The Winning Post Is Love Read online

  “Our sister, Dolina, who you must have met, was to have been with us tonight of all nights, when the Marquis comes to dinner to discuss the Racecourse, but she decided at the last moment to go to London.”

  Rosetta looked astonished.

  “Go to London!” she cried. “But why particularly just now?”

  “She has been invited to a special party,” Gordon said, “and it was more important to her than the Marquis could ever be. I suppose we have to accept that.”

  “I can easily see your sister’s point, but equally I do appreciate your dilemma.”

  “What we would love you to do is to come and make yourself very pleasant to the Marquis, so that he does not feel he is wasting his time.”

  Gordon paused and Henry knew he was frightened of saying it.

  “What my brother is trying to tell you is that you look exactly like our sister, Dolina, and just for dinner tonight and luncheon tomorrow we were wondering if you would be kind enough and generous enough to come and stay the night and pretend to be her.”

  Rosetta stared at him as if she could hardly believe what he had just said and then she asked,

  “Are you serious?”

  “Very serious indeed,” Gordon replied. “Because the Marquis said he is looking forward to seeing her again, although she claimed he had paid no attention to her in London. At the same time as he has so many beautiful women around him, we feel it a compliment he has shown any interest in her at all.”

  “What is more,” Henry chipped in, “if he arrives and finds she is not there and preferring to be in London, he might take considerable umbrage and then refuse to even discuss the Raceourse with us.”

  “I cannot believe he would do that, but I suppose he might! I have heard he is most unpredictable and not in the least like other men.”

  “You have never met him?” Gordon asked her.

  She shook her head.

  “No, but I have heard enough about him to fill a hundred books. I have never even shaken hands with him and I don’t suppose he knows Papa and I even exist.”

  “That makes things ever better. If you will pretend to be our sister just for a few hours, then if he wants to see Dolina again, he can do so as soon as she returns home.”

  “Suppose he guesses that I am not your sister or I do something wrong and you are ashamed of me?”

  “I am sure you will only need to be yourself. Just flatter the Marquis a little and tell him how important he is. And then enthuse that a first class Racecourse is vitally needed here and that only he can provide it.”

  Quite unexpectedly Rosetta laughed.

  “I just don’t believe that this conversation is taking place. It’s like something out of a book or a dream and I will wake up and find I have imagined the whole thing.”

  “All we want,” Gordon persisted, “is a Racecourse that will bring prosperity to the neighbourhood and which will provide endless interest for my brother and me and, we hope, considerable profit.”

  “Then,” Henry added, “we will be able to repair the house and have money for the best horses in the stables.”

  “You certainly make it sound very attractive, but I am still afraid that the Marquis will not think I am nearly as beautiful as your sister and I may then be much more of a hindrance than a help.”

  “Are you saying you will do it?” Henry asked her eagerly.

  “I think it would be rather fun, but I am frightened I may let you down and then you would never forgive me.”

  “We will promise not to,” Gordon insisted. “If you will do this for us, we will be eternally grateful.”

  “Don’t count the chickens before they are hatched,” Henry interposed. “We will be very grateful to you just for making the effort and it will be wonderful if our idea of a Racecourse becomes a reality.”

  “That’s so true,” his brother admitted. “So please, please, Rosetta, help us. Otherwise I am quite sure that the Marquis will be bored with only Henry and me to entertain him and he will have left long before we finish telling him what our glorious Racecourse could be like.”

  “That would be a disaster!” she exclaimed. “I am only hoping I will not let you down. Are you quite certain that I really do look like your sister? I have been told she is very beautiful.”

  “You are so like her,” Gordon said, “that it’s almost uncanny.”

  “What we should say,” Henry came in, “is that in a way you are even more beautiful than Dolina!”

  There was a pause and then she enquired,

  “When do you want me to come to The Hall?”

  “We would like you to come literally as soon as you possibly can, and, of course, stay the night,” Gordon replied. “There are a great many things we have to tell you before the Marquis arrives so you don’t make a mistake.”

  Rosetta nodded and he continued,

  “Also it would be wise for you to wear some of Dolina’s pretty gowns from London. They were actually given to her as a present by her Godmother. So they are very expensive and very smart!”

  “Now you are definitely tempting me – ”

  “One thing you must not forget,” said Henry, “is that you must always call yourself ‘Dolina’.”

  “Certainly and I will come as soon as possible and stay the night, if that is what you want me to do.”

  “Your father will not mind you leaving him?”

  “No, my Lord. He will be pleased that I am to see, as I have always wanted, all the lovely treasures you have in your house.”

  She smiled before she added,

  “Actually my aunt is staying here at present and is with him now. She, I know, will keep him happy until I return.”

  “Then that will settle everything,” declared Henry. “How can we tell you how extremely sporting it is of you? We are very very grateful.”

  “More grateful than we could ever put into words,” echoed Gordon, “but I know when you see the Racecourse, it will be a reward in itself.”

