Love, Lords, and Lady-Birds Read online

  But she had the feeling that whatever she had said he would not have listened to her.

  "You are looking worried," Lord Rowlock said beside her. "Let me tell you, Petrina, that if I do lose, it will be worth every penny to have had this opportunity of being with you and talking to you again."

  "The Earl would be very annoyed if he knew where I was," Petrina said.

  "He will never know," Lord Rowlock answered, "so do not worry about him."

  Petrina remembered that they had to return to London and they had already been travelling for two and a half hours.

  "Are we nearly there?" she asked anxiously.

  "Only about two more miles," Lord Rowlock answered, and she felt relieved.

  Petrina drew up at the Plume of Feathers, which was a delightful old Inn about half a mile off the main road.

  It had a large yard and when she drove the curricle into it she saw with a sudden excitement that it was empty.

  She pulled the horses to a standstill and turned to look at Lord Rowlock with sparkling eyes.

  "We are first!" she exclaimed.

  "I believe we are," he said.

  He got out of the curricle and as the ostlers ran to the heads of the horses he asked:

  "Has a curricle arrived driven by a lady?"

  "No, Sir."

  "We have done it!" Petrina cried. "We have done it! Oh, I am so glad, so happy for you!"

  "I am more grateful than I can ever say," Lord Rowlock replied.

  He took her hand in his and kissed it, then helped her from the curricle.

  He gave instructions to the ostlers to stable the horses, rub them down, and water them, then he and Petrina walked into the Inn.

  It was low-ceilinged and very attractive, with great beams across the ceiling made from ships' timbers, and the Proprietor, obviously impressed by their appearance, hurried forward bowing to attend to them.

  Petrina was taken upstairs by a mob-capped maid to a comfortable room with a big four-poster bed and a bow-window which overlooked the garden.

  Petrina felt that anyone who stayed at the Plume of Feathers would be extremely comfortable.

  She took off her bonnet, washed her hands, tidied her hair, then went downstairs to find Lord Rowlock waiting for her in a small private Parlour with an open bottle of champagne with which, he said, they were to celebrate.

  "We will, however," he added, "not wait for Lady Lawley."

  He handed Petrina a glass of champagne and lifted his own as he said:

  "To the most magnificent driver and someone so beautiful and so kind that I have no words in which to tell her how much I love her!"

  Petrina blushed and turned aside.

  "You must not talk to me like that," she said. 'You know how angry the Earl would be."

  "The Earl is not with us," Lord Rowlock replied, "and at the moment I feel I am the happiest and luckiest man in the world."

  "I am so glad I won, for your sake," Petrina said, "but I am afraid Lady Lawley will be very annoyed."

  "Furious!" Lord Rowlock agreed, and they both laughed.

  He ordered food. Although Petrina felt they ought to wait for their opponents, she had only eaten a small meal before she left London and she was easily persuaded into sampling some slices of cold turkey and a freshly baked cake which had just come from the oven.

  "You must rest," Lord Rowlock said when they had finished. "I expect you will want to drive me home, and driving is quite a strenuous exercise when you are travelling as fast as we have done."

  It was true, Petrina thought, and she allowed him to make her comfortable in a big arm-chair and put a stool under her feet.

  She leant back against the cushions and realised she did in fact feel a little sleepy.

  Perhaps it was the champagne, or perhaps the reaction after the tension of driving, and of course being upset by the Earl being so angry with her.

  Whatever the reasons, she awoke with a start to realise that she had fallen asleep.

  It was very quiet in the small room and for a moment she could not think where she was.

  Then she realised that Lord Rowlock was sitting in the window, looking out into the garden.

  "I have been asleep," Petrina said.

  "You had every justification for feeling tired," he said caressingly.

  He rose as he spoke and came across the room to stand beside her chair and look down at her.

  "You look very lovely when you are asleep."

  Petrina sat up and put her hands up to her hair.

  "You should have awakened me," she said firmly. "What is the time?"

  Lord Rowlock pulled out his watch.

  "Nearly five o'clock."

  Petrina gave a little cry of sheer horror.

  "Five o'clock? Then we must go back to London immediately!"

  She thought as she spoke that she would not get back until long after the Earl, and there would inevitably be explanations to be made and he would be angry with her for having disobeyed his orders and been with Lord Rowlock.

  "We must go," she said firmly. "But what has happened to Lady Lawley?"

  Lord Rowlock shrugged his shoulders.

  "Perhaps she had an accident. Perhaps she could not find this Inn."

  "It seems extraordinary that she has not turned up."

  "I agree, but she may have felt that she had lost the race and was too piqued to face us."

  "I must get back at once," Petrina said urgently, rising to her feet.

  "I will order the curricle."

  Lord Rowlock opened the door and Petrina ran upstairs to the bed-room she had used before.

  She put on her bonnet and when she looked at her reflection in the mirror she realised her eyes were anxious and worried in a different way from what they had been before.

  The Earl was very angry with her already and she had no desire to incense him further.

