On an impulse she added,
“Shall I be prophetic and say that just as you use your instinct, I am now using mine. I know that because you are you, that your invention will be accepted and prove to be a great success.”
Sir Peter stared at her.
It was almost as if he was seeing her for the first time.
“Thank you for saying so, Miss Moore and I really do believe you mean it.”
“I mean it with all my heart and I am sure – as this has happened to me several times in the past – that what I am saying will come true.”
Sir Peter smiled at her and as she smiled back, she felt that he was the nicest gentleman she had ever met – he was so totally different from those who had pursued her in London.
Sir Peter, thinking that from what she had just said, Carol was particularly interested in ships, took her to the picture gallery, where there were many pictures of ancient ships as well as several that had been painted recently.
“This is not Sheldon’s collection,” he explained to Carol, “but his father’s. The late Marquis was completely fascinated by anything that could sail on water.”
“So I can see,” remarked Carol.
“Sheldon has always been a good friend of mine,” Sir Peter continued, “and when I used to stay here as a little boy, his father explained to me how ships had developed over the ages and then he took me sailing on his yacht round the North coast of Scotland.”
“So he inspired you?”
“Indeed he did, and please understand that if this invention of mine succeeds, it will be due to his influence when I was six and first came to Denholme Park.”
They admired the other pictures in the gallery until it was time to dress for dinner.
When Carol went upstairs, she found Neisa in a very grand bedroom on the main corridor running from the State staircase.
“My goodness, Neisa!” she exclaimed. “They are really doing you proud. This is a room fit for a Queen!”
Neisa laughed.
“You realise it was meant for you! And now can I take a look at your room?”
They walked down the corridor to find that Carol had been allocated a room four doors away from Neisa.
It was a nice comfortable room with a large bed.
Equally, as Carol had realised, it was not nearly as grand as the one intended for ‘the heiress.’
“Sir Peter is right,” she cried. “People should not make such a fuss about money.”
Neisa looked surprised.
“Was it Sir Peter you were with?” she asked. “You were away a long time.”
“He was telling me how much he despises men who run after money and how he would never marry a woman who owned more possessions than he did.”
“That must have been a change for you to hear.”
“It was and I found it very intriguing. At the same time I am well aware that he will drop me like a hot brick when he learns who I am!”
Neisa looked at her sharply.
She thought it would be ironic if Carol fell in love with a man who refused to marry her because she was rich.
Carol, however, did not say any more.
She merely chose a pretty but rather demure gown to wear to dinner and said she would come to Neisa’s room before going downstairs. She was determined to make certain her cousin looked the part she had to play.
“So far it hasn’t been all that frightening,” smiled Neisa, “except that I don’t like that relation of our host.”
“You mean Randolph Holme? I gather from some remarks I heard about him that he is always hanging about the Marquis asking for money.”
“Does the Marquis give it to him?”
“I believe so,” replied Carol, “because he is the heir presumptive.”
“Then I hope he never comes into the title. There is something rather creepy about him and I only hope I don’t have to sit next to him at dinner.”
Her hope, however, was not granted.
*
By the evening the party had grown so that when they walked into dinner, they sat down thirty in the dining room.
Randolph was at Neisa’s side and she was a little surprised to find herself on the left of her host.
The Marquis had seated an attractive Viscountess on his right.
Neisa mused that, if nothing else, they were treating Carol as if she was of considerable importance.
‘It is something she should be enjoying,’ she told herself, ‘rather than remaining so cynical that she believes it is only about her money.’
She thought herself that it was because the Marquis was very grateful to Mr. Waverton and therefore wished to make a fuss of his daughter.
As far as Carol was concerned, she was delighted to find herself sitting next to Sir Peter Jackson.
They could carry on from where their conversation had left off when it was time to dress for dinner.
“I wanted to sit next to you,” Sir Peter began, “so our host kindly rearranged the table so that we could be together.”
“I think you only wanted that because I am a good listener,” Carol teased him.
“You are also very lovely, very charming and most intelligent and that is an unusual threesome where many women are concerned!”
Carol laughed.
Then once again they began talking about subjects that interested them both.
And, to Sir Peter’s surprise, he found that there were a great number, most of which he had never discussed with a lady before.
At the top of the table Neisa asked the Marquis,
“Do tell me all about your beautiful house. When I came up the drive, I thought at first it must have been built by the Adam brothers, but when I saw the balconies I was afraid I might be mistaken.”
The Marquis smiled.
“No, you are quite right. My ancestors originally constructed the house in the reign of Charles II. In the 1750s the Adam brothers built on a new façade and added the East and West wings.”
“I felt it was their work, but why the balconies?”
“They were added, as you might guess, during the Regency, when balconies became fashionable, as you can see all too clearly at Brighton.”
“Of course, I remember reading that there was quite a craze for them in those days.”
