“So you were sure I would help you?”
Diona turned to look at him again.
“I was still very – very frightened!” she admitted.
“And now?”
“I am still frightened – but not of you.”
“Let me help you to sweep away your other fears,” the Marquis said.
She shook her head.
“No one can do that. But if I could stay here for a little while – Sirius and I would be very – very grateful.”
“I have already told you that I will consider how I can help you. I do not believe in making hasty decisions, but of course, in the meantime, you are my guest.”
He saw the reflection of the stars in her eyes as she said,
“Thank you – thank you! Tonight I shall be very – grateful for not having to sleep in a – hay-stack or under a hedge – which I was very afraid would – happen.”
The Marquis laughed.
“I think you will find the bed in the Dolphin Room is much more comfortable.”
She looked away from him, but he had the feeling that she was not seeing Sirius or Roderic moving about at the end of the garden, or the stars reflected in the lake beyond them.
Instead, she said in a low voice, almost as if she was speaking to herself,
“I think Mama would be – shocked at my staying here – but in a strange way I feel it is the right place to be – and that God brought – me to you.”
When Roderic came back into the room, Diona said, and again the Marquis was surprised,
“I hope, my Lord, you will not think it very rude if Sirius and I go to bed, but I feel very tired. It has been a long day, and because there has been a lot to upset me and make me – anxious, it has been more – exhausting than a day in the saddle.”
The Marquis was used to women making every excuse not to leave him.
They were usually prepared to stay up all night rather than retire, unless of course he went with them. So once again he was surprised, but he merely answered,
“I think you are being wise, Diona, and I suspect that somewhere in your mountain of luggage you have something in which you can ride! So I suggest you join Roderic and me for breakfast and immediately afterwards you can help me exercise my horses.”
For a moment Diona stared at him.
Then she made a little sound that expressed how excited she was far more eloquently than words could have done.
“May I really do that?” she asked. “I have a riding skirt with me, but I am afraid I shall not look very conventional.”
“There will be nobody else to see you except for the horses,” the Marquis remarked, “and I doubt if they will complain!”
She gave a little chuckle. Then she said,
“At what time do you breakfast? I promise you I will not be late.”
“At eight o’clock,” the Marquis said. “Of course, if you are asleep, Roderic and I will understand, and we will set off without you!”
He was teasing, but Diona exclaimed,
“I shall be up and dressed by six o’clock just in case I keep you waiting!”
“There is no need for that,” the Marquis replied. “You merely have to tell Mrs. Fielding at what time you wish to be called.”
“Yes, of course!” she exclaimed. “I had forgotten, because at home I used to call myself.”
This was another clue, the Marquis thought, which meant that at home there had not been a large number of servants.
Yet, from the way Diona had behaved at dinner and had helped herself from the many dishes presented by the footman, he realised she was used to being waited on.
She had been quite firm in refusing what wines she did not want, as if it was something which happened every day and she did not even have to consider it.
This and a number of other things she had said and done sent the Marquis to bed thinking about her.
When he was finally alone in the darkness, he told himself that the puzzle with which she presented him was as fascinating as any conundrum he had ever encountered in the past, and far more attractive.
He realised that sooner or later he would have to make up his mind how to employ her, and that would present a number of difficulties he would have to solve.
He could hardly pay her for looking after his dogs and at the same time entertain her in his dining room.
If she was employed at the level of a kennel maid, such as Roderic kept talking about, it would be impossible for her to live in what those on the estate called the ‘Big House’.
He was quite certain that this difficulty had not yet presented itself to Diona, although doubtless it would do so sooner or later, and he wondered what she would make of it.
In the meantime, he was aware, without her even telling him so, that everything that happened was concerned in some way with Sirius, although he was not quite certain how.
Never before had he met a woman whose attention would wander while he was speaking to her because she was wondering if her dog was all right, and who would watch her dog rather than try to draw a little nearer to the man beside her.
It was a very old trick played by beautiful women to show the long, classical line of their necks while tipping back their heads to look up at the stars.
But he was well aware that Diona had done it naturally and had been quite unaware that he was watching her or that the movement might mean something to him.
When she said she must go to bed she had put out her hand towards him, saying as she did so,
“Thank you, my Lord, from the very bottom of my heart for your kindness. Tonight has been, a very exciting experience, and I will never forget – ”
The Marquis expected her to add, as every other woman had done, in a soft, inviting tone, “ – being with you!”
Instead, Diona finished,
“- seeing your wonderful house, of which I hope I may see more tomorrow, and having such a delicious dinner. “
“I am glad it pleased you,” the Marquis said conventionally.
“Sirius must thank you too.”
She gave the Dalmatian an order and instantly he sat up on his hind legs.
“Say ‘thank you,’ Sirius” she ordered, and he bowed his head.