  “It certainly will,” agreed Rosetta. “Perhaps you will be kind enough to send a carriage for me at about four o’clock.”

  “It will be outside the door and please don’t change your mind. We will be waiting very anxiously for you.”

  “I think it will be a very exciting adventure, but you will have to show me and tell me everything I will have to remember so that I don’t make any silly mistakes.”

  “It will be a great adventure for us too,” Gordon trumpeted, “and we will be waiting for you.”

  The brothers rose to their feet and started to walk across the lawn towards their horses.

  Only when they had left the house behind and were riding back towards The Hall did Henry cry in an excited tone,

  “We have done it! We have done it! Now we have jumped the first fence, I am certain we are going to reach the winning post!”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Gordon took a long time arranging the sketches for the Racecourse.

  He had already done it about half a dozen times, but he was now certain he had not left out anything that would appeal to the Marquis.

  He was also concerned that Rosetta Stourton should be made familiar with the house and brought up-to-date with everything they had planned for so long.

  He could hardly believe, because Dolina had taken so much interest in the project that she had let them down at the very last moment.

  But she had hinted to him that there was someone she particularly wanted to be with at this party.

  Gordon had had a suspicion for some time that she was in love and who the man was and why he did not seem to reciprocate to anyone as beautiful as Dolina, he could not understand.

  He was naturally upset that she would not be there to help them and yet he thought it unlikely that the Marquis would have the slightest idea that Rosetta Stourton was not the genuine article.

  He looked round the drawing room, which Dolina had tidied before she left and thought it looked welcoming and comfortable.

  It
was not likely that he would impress the Marquis with The Hall when his Castle was so superior.

  He knew, if he was to be frank with himself, he had always been somewhat jealous of the Marquis.

  If he did not live so near and his Castle was not so overwhelming, undoubtedly Waincliffe Hall would have been the most splendid in the County.

  ‘If we can collaborate now, it will be of tremendous help to us,’ he thought. ‘It will also help the County and many villages urgently need help.’

  Gordon arranged that the Marquis should have the best of the State bedrooms, that had all been getting rather dilapidated and faded over the years.

  It had been impossible for him and Henry to invite large parties of people to stay, as it not only cost too much money, but they did not have enough servants.

  Gordon thought now that it would be appropriate for Rosetta to be in Dolina’s room.

  Every member of the family he had ever read about or known had been keen on horses and if only they could build their Racecourse, the stables would be full again – instead of being virtually empty as they were at present.

  ‘This is a big gamble,’ he muttered to himself, ‘and if we win it will be a miracle.’

  *

  In her own house Rosetta was telling her aunt that she was going to Waincliffe Hall and she had been invited to stay the night for a special dinner party.

  “Well, all I can say,” her aunt exclaimed, “is it’s about time that they asked you. I have frequently thought, considering how fond their father was of your mother, it was disgraceful the way you were ignored after she died.”

  “Well, they are making up for it now, Aunt Sarah, so we must not complain. I am looking forward to meeting the Marquis, who I understand will be there too.”

  She was very careful not to tell her aunt why the Marquis had been invited to The Hall, as she was sure that Lord Waincliffe would not wish to be pitied if the Marquis refused to do what he and his brother needed so urgently.

  “If that Marquis is going to stay,” her aunt said sharply, “I hope you will be properly chaperoned. From all I hear, his behaviour in London exceeds even that of the Prince of Wales!”

  Rosetta laughed.

  “Now, you have been listening to too much gossip, Aunt Sarah. I am certain the Marquis is not as bad as he is painted.

  “I have heard enough stories about him in the last few years to fill a book, Rosetta. A good friend of mine in London has told me disgraceful things about his behaviour. You must be very careful not to become embroiled.”

  “That is highly unlikely, Aunt Sarah. As all those beauties in London run after him, because he is so good-looking, I hardly think he is likely to bother about me.”

  Her aunt did not reply and Rosetta knew that she had scored a point.

  Equally it made her even more curious about the Marquis than she had been before.

  Of course she had seen him, as she often went to the meet of the local foxhounds and she had seen pictures of him in The Ladies Journal, not that she enjoyed it very much, but her aunt read every word and knew more about London Society than she did about their local village.

  Aloud she remarked,

  “I do hope while I am away that you will read Papa the books he enjoys. He is not really interested in novels or hearing about modern Society.”

  “Who can blame him!” exclaimed Aunt Sarah.

  “What he enjoys, as you know,” Rosetta went on, “are books on the history of the countries he has visited.”

  “I know, my dear, but I find those places difficult to pronounce and to tell you the truth, the history your father enjoys I find incredibly dull!”

  When Rosetta told her father where she was going, he said at once,

  “That is the best piece of news I have had for some time. I have often wondered why his Lordship did not ask you to The Hall.”

  He was silent for a moment and then he added,

  “As you going to meet the Marquis, then please ask him something I have been longing to know for years.”

