Love, Lords, and Lady-Birds Read online

  Petrina opened the front door of the house in Paradise Row.

  It was in darkness, but because she remembered the plan that Nicholas Thornton had shown her she felt her way with outstretched hands through the small Hall and into a room on the right of it.

  This she was sure was a large Salon running the full length of the house, with windows looking both onto the street and onto the garden at the back.

  She had expected the room to be empty, but she stumbled against a chair, and realised that her feet were moving on a carpet.

  Slowly, frightened that she might fall, she found her way to a sofa and sat down on it She had before leaving Staverton House scribbled a note to the Earl, which she had left on her pillow.

  She knew that if he did not find her in the Library he would go upstairs, as he had promised, to her bed-room.

  She told him where she had gone, knowing that if she did not find the keys as she expected in the Secretary's room, she would have to go upstairs again, for there was nowhere else in London where she could hide.

  Now she only had to wait, and she found herself planning that if the Earl thought she was in danger of being arrested he could give her the money to go abroad or to Scotland where no-one would be able to find her.

  It was frightening to think she might have to live alone and perhaps in disguise for the rest of her life ... so frightening that Petrina wondered if it would not be better to die and get it over.

  She was quite certain that because of what she had done there could be no happiness for her in the future and the Earl would never forgive her for causing a scandal.

  Anyway, he was so angry with her that though he had been kind in listening to her story, that was not to say that she did not still disgust him as he had told her she did when he learnt about the fireworks.

  "I love him! I love him!" Petrina whispered to herself, and felt again the pressure of his lips on hers and the sensations of joy the kiss had aroused in her breast.

  'He is so magnificent ... so wonderful in every way,' she thought. 'How could I expect for one moment that he would even think of me except as a tiresome child?'

  He certainly had had no wish to be her Guardian and she remembered how reluctant he had been to accept the responsibility.

  How could she ever have imagined, she thought, that she would fall in love with him and that even to be in the same house with him was a joy and a delight beyond all dreams?

  "At least he has kissed me," she told herself, and wondered unhappily what lay ahead of her in the future.

  She wondered too if he agreed that she should go away into hiding, whether, if she asked him to do so, he would kiss her again.

  She wanted to feel his arms round her, she wanted him to take possession of her lips as Lord Rowlock had tried to do.

  Then she told herself she was being presumptuous or, as the Earl would say, impertinent in even imagining such a thing.

  Time seemed to pass very slowly, so slowly that Petrina, sitting tense and rigid in the darkness, began to think that perhaps the Earl, when he found she had left Staverton House, had decided to abandon her.

  He would not care that she was in an empty house alone. Perhaps he would think it was the best way to be rid of her and forget her very existence.

  And perhaps, she thought suddenly, he would be even more disgusted with her than he was already because she had come to the house where he had kept his mistress.

  For the first time since leaving Staverton House Petrina began to question her own wisdom in running away.

  Now she thought she could smell on the air the fragrance of the perfume used by Yvonne Vouvray, and she imagined she could hear the Earl's voice speaking to her of love and her soft exquisite tones with a broken accent answering him.

  Petrina gave a little cry and put her hands over her ears as if to blot out her own imaginings.

  Then as she took them away she was aware that she was not alone.

  Someone had come into the house without her hearing them—or perhaps they had been there all the time.

  There was someone standing just inside the door of the room and as she held her breath she heard her name.

  "Petrina!"

  There was no mistaking the deep voice which had spoken, and with a cry that seemed to echo in the darkness Petrina rose to her feet and ran to where she knew he was standing.

  The Earl put his arms round her and felt her body soft, warm, and frantic against his.

  He held her very close.

  "It is all right," he said soothingly. "He is not dead."

  Petrina's face had been hidden against his shoulder and now she raised it.

  "He is . . . not dead?"

  She could hardly say the words and they were little louder than a sigh.

  "He is alive, though you were very rough with him," the Earl answered. "But he thoroughly deserved it!"

  Petrina hid her face once more against his shoulder, conscious of an inexpressible relief which was mixed with the wonder of feeling the Earl's arms holding her so tightly.

  "Are you . . . sure?" she asked a little incoherently.

  "Quite sure!" the Earl replied; and there was a hint of amusement in his voice as he added,

  "So it is quite unnecessary for you to hide from the Police and you can come home, my darling!"

  Petrina was suddenly very still.

  As she raised her face, thinking she could not have heard him aright, the Earl's lips came down on hers.

  For one moment she thought she was dreaming, then the wonder that he had evoked in her before was intensified until she felt as if in the darkness she no longer existed but became a part of him.

  It was as if he took her heart and soul into his keeping and she gave him not only her love but her self until she was his completely, as she had longed to be.

  His lips became more demanding, more possessive, and she felt as if they were enveloped by a light which was part of all beauty and of life itself.

  "I love you!" she wanted to say, but there were no words to express what she felt and she thought that they were no longer human beings but gods.

