This Way to Heaven Read online

  “But his Lordship may be back soon – ”

  Jasmina held out a hand in an abrupt gesture.

  “I am sure he will be very busy in London and, as you can see, I cannot remain here at the castle, Mary. Why should I? I have always been an uninvited guest here and Richard – the Earl – has not asked me to stay!”

  Mary swallowed her reply as Jasmina turned away, fearing she had revealed too much.

  She looked in horror at the bright tears brimming in the girl’s big blue eyes.

  This was all wrong, but there was nothing she could say to make it better.

  And so a small group gathered on the steps of the castle to wave goodbye to Jasmina as she rode away only accompanied by a young groom.

  Mary had insisted she did not travel through the pass to the next valley on her own.

  Although the snow had partially melted, the going was still bad and Mary knew it was more than her job was worth to allow a visitor to the castle to travel without an escort and, reluctantly, Jasmina had agreed.

  George Radford joined Mary on the steps. He had come to the castle to fetch his little pony, the one that had played such an important part in the Earl’s rescue.

  He gazed up at the sky. The blue of the afternoon had gone and it was a sullen grey again.

  “Bad weather is on its way again, Mary, my love. These old moors haven’t given us much respite after all.”

  She nodded, waving until the two horses were out of sight.

  “I reckon Miss Winfield will just have time to get across to Debbingford before the snow returns! Oh, if only it had snowed again last night, the Earl would have been forced to stay at the castle and they may well have sorted out everything today.”

  George ruffled his dark red hair.

  “Gentry don’t always think the same way as us.”

  Mary sighed.

  “Then the gentry are stupid! Those two are made for each other. Anyone can see that.”

  George took her hand between his.

  “You look real upset, sweetheart. There’s nothin’ you can do.” He bent his head and gave her a quick kiss. “Now, how about askin’ Ma Rush to make me a nice meat pasty before I ’ead back to the farm?”

  Mary bit her lip.

  She realised that, as much as she loved George, the chance of them ever getting married was slim.

  He was determined never to sell his rundown farm to the Earl and without that money, they would never have enough to set up home together.

  For some reason Mary had been thrilled to think of a love story coming to a happy ending in front of her and now – well, she reckoned Miss Winfield was as unhappy as she was herself.

  With tears in her eyes she turned away back into the castle.

  George followed her frowning. He was a hard-headed farmer, a man of few words, unused to showing his emotions or even admitting to having many tender feelings.

  But he did love Mary and hated to see her so upset. And apparently it was just because the Earl’s romance with Miss Winfield seemed to have fallen through!

  He paused at the top of the steps to gaze out across the grassy slope towards the lake and on to the distant pass in the hills that led to Debbingford.

  Big fat flakes of snow were already falling and if it continued to fall and the weather closed in again, George reckoned that the Earl might find it difficult to return to the castle for some time.

  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

  The Earl was a Lord and an aristocrat, but beneath all that he was just a man, the same as himself.

  Did he understand women any more than he did?

  The redheaded farmer had the oddest feeling that the Earl had gone to London believing that his young lady would still be here at the castle when he returned.

  Females had flights of fancy that mere men did not. Miss Winfield had rushed away to Debbingford and now his Mary was all of a bother over the situation.

  ‘Well, I don’t much care about ’is Lordship and Miss Winfield, but I’m damned if I’ll ’ave Mary upset!’

  And with a determined look on his face, George made his way back inside the castle.

  *

  Two days later, the snow that had fallen had frozen over once again.

  The pond in the village of Debbingford was frozen solid and the local children had been skating on it in happy excitement at every opportunity.

  However, today they were either in the schoolhouse or helping their parents on their farms, so Jasmina had the pond to herself, her blades cutting smoothly through the ice as she circled round and round.

  The cold air stung her eyes and throat and this was the excuse she gave herself for the tears that froze on her pink cheeks.

  They certainly were not tears of regret for the Earl of Somerton, she told herself crossly. She refused to live a life looking back at what might have been.

  She skated round the pond once again, slowly this time.

  She loved her relatives, who had warmly welcomed her. The Parson was an elderly sweet, kind-hearted gentleman, if somewhat absent-minded.

  He could muddle up Jasmina with her grandmother, who had been his sister, as apparently they looked very much alike.