“Excellent!” the Marquis exclaimed. “I see he is well trained, and of course very sincere in his gratitude.”
“We both are.”
She smiled, but there was nothing intimate or flirtatious in her eyes, only a sincerity that seemed to have swept away the fear that had been so very obvious when she arrived.
Then she said goodnight to Roderic, curtseying to him, and the two men walked with her across the hall to the bottom of the staircase.
She curtseyed once again, then like a child she raced Sirius to the top of the staircase.
When she reached the top she turned to wave to the Marquis and Roderic, who were watching her from the hall. It was an impersonal, happy gesture with nothing intimate about it.
Then she was running once again with Sirius along the wide corridor that led to her bedroom.
“She is perfect!” Roderic exclaimed. “Perfect! Oh, Uncle Lenox, I cannot wait to see Sir Mortimer’s face when I produce her!”
The Marquis did not reply.
There was a frown between his eyes as he walked back towards the drawing room.
For some unaccountable reason, it annoyed him to think of anything so unspoilt as Diona coming into contact with Sir Mortimer Watson.
Chapter Five
Simon walked into the Breakfast room, where his father was already seated at the head of the table.
As he helped himself rather greedily from the silver dishes on the side-table, he asked.
“Any news of Diona?”
For a moment Sir Hereward did not answer. Then he growled,
“She will come back when she is hungry.”
Simon sat down at the table and started to eat in the uncouth manner that had always made Diona feel slightly sick.
Then
Sir Hereward, who was opening his letters, exclaimed,
“Good God!”
His voice was so loud that Simon looked up.
“What is it, Papa?”
“I can hardly believe it.”
“Believe what?” Simon enquired.
Sir Hereward looked at the letter again as if he felt it was deceiving him. Then he said,
“This is a letter from your Uncle Hurry’s solicitors to tell me that Diona has been left a fortune by her Godmother!”
“A fortune?” Simon repeated.
“Eighty thousand pounds, to be exact!”
“I thought she had no money?” Simon said plaintively.
“Of course she had no money!” Sir Hereward said sharply. “But her Godmother, a woman I have never even heard of, has left her this large sum, and the solicitors, quite rightly, have communicated with me as her Guardian.”
“But you do not know where she is!” Simon said.
As he invariably stated the obvious, Sir Hereward frowned for a moment, then said as if he was speaking to himself
“Eighty thousand pounds! And the girl is barely nineteen! I have an idea, Simon, that this will benefit you. “
“Me, Papa?”
“Yes, you, my son.”
As Sir Hereward spoke he smiled in an unpleasant manner, which if she had seen it, would undoubtedly have made Diona alarmed.
*
Riding back over Irchester Park, Diona thought that the last three days had been the happiest she had ever known.
Not only had she been able to ride the Marquis’s superb horses, but also to be with him and Roderic was a joy that made her spring out of bed in the morning, excited because a new day was beginning.
After they had breakfasted they raced one another over the meadowland, riding into the cool of the woods and jumping a dozen hedges.
They were now returning to the Big House for what Diona knew would be a delicious luncheon with conversation that seemed to sparkle as brilliantly as the sunshine outside.
Because she had been starved intellectually ever since her father’s death, she found when she went to bed at night that her mind was turning over and savouring not only what had been said but what she wanted to discuss the following day.
She had to admit that most of the arguments, which were very spirited, were between her and the Marquis.
But Roderic was a good listener, and he also occasionally sided with one or the other of them, which made it more interesting.
Sometimes when she awoke in the night she thought she must have been dreaming.
She would feel that if she lit a candle she would see not the beautiful draped bed of the Dolphin Room, but instead the dark brown velvet curtains of her bedroom at the Hall, which was symbolic, she thought, of the lack of colour in the rest of the house and the people who lived in it.
Because she was so happy she had begun to forget her fear of her uncle and the threat that Sirius would be taken from her.
She had been delighted to find that the Marquis’s dogs, though very well bred, as he had said, were no finer than Sirius, who even the kennel men admitted was an outstanding Dalmatian.
Now as he ran beside the horses she knew that the exercise he had been having these last few days had been good for his figure, and she thought no dog could be more handsome or more attractive.
At the same moment, the Marquis spoke to her, and as she turned her head she thought the two adjectives might also apply to him.
“I think I have time, Uncle Lenox,” Roderic was saying, “to take this horse I am riding over the jumps on the racecourse before luncheon. I want to make sure which one I will ride in your steeplechase.”
The Marquis smiled, but he did not reply, and Roderic, instead of crossing the bridge which led towards the house, galloped off towards the racecourse that was on the other side of the Park.
“He is very enthusiastic!” Diona said as she and the Marquis slowed to a walk to cross the stone bridge. “Do you think he has a chance of winning?”
Before he could answer, she laughed.