  He carried her away from the world and up into the sky and she was part of the moon and the stars, while a light from the sun enveloped them.

  It was a kiss so perfect, so wonderful, that Petrina felt she must have died and was in Heaven.

  Finally, after a long time, the Earl raised his head.

  "My precious!" he said, and his voice was deep and a little unsteady. 'There is no-one so unpredictable and incorrigible and yet I would not have you otherwise."

  "I love you!" Petrina whispered, hardly aware of what she was saying or doing. Bemused, bewildered, she felt enchanted by his lips.

  "I love you, too!"

  Although she could not see him she stared up in the darkness.

  "You . . . love me?" she whispered. "Is that . . . really true?"

  "Really true!" the Earl replied. "But, my darling one, this is hardly the place in which I should be telling you so."

  "Does it matter where it is?" Petrina asked. "I have longed and prayed for you to have a little .

  . . affection for me . . . but I never thought you would . . . love me."

  "I fought against it," the Earl admitted, "as I fought against loving anyone, but I cannot help my feelings about you, Petrina. I knew when I was ready to save you from the consequences of any crime you had committed that I could not live without you!"

  Petrina gave a little cry that was one of sheer happiness.

  The Earl's arms tightened round her.

  "If you had killed Rowlock we would have gone abroad together."

  'You really . . . mean that you would have . . . come with me?" Petrina asked.

  "Do you think I could have let you go alone?" the Earl asked almost harshly.

  Then he laughed.

  "God knows, you get into enough trouble when I am there, so I cannot begin to imagine what would happen to you if I was not."

  "All I wa
nt is to ... be with . . . you," Petrina said. "Always and for . . . ever!"

  "And that is exactly what you will be," the Earl replied, "although I tremble to think what sort of life you will lead me into."

  "I will be good ... I will do . . . anything you ask of me," Petrina said with a passionate note in her voice.

  She paused, then she asked, as if she was afraid:

  "You do . . . mean it? You really mean it when you . . . say you . . . love me?"

  "I mean it!" the Earl answered. "And I will make you believe it, my sweet, however long it takes me to convince you."

  Petrina drew in her breath.

  "Please . . ." she whispered, "please . . . kiss me . . . again."

  The Earl's lips were on hers and once again she felt as if he lifted her into the sky.

  His kiss became more passionate, more demanding, and she felt a sudden flicker of a flame within her body which seemed to join with the ecstasy of her mind and make the sensations she felt more intense and more wonderful than they had been before.

  She could feel his heart beating against hers and knew that she excited him.

  "I love you! I love you!" she murmured as he set her free.

  "And I love you, my adorable, unpredictable darling!" he answered. "Come—let us go home."

  He put his arm round her to draw her towards the door, and with their other hands outstretched to prevent themselves from knocking against the furniture, they found their way linked together to the door.

  "This place is an aptly named Paradise," Petrina whispered as she felt the night air cold against her face.

  The Earl bent to kiss her forehead, then they walked out to where she saw his closed carriage was waiting.

  He handed her into it, then as a footman shut the door he pulled her once again into his arms.

  She put her head against his shoulder with a little sigh of utter happiness and asked:

  'Tell me what happened?"

  "I rode to the Plume of Feathers," the Earl answered. "One of my grooms came with me, leading a spare horse, the other drove back the chaise you had purloined in such a high-handed manner."

  "Was the owner very . . . angry?"

  "When I arrived at the Inn," the Earl went on, "and incidentally it took me only three quarters of an hour to get there, I walked in to find half a dozen men in the Taproom talking loudly. They looked round at my entrance and I asked:

  '"Has anyone here lost a chaise and two horses?'

  "For a moment there was a stupefied silence, then an elderly gentleman, a typical country Squire, answered:

  "'My chaise has been stolen, Sir!'

  " Then I have the pleasure of returning it to you,' I told him. 'I found it on the roadside, unattended, the horses cropping the grass on the verge.'"

  The Earl smiled.

  "There was a great deal of excitement about this, and when I could make myself heard I asked:

  '"What has happened? Why did you think it was stolen?'

  "'It was taken by a Droxy from London, Sir,' the Inn-keeper explained. 'She came here with a nobleman called Lord Rowlock.'

  '"What happened?' I asked.

  "'Really wicked, she were,' the Inn-keeper replied. 'She quarrels with the gentleman, then stabs him in the belly wi' a knife!'

  "'Good heavens!' I exclaimed. 'Is he badly injured?'

  " 'Bad enough,' the Inn-keeper answered. 'The Surgeon says he must be carefully nursed for several weeks before he can rise from his bed.'

  "'How very inconvenient for you!' I commiserated.

  "The Inn-keeper winked at me.

  '"We be short o' guests at the moment, Sir.'

  "'Then I feel sure you will look after him very well,' I said."

  Petrina gave a deep sigh.

  "I thought he must be . . . dead because he . . . bled so much."

  "Forget it," the Earl said sharply. "You are not to think of him again."

