A Road to Romance Read online

  “I think really you are questioning whether I have friends who shoot grouse in the autumn and enjoy fishing for salmon,” the Marquis replied.

  “Yes, that is true,” Velina agreed a little shyly.

  “One of the many things I really adore about you,” the Marquis said, “is that you tell the truth. There are far too many people in the world today who lie because it suits them or else they are afraid of facing up to something that they find distasteful.”

  “I try never to lie,” Velina replied, “and I don’t think that I have ever lied to you.”

  “I would know if you had,” he retorted. “There is such an expression of honesty and purity in your eyes that if they changed I should immediately be aware of it.”

  Velina held up her hands.

  “Now you are frightening me,” she exclaimed.

  “I am merely telling you the truth, Velina, and I do agree that it is something which frightens quite a number of people.”

  Velina laughed at his remark.

  He lifted her up to put her on Fireball’s back.

  For a moment he held her close to him instead of setting her down on the saddle.

  “I love you,” he said very quietly.

  There was no need for her to tell him that she loved him. The expression on her face said it without words.

  Just for a moment he gazed at her before he set her down on the saddle and she picked up the reins.

  He lifted Johnny, who was playing with Jimmie, on to Hunter and then he mounted Samson.

  “I think it is safe to let Jimmie run behind us,” he said to Johnny. “But if he tires he can ride with me.”

  “It’s good for him to use his legs,” Johnny replied. “But he was very tired last night.”

  “I think we all were. Now don’t go too fast through the village, but we will quicken our pace when we are clear of the cottages.”

  Velina was already ahead, having waved goodbye to the cook who was standing at the kitchen window.

  As the Marquis joined her, she sighed,

  “We have been so lucky with the weather. It might have rained every day and then we should have had to wait as none of us appear to have a raincoat with us.”

  “Well, you and Johnny left in a hurry,” the Marquis said, “but actually it is something I did not think of myself, although I should have.”

  Velina longed to ask him where he had come from and where his home was.

  But they had both been so very careful not to ask uncomfortable questions ever since they met that she felt it would be a mistake to appear curious until he was ready to tell her about himself.

  They found a road that was not fenced in on either side and galloped the horses freely on the grass.

  When it was getting near to luncheon time, Velina knew that the Marquis was looking out for an inn where they could eat and the horses could rest.

  It was not as easy as it had been yesterday, but finally they reached a pretty little village where there was a tea-shop.

  The Marquis told Velina to wait and hold his horse while he went inside to see if they could provide them with anything substantial.

  But Velina felt that if he used his charm as he had done everywhere they been so far, he would undoubtedly get his own way.

  She was quite right.

  When he returned a few minutes later, he said that they could provide fresh eggs and sausages if they thought that was a large enough luncheon for them.

  “Of course it is,” Velina said, “how clever of you to persuade them to have us.”

  “It’s clean and cosy and who could ask for more.”

  They sat down in the garden under an umbrella.

  No one enjoyed their luncheon more than Johnny and Jimmie, who had a piece of sausage from everyone.

  Now they set off again.

  Velina knew that they were only a mile or so from her aunt’s house.

  Despite herself, she still felt reluctant to go there in case there was any difficulty about Neil or Johnny.

  If she admitted that she and Neil were in love, her aunt would obviously want to know who he was and where he came from.

  She felt it would be uncomfortable to admit that she could answer no questions about him, except that she loved him.

  Now the countryside was very beautiful and Velina felt that it was a fitting background for their love.

  It would be marvellous to be alone with him where no one could interfere or ask awkward questions.

  Then she knew it was all part of her fear of what lay ahead.

  Perhaps her aunt would say that she must obey her stepfather and return home and she could feel the fear of everything that had happened creeping over her.

  Quite unexpectedly the Marquis quizzed her,

  “What is worrying you, Velina?”

  “How do you know I am worried?”

  “I know what you are thinking and feeling just as you know the same about me,” he answered. “The truth is, darling, we belong to each other already and I know now that I have been looking for you all my life and perhaps in another life when I was unable to find you.”

  “The other half of each other,” Velina murmured. “That is what the Ancient Greeks believe we seek and what I always hoped and prayed I would find.”

  “And you have found it now,” the Marquis replied, “just as I have.”

  She looked up at him.

  He knew the answer without her saying it in words.

  “Don’t be frightened, my precious darling,” he said, “everything will be all right and our journey at its end will be the beginning of yet another and even more marvellous one.”

  It was impossible for Velina not to believe him.

  She was smiling as a little while later they turned in through some very imposing-looking gates and started to ride up a long drive.

  The Marquis was carrying Jimmie on the front of his saddle and Johnny was trotting ahead on Hunter.

  Suddenly they saw straight in front of them a large and most attractive house and Johnny turned his head back to say,

  “Is this where we are staying? It’s big, as big as a Palace.”

  Velina turned her head towards the Marquis.

  “We have arrived,” she said, “and I only hope that my aunt is here and will not be too surprised to see me.”