  “What is that, Papa?”

  “I want to know if the picture of Queen Elizabeth, which I understand hangs in one of the best rooms, was a contemporary portrait or painted after she was dead.”

  “Why should you want to know, Papa?”

  “It’s a portrait I always remember seeing when I was first taken round The Castle by the old Marquis and it is most certainly one of the most striking pictures in his possession and that’s saying a great deal, but I have always wondered in my own mind whether it is genuine or not.”

  It was so like her father to let something like that trouble him, Rosetta reflected.

  “I promise you I will not forget to ask the Marquis, but I do think, if you don’t know the answer, then he will probably not either.”

  “The Marquis must have archives concerning all his belongings and whatever else you do, my dear, try to be asked to go round The Castle. It really is one of the finest pieces of architecture in the whole of England.”

  Rosetta thought it would be a great mistake for her to push herself onto the Marquis, as he might guess she was not who she was pretending to be.

  But this she could not say to her father.

  Actually, she was very excited, first at the thought of staying at Waincliffe Hall, then meeting the man who was talked about continually, but seldom to his advantage.

  She packed some of her prettiest clothes to wear in case none of Dolina’s, which Lord Waincliffe had kindly suggested she might wear, fitted her.

  She was only worried that her best evening gown, although attractive enough, would appear out of date.

  She so seldom went out in the evening. Their local friends, if they had a party, usually asked her to luncheon, so she fancied that living quietly in the country, the clothes she thought of as her finest would be unfashionable.

  ‘There is nothing I can do about it,’ she told her reflection in the mirror.

  So she began to wonder if Lord Waincliffe’s sister, Dolina, arranged her hair differently to hers, but then she laughed, as it was highly unlikely that the Marquis would take any notice of her as a person.

  What she had to do was to make him aware of how much a Racecourse was needed in the County.

  And if they were talking about horses she was not afraid of appearing ignorant.

  She had loved horses ever since she was a child and her father could not afford to provide her with more than two to ride.

  The Master of Foxhounds, however, who was an old friend, often mounted her, especially when he had an obstreperous horse that no other lady in the County would ride.

  “You are so kind to me,” Rosetta had said to the Master after she had had a ride with him only a week ago and he had replied,

  “When I see a horse like the one you have been riding today, I know that no one could handle it better than you. And I have come to the conclusion that women are either born good riders or else they are never completely at their ease in the saddle.”

  Rosetta had a way with horses that had fascinated quite a number of members of the Hunt and they invariably consulted her when they had a horse considered by others to be unrideable.

  Her father had confided in her recently,

  “I am so sorry, my dearest, that we cannot afford better bred horses, but the doctor’s bills have been so large this year and I do feel ashamed of using up so much of our money on what appears to be a hopeless cause.”

  “I know that it’s really maddening for you being so blind, Papa, but you are healthy in all other ways and you are not to talk like that until you have to walk on crutches.”

  “I hope to goodness that never happens to me!”

  When she told him that she was going to The Hall, he had said,

  “Be sure you take a good look at the stables and tell me what the horses are like. When I remember that I have ridden the most extraordinary animals in many parts of the world, I only wish I could now mount a really fine horse and ride it until
we are both exhausted,”

  He spoke with a yearning note in his voice, which made Rosetta feel sad, but so he would worry too much, she merely said,

  “I promise, Papa, I will look at the horses and tell you all about them when I come back home – and I will not forget to ask the Marquis about the picture.”

  *

  The carriage came for her from Waincliffe Hall.

  After giving her aunt her last instructions as to how to make her father comfortable, she climbed into it.

  She felt this was all very exciting.

  It must, she mused, be at least eight years since she was last at Waincliffe Hall and she had only been eleven.

  Her mother had taken her one day when her father was away and she had thought it very touching that Lord Waincliffe had been so very attentive to her mother and so delighted to welcome her as his guest.

  Rosetta had been taken around the house by the butler, because her mother and Lord Waincliffe wanted to discuss some subjects they claimed she would find boring.

  She had been thrilled with everything she had seen and before she left, Lord Waincliffe had given her several beautiful presents.

  She had opened them feverishly as soon as she had climbed into the carriage.

  There was a necklace of what she thought must be beads and it turned out to be of small pearls and so suitable for a young girl to wear.

  And there had been a number of expensive books with pretty illustrations and these she had devoured.

  Although she was really too old for it, there was an attractive doll and her mother said it must have cost a lot of money in a London shop.

  It all came back to her now and how enchanting it had all been and how enormous The Hall had seemed.

  ‘This is an adventure,’ she now told herself, ‘but, if I don’t succeed in my task, they will never ask me again.’

  It was only a short distance along the road from her house to the drive.

  The gates looked impressive, but unfortunately they needed painting and repairing and the gilt had been washed away by the rain.

  The drive was exactly as a drive should be, except that the boughs and leaves that had fallen from the trees in the winter were still lying on the ground.