Search For a Wife

by Barbara Cartland

  The Marquis kissed her and then she began to slip off her flowing gown.

  He too undressed in a dark corner of the room and when he reached her there were only two candles burning beside the bed.

  But there was no need to light his way to her.

  She was holding out her arms and her fair hair was falling softly over her naked shoulders.

  Then all the fires within her leapt still higher as the Marquis’s lips came down on hers.

  *

  It was two hours later that the Marquis thought it was time he returned home.

  For a moment they were both silent and exhausted from the passion that had enveloped them.

  He thought Juno was asleep, but when he moved to the edge of the bed she put out her hand to prevent him.

  “You are not leaving me?” she purred.

  “I think it’s time for me to go. Actually I am going to the country early tomorrow morning. Therefore I don’t want to be too tired.”

  “To the country!” she exclaimed. “But you cannot go away now! Surely I can see you tomorrow evening? Arthur will not be returning until Thursday.”

  The Marquis, however, moved across the room to the dark corner where he had left his clothes.

  He was wondering as he did so whether he should perhaps postpone his departure to the country – what had happened tonight had been so enjoyable.

  But he knew it was always a mistake to try to repeat anything so pleasant and it might be a disappointment the second time.

  The Countess sat up in the bed.

  “You cannot go away tomorrow! What a ridiculous idea! Besides you can never leave London when there are so many amusing parties.”

  “I know that,” replied the Marquis, as he buttoned up his shirt. “But I have arranged to go first to Milverton Hall. Then I am not quite sure when it will be possible for me to return to London.”

  “But, my darling Ivor, we may not have this chance again. You know how Arthur hates travelling and it was, I thought, a Heaven sent opportunity that he should have left me just at this moment.”

  She sighed before she finished,

  “Usually he wants to be in attendance on His Royal Highness or drag me to every ball. It may be weeks before he goes away again, so you must stay! You must!”

  There was now a strong note in her voice and it told him all too clearly that she was going to be difficult.

  This had happened often and he always found it an unpleasant argument that he wished to avoid at all costs.

  “I will do my best to come to you,” he murmured.

  “You must! You must! You really must! How can I live without you? Why do you leave me now, Ivor, it is still quite early?”

  “As I have told you, Juno, I have a journey to make tomorrow. If I have to put it off, there will be problems.”

  He put on his coat and then he slipped his tie into his pocket rather than arrange it.

  Unexpectedly there was a knock at the door.

  Both the Countess and the Marquis stiffened.

  “Who is there? What do you want?” the Countess called out after a pause.

  “His Lordship’s just arriving, my Lady,” came a muffled voice.

  The Countess gave a little cry of horror.

  “It’s Arthur!” she now wailed. “He has come back deliberately. I was half-afraid he might do so, yet I was sure he did not suspect you.”

  The Marquis walked swiftly across the room.

  “How do I get out of here?” he demanded.

  “There is only the one window,” she whispered. “It may be dangerous, but it is not a very long drop to the roof of the kitchen.”

  The Marquis did not hesitate.

  He pulled aside the curtains and saw through the window that there was a flat top to the building below.

  There was a water pipe that he felt he could hold on to as he descended, rather than to jump straight down as the Countess was suggesting.

  He did not wait, but put his leg over the windowsill and even as he did so, he heard the door of the bedroom rasp open behind him.

  “Arthur!”

  The Countess’s voice was shrill and rang out.

  “What a lovely surprise! I had no idea you would get away so soon. Oh, darling! It’s wonderful to see you!”

  The Marquis started to slide slowly and carefully down the water pipe.

  He realised that behind him the Countess had flung her arms round her husband.

  “I am so thrilled to see you, I am really!” she was saying. “To me it’s a marvellous, marvellous suprise that you have come back.”

  “I have come back for other reasons besides seeing you,” the Earl responded in a deep voice. “Who has been here with you this evening?”

  The Marquis had almost reached the flat roof over the kitchen and he could still hear as the window was open what was being said inside the bedroom.

  “I had two friends to dinner,” the Countess replied. “It was very dull without you, my darling husband, and I was glad when they left me.”

  “Are you quite sure they left you?” the Earl snarled. “I am going to look for myself.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” the Countess expostulated.

  The Marquis realised she was holding her husband back from going to the window.

  He looked around him desperately and it was then he recognised that he had slipped down on the far side of the roof. There was a space between this house and the wall of the one next door.

  With the swiftness of a man who was athletic and quick-witted, he hurled himself over the side of the roof.

  He dropped down without hurting himself, but at the same time he knocked over a dustbin that fell with a crash to the ground.

  He was in the shadows and he dared not look up in case the Earl staring out of the window above could see the top of his head.

  The contents of the dustbin spilled and they smelt most unpleasant, but still he waited with his head down, pressing himself as close as he could against the wall.

  Then he could hear above him the Countess saying,

  “What are you looking for, Arthur? You can see there is no one about at this time of night.”

  “What was that noise I have just heard?” he asked.

