“I hate people who drink,” she said almost speaking to herself.
“I hate them too, Velina. It is something that I will never do myself.”
“I knew that before you told me,” Velina answered.
Their eyes met and for a moment it was difficult to look away.
Then the Marquis said,
“We must stop under those trees. They are perfect cover for us and the horses. I know that we are going to enjoy our picnic.”
“Yes, we will,” Velina enthused.
They rode towards the trees.
She thought that the Marquis was undoubtedly the kindest and most charming man she had ever come across.
CHAPTER SIX
The publican’s wife had provided a delicious picnic for them and Johnny was thrilled with it.
“Can I please have some more?” he asked after he had eaten a mutton sandwich very quickly.
Velina laughed and gave him half of hers.
“I cannot have you starving yourself,” the Marquis chuckled.
“I think a man’s need is much more important than a woman’s,” she replied.
She knew that this it was an argument they would enjoy and as Johnny ate they talked, each trying to cap the other’s statement.
It was very quiet in the field that was empty of any animals and the only sound was birds singing in the trees above them.
“We have not too far to go now,” the Marquis said. “In fact I think tonight will be the last time we will have to stay by the road before you reach your aunt.”
It flashed through Velina’s mind that that meant he would ride away and then she would never see him again.
She was about to protest when Johnny exclaimed,
“Look!”
He pointed his finger at a man on a horse who was moving very swiftly towards them.
It occurred to Velina that perhaps it was the owner of the field and that they should not be trespassing.
As the horse came nearer to them, she gave a little gasp.
The man riding it had a black scarf pulled up over his chin and he also wore a mask over his eyes.
“It’s a – highwayman!” she gasped.
The Marquis had been pouring lemonade out of a bottle and had not seen the horse approaching.
He looked up in astonishment.
Then the highwayman rode right up to them and he pointed at Samson with his gun.
“I’ll take that ’orse!” he said in a harsh ugly voice, “and any money you ’ave in your pocket.”
For a moment the Marquis stared at him.
Then he said to the highwayman,
“I think we can discuss this between us.”
“I ain’t discussin’ nothin’,” the man snarled at him. “You gives me the ’orse or I’ll blow your brains out.”
He was pointing his gun directly at the Marquis and Velina thought for a moment that there was nothing he could do.
Then she remembered that she had put in the side pocket of her riding jacket, a small pistol, which she had taken from her father’s gun room before she ran away.
Because the weather had been so hot and she had always had her jacket undone she had hardly noticed that it was there and she thought that it would be safer there than in the bag on Fireball’s saddle.
Quickly and without thinking, she pulled it out and shot at the highwayman.
He was looking at the Marquis and not at her and the bullet went into his arm and the vibration of the shot seemed to echo through the trees.
The highwayman gave a shout and almost fell off his horse.
As he did so, he very obviously had his finger on the trigger of his own gun and the shot went off into the air harmlessly.
It disturbed his horse which, after turning round, bucked furiously and started to gallop away.
As the highwayman was now very unsteady in the saddle when the horse bucked again, the man fell heavily to the ground.
It all happened so rapidly that Velina could only stare at the prostrate man, while his horse was galloping towards the other end of the field.
It was the Marquis who went into action swiftly.
He picked up Johnny and put him onto Hunter’s back.
Then he turned towards Velina and picked her up.
As he did so, because she was so overcome at what had just occurred, she clung to him for a moment.
Bending his head he breathed,
“Thank you, darling,” and kissed her.
Velina could hardly believe it was happening.
Then the Marquis lifted her gently onto the back of Fireball.
As she took the reins, he turned and then picked up Jimmie, who almost jumped onto Samson’s back.
Then, as he called out, “follow me,” he started to ride out of the field and back onto the road.
Velina and Johnny followed him obediently.
When they reached the road, they had to put their horses into a gallop to catch up with the Marquis.
They rode for at least a mile and a half at great speed and without speaking.
Then, as the Marquis began to ride a little slower, Velina moved Fireball beside him to ask in a whisper,
“Is he dead?”
The Marquis shook his head.
“No, your bullet hit him in the arm and he is now doubtless unconscious from the fall. But the last thing we want is anyone who heard the shot questioning us about what happened.”
“Of course,” Velina replied, “but it all took place so quickly.”
“You were really superb,” the Marquis smiled.
He looked at her as he spoke.
She was conscious that his lips had touched hers and, because it made her feel shy, she looked away at the road ahead.
Only when they had ridden a little further and the place where they had eaten luncheon was far behind them, did she feel as if the Marquis’s lips were still pressing on hers.
It gave her a strange feeling that she had never had before.
She had never been kissed on the lips by a man.
It was something she had sometimes thought about and wondered what it would feel like.
