Punished with Love

by Barbara Cartland

  “All I can say “ Lord Branscombe replied, “is that he sounds the sort of weak young fool who is likely to be led by the nose by my disgracefully behaved niece!”

  “You are twisting – everything and making it – sound horrible,” Latonia cried. “The Marquis adores Toni, he does really! I saw them together and there was no question of any – pretence. She loves him – as she has never loved any man in her whole life.”

  She drew in her breath as if to give herself courage before she added,

  “I know you will not – believe this, because you are so – angry with Toni and have said such – horrible things to me when you thought I was she. But it is really not her – fault that men fall in love with her because she is so lovely and – attractive.”

  She paused, as if thinking back, before she went on,

  “It has been the same – ever since she was a very young girl. There is something – irresistible about her.”

  “Do you think that justifies her behaviour or excuses her in making use of you?”

  “I have already told you I do not matter,” Latonia replied. “I have always lived a very quiet life because we never had any money. Toni was even more than a sister to me – more like a – twin! Whatever I have done, I have done it gladly for her and I am prepared to suffer the consequences without – complaint.”

  The sincerity in her voice seemed to ring out in the small room.

  “But that does not release me from my obligations,” Lord Branscombe said after a moment’s silence. “I suppose in a way it is my fault that I did not come to The Castle to collect my niece, in which case none of this would have happened.”

  “Don’t blame yourself,” Latonia replied quickly. “I expect since Toni was so – determined to stay with the Marquis that she would have found some other way not to come with you to – India.”

  As she spoke, she thought that Lord Branscombe’s lips tightened as she went on,

  “I know it is difficult for you, but please – try to understand. Toni is not bad, as you think. She is impulsive, sometimes unpredictable, because she enjoys life so much – and it was terribly dull for her living at The Castle.”

  She saw the surprise in Lord Branscombe’s eyes and she continued,

  “Once when we were going home to our own small house, leaving Toni behind at The Castle, Mama said that she was so very sorry – for the lonely little girl who could not come with us.”

  “I should have thought that, with my brother’s position and his enormous wealth, my niece could have had anything in life that she desired.”

  “Except – love,” Latonia said softly, “That is what she lacked – love and people round her who loved each other as Mama loved Papa – and he loved her.”

  She thought that she had made him think and she went on before he could speak,

  “You saw Mama and Papa together – they were with you before they died and you must have realised how happy they were. It was not money that counted in our home, it was the happiness which came from – love and that is – something Toni – never had.”

  There were tears in Latonia’s eyes as she spoke, firstly because she wanted so much to make him understand the reason for Toni’s behaviour and secondly because her father and mother had died so recently that it was impossible for her to speak about them without wanting to burst into tears.

  Now her eyes were misty and she turned away from Lord Branscombe and moved deliberately towards the door.

  When she reached it, she stopped for a moment to say,

  “I am – sorry, I can only – apologise abjectly for – everything I have done – for every lie I have – told you. I know Mama would be shocked at my – deceiving you, but there was no other way that Toni could be with the Marquis. Perhaps when you – think it over you will be able to – forgive her and me.”

  As Latonia finished speaking, the tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks.

  Because she did not want Lord Branscombe to see them, she went quickly from the room to hide herself in her own bedroom.

  Chapter Six

  Because she had cried for a long time after going to bed, Latonia felt that she had only just fallen asleep when she heard somebody knocking on the door.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Lord Sahib leave in one hour, Memsahib,” the servant replied.

  “I will be ready,” Latonia managed to answer.

  She got up and dressed hurriedly, but by the time she reached the verandah, where she knew that breakfast would be served, it was to find that Lord Branscombe had already left.

  She thought that he would be having breakfast with some of his brother Officers, and she was glad that she did not have to face him after the storm of yesterday evening.

  She might have known, she thought, that sooner or later somebody from Toni’s past would confront her.

  However, she had not expected that it would be Andrew Luddington, because she had not realised that he was with the Bengal Lancers.

  She could understand now why Lord Branscombe was so infuriated with Toni for driving him to attempt suicide, not only because he was an impressionable young man but also because he was in his own Regiment.

  ‘Whatever his Lordship may think,’ Latonia told herself, ‘I still consider that Andrew Luddington is weak and lacking in self-control to have behaved as he did.’

  She knew that it would be no use saying so, as she waited for Lord Branscombe to return, anticipating that he would start his condemnation of Toni’s conduct all over again, besides the fact that he was appalled by the deception which both she and her cousin had practised on him.

  She could not believe that he was speaking seriously when he had said that the only solution for the consequences of her deceitful behaviour was to accept his offer of marriage.

  ‘He was just threatening me and trying to make me nervous and apprehensive,’ Latonia thought.

  At the same time it struck her that if or when the deception became known, she would not be the only one to suffer.

