Never Forget Love Read online

  One moment Delphine had been one of the family and happy, Nerissa believed with their father and mother, her sister and Harry in their ancient Elizabethan house known as Queen’s Rest.

  The next minute she had vanished completely and, as far as they were concerned, she might never have existed.

  She had been in Paris when her mother had died four years later and she had not returned home for the funeral. She had written her father a short rather cold letter of condolence and that was the end.

  To Nerissa, who had loved her sister simply because she was one of the family, it had seemed completely incredible.

  Even the excuse that Lord Bramwell lived in London and had a country house in a County far distant from theirs did not comfort her in losing one of themselves.

  “I wrote to her for her birthday,” Nerissa said once to Harry, “but she never replied.”

  “Delphine has no further use for us,” Harry remarked. “She is very smart now and is acclaimed as one of the beauties of St. James’s.”

  “How do you know that?” Nerissa asked.

  “Friends at Oxford have talked about her and her name is always in the social columns. Last week they said that she was the most beautiful woman at Devonshire House, which is known for having more beauties per square inch than anywhere else in the country!”

  Harry had laughed and Nerissa knew that it amused him,

  But for her it was not only incredible but she felt deeply hurt that her sister no longer cared for her or even for their father.

  Now, looking at Delphine, she could at least understand how she had been acclaimed as the most beautiful woman in London.

  Delphine was very lovely. Her hair was the gold of ripening corn, her eyes a vivid blue and her complexion flawless.

  She was the same type as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and the other lovely women whom Nerissa heard about from Harry and who were lauded by the young men who followed the Prince Regent’s lead.

  Delphine was thinner than she remembered her and she had developed, Nerissa thought, a kind of seductive sinuous movement with her hands and her long neck had something very sensitive about it.

  Now, as Harry also seated himself, there was a little pause before Delphine began,

  “I thought you would be surprised to see me, but I have come back because I want your help.”

  “Our help?” Harry expostulated. “I can hardly imagine how we could help you. I have heard about your husband’s horses and I know he won the Two Thousand Guineas two years ago.”

  There was a little pause before Delphine stated,

  “My husband is dead!”

  “Dead?”

  Nerissa sat bolt upright in astonishment.

  “Do you mean to say, Delphine, you are a widow? But why has no one told us?”

  “I suppose you cannot afford the newspapers,” Delphine said scathingly. “Actually he died twelve months ago and I am now out of mourning, as you can see.”

  “I am very sorry,” Nerissa said softly. “Do you miss him very much?”

  “Not in the slightest!” Delphine replied coolly. “That is why I need your help.”

  “He cannot have left you penniless? Oh, Delphine, how can we possibly ‒ help you?”

  “No, of course not!” she snapped. “I would hardly come here asking you for money. As a matter of fact I am extremely well off. It is something quite different from that.”

  “Then what can it be?” Harry asked. “Incidentally, Delphine, you have hurt Nerissa and Papa very much by not communicating with us all this time.”

  Delphine made a graceful movement with her hands.

  “It was difficult. My husband was not interested in my family and why should he be?”

  “So you were glad to be rid of us,” Harry added bluntly.

  “It was not exactly like that,” Delphine answered. “I had set out on a new life and I wanted to forget the miseries of the past.”

  “Miseries?” Nerissa questioned.

  “All that pinching and saving, never having decent clothes and never really enough to eat.”

  Nerissa drew in her breath, but she said nothing and her sister went on,

  “But we are still of the same blood and I cannot believe that you will not do for me what I want.”

  “Tell us first what it is,” Harry suggested.

  The way he spoke made Nerissa certain that he was thinking, despite what Delphine had said, that she must be wanting money in some way and the only possible economy they could make would be for him to leave Oxford.

  Instinctively and without her being aware of it, Nerissa put out her hand towards Harry as Delphine said,

  “It may surprise you, but I am going to marry the Duke of Lynchester!”

  It was now Harry’s turn to be astonished and he sat up in his chair and exclaimed,

  “Lynchester? I don’t believe it!”

  “That is not very complimentary,” Delphine said. “I thought you would be very proud if I was the wife of the Premier Duke of Great Britain, the most important of all in the Peerage.”

  “If you want the truth,” Harry observed, “I think it would be a miracle. When are you to be married?”

  There was a perceptible pause before Delphine replied,

  “To be truthful he has not asked me yet, but I know he intends to do so.”

  “Then if you will take my advice,” Harry said, “you will not count your chickens before they are hatched. I have heard a great deal about Lynchester. Who has not? Although his horses gallop past the Winning Post to carry off every trophy, no woman has yet managed to gallop him up the aisle!”

  “But that is what I intend to do,” Delphine responded in a hard voice.

  As if she felt that Harry was questioning her ability to do so, she looked at him rather aggressively and brother and sister’s eyes met across the room defiantly.

  Then Nerissa said,

  “If the Duke will make you happy, dearest, then, of course, we will give you all our good wishes and I am sure, when you tell Papa about your engagement, he will be very proud.”