Her father and his old friends always kissed her on the cheek as women did and when she kissed them back, she was usually aware of the roughness of their skin or the tickling feeling of their beards.
Now that the Marquis’s lips had touched hers, she felt as if something strange was happening in her heart.
‘He was just being grateful to me for saving him from losing Samson,’ she told herself.
Yet she knew it was more than that.
It was something she had wondered about at night, but had evaded in the daytime.
Now she definitely knew, and there was no doubt about it, that she did not want to lose him.
When she reached her aunt’s house in Yorkshire, he would doubtless say goodbye and continue on the journey he had arranged before she had asked to ride with him.
‘If I lose him now,’ she thought, ‘I will never see him again. But it is doubtful if he will want to see me.’
She thought that she had never been so happy or so intrigued by anyone as she had been during these last few days when they had ridden together.
When they were not riding, they had then discussed every subject that was of interest to either of them.
If she was honest, Velina felt as if she had been in a dream.
Now she was convinced with it all coming to an end that she would have to step back into reality.
The Marquis was now moving faster again and it was impossible to ask him any questions.
But two hours later when Johnny’s horse seemed to be sagging a little and Velina thought that he must be tired, the Marquis asked if they wanted to stop.
“It’s very hot,” Velina replied, “and to tell the truth, as we had not quite finished luncheon, I am rather thirsty.”
“I’m thirsty too,” Johnny chipped in. “I want some of that nice lemonade to drink.”
&nbs
p; “Then we will stop at the next inn,” the Marquis promised. “I think now it is safe enough for us to do so.”
He could see the question in Velina’s eyes before she asked it.
“If the highwayman,” he explained to her quietly, “is discovered before he has been able to move, there will be a great deal of excitement about it and the people in the village will be asking who shot him in the arm.”
“Yes – of course,” Velina sighed, “and they must not think it is us.”
“They may indeed think so,” the Marquis replied, “but we must not be available to give them an answer.”
She now understood why they had ridden so far and so fast before resting.
“So you must be very careful,” he said to Johnny, “what you say in front of people. If they think that we can give them any information about the highwayman, it might take a long time and we might have to appear at a Police enquiry.”
“You are quite right, we must get away as far as we can, Neil.” Velina agreed. “Perhaps we should go a few more miles before I quench my thirst.”
“It’s not as bad as all that,” the Marquis answered, “but, if we go into the yard of an inn, we can drink without giving up our horses. I am sure we will find another place five or six miles away where we can stay the night.”
Velina knew that he was being sensible about it and she was quite prepared to do anything he suggested.
They found a small roadside inn as he had expected three or four miles further on.
When they rode into the yard, there was a pump at which they could give the horses a drink.
Velina said that she would do it, while the Marquis went inside to find some lemonade for her and Johnny.
However, he ordered a somewhat stronger drink for himself.
No one knew better than he did that it would be a disaster for them to be concerned with the highwayman.
To begin with he would have found it difficult not to say who he was, which would have meant that, because of his title, the incident would be reported avidly in all the national newspapers.
Then there would be more explaining as to why he was accompanied by an extremely pretty girl and a young boy who did not belong to either of them.
He ruminated that anyone with a pencil and paper could write a most compelling story about their unlucky confrontation with the highwayman.
When he returned with large glasses of lemonade for Velina and Johnny, there was also a plate of biscuits and slices of cake.
“That’s scrumptious!” Johnny exclaimed. “I didn’t have time to finish up all my luncheon.”
“You must forget about it,” the Marquis answered, “and no one is to be told about the highwayman.”
“It was very frightening,” Johnny murmured. “He wanted Samson, but he might have taken Hunter as well.”
“He might have done that or, if he had gone away with Samson and Fireball, we would have been left with his dilapidated-looking nag to carry us all and perhaps you would have had to run along behind with Jimmie!”
Johnny laughed.
“I did not think the ’ighwayman’s ’orse was a good one,” Johnny said, “but what will ’appen to ’im now?”
“I expect some kind farmer will pick him up and see that he is comfortable and well-fed and he will soon forget that he has ever had to carry a wicked man like the highwayman.”
“Now drink up your lemonade,” Velina prompted.
“Yes, we must move on,” the Marquis said. “Even if we are tired, I want to be many miles away from what was left of the highwayman before we stop for the night.”
It was an issue that Velina did not want to argue about, but she did realise that Johnny was exhausted.
When he was mounted, she told him to start riding towards the entrance of the yard.
She was holding Samson when the Marquis joined her and in a whisper she said to him,
“Johnny is becoming tired and you are right for us to be safe after all, but he is only a little boy.”
“And you are a very beautiful and brave girl,” the Marquis murmured.
There was a note in his voice and a look in his eye that made her feel shy.
When he lifted her onto Fireball, she said,
“You must do what you think is best, Neil, and I don’t want to argue with you about it.”
