“It was a long ‒ long ladder,” Mary said, “and I thought he might drop me and I would fall onto ‒ the ground.”
“But you were not dropped and now you are quite safe with me,” Angela said, “and as soon as we get to wherever we are going, I hope there will be somewhere comfortable where we can go to sleep.”
“I daresay we can find you a bed of sorts,” the man opposite said, “but I’m not sayin’ it’ll be as comfortable as what you be used to.”
He was sneering at her, but Angela thought that it would be a mistake to antagonise him.
“I am sure you are really very kind-hearted,” she said, “especially when it concerns small children. Have you any of your own?”
“I’ve got three,” he answered, “and they’re more trouble than they’re worth!”
“I don’t believe that,” Angela said. “You would not like your little daughter to be treated as you have treated this poor child.”
“My gel ain’t worth sixpence!” the man replied. “But this un’s worth ten thousand pound to us.”
“You will be lucky if you get it,” Angela countered quietly.
She realised that they were now in the twisty lanes and so the carriage was forced to go slower.
She wanted to ask where they were going, but guessed that it would be a long way from the Marquis’s house, perhaps somewhere in London.
She could only say a prayer of thankfulness that she had seen what was happening.
She could not imagine how terrible it would have been for everybody to wake up in the morning to find that Mary’s bed was empty.
There would be only the fire engine outside her window to show them the way that she had been absconded.
Mary had stopped crying and was holding tightly onto Angela, as if she was still afraid.
“Now suppose we start our story?” Angela suggested, smiling at her.
.“Once upon a time, there was a little girl called ‘Mary’. She went up to bed after having had a happy day playing with her toys.”
“Was that me?” Mary asked.
‘That was you,” Angela replied. “She had not the slightest idea that anything was going to happen during the night.”
“You have forgotten about the angel!” Mary interrupted. “An angel came to see me with her wings on.”
“Oh, yes, I had forgotten that part and she came back again without her wings on to say ‘goodnight’.”
“The angel should have known that something bad and wicked was going to happen,” Mary pointed out.
“Perhaps she did know,” Angela said, “or else another angel had warned her so that she looked out of her window and saw you being carried down the ladder.”
“Did the angel tell you it was me?” Mary asked.
“Yes, she did,” Angela replied.
As she spoke, she realised that the horses were being pulled to a standstill. Then there was the explosion of a shot being fired, followed by a scream.
The man opposite jumped to his feet and pulled down the window.
“It is your Daddy come to save you,” Angela whispered.
As she did so, she saw the man putting his hand into his coat pocket to pull out a large pistol.
He leaned out of the window.
She realised in a moment of horror that he was going to shoot at the Marquis.
With a swiftness born of fear, she sprang at him.
By catching hold of his arm with both her hands, she forced the pistol upwards.
He must have pulled the trigger, but the bullet went harmlessly up towards the sky.
As it did so, the Marquis turned and shot him through the shoulder.
The man dropped his pistol and, still leaning out of the window, clutched his wound with his other hand.
The Marquis jumped down from his horse and pulled the door open so that the man fell out onto the road.
He then picked him up bodily and threw him into the ditch.
At the same time Harry had pulled the man driving the horses from his seat and hit him with a blow on the chin.
It sent him to the ground unconscious.
The other man in the front of the carriage was treated in the same way by another of the Marquis’s friends.
Having disposed of the man he had shot in the shoulder, the Marquis put his head inside the carriage.
Mary, who was already on her feet, flung her arms round his neck.
“Daddy, Daddy, you’ve saved me!” Mary cried.
“Are you all right, my poppet?” the Marquis asked.
He looked at Angela as he spoke.
“We are all right,” Angela answered, “but – very frightened.”
“It is all over now,” the Marquis said, “and I will take you home.”
He put Mary gently down on the seat.
“I will join you in a moment,” he said.
He left the carriage to look with satisfaction at the four kidnappers who were all lying in the ditch.
Two were groaning from their wounds, but the others were unable to speak.
“Are we going to leave them there?” Harry asked.
‘They will find it a long way to walk to London or to wherever it is they have to go,” the Marquis replied. “You drive, Harry. Lionel and George can lead our horses back to Vaux.”
“What do you intend to do with this dilapidated vehicle?” Harry asked as he climbed into the driving seat.
“Keep it,” the Marquis answered, “and hope that those devils who hired it will pay for it or go to prison!”
One of the Marquis’s friends came across the road to take Saracen’s bridle.
“I am going to turn round,” Harry said.
“You will find a place a little way up the road,” the Marquis answered.
He got into the carriage as he spoke and sat down on the back seat between Mary and Angela.
As the carriage started to move, Mary cuddled against him.
Without saying anything, the Marquis put his arm round Angela as if to support her.
Because she was so relieved that it was all over, she suddenly felt like bursting into tears as Mary had done.