  “You are not to worry,” the Marquis answered. “I will make everything as clear as I can and all you have to do is to trust me.”

  “You know I do, Neil,” Velina replied.

  At the same time she wanted to be in his arms.

  But Johnny had quickened his pace and reached the courtyard before they did.

  “It’s the biggest ’ouse I’ve ever seen,” he enthused. “Are we really goin’ to stay ’ere?”

  “I hope so,” Velina answered.

  As she was speaking, two grooms appeared to take their horses.

  When they asked no questions, she felt as if they were already expecting them.

  The Marquis dismounted and then gave Jimmie to Johnny.

  “Hold him in your arms,” he said. “People don’t like strange dogs roaming about in their house.”

  “I’ll ’old ’im,” Johnny agreed obediently.

  They walked up the steps to the front door, which opened as they reached it.

  Velina saw waiting for them was the butler who had been there ever since she could remember.

  “Good afternoon, Batley,” she said.

  The butler smiled at her.

  “It’s nice to see you, my Lady,” he replied. “Her Ladyship’s waiting for you in the drawing room. She said that I were to bring you to her as soon as you arrived.”

  Bewildered, Velina looked at the Marquis.

  He handed his hat to one of the footmen.

  Then, as the butler began to walk ahead of them, Velina slipped her hand into the Marquis’s.

  “I am so frightened,” she whispered.

  “You are not to be!” he answered.

  The
y walked down the passage that was decorated with fine pictures and some inlaid furniture.

  Then he opened the door of what Velina knew was the drawing room and announced loudly,

  “Lady Velina’s just arrived, my Lady.”

  Velina walked in.

  Then she stood still.

  It was impossible for her to move.

  Standing beside her aunt in front of the mantelpiece was her stepfather.

  “Oh, here you are, Velina,” her aunt began. “I have been so worried. I thought you would have arrived sooner. I see that you have brought some friends with you.”

  “I, too, was wondering what had happened to you Velina,” her stepfather blurted out in a harsh voice.

  He was a most unpleasant-looking man and Velina thought that he looked even more frightening than he had when she had ran away.

  Velina’s aunt moved forward, kissed her and said,

  “Now introduce me to your friends.”

  “There is no need to do that!” her stepfather said sharply. “If she has met friends on the road, that is where they belong and where they can return. Velina is coming back immediately with me to London where she will marry Sir Stephen Harbut as I have arranged.”

  Velina gave a cry of horror and reached out towards the Marquis.

  His hands closed over hers and he realised that she was trembling.

  “I am afraid,” he said, “that what you have arranged must now be cancelled.”

  “And who the devil are you to give me orders?” Velina’s stepfather asked angrily. “If you picked her up on the road, as you have no right to do, you can take yourself and that child, who I suppose is yours, back on the road again. As this young lady’s stepfather, I am her Guardian by law until she is twenty-one.”

  Velina’s fingers quivered in the Marquis’s hands.

  He could tell how frightened she was.

  “As you are being so offensive,” the Marquis said coolly, “it would be correct for me to tell you that Velina has promised to be my wife and so we are engaged to be married.”

  “Engaged!” Velina’s aunt exclaimed. “Oh my dear, are you wise to marry in such a hurry?”

  “She is going to be married in a hurry, but not to this stranger,” her stepfather shouted out angrily. “He is obviously after her money and I am not fool enough to let him have it.”

  “That happens to be entirely untrue,” the Marquis said quietly. “In fact, although I can hardly expect you to believe it, Velina has promised to become my wife without knowing who I am and I do not even know her name.”

  “You can hardly expect me to be taken in by that lie,” her stepfather sneered. “You know perfectly well that, as her father and mother are dead, she inherits her father’s estate and is therefore a rich heiress. It was a good effort on your part to make her agree to marry you. But I assure you that it will be over my dead body. So the sooner you get out of here, the better it will be for you!”

  The Marquis turned quite calmly towards Velina’s aunt.

  “I can only beg you to excuse this offensive scene in your drawing room. I think I must introduce myself and I am, as it happens, the Marquis of Whisinford.”

  For a moment there was complete silence.

  Not only did Velina’s aunt and stepfather stare at him but also at Velina.

  It was Johnny who broke the silence by running to the Marquis’s side.

  “If they send you away,” he said, “please – can I come with you?”

  “They are not going to send me away,” the Marquis replied. “I can only apologise, Velina, that this unseemly behaviour on behalf of your stepfather should upset you.”

  She looked at him and whispered,

  “I had no idea who you are.”

  “I thought you were far too beautiful to be anything but an angel just dropped down from Heaven,” the Marquis answered.

  He spoke in a quiet voice, but it was impossible for Velina’s aunt and stepfather not to hear what he said.

  Then her aunt moved towards him.

  “If you are really the Marquis of Whisinford,” she said, “my brother knew your father. He used to shoot with him at your lovely house in Oxfordshire.”

  “You will think it rather strange,” he replied, “but Velina and I, although we fell in love, did not tell each other who we were. Therefore I should be very grateful if you would tell me the name of your brother and, of course, yourself.”

