Love Drives In Read online

  When she came down the stairs into the hall where the Earl was waiting for her, she would have been very foolish if she had not realised there was a glint in his eyes.

  There was also a look of surprise as he realised that she was like no other secretary. He became thoughtful.

  His carriage was outside.

  When they got into it and the footman shut the door, the Earl said,

  "I think it's time you told me the truth."

  "The – truth?"

  "Why are you trying to pass yourself off as an ordinary secretary, when you know very well that you are no such thing?"

  CHAPTER THREE

  Caught off-guard by the question, Dorina looked at him cautiously.

  "I'm sure I do not know why you should ask that," she said, assuming an offended tone, hoping that it would put him off. "Have you any complaints about my work?"

  "None at all, as you well know."

  "I'm a good secretary?"

  "You're an excellent secretary."

  "Then that's all there is to be said."

  "Oh no, it isn't" the Earl persisted. "My point is that you're too good. You're intelligent, you know the languages and you're obviously highly educated. Far from being an ordinary working girl, you're a lady."

  "An impoverished lady," she supplied quickly. "I have to earn my bread and I don't fancy being a governess or a school-mistress."

  "I thought impoverished ladies aimed for rich husbands," he observed.

  "Rich husbands require dowries," she pointed out.

  "Your brains and your beauty could be your dowry."

  "A nice compliment, but a man with a ramshackle castle cannot repair it with brains and beauty," she said, remembering one particular suitor.

  "Have you known many?" the Earl enquired with interest.

  "One hears things, travelling around," Dorina replied vaguely.

  She had made a bad slip, she realised, allowing him to know too much.

  "I'm sure one hears about men on the look-out for money," he replied. "But not every man is a fortune hunter. Some can afford to marry for the woman's own intrinsic worth, and in that sense, you have much to offer.

  "I'm surprised that you don't seem to have thought of it. What is it about working for me that sent you flying to my house?"

  He was creeping too near the truth. Backed into a corner, Dorina responded with the first thing she could think of.

  "How dare you!" she said in tones of fury.

  The smile vanished from his face.

  "What – ?"

  "Do you have the unspeakable effrontery to suggest that I'm setting my cap at you? You think that's why I came to work for you? For shame, my Lord!"

  "No – please, I didn't mean – "

  "Or perhaps you think I'm hoping to be introduced to your society friends? Yes, that would be it. I could never aspire to an Earl, but he might have a banker or two among his acquaintances."

  "I didn't – "

  "Of course I shouldn't feel surprised that you feel free to pour scorn on me, alone and friendless as I am. What else can a poor girl expect?"

  "I never poured scorn on you," he said desperately. "And I didn't say – "

  "You implied!"

  "I did not! How was I to know you were so dashed touchy?"

  "A defenceless woman has to be touchy, as you put it," Dorina informed him in arctic accents. "Her reputation is at stake."

  "Oh Lord!" he groaned, horrified at himself, at her and at the whole mess in which he suddenly found himself.

  "Of course I risked my reputation when I agreed to stay in your house. If I had only known how that would be interpreted – oooooh!"

  She rounded off the performance by bursting into violent sobs and burying her face in her hands. From his corner the Earl regarded her aghast, and then askance. Gradually a gleam of humour came into his eyes.

  Unnerved by the silence, Dorina parted her fingers and looked through them to find him grinning at her.

  "You can stop now," he said. "You've made your point."

  "Have I?" She dropped her hands.

  "Yes, you were very effective at first, but then you overdid it. Tears!"

  "I don't see why you shouldn't believe my tears," she said indignantly.

  "I'd believe them from anyone else, but not from the woman who discussed piston engines with me all afternoon. I'm sorry Miss Martin, perhaps I have been a little insensitive, but you must know that I never meant to imply any of the things you said."

  "Yes, it was unkind of me," she said, relenting, "especially as you had someone put bolts on my door."

  "I didn't 'have someone' put them on. I put them on myself. I hit my thumb with the hammer, too." His aggrieved tone made her laugh and he joined in.

  "I was only talking about how beautiful you are," he added. "But I suppose you'll take offence at that now."

  "I promise not to. But there's nothing remarkable about my appearance."

  "Nonsense. Looking as you do now, you would light up a Mayfair ballroom."

  "Oh the dress!" she said lightly. "I told you I'd just come from France. I have very generous friends in Paris and this was one of their presents to me. You know that French clothes make all the difference."

