing,” Charles answered, “and for another the way Lady Sinclair was behaving last night made it very obvious which way the wind is blowing.”
“I don’t – understand.”
“The Marquis was quite obviously ignoring her and, when she asked him to come and sit next to her at the gaming table, he deliberately walked in the opposite direction and she went white with fury!”
“I am sorry for her if that is how she – feels about – him.”
Indira hesitated before she added,
“But – if she has a husband – surely it is – wrong?”
“I suppose it is,” Charles said, “but you must realise that it is a feather in any woman’s cap to be able to say that she has captivated, if only for a few months, the elusive Marq
uis of Ardsley!”
Indira did not answer and after a moment he said,
“What is important is that you have played your part to the point where I am quite certain that, when you leave on Monday, Ardsley will make it clear that he wants to see you again and perhaps say even more than that.”
“When do you intend to – tell him that I am – not Lady Mary Combe?” Indira asked in a strange voice.
“I have not yet sorted out the ending of this drama,” Charles replied, “but we have tomorrow yet to come.”
He smiled and there was a note of triumph in his voice as he added,
“Make no mistake, Indira, I shall have won my bet. We will have been at Ardsley Hall for three days and not for one moment, I am quite certain, has the Marquis doubted that you are anything other than what you appear to be.”
“I would not be – too sure of – that,” Indira said in a low voice.
Then, to Charles’s surprise, without waiting for him she started to ride down the hill towards Jimmy.
Chapter 5
Luncheon was early and the competitors were all entertained by the Marquis in the big dining room.
There was a buffet and drinks of every description, including champagne, were provided for his other guests in the ballroom.
When Indira, Charles and Jimmy rode back to the house, coaches were already arriving to line the course and the spectators had brought elaborate picnic baskets which were being unpacked by liveried footmen.
“The Marquis certainly does everything in a slap-up manner!” Jimmy remarked.
“I can see it is very exciting for people who live in this part of the country to have a race meeting all to themselves,” Indira said.
As she spoke, she was thinking that it was rather like the races in India which she had attended with her father, where huge crowds would gather to cheer on the jockeys and there was wild enthusiasm when a favourite won.
She had also often raced her father when they went riding every morning and, as he had horses imported from Arabia and from Europe, she was used to well-bred animals, although she thought that few of them had been quite as fine as Meteor and the stallion that the Marquis was riding.
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