A Golden Lie Read online

  “I am delighted to meet you,” the Earl smiled.

  Then before he could introduce Devona, the woman standing behind the Lord Lieutenant ran forward.

  “Dearest Gavin, how could you have disappeared from London in that mysterious way?” she asked. “I have been frantic wondering what had happened to you.”

  “I was informed of my uncle’s death,” he replied, “and therefore had to come to the country immediately.”

  “It was not in the newspapers,” the lady said.

  Looking at her, Devona thought that she was very attractive.

  She had long dark hair, dark flashing eyes and was extremely elegantly dressed. In fact, she looked to Devona exactly as she expected someone in the Social world would look.

  The Earl, however, said to Lord Walton,

  “Let me introduce Miss Devona Campbell, who has not met anyone in the County.”

  Lord Walton smiled and held out his hand.

  “I know there must be a reason for that,” he said. “I am delighted to meet you now.”

  Devona was then introduced to the woman who had called the Earl ‘dearest’.

  She was Lady Olga Swindon and the man standing behind her was Sir Erwell Rawsley, a man of over thirty who was very smartly dressed.

  He hailed the Earl by saying,

  “You certainly surprised everyone in London when you disappeared and I am only relieved to find you intact.”

  “Now you must tell us the whole mysterious history of your uncle’s life,” Lady Olga said. “I have been told how peculiar he was and how no one has been allowed in the house for years.”

  Her curiosity obviously annoyed the Earl, who said,

  “I hope you have had some refreshment. My butler tells me he brought in a bottle of champagne.”

  “We have been enjoying it,” Lord Walton replied, “and I only hope we have left you a glass.”

  “I hope so too,” the Earl muttered.

  He walked to the grog table to pour out a glass of champagne for Devona and himself.

  She was aware, as he did so, that Lady Olga was looking at her in what she felt was a hostile manner.

  “Would it be rude of me,” she said in an affected sweet voice, “to ask, Miss Campbell, what you are doing here?”

  “It is where I have lived for a long time.”

  All three guests stared at her.

  “You have been here for a long time?” Lord Walton said at last, “and none of us had any idea of it?”

  “There was no reason for me or my mother who was with me until she died, to go outside the estate,” she replied quietly.

  “Well, we must certainly take you outside now,” Sir Erwell said. “You must come to London. I know that everyone will want to meet you and you will make our famous beauties look to their laurels.”

  Devona thought it was rather embarrassing for him to speak in such a manner and she was relieved when the Earl put a glass of champagne into her hand and so she did not have to answer him.

  The Earl glanced at the clock.

  “As you have been kind enough to wait so long for me,” he said, “I feel I should offer you luncheon, if you have not arranged to have it at home.”

  Lady Olga slipped her arm through his.

  “Of course we want to stay for luncheon with you, darling Gavin,” she said. “It was just unfortunate that we arrived when you were out riding. But now I have found you again I am not going to let you disappear in a hurry!”

  She looked up at him with an intimate expression in her eyes and Devona thought it was rather gosh behaviour.

  Then she told herself that this was how she had read of ladies behaving in London and she was, however, sure that her mother would be shocked at anyone being so openly intimate in front of other people.

  She was now wondering if she could go to change her clothes before luncheon, but the butler was clearly used to unexpected guests appearing in his Lordship’s house.

  While the Earl was asking Lord Walton if he would like another glass of champagne, luncheon was announced.

  Devona wondered how the staff had managed it so quickly.

  Then Lady Olga said,

  “Your household, Gavin, is always so perfectly run. I believe, if there had been twenty of us arriving out of the blue, they would have still accommodated us without any trouble.”

  “I hope you are right,” the Earl replied.

  He detached Lady Olga’s arm from his and, turning to Lord Walton, suggested,

  “Shall I lead the way? Or can you remember what this house was like when my grandfather lived here?”

  “I was only a small boy at the time, but I remember watching an excellent game of cricket in the summer and attending a meet of the hounds in the winter.”

  “I hope those occasions will soon return,” the Earl said.

  He walked to the door, but Lady Olga gave a cry,

  “You are not going to live here surely? I want you in London.”

  The Earl made no answer, but walked ahead with Lord Walton and the rest of the party was obliged to follow behind them.

  Devona came last or she would have if Sir Erwell had not come to her side.

  “I want you to tell me the whole fascinating story,” he said, “of what has been happening here. I hope it’s true that the late Earl has left a great fortune.”

  He was walking very close to her and Devona felt somehow as if he was intruding on her.

  She quickened her pace and suggested,

  “You must ask his Lordship. I think perhaps it is a subject he would prefer not to talk about.”

  Sir Erwell laughed.

  “That’s impossible! Everyone is acutely interested in money and naturally we are all anxious to know if the rumours of the late Earl’s fortune are not exaggerated.”

  He lowered his voice before he added,

  “It is whispered about, pretty lady, that you are a big beneficiary!”