  The Parsonage was also home to his two daughters, Hope and Faith, spinsters who were overjoyed to meet their American relative and did all in their power to spoil her dreadfully.

  ‘Yes, I am having a lovely time here,’ Jasmina said to herself. ‘And I refuse to think of Richard any more. As soon as Christmas is over, I will be heading back down to London and then across the ocean to America. What a lot I shall have to tell my friends and family there!’

  And what a lot she would have to hide from them!

  The thought flashed through her like an arrow.

  She allowed the memories of her time at Somerton Castle to flood through her mind – she could picture the Earl’s dark eyes looking down at her, still feel the warmth of his lips on hers.

  Suddenly Jasmina let out a little scream.

  Someone had skated up behind her and was pulling her round, his hand on her arm –

  “Miss Winfield! I claim the next dance!”

  “Richard!”

  The name was scarcely past her lips when she was pulled close to him, his arm was around her waist and they were skating, dancing together across the sparkling ice.

  Held closely in his arms they sped round the pond, their blades cutting patterns together, their laughter rising up towards Heaven itself.

  Jasmina cast a glance up at him.

  The Earl was smiling, all the dark depression had vanished and he looked so young and so handsome.

  She wished they could dance like this forever.

  She felt as though she was in Paradise and that somehow the brass doors had opened and she had walked through arm in arm with her beloved man.

  But at last their dance came to an end as the pale sun dipped behind the square Norman Church tower and the temperature began to fall.

  The Earl braked to a dead halt in a shower of ice and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

  “You ran away from me, Jasmina,” he murmured solemnly, “that is why I have come to kidnap you to take you back to the castle where you belong.”

  Jasmina stared up into his face, her eyes two blue shining stars.

  “I did not run away from you, Richard. I came here because I was scared you did not love me. You left me no word and I could not presume – ”

  The Earl stopped her words with a kiss.

  “I was at fault. Forgive me, darling girl. I thought you realised how I felt, that you would stay at the castle and wait for me to return. It was not until George Radford telephoned me – ”

  “George telephoned you?”

  Richard chuckled at the expression on her face.

  “Yes, indeed. It was so unexpected and alarming. He obviously doesn’t use a telephone often and thought he had to shout at the top of his voice! I think I could have heard him in London without the use of the telephone
!”

  “But what did he say?”

  “Not a lot, he just told me that Miss Winfield had departed for Debbingford, that it was snowing hard and if I didn’t come back to Yorkshire immediately I was a bigger damn fool than he had thought!”

  “Richard!”

  The Earl laughed.

  “It was impertinence of the highest kind, but he will always deserve my undying gratitude. And I know exactly how to reward him.

  “But at the moment, he has instructions to find the tallest Christmas tree he can and carry it to the castle. It will need decorating, so will you please come home with me for Christmas, Jasmina? Will your relations allow you to stay there unchaperoned or do I need to kidnap you for real, because I am never letting you go again!”

  Jasmina smiled tenderly, her eyes full of joy.

  “You have no need to kidnap me, I shall come most willingly with you. And I am sure one of my cousins will be thrilled to accompany me, if not both of them!”

  Richard smoothed back the golden curls that were escaping their bonds and framing her face.

  “And will you be my wife, Miss Jasmina Winfield? Will you do me the greatest honour any woman can bestow on a man and give me your hand in marriage?”

  Jasmina stood on tiptoe and even though she knew she should sound suitably demure and modest, she kissed him, laughing at the surprised expression that crossed his face before he returned her embrace.

  “I would love to be your wife, Richard!” she sighed eagerly. “It is my heart’s desire above all else.”

  “And you will not mind giving up your American independence to become the Countess of Somerton with all the responsibilities that title brings?”

  Jasmina smiled tenderly.

  “I believe I shall always keep my independent spirit and I am sure that you would never want to curb it. But I look forward to everything the future holds.

  “And most of all, I look forward to sharing our love together in this beautiful country, which I shall delight in making mine. And I know that in time I shall be able to travel with you to Missouri and show you the wonders of my world as well.”

  “And your parents? What will they say? I must speak to your father. Will he object to you living so far away? Surely they will miss you.”

  Jasmina sighed.

  It was the only small cloud on her horizon.