“They were a fad at the time. A number of friends have suggested I remove them. But I like them, as they have always been there since I was a child and to me they are an integral part of my ancestral home.”
“Of course you are quite right to keep them. Now please tell me about some of your pictures and furniture.”
The Marquis looked surprised – this was not the sort of conversation he would expect to hold with a lady.
The majority of his female guests were always far more interested in him than in the provenance of his house.
He was astonished that Neisa knew so much about architecture and the arts.
They talked animatedly until Randolph on the other side of Neisa, chirped up plaintively,
“I am being neglected. I think it extremely unkind of my cousin, who has so much, to demand more of you than I am getting!”
Neisa laughed.
“It was I who was asking him a great number of questions!”
“You can ask me any questions you like,” Randolph persisted, “but it is easier for me to tell you how lovely you are and how impossible it is to be so near to you without my heart beating tumultuously. I want above anything else to kiss you.”
Neisa felt shocked at his familiarity, especially over the dinner table and then she remembered that he believed he was speaking to Carol.
She became convinced that he was only interested in Carol’s money and that he was merely working up to the moment when he would propose marriage to her.
It made her feel uncomfortable and, as soon as she could politely do so, she turned again to the Marquis.
They talked about his fabulous horses.
She longed to tell him of the Ar
ab stallions she had ridden in Syria and the small but very fast horses that had carried her and her father in India.
But because that was impossible, she managed to make the Marquis tell her about the many places he had visited and of the many horses he had ridden in other parts of the world.
In fact the time seemed to slip by very quickly in his company.
Almost before Neisa realised it, Lady Sarah was rising from the far end of the table to take the ladies away.
“How are you enjoying yourself?” Carol whispered to Neisa.
“I am having such a wonderful time and thank you, dearest Carol, for bringing me here. It is all like a fairy story. I am only scared it will all vanish like a dream and I shall suddenly find myself back at the Vicarage wondering what I should cook Papa for dinner!”
Carol laughed.
“I will not let you wake up too soon, Neisa, and I know tomorrow you will be thrilled by the steeplechase.”
“I only wish I could ride in it.”
“I would not like you to do so,” answered Carol. “I am told it is quite dangerous. Last year one of the riders broke his leg and his horse fell so badly that it had to be put down.”
Neisa drew in her breath.
“I hope that doesn’t happen tomorrow. It would upset me too much.”
“I think the Marquis will take every precaution to see it does not.”
The gentlemen appeared rather more quickly than was usual from the dining room.
Carol moved across the room towards Sir Peter and there was an expression of eagerness in her eyes as she did so.
It made Neisa wonder again what would happen if Carol really did fall in love with Sir Peter, who had said quite categorically he would not marry a woman who was richer than he was.
Then she heard the unpleasant voice of Randolph Holme behind her.
“Why are you looking worried, my beautiful one? There should not be anything troubling you at this moment when everyone wants you to be happy.”
“I am happy, but unfortunately one cannot always be flying towards the stars. There must be moments when one is left behind on the ground without wings!”
She was talking to herself rather than to Randolph.
However the Marquis overheard and he interrupted,
“Have I overlooked something in providing elegant entertainment for my guests, Miss Waverton? Is it possible that I should have given them all wings?”
Neisa giggled.
“That is just what we all long for, but luckily we can fly in our dreams and in our imagination.”
“That is just what I always attempt to do,” mused the Marquis. “But sometimes things misfire and one has to accept the bad with the good.”
“And for some of us it is always bad,” Randolph grumbled in a disagreeable voice.
The Marquis did not comment, but walked away just when Neisa wanted him to stay.
“Why do you have to upset your cousin?” she asked Randolph. “You know that he is trying to help everyone to enjoy themselves and that sort of remark is very unkind.”
“There is no reason why I should be kind to him, for he is not kind to me. But I can always be compensated by you being kind to me and I can assure you that I need your kindness desperately.”
Neisa had an uncomfortable premonition that at any moment he was going to ask her for money.
So she rose from the chair she had been sitting on and walked towards the Marquis.
He was talking to Lady Sarah and when she joined him, they both looked up at her as if wondering why she was interrupting.
“I was just wondering,” began Neisa, “as I see you have a grand piano at the end of the drawing room whether you would like me to play quietly as a background to the conversation. I promise you it will not be a performance.”
The Marquis smiled at her.
“I can think of nothing nicer, Miss Waverton.”
“I might have thought of that myself!” Lady Sarah exclaimed. “There is a woman in the village who plays the organ in Church and is very good on the piano too.”
“I think that we shall be far more content with Miss Waverton, and, as she has so kindly offered to play for our benefit, I accept the suggestion with gratitude.”
He walked to the piano with Neisa.
As she sat down on the piano stool, she suggested,
“I think that for this party some light music would be correct. I may be wrong, but I feel that you would enjoy something more classical.”