  “My brother was the Duke of Belverton and I am Lady Cecily Belvedere.”

  “Then I think you must have stayed at Whisinford Park with your brother!” the Marquis exclaimed. “I thought that I recognised you when I came into the room.”

  “And I do remember you,” Lady Cecily said. “You were a dear little boy and not much older than this boy who must be one of your relatives.”

  “On the contrary. Velina and I met him on the road and, as he is an orphan, we are hoping very much to find a home for him.”

  “I don’t believe any of all this,” Velina’s stepfather snarled angrily.

  “Well, it happens to be true,” the Marquis replied. “I therefore suggest that, as this is a family meeting, you have the decency to withdraw. Let us discuss our personal affairs without any interruption or aggression.”

  Before there could be a reply, Lady Cecily put her hand on Velina’s stepfather’s arm and suggested,

  “The Marquis is right. I think it would be wise if you moved into another room. It is now obvious that your journey is quite unnecessary and you should return home.”

  She spoke so sensibly and quietly that it was with difficulty that the Marquis did not applaud her.

  She made it impossible for the disagreeable man to reply or to do anything at all but leave them alone.

  Without saying a word, he marched out of the room slamming the door noisily behind him.

  Velina gave a little cry.

  “Oh! That was so splendid of you, Aunt Cecily. I have been so terrified that he would forbid me to marry Neil, but I had no idea that – he is a Marquis.”

  “Does it matter?” the Marquis asked.

  “Not in the slightest,” Velina replied with a smile.

  Just for a moment the Marquis wanted to close his eyes at the wonder of it all.

  He had always wanted to be loved for himself and not for his title and it was exactly what had now happened.

  He knew that Velina would have married him if he had really been Neil Barlow.

  And he realised that she was right in thinking that they had found the other half of each other.

  Lady Cecily was drawing Velina away from the Marquis towards the sofa.

  “Come and sit down and tell me all about it,” she suggested. “Why did you two not know who you were?”

  “We met on the road as I was running away from my horrible stepfather,” Velina answered. “He wanted me to marry a man I knew was only interested in the money that Mama left me.”

  “So you did run away,” Lady Cecily said. “I think that was very brave of you.”

  “I might have been very frightened if Neil had not been riding alone and I asked if I could ride beside him.”

  “What about the little boy?” Lady Cecily asked.

  As he was bored with the conversation, Johnny had sat down on the floor and was playing a game with Jimmie.

  Velina told her how they had found Johnny being beaten by his cruel uncle and how they had tried to find his mother.

  ”She was dead,” Velina whispered, “but we have not told Johnny yet. Because he has been so happy with us I don’t think that he really misses her.”

  “You say they lived in a cottage?”

  “Well, his mother’s father was the Verger in the local Church,” Velina said, “but I think that his father was just a labourer.”

  “So he is an orphan?”

  Velina nodded.

  “I am certain I can find him a family at The Hall, who will be only too pleased to take him in,” the Marquis broke in to say.
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  “I know of a family too,” Lady Cecily added.

  “Not Batley!” Velina exclaimed.

  “You might remember that Batley’s wife is younger than him and her only son, who was born six years ago died from appendicitis three months ago. She is broken-hearted and I doubt if she is young enough to have another child.”

  “I have known Batley ever since I was a little girl,” Velina said. “He is a very nice man and I love Mrs. Batley too.”

  “Then we will talk about it later,” Lady Cecily said. “But now I hope that awful stepfather of yours is leaving. I thought when he told me you had run away from the man he wanted you to marry that it was a very sensible thing for you to do. But, of course, I did not expect you to find anyone so charming as Neil who I knew when he was a little boy.”

  Then she smiled at the Marquis who sighed,

  “I had not the faintest idea that Velina was your brother’s daughter.”

  “I am sure that she will be very happy at The Hall,” Lady Cecily replied. “It is the most gorgeous house I have ever visited. And Velina will make you a beautiful wife.”

  “That is exactly what I thought myself. I think you will understand, Lady Cecily, when I tell you that I wanted to be loved for myself and not for my possessions.”

  “And you met on the road – the road to romance,” Lady Cecily cried. “It’s the most heavenly story I ever heard and should be put into a book.”

  “It is unbelievably romantic for me,” Velina said, gazing at the Marquis.

  “Now what you need to do is to have a bath and change for dinner,” Lady Cecily said. “I shall be so glad if that ghastly stepfather of yours has departed. Then we will be alone and we can plan your wedding.”

  “That is exactly what I intend to do,” the Marquis replied. “But I would welcome the evening more if I could be properly dressed.”

  Lady Cecily smiled.

  “I think you will find a surprise for you upstairs.”

  The Marquis looked at her questioningly.

  “A surprise?” he enquired.

  “You had better come and look for yourself,” Lady Cecily answered. “As I am sure you are tired after riding such a long way, we will have dinner early so that you can make up for the sleep you have missed on your very long journey.”

  “It has been a long, but a very exciting one,” Velina said, “and we will tell you all about it later.”