  Now she told herself that it was foolish, perhaps childish, to have come here with Lord Rowlock.

  She went down the oak stairs to find him waiting at the bottom of them.

  She looked at him and realised from his expression that something serious had occurred, and she asked:

  "What is the matter?"

  "One of the horses has dropped a shoe."

  "Oh, no!" Petrina exclaimed.

  "It is all right," he said soothingly. "The blacksmith is only a quarter of a mile away and I have sent a groom to fetch him here at once."

  "It means further delay," Petrina said almost frantically.

  "There is nothing we can do about it," Lord Rowlock replied.

  "No, of course not," she agreed, "but it will make me even later than I was already. Why, oh why did you not wake me?"

  "You must not be angry with me," he said. "I knew you were tired, and quite frankly, I was waiting for Lady Lawley to arrive at any moment."

  Petrina felt it was a somewhat feeble excuse, but she really had no-one to blame but herself, so she said nothing.

  "I will go and see if there is any sign of the blacksmith," Lord Rowlock said and left her alone.

  Petrina walked about the small room, feeling frantically that there was something she ought to do, but she was not certain what it was.

  It was some time before Lord Rowlock returned.

  "Is the blacksmith here?" she asked quickly before he could speak

  He shook his head.

  "The ostlers say he will not be long."

  "We could hire another horse," Petrina suggested.

  "I should think it would be impossible," Lord Rowlock answered, "and even if there was one, it would hardly travel quicker than our own pair."

  "No, of course not," Petrina agreed, "at the same time . . ."

  "I will go and see if there is anything I can do," Lord Rowlock said before she could say any more.

  He was gone for so long that Petrina felt that he must be supervising the shoeing of the horse, but when at last he appeared she knew before he spoke what he had to say.

  'Th
e blacksmith is not here?" she asked.

  "The groom I sent to find him has returned to say he is away from home. They are expecting him at any moment and he will come straight here the second he walks into his house."

  "What can we do?" Petrina asked desperately.

  "You will have to be sensible about this, Petrina," Lord Rowlock answered. "It is all very unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do about it. What I am going to suggest is that we have something to eat and drink, then the moment the horse is ready we will leave for London, and get there just as quickly as we possibly can."

  What he said was so sensible that there was nothing Petrina could do but agree.

  Reluctantly she took off her bonnet again, and although she did not feel hungry she realised there was no point in refusing to eat anything, and chose several dishes that the Inn-keeper suggested to her although it was far less than Lord Rowlock ordered.

  Because she felt it would make her feel less agitated she accepted a small glass of madeira, and once again Lord Rowlock ordered a bottle of champagne before he went outside to find out what was happening.

  When he returned, Petrina thought despairingly that it was getting later and later and when she finally reached London the Earl would undoubtedly be so angry with her that there was every chance of her being sent to Harrogate as a punishment.

  When the food came Lord Rowlock made every effort to amuse and entertain her.

  She tried to tell herself there was no point in being unpleasant to him for something that was not his fault.

  She had agreed only too willingly to come on this mad escapade and she must not blame him for her own stupidity.

  Lord Rowlock pressed her to have some champagne but she drank very little of it, feeling it had betrayed her once before in sleeping when she should not have done so.

  During dinner he complimented her and made love to her in a way which Petrina felt the Earl would consider extremely reprehensible.

  Several times she tried to make him talk on other subjects, but always he got back to the fact of how much he loved her, how unhappy he had been when she no longer consented to see him.

  "I lost my heart the moment I saw you," he said, "and it is ironic that the one person I have ever wanted to marry for herself should have an insurmountable barrier in the shape of her fortune."

  "Surely the blacksmith should have arrived?" Petrina interrupted.

  She found it difficult to concentrate on what Lord Rowlock was saying because her thoughts kept returning to the Earl and how angry he would be.

  "I am sure he has," Lord Rowlock said soothingly.

  He went from the room and the maids came in to remove the dishes, leaving only a decanter of port on the table.

  "I do not think we need anything more to drink," Petrina said as they set down two glasses on a tray beside it.

  "The gentleman ordered the port, Ma'am."

  There was nothing Petrina could say to this, but she could not help thinking that Lord Rowlock was not expecting to make an early departure.

  The whole thing was extremely unfortunate, first that she had been stupid enough to come so long a way from London that whatever had happened she would have returned much later than she had expected.

  Secondly, that the horse should not only have cast a shoe but that the blacksmith was not at home.

  "He must be here by now, he must!" Petrina murmured to herself beneath her breath.

  As she spoke Lord Rowlock came back.

  "He is here?" she asked eagerly.

  He shook his head.

  "But this is impossible!" Petrina exclaimed. "I insist that we hire a carriage—there must be one available—and travel back to London with one horse."

  "I am afraid that is impossible."

  "But why?" Petrina asked. "There must be a carriage or a gig of some sort that is available."

  "Even if there is," Lord Rowlock said, "I have no intention of asking for it."