  Devona thought that this was something she had no wish to answer. She therefore turned her face away from him and walked a little more rapidly.

  When they entered the dining room, the places had been laid for the new guests and Lady Olga sat down on the Earl’s right.

  Devona hesitated as to where she should sit and then Lord Walton proposed,

  “As I am rather deaf, Narbrooke, I am going to sit next to you. I have so much to hear about what has been happening and I admit to being very intrigued.”

  He sat down next to the Earl.

  Devona reached for the seat next to him and to her surprise Sir Erwell said,

  “I can see I am going to be shut out at this luncheon because Olga will talk to Gavin. I am therefore going to sit next to the beautiful mysterious lady who no one has ever seen until now.”

  He then pulled a chair up next to Devona.

  Whilst the first course was being taken round, Lord Walton remarked,

  “I could hardly believe it was true when I learned yesterday afternoon that your uncle had died and had been buried without anyone local being aware of the occasion.”

  “I understand that he did not encourage visitors,” the Earl said rather briefly.

  “That is true,” Lord Walton replied. “But I expect to be informed as to what happens in this County and not left in complete ignorance.”

  “Then how did you find out what had happened?”

  Lord Walton smiled.

  “I happened to go into the Bank and the Manager who, of course, I have known for years, was very excited about the great fortune that your uncle has left and what a surprise it had been to you.”

  The Earl frowned.

  “I should hardly have thought,” he replied coldly, “that someone in his position would gossip. I have always understood that such personal matters were kept secret.”

  “Not in my County, my dear boy. He, of course, took me to his private room where I always see him when I am doing business. He then told me, as he thought it was his duty to do so, because I am the L
ord Lieutenant.”

  The Earl did not reply, but he was still frowning.

  Devona knew that he was really angry at the Bank Manager for being so indiscreet.

  Lady Olga put her hand on the Earl’s arm.

  “I am so glad for you, dearest Gavin,” she cooed. “I know what a struggle you have had and now you will be able to do everything you could not afford to do before.”

  The Earl did not reply.

  He was thinking that the last person he wanted to arrive here unexpectedly was Lady Olga.

  He had been having an affaire-de-coeur with her in London and, as so often happened where his interest in a woman was concerned, he had begun to find her boring and tiresome.

  He liked to be the hunter and not the hunted.

  She realised that his interest was not as intense as it had been and so she had been pursuing him relentlessly and thus it was really a relief when he was called away by Devona’s note informing him of his uncle’s death.

  Now she kept pawing him and addressing him in an intimate manner and he knew he was no longer interested in her and the sooner she returned to London the better.

  “It was so fortunate, Gavin,” she was saying, “that I managed to find out where you had gone.”

  “How did you do that?” the Earl asked abruptly

  “I was lucky,” she answered. “My lady’s maid is related to one of your grooms and, when she asked him what had happened to you, he told her that you had come here, so it was as easy as that.”

  The Earl thought angrily that it was always servants who gossiped, but there was nothing he could do about it.

  Now Lord Walton was asking,

  “What a mess this house is now in and the estate is a scandal. What do you intend doing about it, my boy?”

  “A great deal, but you must give me time, my Lord, to make my plans before I discuss them.”

  He felt that would silence a little of their curiosity.

  However, Lady Olga rambled on,

  “If you are going to restore this house, that will be thrilling. It’s quite large enough for us to give some lovely parties here.”

  Listening to the conversation, Devona heard Lady Olga use the word ‘us’.

  She felt as if a cold hand clutched her heart.

  If she was going to live in the house and be hostess to the Earl, there would certainly be no room for her.

  Perhaps Lady Olga was going to marry the Earl and if she did they would very certainly not want an unattached woman in The Hall, nor for that matter on the estate.

  ‘Then I shall have to go away,’ Devona thought forlornly.

  With difficulty she forced herself to listen to what Sir Erwell was saying.

  “I want you to let me take you to London,” he said, “and let me introduce you to a number of charming people who will be delighted to entertain you.”

  “I am not going – to London,” Devona replied in a low voice. “I want to stay here in the country where I have – always been.”

  “But you are far too beautiful to hide your face here among the cabbages,” Sir Erwell insisted. “There are balls, parties of every sort and, of course, the theatre which I am sure you would enjoy.”

  “It all sounds – very interesting,” Devona managed to say. “But I would rather ride the fastest horses than go to a ball – and I am only hoping that I can stay here.”

  There was a wistfulness in the way she spoke that Sir Erwell noticed.

  “I think,” he said, “that would be a waste of your looks and a waste of your money.”

  “Not if I buy some very fine horses,” she retorted.

  “Where do you intend to stable them?”

  For a moment she did not answer, but glanced up the table at the Earl.

  Lady Olga had raised her head close to his and was whispering something in his ear and she obviously did not want Lord Walton to hear what she was saying.

  They certainly made a very handsome couple and Devona looked away, aware that once again there was a pain in her heart.

  It was something she had never known before.

