A Virgin Bride Read online

  “If that’s what you will do, it will be intelligent of

  you. As I have already said, you will eventually make the

  Duke fall in love for the first time in his life.”

  “How can you be sure he’s not been in love before,

  Aunt Alice?”

  “There have been many women who cried bitterly

  when they lost him. There have also been those who have

  been furious when he left them.”

  Venetia laughed again.

  “I am sure you are making him up and he does not

  really exist. No man could be quite so different from what

  one could have expected – and certainly nothing like I would

  think of as my dream hero.”

  “No one ever turns out exactly as one wants them to

  be and I am sure, Venetia, when you do fall in love, you will find, as everyone does, that it is not only different from your expectations but very much more wonderful.”

  “If it ever happens to me now, I will be astonished. I had it all planned out in my mind that, after two or three years of enjoying the Season, I would meet someone who liked the same things I like.”

  She paused before she continued,

  “We would write a book together and gradually be aware that life could not go on unless we were together.”

  Lady Manvill’s eyes were soft and understanding.

  She was thinking that despite her intelligence and her beauty, Venetia was really only a little girl lost in a bewildering world she had strayed into without realising it.

  ‘She will have to find her own way out of it,’ she thought, ‘and undoubtedly she will. But it could be a very painful process.’

  She put out her hand and touched Venetia’s cheek.

  “Never forget one thing, Venetia, God has blessed you with a beautiful face and, I am certain, a heart as warm and understanding as your dear mother’s. You will, as a Duchess, be of great influence and it is up to you whether you make the best or the worst of it.”

  “Now you are frightening me!” protested Venetia.

  “I would not do so, but you must never underrate yourself. I personally am totally convinced that one day you will find exactly what you are seeking.”

  “I only hope that’s true,” mumbled Venetia.

  The carriage then came to a standstill outside Lady Manvill’s house in Belgrave Square.

  “Goodbye, my dearest,” said Lady Manvill, “and if you stay in London come and see me every day to tell me what is happening.

  “But I think you should go to the country with your father. It would be much more effective to appear for the first time at your wedding dressed in a fabulous gown Mrs. Herbert will obtain from Frederick Worth.”

  “It will certainly add to the drama,” Venetia replied rather sarcastically. “Everyone will be looking at my gown and not at me.”

  Lady Manvill’s eyes twinkled.

  “You will be lucky if the women are not all looking at the bridegroom!”

  She then walked up the steps to her house and, as she turned to wave Venetia goodbye, she heard her laugh.

  Lady Manvill went into the house.

  She was reflecting that perhaps for the first time in his life Rock would find himself up against something he had never experienced before.

  CHAPTER THREE

  As Venetia drove on home she thought that it was the strangest afternoon she had ever spent.

  However she was feeling very differently about the whole situation than she had this morning.

  It had been Lady Manvill’s idea before they left that Venetia should leave her own dress with Mrs. Herbert for the courier to take to Paris, as it was essential for Worth to have a model that fitted her perfectly.

  Actually the dress she was now wearing, which had been made for Mrs. Herbert, fitted her almost perfectly, but she was a little smaller round the waist.

  It had undoubtedly, Venetia reckoned, as she gazed intently into the mirror, transformed her from a schoolgirl into a young woman.

  It was extremely smart and so much more elaborate than any dress she had ever owned before.

  By the time she arrived home, it was already after five o’clock and she felt sure her father had come back earlier.

  Bates was waiting for her in the hall and, before he could speak, she asked him,

  “Is His Grace back, Bates?”

  “He’s in the drawing room, my Lady.”

  Venetia gave a little sigh.

  She had hoped she would have time to think before meeting her father again.

  Then she told herself she had accepted the situation, so thankfully there was no reason for them to quarrel.

  She pulled off her hat, gave it to Bates and ran up the stairs to the drawing room, which was on the first floor.

  Tea was arranged in front of the sofa and her father was standing with his back to the mantelpiece obviously waiting for her.

  “I am sorry to be late, Papa,” began Venetia, “but as you can see I have been shopping and I have ordered a delightful but somewhat expensive trousseau. I hope you will approve of it.”

  She was very perceptive.

  She realised that her father was on the defensive and ready to argue with her again.

  Now he was pleased that she had mentioned her trousseau as it told him that she now intended to accept the marriage.

  “Let me look at you,” he asked.

  Venetia put out her arms and twisted round in front of him.

  “This is an original Frederick Worth, straight from Paris, Papa. Clever Aunt Alice knows exactly where I can obtain enough clothes so that you will not be ashamed of me on my wedding day.”

  “I would never be that,” her father replied gravely. “And I think your mother would be proud of you if she saw you at this moment.”

  “Now I must give you your tea, Papa.”

  She began to pour from the silver teapot that had been in the family since the reign of George III.