  “I expect it’s those beastly cats again,” she replied. “They woke me up the night before last. I told the cook to keep the dustbins covered. They were obviously struggling to eat what had been thrown out.”

  There was silence.

  The Marquis was certain that the Earl was looking in every direction expecting to see him or some other man moving quickly away.

  “Oh, do stop looking out of the window and come to bed,” he heard the Countess say. “There is nothing to see at this time of night.”

  The Marquis could not see them, but he was certain that the Earl was again looking in every direction. He was obviously suspicious yet at present he could see no one he could point a finger at.

  The Marquis did not move. The smell from the dustbin made him want to cough, but he forced himself to be silent.

  Then, almost as if he was watching them, he was aware that the Earl had moved from the window and he could hear the Countess’s voice although he could not make out what she was saying.

  She was talking in a soft and seductive voice to her husband and he was answering her briefly. But he was no longer looking out of the bedroom window.

  Very carefully the Marquis peeped up and saw that the curtains were now closed.

  He knew it would be fatal to make any noise, so moving over the rubbish that covered the ground from the dustbin he managed to make his way out of the alley.

  Now he was in the Mews behind the house and he knew, however, that it would be a mistake to walk through the empty Mews – the risk was still there that the Earl might once again look out of the window.

  It was so late or rather so early in the morning that there was a moon overhead and the stars filled the sky.

  Any man walking alone up the empty
Mews would be a suspect, so keeping his back to the wall and his head down the Marquis managed to squeeze his way along the back of the house.

  Finally he reached the door that led into the kitchen quarters and as he let himself out into the street, he heaved a sigh of relief.

  He knew if the Earl had the slightest indication he was actually there, he would have challenged him at once to a duel.

  Duels were frowned on by the authorities and not supposed to take place. Yet it was a challenge he would be forced as a gentleman to accept and there was no doubt that the Earl was an exceptionally good shot.

  Although he was suspicious he had no evidence. He had no doubt been told that his wife was betraying him, but he had to substantiate it.

  As the Marquis walked back to Berkeley Square, he told himself,

  ‘If there is no other reason for me to be leaving London tomorrow, I now have the perfect excuse for going to the country and staying there!’

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Marquis left London early in the morning and driving his fastest phaeton with three horses he reached his country home, Milverton Hall, in under three hours.

  This was not a record because he had made it faster with a chaise, but he was delighted with his new team.

  His valet and luggage were following in a trap and they would inevitably take longer.

  On his arrival he was thrilled to see how beautiful Milverton Hall was looking and the garden was ablaze with colour. Although he had not been home for some time, he knew that everything would be in perfect order.

  As the Marquis drove up the drive, he thought that he really must spend more time than he had recently at the family house. It was unique and had been owned by the Milvertons for over three hundred years.

  He had a sudden impulse not to take up the Duke’s challenge and instead he would stay at the Hall and enjoy himself with his thoroughbreds.

  He decided that before he set out on his adventure in search of a wife, he must spend a few days in the stables.

  When he was driving down from London and had given the horses their heads, he had thought over what had happened to him last night and it made him feel that, for the moment, he was fed up with London and only too well aware, apart from the danger of a duel if the Earl had found him, of the scandal that would have hurt his whole family.

  He considered now that he had been very stupid.

  He should not have continued his affaire-de-coeur with the Countess for so long. Everyone in London knew that the Earl was exceedingly jealous and the Marquis felt now that he had been saved by a miracle.

  He should be very grateful that he was not facing a furious family and risking his life in Green Park tomorrow morning at first light.

  He wanted to swear never to go into an affaire-de-coeur with a married woman again – but he realised that was tempting fate.

  If he saw a woman who was particularly beautiful, she would be irresistible and he would then undoubtedly try, as he had tried with the Countess, to enjoy himself and not get caught!

  As the Marquis halted his team at the front door the sun was shining on the windows of the Hall and the light made him feel that the house was welcoming him home.

  Equally it was as much a part of his family and so he felt it was also telling him that he must provide an heir.

  It was a message he did not wish to hear, so he then pulled his horses in rather sharply because it disturbed him.

  The front door opened and two footmen rolled out a red carpet and the Marquis saw Newman, the old butler, who had been at the Hall since he had been a small boy.

  Running from the stables were two grooms to go to the heads of his horses and the Marquis fastened his reins and climbed down.

  He spoke to his Head Groom who was delighted to hear he had completed his journey in so short a time.

  Then as he walked up the steps on the red carpet Newman was waiting for him at the top.

  “Welcome home, my Lord,” he proclaimed. “It’s a long time we’ve been waiting for you. We’re real glad that your Lordship’s not forgotten us.”

  “I never forget you, Newman. It is just that I have been busy in London and paying a visit to my mother.”

  “I hope her Ladyship’s in good health, my Lord. She is sadly missed in the villages.”

  “I thought she would be but as you know, Newman, she has a number of her relatives near her where she lives now and she might find it rather lonely here.”