  “I hope I shall be able – to stable my horses here,” she said hesitatingly. “But, of course, I can have stables of my own.”

  “I can think of a great many other things that are more attractive than stables,” Sir Erwell remarked. “But if you are married your husband may have stables which will house your horses without any difficulty.”

  Devona did not answer and after a pause Sir Erwell asked,

  “Are you in love with anyone at the moment?”

  Devona looked at him in surprise.

  “No, of course not! I have lived here – for years without meeting anyone – except the present Earl’s uncle.”

  “I have heard that story,” Sir Erwell persisted, “but I did not believe it. How could you possibly hide yourself without any man finding you and falling in love with you?”

  “Easily enough, because, if you have been told the whole story, no one was allowed through the gates.”

  “The whole thing is incredible, at the same time it’s fascinating. Someone should write a book and make you the heroine and naturally there would be many applicants to be Prince Charming.”

  He looked at Devona in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

  She glanced down the table at the Earl and saw that he was looking at her.

  In fact, he was hoping that luncheon would not last long and that his uninvited guests would leave.

  He was bored with Lady Olga whispering in his ear that she had missed him and then asking him how much he had inherited on his uncle’s death.

  It was a subject he had no wish to discuss with her, but he was well aware she expected in consequence of this unexpected fortune that he would give her a very expensive present.

  He was quite prepared to do so if it meant that he could be rid of her!

  “I would like to have a talk with you,” Lord Walton was saying, “about your position in the County and if you would be prepared to take over the Fox Hounds.”

  He paused a moment before he went on,

  “The M.F.H. was asking me only last week to find someone to take his place. He said that he is getting on for sixty and found it too hard last year.”

  “I will certainly consider it,” the Earl replied. “But I am sure you have realised that all this has happened in a very short space of time and I am only just beginning to appreciate how much there is to be done in the house and on the estate.”

  “Of course, of course, my boy. I am not going to ask you to jump any fence too quickly and we are delighted to have you with us and I was only afraid that you would shut up the house and not attempt the restoration which it so obviously requires.”

  “I believe that, as my ancestors have lived here for nearly four hundred years,” the Earl said, “that would be a very wrong thing for me to do. Now that I can afford it, I will certainly restore it. We all know that the whole estate needs a great many people working on it.”

  “Which is just what we want and I shall be grateful, very grateful, Narbrooke, if that is your plan.”

  The Earl smiled.

  “As I have already said, you must give me a little time to draw my breath.”

  “In the meantime let me say how glad we are to have you,” Lord Walton pronounced very sincerely.

  When luncheon was over, to the Earl’s relief and also to Devona’s, Lord Walton said that they must leave.

  Devona found that Sir Erwell was becoming more and more embarrassing and, by the time coffee was being handed round, he was paying her compliments that made her blush.

  She only felt that he was repulsive.

  If he was the sort of man she was going to meet in London, then she had no wish to go there.

  She and the Earl accompanied Lord Walton into the hall to say goodbye.

  Sir Erwell took Devona’s hand in both of his and kissed it.

  Because she disliked the feeling of his lips on her skin, she tried
to pull her hand away, but he held onto it tightly.

  “You and I,” he said in a low voice, “are going to see a great deal of each other in the future. You are so enchanting, absolutely enchanting, and I shall be thinking of you every moment until I see you again.”

  He paused before he added,

  “And that will be soon, very very soon.”

  For some odd reason she could not quite understand Devona felt apprehensive.

  She thought that he was menacing her and she tried again to pull her hand away from his.

  Lord Walton was talking animatedly to the Earl and Lady Olga was still clinging to his arm.

  Sir Erwell drew Devona nearer to him as he moved towards the front door.

  She thought he was going to leave and therefore did not pull against him and for a brief moment they were out of earshot of the others.

  Sir Erwell then said in a low voice,

  “You may not believe it, but I have fallen head over heels in love with you from the moment I first saw you.”

  Devona did not answer him.

  She only turned her head to look at the horses that were waiting to take the guests away in an open carriage.

  “I am never going to lose you,” Sir Erwell added.

  Devona thought that he might have said more, but at that moment Lord Walton, talking loudly to the Earl, came to the front door.

  “I will show you the maps when you come over for luncheon tomorrow,” he was saying. “I am almost certain that there is a slate mine somewhere on your estate and it is shown quite clearly on a map which is, I think, a hundred years old.”

  “I shall look forward to seeing it,” the Earl replied.

  “I will expect you both at a quarter-to-one,” Lord Walton said. “I will send a carriage for you. I have a team of chestnuts I need your advice on, knowing what an expert you are on horses.”

  “Thank you, my Lord,” the Earl answered.

  To Devona’s relief Sir Erwell had now released her hand and Lord Walton took it.

  “Goodbye, Miss Campbell. I am delighted to have made your acquaintance and I am sure you will all be as interested as the Earl is in seeing the map I have of this estate which was drawn in 1730.”