  She smiled as she added,

  "Perhaps it's something you should pay attention to in your effort to develop new things and new ideas. After all, you've done shipping and trains, surely making an English woman outstanding should be somewhere on your list."

  The Earl laughed.

  "Trains are easy," he said. "The adornment of a woman might be a little beyond me. All I know is that you would be admired, even at Buckingham Palace."

  "Although you may not believe it, I would rather be where we are going now than being entertained at Buckingham Palace."

  He looked wary.

  "Meaning you want to talk about piston engines again?"

  "No," she said in a considering voice. "Tonight, I thought we might move on to variable steam pressure."

  He laughed out loud, and there was a new note in his voice. She saw pure admiration in his eyes, and the air in the carriage seemed to sing. For a moment Dorina almost succumbed to it. She was going out to dinner with a handsome man who admired her. Why should she not enjoy herself?

  But she was here to work, she reminded herself sternly. Any distractions were a betrayal of her father.

  So she forced herself to change the subject, and spoke decisively,

  "What I find so interesting is that you are always looking out for something different. That's very unusual in an Englishman. He is usually far too complacent and does not like change of any sort."

  There was a slight pause before the Earl replied. He seemed to be a little disconcerted.

  "That is unkind," he said at last, "but, I feel, true. We've tended to accept things as they've always been, and believed that because we are English we are right in everything we say and do."

  Dorina laughed.

  "Yes, I'm afraid that's how we are."

  "It's something we have to change," he added firmly, "and, Miss Martin, that is what I intend to do."

  "I think you've been very successful already," Dorina replied. "But you must realise that there is a great deal more for you to tackle."

  "Are you challenging me?" the Earl enquired.

  "Of course," Dorina said. "There's always room for improvement."

  The Earl was silent for a moment.

  Then he said,

  "You are the most extraordinary young woman I have ever met. I'm sure you have thought seriously about what you are saying and I know it should be an inspiration to me, but why are you so anxious for me to do more?"

  "That's easy. Because you can do it. Although I've only been with you a short while, I'm sure that you are capable of doing great things."

  She felt, as she was saying this, as if the words were being put into her mouth.

  Then she suddenly asked herself what she was doing.

  She was her
e for the sake of her father's business and her father's memory. Yet she found herself trying to inspire the Earl to greater heights.

  "But why are you so sure of that?" he asked, trying to see her in the gloom of the carriage.

  "I don't know," she said slowly. "But I am – very sure."

  The next moment she felt the carriage begin to slow.

  "We're here," he said.

  He sounded dazed, and almost relieved. Dorina too felt relieved. Something was happening that was carrying her away too fast.

  She needed to stop and think, but how could she think when her heart was pounding?

  The carriage had stopped. The door was being pulled open.

  The Earl got out first and turned back to assist Dorina. She felt the warmth of his hands holding her, the sense of leashed power. Then he released her.

  The restaurant was small, almost hidden away, but discreetly luxurious. The building was decorated with models of ships and fish, and the door through which they entered was graced with a sea serpent overhead.

  They were shown to a table in an alcove that looked out directly on to the River Thames.

  'This is certainly unusual,' she thought to herself, 'and that is exactly what the Earl is. Unusual. In fact, I've never known anyone like him. Not even Papa.'

  He ordered their dinner and they settled down to talk. At first they discussed steam pressure and other engineering details, but gradually Dorina worked him round to talking about himself.

  "Everyone thought," he said, "that because my father had a title and I inherited it, that I should merely be a social figure with no particular interest other than ballrooms and race meetings."

  Dorina laughed.

  "Then they certainly made a mistake," she said.

  "And I intend to do more," he replied. "I like inventing things. It pleases me to think a train is going faster because I have thought of new improvements, which those who invented it did not think of.

  "It's what I've wanted to do ever since I could remember. So far I have succeeded a little, but not as much as I want. There's still much to do with great new inventions still to come."

  "You mean, like the horseless carriage?" Dorina asked. "So many of your letters are from people wanting to know about it, that it must be on the horizon."

  "So people say," he agreed. "But just because everyone's talking about it doesn't mean it's about to happen. Of course I'm researching it, but so are a lot of others."

  "So what will you say to those people who are asking you about it?" she wanted to know. "It's time we answered those letters."

  "You're right. I'll write back, putting them off."

  "But they're waiting for something from you. I can't believe that you've actually made no progress with this project."