  It would appear very reprehensible of Lord Branscombe that, on his visits as a representative of the Viceroy, he should take a young woman with him, introducing her as a relative when she actually was nothing of the sort.

  ‘I must go home – I must leave India – immediately!’ Latonia thought in a sudden panic.

  She decided that she would tell Lord Branscombe the moment he returned.

  It was fortunate that she had the money for her fare, but she was aware that she had no idea how to get back to Bombay from where she was at this moment and she also knew that it would be impossible for her to make the journey alone.

  Every minute she waited for Lord Branscombe seemed to make the difficulties worse than they were already.

  When finally he appeared, there was, however, no chance for her to speak with him alone.

  He came back with two senior Officers and there was already a carriage waiting to carry them to the railway station, which was only a mile or so from the camp.

  There was no time for Latonia to do anything but pick up her sunshade, her bag and her gloves and step into the carriage to drive off with Lord Branscombe beside her and the two Officers seated opposite them.

  When they reached the station, there were the usual large number of servants to attend to their needs and their own special carriage had already been attached to the morning train heading North.

  Latonia thought that Lord Branscombe gave the order for the train to move sooner than was usual.

  It amused her that at all the stations they had stopped at the guard always asked Lord Branscombe’s permission before he signalled the engine driver to start the train.

  Now the Officers quickly said goodbye and once again Latonia and Lord Branscombe were alone in their drawing room.

  Latonia glanced at him apprehensively.

  She thought he looked grim and there was a tightness about his lips, but he merely handed her one of the newspapers that had been put out for them
and she saw that it was a three-weeks-old Times from England.

  As she realised that he did not wish to talk, she opened it, although she found it hard to concentrate on the political difficulties at home and on the description of Foreign Royalty being entertained by Queen Victoria at Windsor.

  It was nearly three-quarters-of-an-hour before the train slowed down and stopped at what Latonia saw with surprise was a very small station.

  She had grown used to the huge crowds, but now instead there were only two or three people on the platform who were looking at the train in astonishment.

  Beyond the station she could see in the distance a small village and from there a number of people, mostly children, were running excitedly towards them.

  It struck her that they had not expected the train to stop and for the first time since they had left the camp she spoke to Lord Branscombe.

  “Why are we stopping here?” she asked.

  “I will tell you why in a few minutes,” he replied.

  She was surprised, but she did not like to question him further, as a servant had come into the compartment with glasses of fruit juice and slices of papaya.

  Latonia sipped the juice, wondering what was happening, but Lord Branscombe continued to be absorbed in the newspapers and she did not ask any further questions.

  When they had waited at the small station for nearly twenty minutes, one of the senior servants who was travelling with them came into the drawing room.

  He approached Lord Branscombe to say in a low voice,

  “Everything arranged, Lord Sahib.”

  Lord Branscombe rose to his feet, saying,

  “Come with me, Latonia!”

  There was something in the way he spoke that made her feel frightened.

  They stepped out of the train onto the platform and she saw that waiting outside there was a rough cart quite different from anything she had travelled in before.

  It was drawn by a young horse and, when she and Lord Branscombe had climbed into it and were seated on the hard seats, they set off at quite a good pace.

  They were followed by a large number of small children running along the dusty road beside the cart, shouting at them and holding up their hands, asking for baksheesh.

  This prevented Latonia from asking questions. She also had the uncomfortable feeling that Lord Branscombe had no intention of telling her what she wanted to know.

  Because the horse was moving quickly, they gradually left the children behind and now on the outskirts of the village she saw a small building with a tin roof, which, before she even saw the cross over the door, she knew to be a Church.

  It was only as the horse slowed down that Latonia turned her face towards Lord Branscombe to say frantically,

  “P-please – we must not – do this! It is – wrong!”

  “It is the only thing we can do,” he replied firmly.

  She wanted to protest, she wanted to plead with him, but at that moment the horse came to a standstill and a man appeared at the door of the Church.

  He was tall and gaunt, wearing a black cassock. Latonia thought that he must be a Missionary.

  Lord Branscombe stepped out of the cart and shook him by the hand and as he did so the Parson said,

  “I understand from your servant, Mr. Combe, that you wish to be married.”

  “That is correct,” Lord Branscombe answered, “and this is my future wife, Miss Hythe.”

  The Parson shook hands with Latonia and then walked ahead of them into the Church.

  It was very primitive and Latonia thought, from the bareness of the walls and the lack of flowers and candles, that it must be Presbyterian.

  As if he had been told that speed was essential, the Parson picked up a Prayer Book, then as Latonia and Lord Branscombe stood before him, he began the Marriage Service.

  *

  For the rest of the day as the train continued on its way North, Latonia felt as if she was existing in a dream.

  She could not believe that she had actually been married and it had been done in such a strange and austere manner that it was impossible to feel that she was a bride or that Lord Branscombe was her husband.