“I suppose I can answer my own question by saying, ‘Not if you are competing!’”
“Are you suggesting I should be handicapped?” the Marquis enquired.
“Yes, of course you should be,” Diona replied, “because you are too good at everything and it does not give us ordinary mortals a chance.”
“You are very complimentary,” he replied, “and I have a suspicion that you intend to ask me if you can compete in the steeplechase and ride either Champion or Mercury.”
Those were the names of the two of his horses she had ridden that had pleased Diona most, but she was surprised that he had noticed.
Then she remembered that it could be very dangerous for her to take part in the Steeplechase, and she merely replied,
“I think long before that takes place you must decide whether you wish to – employ me, or I must look – elsewhere.”
As she spoke she knew that every nerve in her body was praying that she would not have to leave Irchester Park or, for that matter, the Marquis.
They had reached the steps leading to the front door before he answered,
“When you have changed, Diona, I want to talk to you. I will be in the library.”
She looked at him quickly and apprehensively, but as he was concerned with dismounting he did not meet her eyes.
She ran upstairs to her bedroom, and as she took off her riding skirt she wondered frantically what he had to say to her.
Because she had the feeling that it was important, she did not spend any time at the mirror but merely took out some of the pins in her hair which had kept it tidy while she was riding, while Emily buttoned her white muslin gown at the back.
It was very plain but it was new, and the ribbons she had added to it were of the soft green of the first buds of spring.
Then at the last moment, because she felt that she should perhaps have put on her best sprigged muslin, Diona took two of the little white rosebuds that were in a vase on the dressing table and pinned them on the front of her gown.
“That’s ever so pretty, miss!” Emily exclaimed.
Diona smiled at her as she ran from the room and down the stairs to find the Marquis.
He was sitting, as she expected, in his favourite high-backed armchair at the side of the fine Adam mantelpiece.
Above it was a shield of the Irchester coat-of-arms painted on wood with his crest at the top.
Walking towards him, Diona thought the Marquis made a picture that should have been painted by some great artist and hung beside his ancestors in the picture gallery.
He was not smiling as she reached him, and because there was a serious expression in his grey eyes that she did not understand, she stood in front of him feeling a little nervous.
“W-what is it?” she asked. “I have not – done something – wrong?”
“No, of course not,” he replied, “but I want to talk to you about the future.”
Diona felt as if an icy hand clutched at her heart and she asked quickly,
“Has Mr. Nairn been – worrying you about his – contest?”
“He has certainly mentioned it,” the Marquis replied.
“I – I am afraid you will be very angry with me,” Diona said hesitatingly, “but – please – I cannot do what he – asks.”
“Why not?”
“It is something which I know my father and mother would – disapprove of my doing – and also – I cannot go to London.”
“Do you intend to tell me why?”
“N – no - I cannot – do that.”
She thought as she spoke that because she was being secretive he might be angry, and she looked down at him pleadingly as she said,
“Please – please try to understand – you know I am hiding and if I go to London there might be people who would – recognise me.”
She saw the look of surprise in the Marquis’s face before he remarked,
�
�I thought you told me you had never been to London?”
“That is true,” Diona said. “At the same time – I have met people who have come from London – and if I – played Mr. Nairn’s part – ”
Her voice broke off, and because she was feeling bewildered and afraid that the Marquis would be insistent with her, she went down on her knees beside his chair.
“Please – help me – ” she begged. “It is all such a muddle – and I have been so happy – here with – you.”
The Marquis looked at her and she had the feeling, although he did not speak, that he was somehow reaching towards her and understood.
Then he said very quietly,
“You say you have been happy with me, Diona, and as I also have been very happy with you, I have something to suggest.”
Her eyes were on his, and she wondered why he hesitated before he went on as if he was choosing his words,
“I realise that you are in hiding, and I hope one day you will trust me with your secret. In the meantime, as you cannot go on staying here indefinitely, I am going to suggest that I take you to London and keep you safe.”
“To – London?” Diona asked. “But I have to – work.”
“Not as a kennel maid.”
“Then – what can I do?”
She knew he was feeling for words before he replied,
“I have a small house where you and Sirius would be very comfortable and completely safe. I could not be with you all the time, but we could be together a great deal, and it would be possible for me occasionally to take you with me to one of my other houses, where we could ride.”
He realised as he finished speaking that Diona was staring at him in bewilderment, her eyes searching his as if trying to understand.
“I should feel safe with you,” she said, “but I do not – quite know why you should want me to – go to London – or how I could earn my – living.”
The Marquis put out his hand towards her, and after a moment’s hesitation she gave him hers. He drew her a little closer and put his arm round her shoulder.
Because he was touching her she could feel his strength and the vibrations passing between them that she had felt before.
Diona and a Dalmatian Page 9