  "It won't hurt them to wait a little longer. What would really be damaging would be to announce a new product before it's ready. How my competitors would laugh at that!"

  She had to admit that he was right. At the same time she felt rather disappointed that he would not tell her more.

  "Now, that's enough about business," he said. "I want to talk about you."

  For a moment she was wildly tempted. She was so happy here talking with him. It felt so right, so natural. They could talk some more, and grow closer –

  Then warning bells sounded in her head. This was a luxury she must not allow herself. Not yet.

  "I think that must wait until another day," she replied.

  The Earl was silent for a moment. He seemed to be looking into the distance, as though coming out of a dream.

  "The time seems to have rushed past," he said, "but of course we must talk again. I can honestly say I have enjoyed this evening enormously, far more than if I were dancing rather aimlessly round a polished floor with a young woman in my arms who only giggled when I spoke to her."

  "Now you are being unkind," Dorina said. "I'm certain that unless you frightened her, she would have had a great deal to say. After all, you are who you are."

  "Which is sometimes a disadvantage," the Earl retorted. "One is never quite certain if people are being complimentary to you as a person, or polishing up your title simply because it is something they would like themselves."

  "I think if you have earned it," Dorina said, "it is something of which one should be very proud."

  "Are you saying that to please me or because you really think so?" the Earl asked unexpectedly.

  Dorina laughed.

  "I really do think so, and it's a great thing that, in this country at least, a man is honoured as he deserves. That's how your father earned his title."

  "And I have only inherited it," the Earl replied.

  "Yes," Dorina agreed, "but you've worked hard to keep your father's legacy alive."

  It was late when they finally left the restaurant.

  They were almost the last to leave. They had been talking so earnestly that the time seemed to slip by unnoticed.

  "I find you fascinating," the Earl said, "and I want to go on talking and arguing with you until the morning sun breaks through."

  "Then we would be very tired all day," Dorina said. "Come along we must go home."

  The Earl paid the bill and they drove back to the house. Not a word was spoken on the journey home, but Dorina could sense him smiling at her in the darkness of the carriage.

  When they were in the hall, Dorina said,

  "Thank you, thank you for a most delightful evening. I enjoyed every moment of it."

  There was a soft sound and a small creature brushed past her.

  "It's Tiggy," the Earl said, picking up the cat. "Hallo, old fellow."

  "How are your whiskers these days?" Dorina asked, scratching the tabby head.

  "Ah, they've told you about that?" the Earl said with a grin. "Yes, he's an old soldier. He knows how to cope with my funny ways."

  Dorina watched as the cat pressed closer to his master in a way that said more than words. This man had the gift of winning love, she thought.

  Goodnight, my Lord," she said hurriedly. "And thank you again."

  She went upstairs without looking back at him.

  *

  Next morning she hastened down to breakfast and then to her office.

  There was no sign of the Earl, but she refused to admit to herself that she was disappointed.

  She had lain awake thinking of him before falling asleep and dreaming of him. But that did not mean that she was in love, she assured herself. It was a natural reaction to a pleasant evening out with a charming man.

  As usual there were a great number of letters which had arrived by the morning post.

  Her mind was still elsewhere as she opened the first letter, and she scarcely noticed that the writing paper was rich and engraved not only with the address, but with a very important crest.

  The letter read,

  Darling Gerald,

  I miss you terribly and long to be with you. You always say such wonderful things to me, and I lie awake at night thinking how happy we were that magical evening.

  It is very boring being here in the country, with everyone talking about horses and racing, when I want to be with you.

  I love you, I love you, and as soon as I am back in London I want you to tell me that you really love me.

  Bless you and a thousand kisses,

  Elsie.

  With a sense of shock she realised that she had intruded on something private. Hurriedly she put the letter back into the envelope.

  She wondered who Elsie was. It seemed strange for a young girl to write in such a way.

  Perhaps it was an older woman.

  Yes, she wrote like a woman of experience and the Earl evidently had a relationship with her that enabled her to write to him in such passionate terms.

  Was this the reason why he seemed indifferent to virtuous young ladies of society? Because he enjoyed liaisons with women whose virtue was less outstanding?

  The thought saddened her. But, after all, what did she know about hi
m?

  She put the letter discreetly with the others, and left it for him.

  'If only he would return,' she thought. 'I would so like to talk to him.'

  But when the butler, whom she had discovered was called Henly, brought in her morning coffee he told her that his Lordship would be out all day.