  As he was speaking he handed his hat and gloves to a footman and then he walked towards the study.

  Newman followed him and added quickly,

  “I think I should tell your Lordship that your aunt, Lady Matilda Fletcher, is here.”

  “Lady Matilda!” the Marquis exclaimed. “What is she doing here and why was I not informed?”

  “Her Ladyship only arrived last night and she was, I believe, on her way to London. But when she hears your Lordship was coming today, she was ever so glad.”

  “I am sure she was,” the Marquis said sarcastically. “Is she alone?”

  Newman hesitated for a moment.

  “No, my Lord! She brings a young lady with her.”

  The Marquis stared at his butler.

  Then with some effort he prevented himself from exclaiming the words on the tip of his tongue.

  Instead he asked,

  “Where is her Ladyship now, Newman?”

  “In the study, my Lord. She was very certain your Lordship’d go there first.”

  If there was one relative he really disliked it was his father’s elder sister, Lady Matilda Fletcher. She had always been someone who criticised and interfered with whatever any family member was doing.

  The Marquis was quite certain he knew now why she was chasing him. She had been unable to be present at the party his mother gave for him.

  Practically every relative who had come to it had a suggestion as to who he should marry.

  He was therefore quite certain that his Aunt Matilda would not rest until she had put forward her protégé.

  It was obviously some tiresome girl he had no wish to meet and just for a moment he wondered if he could avoid Aunt Matilda by staying somewhere else.

  In which case she might well travel on to London to look for him.

  Then he told himself it was too late.

  Newman opened the door and the Marquis walked into the study where Aunt Matilda was waiting for him

  As he had expected, his aunt was looking somewhat more aggressive than usual.

  She was sitting bolt-upright on the edge of the sofa and beside her was, the Marquis thought at a quick glance, a rather plain young girl.

  Lady Matilda held out her hand.

  “Oh, here you are, Ivor,” she huffed. “I guessed that you would make the journey from London in record time. Edith and I have been waiting for you.”

  The Marquis noticed that she gave the girl beside her a slight push and then she rose to her feet, but she was rather clumsy about it.

  He reckoned she was slightly fat and her dull brown hair only just reached her shoulders.

  “Now shake hands, Edith,” Lady Matilda ordered in a sharp voice. “This is my nephew, the Marquis, who I told you about. I am sure he has heard of your father.”

  The Marquis took the somewhat limp hand that was outstretched to him as Lady Matilda droned on,

  “Edith’s father is Lord Basildon, whose brilliant speeches in the House of Lords have been reported in all the newspapers. I am sure even when you were away from London, Ivor, that you must have read about them.”

  The Marquis was not the least interested in politics, however he remembered vaguely that there was indeed such a person as Lord Basildon. He seldom bothered to read the speeches from the House of Lords as the majority of them were so incredibly dull.

  “I am so very sorry I was unable to come to see you when you were staying with your mother,” Lady Matilda was saying. “I had already written to her to say that I was anxious for you to meet
dear Edith, as I was in fact taking the girl to London.”

  She paused and realised that the Marquis was not listening. He had moved to the writing table.

  “I am talking to you, Ivor!” his aunt said sharply.

  “I am listening to you, Aunt Matilda, but I was just looking to see if there was any correspondence here which might be of urgency. It is where it is always left if there is something I must know as soon as I arrive home.”

  He was not mistaken as there was a piece of paper on the table and when he opened it he read,

  “Skylark gave birth to an excellent foal yesterday. The grooms are hoping your Lordship will have time to see it while you are here.”

  The Marquis was delighted. He had purchased the mare from a friend who had assured him that any foal she might carry would undoubtedly be a winner.

  ‘I will certainly see it before I leave,’ he decided.

  Then with difficulty he forced himself to attend to Lady Matilda who was still thundering on.

  “What I have been hoping you might do,” she said, “is give a ball for Edith when we are in London. Her father says that he is too old to know all the young people who should be asked for such an occasion.”

  She smiled at him sweetly before she added,

  “But I am sure, dear Ivor, you know all the young gentlemen who frequent the smart balls that make every Season so outstanding.”

  The Marquis was instinctly alert that this ruse was another way of trapping him.

  Just how on earth could he give a ball for any girl, especially one who was not a relative?

  Every gossip in the Beau Monde would spring to the conclusion that he intended to marry her and that he recognised only too well was what his aunt was planning.

  “Of course I would hate,” he smiled at her, “not to do anything you wanted me to do, Aunt Matilda. But I am actually going away on a special visit and I am not certain when I shall be back in London.”

  “How can you possibly leave London in the middle of the Season!” cried Lady Matilda.

  Her voice was almost a scream.

  “Very easily as it happens, I have broken the record coming here and tomorrow I will be leaving so you have only just – as you might easily say – caught me in time.”

  “Now what could be more important to you than to be in London just when all the balls are taking place, Ivor. I am sure His Royal Highness will be giving one of his magnificent parties. How could he do so without you?”