It had been one thing to be brave while they were at the mercy of the kidnappers.
Now they were both safe and she felt weak and limp.
As the carriage swayed, she instinctively put her head against the Marquis’s shoulder.
“You must tell me what happened,” he said, “but first of all, I want to know how you were aware that Mary was being kidnapped?”
“I had just left her,” Angela answered, “and gone back to my own room.”
“Just left her?” the Marquis questioned.
“She was telling me a story, Daddy, about Cinderella,” Mary piped up, “but we both fell asleep. When I woke up, the angel had left me and then ‒ those horrid men were putting a handkerchief over my mouth.”
“So you were with Mary,” the Marquis said as if he was speaking to himself.
“How could I have guessed ‒ when I left her that anything so horrible ‒ would happen to her?” Angela asked.
“You saw it from your bedroom window,” the Marquis said as if he was trying to work out exactly what had happened.
“I just could not believe it. I thought I must be dreaming,” Angela replied. “Then I came at once to you.”
“That was incredibly sensible of you,” the Marquis said, “and it gave me the chance of preventing them from reaching the main highway.”
“You saved us,” Angela murmured, “and that is all that matters.”
“I think, actually, it was you who saved Mary,” the Marquis said, “and I am very very grateful.”
“She was just telling me a story,” Mary told him, “about a little girl who was very brave. And that was me!”
“I can see you have been very brave,” the Marquis said. “And I am very proud of you.”
“Really proud?”
“Very very proud indeed,” he answered. “And I shall have to find
a medal to give you.”
Mary gave a little cry of joy.
“A medal – like you have?”
“A much better one,” the Marquis smiled.
Listening, Angela thought that she had never expected him to be so understanding with his daughter.
She was sure that it was a side of his character that few people were aware of.
They drove on and she thought that the most comfortable and reassuring thing she had ever known was the strength of his arms around her.
There was no need to talk and no need for endless explanations.
Mary was now safe and that was all that really mattered.
Only as they were nearing Vaux did the Marquis say,
“I do not want either of you to talk about this to anybody. Do you understand, Mary? It must be kept a secret between you, Angela, and me and I am going to tell the friends who helped me not to talk about it either.”
He thought for a moment,
Then he stressed,
“I expect you will want Trevor to know, but nobody else. If they did, everyone will have a great deal to say on the subject. If it becomes public knowledge, it might encourage other villains to try the same thing.”
It was then that Angela said,
“They were going to demand a ‒ ten thousand pounds ransom for your daughter.”
“She is worth a great deal more than that to me,” the Marquis remarked, “but it would be a great mistake to let anybody be aware of it.”
Harry had turned the horses into the drive and he was now bringing them to a standstill outside the front door.
The Marquis helped Angela and Mary out of the carriage.
“I will take the horses round to the stables,” Harry offered as they walked up the steps.
There was only the night footman in the hall and, as they made their way up the stairs, Mary said,
“I-I don’t want to be – alone in my bed – in case those bad men – come back.”
“No, of course, you don’t,” Angela agreed, “and you can come and sleep in my room for what is left of the night.”
She looked at the Marquis as she spoke as if for his approval and he nodded.
“It is something that I wanted to suggest,” he said, “but I was not certain whether you would agree.”
“Of course I want Mary with me,” Angela answered, “and there will be no reason for us to be woken too early in the morning.”
“I will see to it,” the Marquis agreed.
She took Mary into her room and helped her into the big bed.
“I like sleeping with you,” Mary said, “and when you wake up, perhaps you will tell me a story.”
“I will do that,” Angela said, “but first we must go to sleep or otherwise we shall be too tired and be disagreeable tomorrow”
Mary laughed.
“Angels are never disagreeable.”
“And I don’t believe that they are often very tired,” Angela replied.
The Marquis had disappeared for a moment.
Because she thought that he might come back to say ‘goodnight’, she quickly took off her dressing gown and slipped into bed beside Mary.
She had only just pulled the sheet over them when the Marquis returned.
“I have left a note to say that you are not to be disturbed,” he said. “All you have to do when you are ready for breakfast is to ring the bell.”
“Thank you very much,” Angela answered.
He looked down at Mary.
“Goodnight, my poppet,” he said, “and you are not to think about what happened tonight, because it is something I will take extra care never happens again.”
“But you saved me,” Mary exclaimed.
She put out her arms to the Marquis as she spoke and he kissed her.
Then she snuggled down beside Angela and he stood for a few moments looking down at them both.
Then unexpectedly he bent forward and kissed Angela gently on the lips.
It took her by surprise and for a while she could not believe that it was happening.
It gave her a strange sensation through her body that she had never known before.
Then he raised his head.
“Goodnight and thank you,” he said quietly.
Before she could realise what was happening, he had put out the light and left the room.