  The only reality was his plain gold signet ring on the third finger of her left hand, which, because he had worn it on his little finger, was only slightly too large for her. But it seemed like a heavy chain that made her a prisoner for all time.

  How could she really be married?

  How could she be the wife of a man who despised and hated her and who had been forced into matrimony because she and Toni had deceived him?

  ‘What can I say? What can I do?’ Latonia asked herself despairingly, but she could find no answer.

  They did not reach their destination until late in the afternoon, when it was not so hot.

  Latonia wanted to ask where they were going but she was too afraid to speak and she had only been able to stare out the window at the limitless plains they were passing through, which seemed symbolic of the emptiness of her own future.

  Then, before she had expected it, they arrived at their destination and were riding through a City where she saw the familiar sights of the heaped colours of fruit, vegetables and grain in the bazaar and the teeming, jostling crowds amongst whom moved the great lazy Brahmin bulls sacred to Shiva.

  She had a glimpse of stalls that sold glass bangles and brilliant saris of red, blue, gold and grass green.

  Then they were through the City and once again there was a Palace with gleaming turrets and latticed windows sadly in need of paint.

  There were the inevitable attendants welcoming them and a reception in the huge throne room.

  This time the Rajah, who appeared to be middle-aged, seemed to Latonia to be less pleasant than their previous hosts had been.

  It was not that he was impolite, it was just that she felt he exuded something that made her feel that he was cruel and perhaps wicked.

  It was only an impression and she wondered if Lord Branscombe felt the same way about him.

  But, as she had learnt to expect, he was extremely affable, greeting the Rajah on behalf of the Viceroy and paying him the compliments that were always expected in the East.

  Now for the first time Latonia was presented by Lord Branscombe as his wife.

  “I did not know that you were married, my Lord,” the Rajah said in quite intelligible English.

  “I have only just returned from England,” Lord Branscombe explained, “and few people are yet aware that my wife is travelling with me”

  “I am honoured to be one of her Ladyship’s first hosts,” the Rajah said, “and, of course, we must celebrate such a happy event. I am sure that Lady Branscombe will enjoy our dancers.”

  “It will be a privilege for us both to see them,” Lord Branscombe replied before Latonia could speak.

  The Guest House was very much the same as the other Guest Houses had been, and there were a large number of servants to wait on them, who Latonia was sure by now included one who could understand their conversation and report it back to the Palace.

  Tonight, as their host was Muslim, they could dine with him, whereas the previous Rajah had been Hindu, which meant that they ate alone.

  Latonia put on one of her prettiest gowns, feeling that, although Lord Branscombe might dislike her, as his wife she must at least try to do him credit.

  She thought that as a married woman she might be expected to wear jewellery, but her neck was bare and her only ornamentation was the glitter of the gold ring on her finger.

  Because she was nervous she took not only more trouble but also more time than usual over arranging her hair.

  When finally she went from her bedroom into the sitting room, it was to find Lord Branscombe standing waiting for her in a manner that told her without words that she was late.

  “I am – sorry,” she began, but he moved impatiently towards the door and she could only follow him outside to step into a carriage that was waiting for them.

  They drove in
silence the short distance to the Palace.

  Although it only took a few minutes, Latonia found herself wondering how she could bear a lifetime of feeling that her husband was as unapproachable as the snowy peaks of the Himalayas.

  They were received at the Palace with the usual formal ceremony Latonia was now familiar with.

  The Rajah, even more resplendent than he had been earlier in the day, was glittering with jewels, but, as before, Latonia felt that there was an evil glint not only in his eyes but in his emeralds, while the rubies that he wore in his turban seemed to burn with an ill-omened fire.

  ‘I am just being imaginative,’ she told herself.

  Yet, as she had known at the first Palace they had visited, there was an indisputable feeling of animosity from the elderly courtiers in attendance.

  While their lips smiled, their eyes were wary and suspicious.

  ‘There is something wrong here – something very wrong!’ Latonia told herself.

  She longed to know if Lord Branscombe felt the same, but he was talking easily and pleasantly with the Rajah and there was nothing in his quiet controlled voice to frighten anyone.

  Because she was tired and beset by her own problems she found it difficult to concentrate on the dancing or to try to understand the story that the women portrayed with their movements.

  All that the music seemed to be telling her was that she was married and while Toni could cable that she was ‘wildly happy’ those were words that Latonia would never be able to say.

  It seemed impossible to think that it had really happened, and yet it had, and her dream of falling in love and finding a man who would love her as her father had loved her mother was lying broken in thousands of pieces at her feet.

  ‘How could I have been so foolish as not to realise that this might occur?’ Latonia asked herself.

  But she knew that never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that the end of the masquerade which Toni had thought up for her would be marriage.

  She had expected Lord Branscombe to be angry – she had anticipated that she might be sent home in disgrace, but it had never crossed her mind that instead he would make her his wife because it was the only way they could avoid an unpleasant scandal that would harm them both.