  “What I was thinking,” her father said as he took the cup from her, “is that we should leave for the country tomorrow morning. There is nothing to keep us in London if you now have the clothes you want. I think we will be happier and more peaceful in the country.”

  “What you are saying Papa, is that there will be a great deal of chatter and talk when my engagement to the Duke is announced. It will be very difficult to answer all the questions that would be put to me.”

  She was thinking that everyone was bound to ask her how well she knew the Duke.

  And they would be curious, even if they were too polite to say anything, as to why her engagement was announced immediately after the scandal the Duke had created.

  To keep away from the subject Venetia remarked,

  “What I am most looking forward to is seeing your new horses, Papa. I thought the one pulling the carriage today was superb and I understand you have some others.”

  “I thought I had written and told you about them and I want you to ride them. There is one which I am quite certain will win many races.”

  “What about the Gold Cup at Ascot?”

  He made a gesture with his hands.

  “I would love to win the Gold Cup, but I suspect that Rockinston will always pass the winning post first.”

  “At least try to beat him, Papa,” Venetia urged. “I would be so thrilled if you could pass him at the post.”

  She could see as she spoke how pleased her father was that she had accepted the situation.

  He had obviously come back to the house expecting their argument to start all over again and him to lose his temper as he always did if he was opposed.

  Venetia continued to chatter away.

  “Aunt Alice is really fantastic. She always has the answer to any problem and when I told her that I wanted my trousseau to be ready in under a fortnight, she did not even say it was impossible.”

  “She has always been a remarkable woman, but to tell the truth, I had rea
lly forgotten about your trousseau. I have never understood women saying they have ‘not got a thing to wear’ and then having hysterics at having to buy everything so quickly!”

  “My gowns are all coming to me from Paris from Frederick Worth – ”

  “Then you will be outstanding. I remember when I was last in Paris being astounded that the crinoline should have disappeared so quickly. Apparently the new fashion is to have a bustle at the back.”

  “You are quite right, Papa, and that is actually what my evening gowns have. Not a very large one, but I am so thankful that I don’t have to wear a crinoline.”

  “Your mother always said they were a nuisance and I know she would be delighted at the way you look now.”

  “Then I am not concerned with what anyone else may think of me one way or another.”

  She tried to keep the conversation off her marriage during dinner.

  Rising as soon as dinner was over in case her father started to talk about her future husband, she said she must retire to bed.

  “I really am tired after travelling from Paris and I want to feel ready to jump and gallop for hours tomorrow.”

  “I will pick out my best mount for you.”

  She kissed her father goodnight and walked upstairs thinking that Aunt Alice would praise her for having been so diplomatic.

  ‘She is right,’ thought Venetia. ‘I have to use my brains – after all a great deal of money has been spent on developing them. If they don’t work, I shall feel inclined to ask for Papa’s money back!’

  Then she laughed at herself, undressed quickly and climbed into bed.

  She had expected to lie awake and go over in her mind all that had happened in the day, but she was more tired than she thought and fell asleep almost immediately.

  *

  When she was called at eight o’clock sharp the next morning, she was still fast asleep.

  The maid pulled back the curtains and said,

  “His Grace’s told me to tell you, my Lady, that he wants to leave at nine-thirty.”

  “I will be ready,” answered Venetia. “Please pack all my clothes including those I brought back from school.”

  “I’ll do that, my Lady.”

  Venetia had told her not to undo the boxes that had come from Mrs. Herbert as the alterations could be done in the country.

  She thought it would be a mistake for the servants to talk too much about her new dresses and her Mama had always said that half the gossip and mischief in Mayfair started in the servants’ hall.

  She felt it would be a titbit of information for those who were speculating over her engagement if they learnt that she had already bought gowns from Frederick Worth.

  When she went down to breakfast. she was sure that her father must have read The Gazette first and then put it under a pile of newspapers on a chair behind him.

  He always had a silver book rest in front of him on which he placed one newspaper at a time.

  He usually read The Morning Post first, but it was not in evidence and there was no sign of The Gazette.

  Actually she had no wish to see it herself as she knew how it would read and she could all too clearly hear the exclamations of astonishment and curiosity being made in countless houses in Mayfair.

  Suddenly she was afraid of the sensation she must be causing and she had no wish to be faced with it.

  “It’s a lovely day, so do let’s go to the country as soon as possible,” she urged her father.

  “I thought you might feel like that, my dear. I have already sent to the Mews for the carriage to be brought round at nine. After all there is little point in sitting too long over breakfast.”

  Venetia just had time to help herself to breakfast from the silver dishes on the sideboard.

  She was finishing her second cup of coffee when Bates announced that the carriage was on its way.

  “I’ve had everything brought down, my Lady,” he said to Venetia, “but I don’t know if there be anything else you’ll be wanting to take with you.”