“You are so right, Miss Waverton, and I shall make you play it for me another time.”
Neisa smiled at him.
He thought what a very sweet face she had, lovely long auburn hair and sparkling blue eyes – despite the fact that her clothes were just a little over-flamboyant and for a young girl she was wearing too much jewellery.
Carol, to make sure that people knew the difference between them, had insisted that Neisa wear her mother’s pearls and a diamond bracelet on each wrist.
Carol was putting her jewellery into a colourful box when she found two small but very valuable diamond earrings.
“These are wrong for a debutante,” she remarked. “At the same time, as I have so much money, I expect that I would have wanted to bedeck myself.”
They were certainly very becoming, but Neisa had a feeling her mother would not have let her wear them.
Looking at her intently, the Marquis was thinking it would be impossible for any girl to look so very lovely, so young, so perfectly innocent and, although it was a strange word, untouched.
Yet how was that possible when, as he had heard, every man in London was pursuing her?
According to the gossip, she had already received a dozen proposals of marriage.
‘She must be extremely sophisticated,’ he told himself, ‘equally she is clever enough to disguise it.’
Neisa was softly playing some catchy tunes, which had become popular in Vienna, including a waltz.
She thought it would be nice if there were people dancing.
Randolph was now leaning on the piano and, as if he could read her thoughts, suggested,
“I would love to dance with you, Miss Waverton, and I am told that tomorrow night my cousin has engaged a small band for us to dance in the ballroom.”
“That will indeed be delightful.”
“Not for you, as you have attended dozens of balls and danced with dozens of gentlemen. But when I dance with you, it will be different. I want more than I can say to hold you closely in my arms – ”
Neisa considered he was becoming embarrassing.
She played a little louder so that she could not hear what he was saying.
She was pleased when Lady Sarah announced that as they would have a long and busy day tomorrow, she felt that everyone should go to bed early.
“That includes the gentlemen,” she stressed. “You are not to drink too much, because you will need all your wits about you when you see the new fences Sheldon has erected specially for tomorrow’s steeplechase.”
There was a murmur around the room and some of the gentlemen were wondering if they had made a mistake in deciding to ride their own horses instead of borrowing one of their host’s.
Finally they all retired to bed.
As Neisa was moving towards the door, Randolph Holme was beside her.
“You are being most elusive,” he complained, “in leaving me so early. But I will tell you later how much I mind being separated from you.”
Neisa did not answer.
As she walked slowly upstairs, she wondered what he meant.
Because she was in one of the first bedrooms on the corridor, Lady Sarah bade her goodnight, as did several of the other ladies who were sleeping on the other side of the corridor.
At the far end was what Hannah told her later was the Master Suite.
“How do you know?” Neisa asked as Hannah undid her gown.
“His Lordship’s valet tells me that you’re in one of the rooms which is us
ually reserved for Royalty. As his Lordship don’t like too many guests near to him, the rest of the party are on the corridor leading in the other direction from the stairs and the gentlemen’ll be in the East Wing.”
Neisa was not particularly interested where the other guests slept, but she was glad that Carol was only four rooms away.
‘If I am frightened in the night,’ she thought, ‘I can easily go and sleep with Carol.’
Hannah hung up Neisa’s dress in the wardrobe and then left her to undress herself.
“I’ll call you in the morning, miss – ”
“At eight o’clock, please. Breakfast is at half-past and the steeplechase starts at ten o’clock.”
“I knows that, miss, and a nice fuss there is about it too. You’d think it’s the end of the world instead of just a horse race!”
As Hannah left the room, Neisa remembered to lock the door.
It was something her father had always made her do when they were staying in an unfamiliar hotel.
She noticed as she turned the key that the lock was old, made of silver and not very substantial.
‘It must have been there when the house was first altered by the Adam brothers,’ she pondered.
She climbed into bed and then she began to think of the curious remark Randolph Holme had made to her.
Was it possible that he was thinking of coming to her room?
She just could not believe he would dare to do so!
Yet there were many stories of improper behaviour amongst those who moved in London Society.
Two people who were having an affaire de coeur would be given adjacent rooms if they were staying in the same house party.
Neisa was indeed very innocent, as the Marquis had deduced.
But she was also too intelligent not to be aware that such things could and did happen.
Carol had related to her some of the gossip about people she had met with Lady Margrave.
Neisa thought such scandal should not have been told to Carol.
Now, as she thought about it, she was frightened.
Suppose Randolph, who she now actively disliked, tried to enter her room?
She had locked the door, but he was tall and broad shouldered.
She doubted whether, if he used all his strength, the door would be strong enough to withstand him.
Because she felt so unsettled at such a possibility, she decided to go at once to Carol’s room and so jumped out of bed.
A Change of Hearts Page 6