Royalty Defeated by Love Read online

  “Be so kind as to fetch Miss Paxton to aid me,” she said.

  “Of course. Are you sure you can manage?”

  “Oh, I am as strong as a donkey,” she assured him cheerfully. “And I can assure you, Lady Alice will wish to be tended only by members of her own sex.”

  Luckily Katherine appeared at that moment and the two of them helped Alice into the house, where they laid her down on the sofa.

  Bettina knelt down by her head and Katherine, who had formed a tolerably good idea of the situation, stood between the sofa and Michael.

  Alice stirred and gave a little moan.

  “Michael – ”

  “Do not move, Lady Alice,” Bettina said solicitously.

  “You are quite safe and Lord Danesbury is just going to fetch you a glass of fresh spring water.”

  “Yes, indeed,” Michael agreed and hastened away.

  Thwarted, Alice was forced to lie back and be patient. When Michael returned with the glass he handed it to Katherine, who handed it to Bettina, who handed it in turn to Alice.

  Alice watched this byplay with cold, narrow eyes.

  “I am not well,” she whispered. “I cannot face the journey back to London.”

  Michael tensed, sensing danger, but Bettina spoke calmly.

  “Of course you cannot, but never fear. You can remain in this house until you are well. I will prepare your own bedroom.”

  “You are too kind,” Alice replied desperately, “but I would not dream of depriving you. Lord Danesbury must take me to the castle – ”

  “Indeed no!” Bettina said earnestly. “Never fear, you shall not be asked to risk your reputation in such a way. You will stay here and Lord Danesbury will return to his castle. Being a great gentleman, he will undertake not to visit you even once until you return home. You will do that, won’t you, my Lord.”

  “My word on it,” Michael concurred, looking at her with admiration.

  “I would not turn you out of your own home,” Alice pleaded to Michael, beginning to become desperate. “It is such a big place, you could still be there – ”

  “That would be most inadvisable,” Bettina asserted firmly. “In fact, it might even be better if Lord Danesbury visited your parents in London to tell them where you are.

  “Then everyone would know that you are here and he in London and so there would be no way he could possibly have compromised you. Will that not be a good idea?”

  She beamed at Alice, who stared back, glassy-eyed as she realised that she had met her match.

  Just when it seemed that the situation could not possibly become more fraught, Lady Lancing reappeared, looking this way and that to detect anything that might have escaped her.

  “My dear Lady Alice,” she enquired, sweeping forward, “are you ill? I have heard such alarming reports.”

  Bettina’s eyes gleamed. She knew the way her enemy’s mind worked and she knew how she could turn it to her advantage.

  “We were just arranging for Lady Alice to remain here as the guest of my father and myself until she has fully recovered,” she volunteered.

  Exactly as she had expected, Lady Lancing sat on this idea.

  “How kind, my dear Miss Newton, but I fear your little home is not quite what Lady Alice is used to.” She smiled at Alice. “You will of course come to stay with me, dear Lady Alice.”

  Agreeable visions of having an Earl’s daughter as her guest, of visits from Lord and Lady Randall, and endless chances to boast to her cronies, danced before Lady Lancing’s eyes, making her add,

  “In fact I hope I can tempt you to stay for a really long visit.”

  Alice had endured as much as she could stand. Her temper was rising and she realised that if she was forced to listen to any more of these provincials she would explode.

  She struggled to her feet.

  “You are very kind,” she managed to say, “but I believe I am now well enough to travel.”

  “I will call your coachman to the door immediately,” Michael offered. “And he will take you straight back to London.”

  He vanished hastily, giving thanks for Bettina’s quick wits.

  He instructed Alice’s coachman to be ready to depart at once for London and then walked back inside to announce,

  “Your coach is ready, Lady Alice.”

  Alice made one last try.

  “If I might have one moment alone with you – ?”

  “I would not dream of tiring you,” he replied promptly.

  Courtesy demanded that he proffer her his arm as she left the house, but Bettina and Katherine stuck close to them, giving Alice no chance to play any more of her tricks.

  Soon she was aboard the carriage and it was pulling away. She flung a reproachful look back at Michael, who stood, his hand on Bettina’s shoulder, watching her go.

  “You did it,” he murmured.

  “We did it,” she said.

  Suddenly he turned, making her turn as well, so that he could hold her by both shoulders.

  “No, you did it,” he said. “I could not have managed without you. You were wonderful.”

  Without warning he was overtaken by emotion. He tightened his hands on her shoulders and swept her into his arms. The next moment his lips were on hers in an exuberant kiss.

  It was so swift that Bettina was taken utterly by surprise. For a moment she could not react and when a glimpse of sanity returned, she realised that there was nothing she could do.

  Most likely Alice was still close enough to see them and if she struggled, or boxed his ears like the last time, Alice would see that too and be even more suspicious than she was already.

  So she stayed still in his arms, intending to let him feel how frozen she was. But she could not stay frozen. An insidious warmth was creeping over her and with it a sweetness that made her head spin.