  “He will also be very interested,” Harry interposed, “because Lynchester has the finest Elizabethan house in the country and it is the period that Papa is working on at the moment.”

  “If that is so,” Delphine said quickly, “then it could be a great help.”

  “Help for what?” Nerissa asked.

  Her sister was silent for a few moments.

  And then she said,

  “Now try to understand what I am going to tell you. The Duke of Lynchester has been pursuing me for the last two months and I am almost certain that it is only a question of days before he asks me to be his wife.”

  She made a little sound that was almost a cry of triumph and then went on,

  “Just think what that will mean. Next to the Royal Family I shall then be one of the most important people in the country. I shall be the chatelaine of at least a dozen houses, the most magnificent being Lyn in Kent. I shall be able to wear jewellery that will make every woman I meet green with envy and I shall go down in history as being the most beautiful of all the Duchesses of Lynchester!”

  The way she spoke made Delphine’s voice sound as if it was accompanied by a fanfare of trumpets.

  Then Nerissa said very quietly,

  “Do you love him ‒ very much?”

  “Love him?” Delphine asked.

  There was a short pause before she went on,

  “But he is a difficult man, one never knows for certain what he is thinking besides being cynical with all those women falling at his feet and pleading with him just to notice their very existence.”

  She gave a little laugh that was not a particularly pretty sound as she added,

  “But he has noticed me! He has singled me out and made me the talk of London and now we are both guests at a house party given by the Marquis of Swire.”

  Harry raised his eyebrows.

  “So you are at Swire Castle,” he excla
imed. “It is only five miles away.”

  “Yes,” Delphine answered. “That is why I was able to come here since all the men have gone out riding.”

  “I bet they will have some jolly fine horses,” Harry muttered beneath his breath.

  “Now what the Duke has asked,” Delphine went on, “is that he would like to see my home and he has therefore suggested that he and I should dine here tomorrow evening!”

  As she finished speaking, there was complete silence and she was aware that her listeners were staring at her in such amazement that it seemed as if their eyes might pop out of their heads.

  “Dine ‒ here?” Nerissa almost shouted. “But how can you – possibly do so?”

  “The Duke has arranged that we arrive for dinner at seven o’clock. I have told him about Queen’s Rest, my ancient home where Queen Elizabeth rested on one of her journeys and, of course, about our Papa’s preoccupation with architecture. Surprisingly the Duke had actually heard that Papa wrote books on the subject.”

  “But – how can he possibly dine – here?” Nerissa asked desperately. “What can I – give him to – eat?”

  “That is what I am going to tell you now,” Delphine replied, “and why I have come to see you.”

  She glanced round the drawing room as if to reassure herself.

  Then she commented,

  “This room looks all right, if you arrange more fresh flowers and make sure the candles are all new. The same applies to the dining room. I expect it is just as shabby as it always was, but at least the pictures of our ancestors are impressive and the furniture is all in keeping with the house.”

  “But – Delphine – !” Nerissa began to protest.

  “Now listen carefully,” Delphine interrupted her. “The Duke has no idea that either of you exist and I see no point in suddenly producing a family that he might think would be an encumbrance on him.”

  “Where can we go if we are not here?” Harry asked sharply. “And you are not going to have much to eat unless you bring your food with you.”

  “I have thought it all out,” Delphine said slowly, “and, although Nerissa will be here, the Duke will not see her.”

  “Then where shall I be?” Nerissa asked.

  “In the kitchen! Which is where either you or Mama have always been!”

  “Are you – saying that I am to – cook your dinner without being – introduced to the man you – intend to marry?”

  “That is putting it quite simply and sensibly,” Delphine answered.

  “And who – is supposed to – serve the meal if I am – not to come into the dining room?” Nerissa enquired.

  There was only a moment’s pause before Delphine’s eyes turned towards Harry.

  There was no need for her to speak.

  “I am damned if I will do it!” Harry flashed. “You walk out on us, Delphine. You did not answer the letters Nerissa wrote to you and you did not even come back for Mama’s funeral! You have all our good wishes that you get your Duke and I hope he makes you happy, but we are not helping you to put your claws into him in a dirty underhand manner that quite frankly is not cricket.”

  Delphine was not perturbed by the way her brother spoke.

  She only responded by saying,

  “I cannot believe that you would be so foolish as to refuse to help me when you hear how I shall express my gratitude for such services.”

  “I personally, and I believe I speak for Nerissa, have no wish to hear any more,” Harry said, “and I am certain that, if Papa knew what you are suggesting, he would be horrified. We may be poor, Delphine, but our blood is as good as, if not better, than anything that runs in the Duke’s veins. And we have something that perhaps has been omitted from his make-up, which is called ‘pride’!”

  To her brother’s surprise Delphine laughed.

  “That sounds a very characteristic Stanley speech. It should be added to the stories Papa and Mama used to tell us when we were children of how brave the Stanleys were in battle, how they supported King Charles II while he was in exile, how they patted themselves on the back because they were so well-born and it did not worry them if their pockets were empty. That is all very praiseworthy, but personally I prefer money.”