  She looked at him in surprise, then was very still.

  "What are you . . . saying?"

  "I am telling you, Petrina, that I love you, and we are not going back to London tonight. We are going to stay here!"

  Her eyes widened and looked at him in honor.

  He came nearer to her with a smile on his lips.

  "I have wanted you and loved you ever since we first met," he said. "Your Guardian drove me out of his house, and I saw later that I had been absurdly weak and spineless in accepting his decision that we should not communicate with each other again."

  'What are you saying?" Petrina asked again almost beneath her breath.

  "I am telling you that we are going to stay here tonight," Lord Rowlock replied, "and when we return to London tomorrow the Earl will be only too willing to give his consent to our marriage—there will be nothing else he can do."

  "Are you crazy?"

  "Yes," he replied. "Crazy for you, as I always have been. I love you, Petrina!"

  "I am not going to stay here!" she cried. "I am going back to London now, even if I have to walk!"

  She ran towards the door as she spoke, but she had only taken two steps in its direction before Lord Rowlock's arms were round her and he held her against him.

  'You are staying," he said, "because I want you and there is no escape, little Petrina. So make the best of it!"

  "How dare you! How dare you touch me!" Petrina stormed.

  Now she was struggling, fighting him with every ounce of strength she had.

  She realised he was very strong and she was helpless in his arms.

  He folded her close against him, and although she was twisting, struggling, and endeavouring to push him away from her, every effort she made was completely ineffective and he was only laughing at her struggles.

  "We will be very happy together," he said. 'You are everything I want in a wife and I will teach you to love me as I love you."

  "Never! Never! I do not love you, I hate you!"

  "Then I shall have to change your mind."

  Petrina went on struggling, but she knew she was weakening.

  The fact that he had imprisoned her arms made her realise how ineffective her efforts to escape were and that it was only a question of time before she wore herself out against his superior strength.

  With an effort she tried to think clearly and change her tactics.

  She ceased struggling and looking up at him said:

  "Let me go . . . you know there could be no happiness for either of us if I was . . . forced to marry you."

  'There would be every happiness for me," Lord Rowlock replied with a smile, and she knew he was thinking of her fortune.

  Too late she realised that the whole thing had been a plot from start to finish; that Lord Rowlock had only put this plan into operation when the Duke had told him at Vauxhall Gardens that he was not determined enough.

  He must have been waiting for an opportunity to get in touch with her, and she had fallen into the trap he had set for her in such a foolish, idiotic manner that there was no excuse.

  "Please listen to me," she said desperately. "If you take me back to London now, I promise that I will help you with money and will not allow the Earl to hurt you or make any trouble for you."

  "He will not do that when you are my wife."

  "I cannot marry you ... I have no wish to."

  "You will have to marry me," he answered. "And we will find life very amusing when we can afford to do all the things I want to do."

  Petrina knew that he felt that her fortune was already within his grasp, and she knew he was right in saying that if they spent the night together in this small Inn there would be nothing she could do but marry him as soon as it could be arranged.

  With a sense of horror at what he intended, she knew in that moment that she loved the Earl so overwhelmingly that even to be touched by another man would seem a degradation beyond words.

  "Please . . . please," she said frantically, "just listen to me."

  "It is too lat
e for words," Lord Rowlock answered. "I find you extremely desirable and I am looking forward to our night of love."

  He bent his head as he spoke to find her lips, and she twisted her face from side to side, knowing it was only a matter of time before he would kiss her as he wished to do.

  Then as she thought despairingly that there was no hope of escape and that she had lost all hope of happiness, she realised that as they struggled he had moved her backwards against a side-table on which had stood the cold meats that had been offered at dinner.

  She put her hand to steady herself against it and her fingers felt something.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE EARL, having gone to Osterley Park and had luncheon afterwards with the Earl of Jersey, drove back to London with a feeling of urgency to be home.

  He had found it difficult to concentrate even on the mill, which had been a good one, or on the treasures that the Earl had shown him in his superb house, which had been decorated by Adam.

  Instead, he kept seeing Petrina's unhappy face and hearing the anguished note in her voice when she had pleaded with him to understand why she had behaved as she had.

  When his temper had abated the Earl had realised quite clearly what had motivated her into trying to find a story for the newspaper reporter in order to prevent him from publishing that which concerned himself and Lady Isolda.

  He understood now why Lady Isolda had been so insistent on remaining behind after the Prince Regent and the other guests had left.

  She had told the Earl that she had something of great importance to impart to him, but he had realised when they were alone that the only thing of importance as far as she was concerned was that he should make love to her.

  This was something he had no intention of doing in his own house with his grandmother asleep upstairs.

  They had verbally duelled and sparred with each other until only by being determined to the point of rudeness did the Earl persuade her to leave.

  He had then made it obvious to Lady Isolda that their liaison was at an end and he realised now why she had not made a scene.

  She had in fact been surprisingly unmoved and he now knew it was because she was confident that whatever he said, he would be pressured into marrying her.