  Now she knew how badly she had wanted to be kissed by him. In fact, she had secretly wanted just this, ever since that first time by the river.

  She knew that he was not for her. She had tried to be sensible, fighting off her growing love for him and then refusing to acknowledge it.

  But with this impulsive act he had brought her completely under his spell. She was lost, hopelessly in love, with no chance of hiding it from herself. Or perhaps even from him.

  It was really not fair for him to destroy her good resolutions like this. And why? To make a point to Lady Alice? What did he care for her feelings?

  At the thought that he was simply making use of her, her temper began to rise. Now she raised her hands and pressed them against him gently but firmly.

  “Let me go,” she muttered.

  He released her lips.

  “Bettina, I am sorry, I didn’t mean – ”

  “I know exactly what you meant,” she cried furiously. “This is unpardonable. Release me this instant.”

  “Don’t be angry with me – ”

  “Sir, you are not behaving like a gentleman and if you do not let me go at once, I shall box your ears so hard that your head will not stop spinning for a week.”

  Suddenly he seemed to understand her.

  “Oh, Heavens, I am sorry – I forgot – ”

  He released her. Bettina took a swift look round and was glad to see that Alice’s carriage had vanished and nobody was in the road.

  “Forgot what?” she seethed.

  “Him! Your fiancé. I just cannot seem to remember him, but of course if you are in love with him – ”

  “Oh, go away!” she cried and rushed back into the house.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Michael and Win dined alone that evening. Both were feeling drained and tired. They spoke little over the food and then took their port into the library.

  “Who would have believed it?” Win mused. “Mind you, even I have to admit that she is incredibly beautiful.”

  “Incredibly,” Michael murmured.

  “Such eyes!”

  “Wonderful eyes,” Michael echoed.

  “You co
uld not be blamed if – mind you, it was a shock when I looked out of the window and saw you holding her.”

  Michael tensed and looked at him sharply.

  “You saw that?”

  “I saw everything, old fellow. For a moment I thought you were a goner, but Miss Newton came to your rescue. Never known a woman with such presence of mind. Of course, Katherine helped, but it was Miss Newton who saved the day.”

  Michael allowed himself to relax.

  “You – saw Alice faint?” he asked carefully.

  “Yes, of course. What did you think I meant?”

  “Nothing, nothing,” he said hastily. “I was just being sure.”

  To change the subject, he said,

  “You called Miss Paxton ‘Katherine’.”

  Win jumped as though someone had pinched him.

  “Did I? I meant Miss Paxton of course.”

  “Not playing fast and loose, are you, Win? She is the Vicar’s daughter.”

  “Hang that! Do you think it’s just respect for her father that makes me – I mean – she is the finest, most wonderful – I’m going to bed!”

  He drained his port and hurried out of the library, leaving Michael a prey to astonishment.

  So old Win had fallen at last, not for a dazzling beauty or an heiress, but for a girl with nothing to recommend her but a pair of fine eyes and a gentle, determined character.

  Just what Win needed, really!

  But while he enjoyed these thoughts, Michael recognised that he was simply putting off other thoughts – about himself and Bettina.

  They were troubled, a mysterious combination of uneasiness and delight.

  He remembered the warmth of the sun and the touch of Bettina’s lips against his.

  ‘I should have tried harder to keep away from her,’ he reflected. ‘But I could not help myself.’

  He poured himself another glass of port as his meditation took a darker turn.

  ‘What’s the use? She doesn’t want me. How can I allow myself fall in love with a girl who is always angry with me and threatening me with violence? Box my ears, indeed!’

  He sighed as something else occurred to him.

  ‘Of course, if she really is engaged, she has every reason to be angry with me. But is she?’

  He had begun to disbelieve in the mysterious fiancé,

  thinking him no more than a ruse to keep himself at a distance. But Bettina’s rage with him today had made him think again.

  He probably existed. And would soon arrive to sweep her away.

  Michael discovered that he would mind this very much indeed.

  ‘Why do these strange things always happen to me?’ he mused.

  But even as he asked the question, he knew the answer. He was seeing strange things because he himself was strange.

  Just as no one else he had ever met had possessed a castle like his, he would continue to be strange and different when it was finished and people would still be astounded at what he had achieved.

  ‘This is a great task,’ he told himself. ‘Suddenly I have become aware of issues I never even thought about – history – something I rarely bothered with, at least not in relation to myself.

  ‘But now I see the great sweep of centuries, all seeming to converge on this castle, of which I am the trustee as much as the owner. Father to son for generations and in my turn I shall pass it on to my son, and after me, my family will continue the legacy.’

  In this new mood the thought of having a son pleased him. Two or three sons, perhaps, and daughters too. And a wife –

  But what kind of a wife?

  Who, among the women he knew, would be content to live in the country and love the castle as he did?

  Not Alice or anyone of her ilk. He felt more distant from Society females now than ever before.

  Not a fashionable lady, then. A girl with her roots in the country, who loved the world he loved. A girl with golden hair and shining eyes and a quiet, gentle manner.