“You can say anything you like,” he replied. “And I have a great deal to say to you when we are alone.”
He turned away as he spoke and mounted Samson.
Then they were away, but now the Marquis rode slower.
About six-thirty they came to quite a pleasant little village and it had a better built and larger inn than they had encountered before.
They trotted into the yard as they always did and found for the first time that there was an ostler to help them with their horses.
“I had better see if there is a room here for us to stay the night,” the Marquis said to the man.
“There be plenty of empty beds,” the ostler replied. “We’ve ’ad a bad season and things ain’t goin’ as well as they ought to be.”
The Marquis left Samson with him and walked into the inn.
There was no doubt that the publican was delighted to accommodate them.
When he ordered dinner and said that he wanted it to be a specially appetising one, the cook, who he gathered was not the publican’s wife, was then full of suggestions as to what they might enjoy.
In fact it was after such an excellent meal that the publican blurted out apologetically,
“I’m sure you’ll understand, sir, if I asks you to pay somethin’ in advance. Things have been bad up here this past year and a number of visitors having spent the night found their pockets were empty in the mornin’.”
“I can understand your difficulties,” the Marquis agreed, “and, of course, you are being sensible.”
He put several gold sovereigns down on the table and added,
“If the bill tomorrow morning comes to more than this, I will, of course, settle it. I assure you that I have the cash to do so.”
It was not surprising when they came in after seeing that the horses were comfortable, that they were taken to what the Marquis was sure were their best rooms.
There were two large rooms for Velina and himself facing the front of the inn, with a smaller one on the other side of the passage for Johnny and the publican made no fuss about him having Jimmie with him.
Velina was afraid that they might, as this inn was obviously greatly superior to the places they had stayed in previously.
She was delighted to find that there was a bathroom on the same floor as their bedrooms and she was sure that it was the only one in the inn.
When Velina tried to see if the hot water worked, it actually came out of the tap.
“Johnny must have a bath first,” she suggested.
As Johnny ran along the passage to have a look at it, she said to the Marquis,
“I see that there is a shop across the street. Do you think you could be very kind and buy Johnny a clean shirt which he badly needs and also a jumper. I can give you the money now or when you come back.”
“I should have thought of it myself,” the Marquis replied. “But we have not seen a shop that would have sold that sort of item, have we?”
“We did not look for one and I expect we would have found one if we had, but I kept quiet about it.”
He smiled at her.
“You are a remarkable girl. But I understand that, when we do arrive at your aunt’s, we must try to look our best. Otherwise she may well refuse to have such down-at-heel travellers in her house!”
Velina grinned, but she did not contradict him.
He went off to the shop taking with him Johnny’s shirt. Although it had been washed, it was still stained in some places and was definitely torn in others.
The Marquis came back with two shirts that might have been bought in a shop in London.
There was also a very nice red wooll
en jumper that was very different from the ragged one he was wearing that had grown worse every time he took it off or put it on.
“You are clever to have found these,” Velina said. “I know that Johnny will be thrilled with them.”
“If you are going to worry now about my clothes,” the Marquis replied, “I assure you that I have a clean shirt in my bag and so I hope you will not be ashamed of me.”
“I am not likely to be,” Velina answered, “when you have been so kind.”
She had carried up from the yard the bags that hung from Fireball’s saddle and they were standing just inside the bedroom that Velina was to use.
The Marquis looked at her intently and then said,
“I have a feeling that if we have a chance we should all go shopping before we see your aunt.”
“What you are saying politely,” Velina replied, “is that we look almost like tramps. It’s not surprising since we have ridden so far and there have been such terrible things happening to us.”
The Marquis did not answer and walked away to his own room.
Velina made her hair as tidy as she could, hoping that when she went downstairs to dinner he would not be ashamed of her.
Actually there was no one in the dining room to see them.
Johnny, after his bath, was so pleased with his clean shirt and new jumper that he did not appear to be as tired as Velina expected him to be.
However, he had his meal first before theirs was ready and Velina then took him upstairs to put him to bed.
“I want to stay up and see what you are eating,” Johnny grumbled.
“You must be strong and fit enough to ride Hunter tomorrow,” Velina told him. “If you don’t have your sleep tonight, you might go to sleep when you are riding him and fall to the ground, then he could go on without you.”
“Hunter would wait for me,” Johnny told her. “He loves me as I love ’im.”
“Of course he does, but you must not make Jimmie jealous.”
“I love Jimmie and I love you,” Johnny said.
“And I love you,” Velina answered. “Now you go to sleep and tomorrow you may be staying in a very big house, much bigger than this.”
“I’ll like that and Jimmie’ll like it too.”
“He has been a very good dog coming all this long way with us,” Velina replied.
A Road to Romance Page 11