  “Yes, they will miss me. But they are not old, they love to travel and I am sure they will visit here many times.

  “St. Louis is often called the ‘Gateway to the West’, as it is where the wagon trains all set off, taking settlers out to distant parts of America. Well, this time it will be the gateway back to the Old World.”

  Richard kissed her again.

  “I never thought I could find such happiness. I feel as though I have been locked inside a dark room and only now can I open the door and see the light. You have saved me, Jasmina, saved me from a life spent in dreary darkness and guilt and I will always love you for it.

  “Now, let us go and tell your relations our news and plan for our festivities. This will be the happiest and best Christmas the castle has seen for many years!”

  *

  And it was indeed a wonderful joy-filled time full of colour and music and laughter.

  The staff told each other that there had never been such a happy Christmas at the castle with branches of holly and greenery in every room and the giant Christmas tree standing in the Great Hall ablaze with candles.

  *

  But Christmas was just a happy memory, the snow and ice vanished and the sky a cloudless spring blue when the most important day of Jasmina’s life dawned.

  The Earl had been determined to marry in the local Church and not in the great Minster at York.

  The fields were full of daffodils and newborn lambs gambolled in the fields as the wedding guests gathered at the old Norman church in Somerton village.

  Every pew was packed, the American guests proud and happy to witness such a glorious event of a daughter of the New World marrying a son of the Old.

  Jasmina’s mother was sitting next to the Duke and Duchess of Harley. The Duchess, of course, held herself completely responsible for the romance.

  “After all,” she said with a twinkle in her eye, “if I hadn’t left her alone, they might never have met!”

  In a pew just behind the aristocratic guests sat the castle staff resplendent in new clothes. Mary and George Radford sat on the other side of the Church.

  They had been married a fortnight earlier and had been very proud that the guests of honour at their wedding had been the Earl and Miss Winfield.

  Mary was no longer the housekeeper at the castle. She was now a farmer’s wife for the Earl had kept his word and repaid George in the best way he knew how.

  The Earl and George now jointly owned the Radford farm and it would stay in both families forever. The newly improved drainage system was nearly complete and whatever the land produced would be shared equally.

  The Church organ sounded, the joyful notes surrounding the congregation and all eyes turned to the door.

  In the back pew sat Florence smiling happily. Her new spring coat was bright blue with brass buttons that shone in the soft candlelight.

  She was with her father and not with the other staff, because Florence was no longer working at the castle either!

  Mr. and Mrs. Winfield had offered to take her and her father back to America with them when they left. They were going to work for the family in Missouri and travel on a big ship across the world to another country and see all those strange places with strange names like Mississippi!

  Florence’s reward for her bravery was so exciting she could not stop smiling.

  Then as the Church doors opened, her eyes became wide with wonder.

  Jasmina walked slowly past on her father’s arm.

  She looked like an angel, the pure white of her lace dress and the long veil that trailed behind her in a wide fan gleaming in the dusky candlelight.

  She was carrying a great sheaf of white lilies and roses, whilst the flowers in her headdress were all wild primroses picked from the hedgerows around Somerton that very morning.

  Richard, the Earl of Somerton, turned, catching his breath as his bride reached his side.

  She was all spring in his eyes.

  A glorious girl bringing new life and hope to his family.

  He reached for her hand as the old and wonderful words rang out, his eyes full of love and adoration.

  Jasmina felt as if she was suspended in a floating bubble of joy.

  She was marrying Richard, the man she loved so deeply and so much.

  Her heart soared and she had never imagined that she could ever feel so happy in all her life.

  This was real love, the love the poets had written about since the beginning of time.

  Marrying Richard was the true way to Heaven and although she was far from her home, Jasmina knew that, completely secure in the love they both shared, they would create a wonderful new life together here on Earth.

  Where to buy other titles in this series

  The Barbara Cartland Pink collection is available for download at the following online bookshops :-

  www.barnesandnoble.com - epub format for the Nook eReader

  www.whsmith.co.uk - epub format for the Smiths/Kobo eReader

  www.firstyfish.com - epub format

  ebookstore.sony.com - epub format for Sony eReaders

  www.amazon.co.uk - For UK Kindle users

  www.amazon.com - For international Kindle users

  itunes.apple.com - for Apple iOS users

 

 

 
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