For a moment she could only lie there thinking that it was impossible to believe that she had been kissed for the first time in her life.
And by the Marquis.
She could still feel the touch of his lips on hers and the strange sensation it had evoked in her.
It was then that she knew she loved him.
Chapter Seven
Angela awoke because somebody was pulling back the curtains.
At first she thought that it must be the maid who had failed to read the Marquis’s note.
Then, as she opened her eyes, she realised that it was Trevor.
He came and sat down on the bed facing her.
“I am sorry to wake you up,” he began, “but it is nearly half-past-ten and we are leaving at noon.”
“L-leaving?” Angela asked.
They were speaking in low voices because Mary was fast asleep.
She had moved away from Angela during the night and was sleeping on the other side of the bed, her back towards them.
“The Marquis told me what happened,” Trevor said, “and because I want to take Sadie to Tattersalls early tomorrow morning and so I thought it a good idea that we three should leave immediately.”
Angela did not reply and he went on,
“The Marquis wants to keep what happened a secret from everyone in the house, but I think that sooner or later they will find out. It would be a great mistake for anyone, including the Marquis, to know who you are.”
“Yes – of course,” Angela agreed.
“Very well,” Trevor said. “Get dressed. The Marquis is sending us back in the carriage that brought Sadie here.”
He did not say anything more but left the room.
Angela rang the bell and climbed out of bed.
Emily came hurrying into the room and by that time Mary was awake.
She was taken upstairs to the nursery to be dressed.
“Her Ladyship’s got to go downstairs to see ’er father,” Emily said. “He be waitin’ for ’er in ’is study.”
“I want to be with Daddy,” she said. “I have lots to talk to him about.”
As soon as she had gone, Angela put on the elegant gown that she had worn to travel to Vaux in.
Emily packed her things with some difficulty into the small trunk that she had brought with her.
At exactly five minutes to twelve she went down the stairs and she found Trevor with the Marquis in the hall.
There was no sign of the Gaiety Girls or any of the rest of the party.
“Everybody else is sleeping late,” Trevor informed her as if she had asked the question.
Angela did not answer.
She was looking at the Marquis and thinking how handsome he was.
At the same time she was feeling shy because he had kissed her.
When her eyes met his, she blushed.
Sadie came running down the stairs, seeming like a spring wind sweeping through the Great Hall.
“Don’t tell me I am late,” she said before anyone could speak. “It is only one minute off twelve and I almost killed myself to be ready in such a hurry!”
“You will be glad you made the effort when you see the horses I am planning to show you first thing tomorrow,” Trevor said, “and, after we have been to Tattersalls, we will go to the country to inspect the Marquis of Northampton’s stud.”
He was speaking more to the Marquis than to Sadie.
The Marquis then said,
“I heard that since Northampton inherited the title, he is selling off some of his father’s racehorses.”
“I think they are exactly what Sadie wants,” Trevor replied.
<
br /> “I told you that you would be in good hands!” the Marquis said to his cousin.
She kissed him.
“I agree you are right and we will tell you all about it tomorrow evening.”
The Marquis turned to Angela.
“You are all dining with me tomorrow,” he said. “I am greatly looking forward to it.”
There was something in the way he spoke the last words that made Angela’s heart turn over in her breast.
However, as she went down the steps to where the carriage was waiting, she knew that she would not be joining the party.
This was goodbye.
Sadie climbed into the carriage and Angela held out her hand to the Marquis.
“I shall always remember your beautiful house,” she said in a low voice.
“And I will never forget what you have done for me,” the Marquis replied.
His fingers closed over her hand.
Then, as she stepped back into the carriage, he was saying ‘goodbye’ to Trevor.
“Seven-thirty tomorrow evening, Brooke,” he said, “and Sadie and I will be waiting for you.”
“We will not be late,” Trevor assured him.
He jumped into the carriage and sat between the two women.
“There is room for all of us on the back seat,” he said firmly. “I dislike sitting with my back to the horses.”
“So do I,” Sadie replied. “It is strange how we both dislike the same things.”
“It is much more important that we should like them,” Trevor said quietly.
As they drove on, it would have been just impossible for Angela not to realise that her brother and Sadie Vandebilt were talking in a very intimate manner.
Because she was still tired after what had happened last night, she went to sleep.
She awoke only when they stopped at a Posting inn and had a late luncheon.
They hurried over it and, when they set out once again, Angela then took off her hat and closed her eyes.
She knew even if she did not sleep, it would be tactful.
But apart from that she was really still very tired.
They reached London late in the afternoon and went first to the Marquis’s house in Park Lane to drop Sadie off.
Angela’s trunk had been placed on the carriage that they were travelling in and she had learnt that the Courier and the lady’s maid who had escorted Sadie to Vaux were behind them in a brake.
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