  But not an insipid girl. She must have spirit and courage enough to stand up to him. He would rather enjoy her giving him as good as she received, as long as she loved him.

  Abruptly he rose and walked upstairs to bed. not ready to think any further on this subject. beginning to alarm him. He was It was

  *

  Michael was up early next morning and hurried down to breakfast.

  He was just enjoying the fish which Mrs. Brooks had cooked for him, when the post arrived.

  “I will open it while I finish breakfast,” Michael said.

  There were six letters. Most looked like bills, but on one the handwriting was familiar.

  “Peter,” he exclaimed.

  He meant his friend Sir Peter Heston, who had been one of the first to warn him, several weeks earlier, that he was expected to propose marriage to Alice.

  He lived at the centre of Society and always knew the latest gossip.

  Perhaps now, Michael thought, he had written to say that his disappearance had been successful.

  ‘Except that I saw Alice only yesterday,’ he thought. ‘So I have not been as successful as all that. He is probably warning me that she is on her way here.”

  But the news was much, much worse than that.

  Just for a moment he felt as if the writing on the letter was swimming in front of his eyes.

  It said,

  “Dear Michael,

  I hear from your servants that you are working very hard in the country and have no intention, as far as they know, of returning to London. I therefore hope I am not bringing you bad news.

  But the fact is that you are by no means out of danger.

  Alice’s father, has, for the moment, stopped abusing your name every time he visits his club.

  I thought perhaps he had given up the chase and was looking elsewhere for his son-in-law.

  Unfortunately I heard yesterday that he has been to see the Queen and he asked to see her privately. It is certain that he was going to speak to Her Majesty about you.

  So perhaps the most sensible thing you can do is to leave immediately for the Continent.

  You will doubtless find much to entertain you in Paris or Italy.

  If you stay away for a month or so the whole matter will have blown over, or the girl will have found other prey.

  The best of luck, old man, and I only hope that you will be able to escape. But get away fast, as once Her Majesty gives an order she expects it to be carried out immediately.

  Send me a letter from the Continent, giving me your address. I might easily find myself joining you!

  With all blessings for the future,

  Yours,

  Peter.”

  PS: The Prince of Wales has been asking after you as well.

  Michael read the letter through once and then again. It seemed to him that he was caught in a trap, from which it was impossible to escape.

  If he fled abroad, as his friend had suggested, he knew he would be longing, every moment, to be back at the castle.

  What was more, he was quite certain that the works could not be completed as he wanted, unless he was present to supervise every detail.

  ‘What can I do? What the hell can I do?’ he asked himself. ‘Without me, everything will slip back and I will lose everything I have gained.’ He strode to the open window feeling as if he needed fresh air.

  ‘Oh, help me God, what can I do?’ He looked up to the sky, glorious with the early morning sun.

  And he remembered the sun of yesterday, which had turned Bettina’s hair to gold.

  He recalled the colour had seemed to glint at him when his lips touched hers.

  It was a moment of wonder and glory – the glory he was striving to create at the castle when restored to its original splendour and the garden was as beautiful as the Major’s.

  And then, almost as if the answer came from Heaven itself, he understood how he could prevent the Queen or anyone else, from forcing him to marry Alice.

  ‘It’s impossible!�
�� he said to himself. ‘Crazy! Absurd. She will box my ears for even daring to suggest it!’

  But it was indeed a way to save the castle and to save himself.

  He was not quite certain which was the most important.

  But whatever the answer, there was no alternative.

  It was this or nothing.

  After Alice’s visit he felt even less desire to marry her than before.

  In her own way she had frightened him so much that he was ashamed of himself for feeling as he did.

  But that left only the inspiration that had just come to him, an idea so extraordinary that he could almost laugh at himself for thinking of it.

  He returned to his breakfast without tasting what he was eating or drinking. Just as he was finishing, Brooks came in to say that the man who was working on the roof wished to speak to him.

  Michael hurried out.

  “What is the trouble, Cooper?” he asked.

  “I think your Lordship should climb up and look at what we’re doing,” he answered. “I’m sure that we should make the roof a little stronger than we planned. If the wind was strong it might easily blow away or damage the top of the castle.”

  Michael followed him immediately and when they reached the turret, he found that he was quite right.

  “As it is,” Cooper pointed out, “the winter winds would tear it to pieces.”

  “They certainly would,” Michael said. “I should have thought of it before. The roof looks very attractive but it is too light. Double its strength and it should be strong enough to withstand any gale, however violent.”

  As he walked down the stairs he was thinking that the gale that was facing him at the moment could not be pushed aside so easily.

  ‘Suppose if I had not been here to make the decision?’ he mused. ‘What would they have done? That settles it. I cannot leave. It will have to be the other way.’

  *

  At the other end of the village the Major had risen in a bad temper.

  If there was one thing he found incredibly boring it was to be forced to attend the extremely tiresome meetings called by the Lord Lieutenant every month.

  He insisted on everyone of any importance in the locality attending. There was usually nothing vital to discuss but it made the Lord Lieutenant feel that he mattered to the County.