  “I am sure I will find everything I require at home and, of course, as you will understand, Bates, having been away for so long I am hoping that nothing has changed and that everything is exactly as it was when I left.”

  Bates smiled.

  “That’s what we all hope, my Lady, but we’re often disappointed.”

  “I will complain bitterly if I am disappointed, but I am certain that Mrs. Johnson will have left things just as they were.”

  Mrs. Johnson was the housekeeper in the country and she had been in the service of the Duke even longer than Mrs. Shepherd.

  The two elderly women constantly vied with each other to keep the two houses perfect and if there was an accident or anything was lost it upset them greatly.

  Mrs. Shepherd had left a cape in the front hall for Venetia to wear over her dress as well as a hat with a wide brim as a shade against the sun.

  When Venetia walked outside, she could see to her delight that her father was driving a new team of four she had not seen before. They were very well matched and she knew in the light open chaise they would travel at speed.

  “You never told me in your letters, Papa, that you had bought a new team.”

  “I thought I had, my dear, but actually these have only been here for the last three months. The other team was growing old and I put them out to grass.”

  “That was kind of you, Papa.”

  Their luggage was being carried on a brake and in it was her father’s valet, who went everywhere with him, and two footmen as well as two maids.

  For a moment Venetia looked at them in surprise.

  She was ready to ask a question, but then she knew the answer – extra help would be needed in the country for the forthcoming wedding celebrations.

  She bade farewell to Bates, climbed into the chaise and her father picked up the reins.

  He was an outstanding driver and she appreciated the adroit way he drove his horses carefully through the crowded streets until they were out of the suburbs.

  Then he gave the team their heads and it seemed to Venetia that on the open road they were now travelling at a record speed.

  She had hardly exchanged a word with her father since they had left Berkeley Square and she could not help wondering if the Duke of Rockinston would ever be able to compete with him at driving a team.

  Yet to suddenly think of him made her shudder.

  She tried to tell herself it was a subject she had to ignore and finally quench altogether.

  ‘One thing,’ she reflected as they drove along, ‘is that I must not be afraid of him. If he is at all decent, he will try not to frighten me.’

  Equally she knew that she was frightened.

  She was glad to be leaving London, as there would be no one to talk to about the Duke except her father.

  He had not mentioned him at all this morning and she took this to mean that he was being tactful.

  She had been far too tired last night to reflect on everything Aunt Alice had told her.

  But she mused now that as her Godmother had said she would have to be most astute to cope with the Duke.

  She was certain he would be well aware of his own excellence –

  He would be conceited, self-centred and intolerant.

  He would expect from long experience that every woman would throw herself at his feet or into his arms.

  Venetia felt herself shudder at the idea.

  And then she began to think how she should behave when they met.

  ‘At least I have time to consider it,’ she thought. ‘It would be much worse if Papa had arranged for me to be married tomorrow before I had time to draw my breath.’

  Even so two weeks, with one day already gone, was not a very long time in which to prepare for her whole life.

  And so different from how she had envisaged her future.

  She had been so certain that she would have time to meet people in the Social world and time to go to the balls that she had heard
so much about.

  Some of the older girls at her school had described them to her dramatically.

  “I was so afraid,” one said, “that I would be a wallflower and that no one would ask me to dance. But they actually queued up and in the end I had more partners than there were dances on my card!”

  “That is exactly what everyone wants,” another girl laughed. “I sat out two dances at the first ball I went to and I have never been so miserable. I wanted to run away and hide myself, but my Mama would not let me.”

  “You must have been unlucky,” another piped up.

  “My brother says that if men go to a debutantes’ ball they know they must dance at least once with the girl for whom the ball is given or they won’t be asked to the next party.”

  Venetia laughed.

  “That is one way of being certain one is not left sitting out when everyone else is dancing!”

  “You cannot imagine how horrible it is,” the girl replied. “But you’ll be all right, Venetia, you are so pretty that all the men will want to dance with you.”

  “I do hope you are right,” giggled Venetia.

  Now she recognised that she would never be able to prove it one way or another.

  She would never go to debutantes’ balls or even the ball her father had promised her.

  It was where she had expected to meet an attractive man who would ask her for one dance and then insist on partnering her for every dance.

  ‘It’s just not fair,’ she thought to herself. ‘I am to be a married woman and never a debutante.’

  She had thought so much about it and had talked about it with the girls so often that it seemed incredible that now it was all taken away from her.

  Just because a strange man her father admired had been caught out behaving improperly.

  And however horrible the Earl of Darran might be, she still sympathised with him.

  It was dreadful that a man should go away, perhaps on business, and return to find his wife had been unfaithful with another man in his own bedroom.

  Venetia had not really thought about it before, but now she told herself that actually she was shocked by what was called an affaire-de-coeur.

  She had heard about them in Paris and in London and it seemed to her that the person who really suffered was the husband.