  “As you have made very obvious.” Harry retorted sarcastically.

  “I should have thought you would find it useful too,” Delphine said. “What I was going to suggest, before you interrupted me so rudely, is that, if Nerissa and you will do what I wish, then I am prepared to pay you the sum of three hundred pounds.”

  She paused and it seemed as if neither Harry nor Nerissa could breathe.

  Then Nerissa murmured beneath her breath,

  “D-did you say ‒ three hundred pounds?”

  “It is a sum of money that would supply Harry with the sort of horses that he was always bellyaching to have,” Delphine replied. “I was sick to death of his complaints. It would also make certain, my dear sister, that for once you had a decent gown rather than what you are wearing at the moment, which would shame a gypsy.”

  Delphine spoke scathingly, but Harry was repeating it as if he could not believe it to be true,

  “Three hundred pounds!”

  “You can have it now,” Delphine said, “but, of course, Papa must know nothing about it. He still believes money is unimportant in comparison with some old bricks and tumbledown buildings that interest nobody but himself. But surely you two, because you are young, have a little more sense?”

  “How can you afford to give us so much money?” Nerissa asked her sister.

  “I can afford it,” Delphine replied, “because I am gambling on making my background as a Stanley look good enough for the Duke to realise that he will not be lowering himself in asking me to be his wife.”

  “But – if he really does love you – ” Nerissa began, “surely your ancestry is not all that important?”

  “I am only very grateful that none of my friends can hear you talking such nonsense,” Delphine said rudely. “You cannot imagine that the Duke of Lynchester, who can have any woman he likes in the whole Kingdom, is going to make a mésalliance when it comes to marriage. I could easily be his mistress, I am well aware of that, but I am determined – yes – determined to be his wife.”

  She spoke with a resolution in her voice that made Nerissa remember how as a child she had often defied her mother in one way or another and always eventually had her own way.

  “If you ask me,” Harry said, “I think it an insult that the Duke, or any other man, should look you over as if you are a horse and decide whether you have enough good points for him to wish to own you.”

  “That is a most vulgar way of putting it, Harry, but it is the basic truth. You cannot be so stupid and unsophisticated, as Nerissa is, not to know that in the Social world, which I move in, one’s antecedents and blood are of paramount importance when it comes to marriage. A doxy is one thing, a Duchess is another!”

  Harry laughed.

  “I will say one thing about you, Delphine, you are very plain-spoken!”

  “I am fighting for something that matters to me a very great deal. Now let me ask you to answer ‘yes’ or’ no’, are you or are you not going to help me?”

  Feeling as if it was too big a question for her to answer, Nerissa looked at her brother.

  Three hundred pounds seemed to be dancing in front of her eyes, telling her what a huge difference it could make to them all and especially to Harry.

  She knew, as she looked at him, that a battle was raging within him.

  While he instinctively disliked any form of deception and untruth, he was as tempted as she was by the idea of so much money, especially when it meant that he could buy several horses.

  It could also provide him with some clothes and he remembered that before he went back to Oxford he was going to beg Nerissa for enough money to provide him with a new evening suit.

  The one he was wearing at the moment was in rags and one of his fellow students had told h
im that next term they might be asked to a formal dinner at Blenheim Palace.

  Slowly he enquired as if he was thinking out the words as they came to his lips,

  “If we refuse to help you, Delphine, what will you do?”

  “If you refuse and I lose the Duke, I will hate you and curse you until the end of my life!” Delphine replied. “He has asked to see my Elizabethan home, which I described to him in glowing terms and to meet my very distinguished father. Surely there is nothing wrong in that?”

  “What is wrong, as you well know,” Harry replied quickly, “is turning your sister into a cook and me into a butler! But I suppose we can pretend we are playing charades and hope to God the Duke never suspects that he is being deceived.”

  Delphine gave a cry of horror.

  “If he does, it will be because you are two incompetent fools!” she snapped. “But, if we succeed, I shall be the Duchess of Lynchester!”

  There was a look in Delphine’s eyes that told Nerissa that she had won a victor thaty she had never intended to lose.

  But, as she gazed at her sister, she had a strange and unaccountable feeling that Delphine would never wear the Duchess of Lynchester’s strawberry-leaf coronet.

  Chapter Two

  “Delphine has certainly thought of everything,” Nerissa remarked as she walked over to the kitchen table.

  “Where it concerns herself,” Harry replied.

  His voice was not really sarcastic as he was too excited over what was happening.

  Already he had seen a horse that he thought might suit him well, although, as he said to Nerissa, he knew he must be cautious as the one hundred and fifty pounds that was his share had to last a very long time.

  It was Harry who had insisted that Delphine gave them the money before she left.

  “Perhaps I would be wise to be really sure that you first carry out my instructions fully and properly,” she had said.

  Harry had laughed.

  “If you think we are trusting you to do that, you are making a mistake.”

  Delphine stared at him angrily and he had continued,

  “You still owe me a pair of good riding boots that you promised me before you married Bramwell if I would help at the Wedding Reception as you wanted me to.”