  "Do you . . . forgive me for . . . accepting his . . . invitation?"

  "I will forgive you if you promise me that you will never drive anyone's horses except mine."

  Petrina gave her little chuckle.

  "As if I would want to! No-one has such superb horses as you."

  "I shall be jealous of my horses if they prevent you from thinking of me."

  "You know I have no wish to think of anything or anybody except . . . you," Petrina answered. "I still cannot believe that you really . . . love me, not after I have behaved so . . .

  badly."

  She saw by the light of gas-lamps they were passing that the Earl was smiling.

  "I can see that you are in urgent need of someone to keep you in order, and as your husband I will be more fitted for the post than anyone else."

  "Will yon . . . really marry me?" Pettina whispered.

  "You are not, I hope, suggesting that you should occupy any other position in my life?" the Earl questioned.

  She blushed, knowing how much he disapproved of her interest in "Lady-Birds."

  "Supposing I . . . disappoint you?" she said quickly. "Or get into trouble so that you grow to . .

  . hate me?"

  "You will not disappoint me," the Earl said firmly. 'You may make me anxious, apprehensive, and even angry at times, but I shall still love you, darling. Because I have never known anyone quite like you and I have never before been so enchanted!"

  "You say such wonderful, perfect things to me!" Petrina cried. "How can I tell you how much I love you?"

  "Just give me your love," the Earl answered. "It is something I want and need, my precious, naughty little Ward."

  She clung to him, moving her body a little nearer to his.

  "I did not . . . know it was possible to be so . . . happy."

  "Neither did I."

  He would have kissed her but he realised that the horses had just turned in at the drive of Staverton House.

  As Petrina walked into the Hall she felt as if the lights dazzled her and knew it was not just because she was coming in out of the darkness where she had been for so long, but because she was so happy that everything about her had a radiant, fairy-like quality.

  They went into the Library and as the door shut behind them she turned to look at the Earl.

  She thought it was impossible for any man to look so magnificent, so handsome, and at the same time so authoritative.

  She gazed at him. His eyes were on her face and his lips were smiling.

  "What are you thinking?" he asked.

  "That I am dreaming," Petrina answered, with a throb in her voice. "That it cannot be . . . true that you love me."

  The Earl opened his arms.

  "Come here! I will tell you how much."

  She ran to him and he pulled her crushingly against him, but when she lifted her face eagerly towards his he looked down at her to say very tenderly:

  "I do not believe anyone could be so lovely and at the same time so intriguing and so original."

  Petrina drew in her breath and he went on:

  "There is something about you, my little love, that is quite irresistible. I find myself thinking about you, remembering what you say, recalling the expression in your eyes and the glint of red in your hair."

  He gave a laugh.

  "I think you have bewitched me! I never thought it possible for me to feel for any woman as I feel about you."

  "Perhaps . . . when you know me better I will . . . bore you," Petrina whispered.

  "I think that very unlikely," the Earl replied, "for the simple reason that your mind is as captivating as your face, my darling one. I have never before met a woman who thinks as you do, or, as it happens, feels as you feel."

  'What I feel has often made you . . . angry."

  "As it will, I am sure, very often in the future," the Earl answered, "but let me tell you it is quite impossible to be bored and angry at the same time."

  Petrina laughed.

  "It is so exciting! So thrilling to think I can be with you, that I can talk to you and you can
teach me."

  She thought he looked at her in surprise and she said:

  "There are so many things I have wanted you to teach me ever since I have been here, but I did not like to ask so many questions."

  She pressed herself closer to him as she said:

  "You are so clever, so wise. Will you teach me the things I want to know?"

  "I am making no promises," the Earl said warily, "but there is one thing I will teach you, my precious one, which to me is the most important subject of all."

  "What is that?" Petrina asked.

  "Love," he answered, "and even if you are the most able pupil, I promise you it is going to take a very long time!"

  "That is something I . . . want to learn," Petrina whispered.

  "There is a lot for me to learn, too," the Earl said. "I know now I have never been in love before I met you."

  "Am I . . . different?"

  Petrina could not help thinking of the beauty of Lady Isolda and the allure of Yvonne Vouvray.

  'Very different," the Earl said firmly, "and this is true, my lovely one, you are the only woman I have ever asked to be my wife."

  "I am glad ... so very . . . very . . . glad."

  Now as if she could not wait for his lips she put her arm round his neck and pulled his face down to hers.

  "I love you with all of me," she said. "My heart . . . my mind, and . . . my soul are all . . .

  yours!"

  The Earl held her so closely that she could hardly breathe.

  His lips came down on hers, holding her completely captive and making the little flame that she felt within her burst into a conflagration that seemed to sear its way burningly through her whole body.

  'It is like the fireworks in Paradise Row,' she thought irrepressibly. Then there was only the moon, the stars, and the light of the sun as the Earl carried her above the world into a Heaven that was all their own.

  Scanned&Editedbycmarlowe