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  It was with a feeling of satisfaction that he walked up to the Master bedroom.

  After all, he had managed quite by chance to make one person happy.

  If it had not been for the Duke’s idea that he should seek love, he would never have changed Edith’s life. It was with what he could only think of as a ‘magic wand’.

  ‘That is what I want myself,’ he decided before he went to sleep.

  Then he knew that he was asking the impossible.

  He had so much already.

  It was greedy to ask for more.

  Then, as he closed his eyes to go to sleep, he had the intense feeling that in one room in the vast house Edith was praying for him.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Marquis set off at seven o’clock sharp before either of his guests were downstairs.

  He was determined not to see his aunt again and he thought that she might try and spoil his plan for Edith if they talked about it.

  He had not only written a letter to Peter about the house and his flowers but also to Lord Basildon.

  He had told him how delightful it had been to meet his daughter and how interested he was in the flowers she had told him about and he was suggesting that he and Peter went into a joint partnership together.

  He knew that Lord Basildon would find it difficult to refuse Edith the right to marry the man she loved.

  Firefly was ready for him and his Head Groom had already fixed on the saddle two large bags that were similar to those used by messengers in the past.

  They looked, the Marquis thought, rather strange, but it was the only way he could travel without a carriage.

  If he had to be ‘Mr. Nobody’ it was vital for him not to appear grand or proclaim affluence.

  As he rode off from Milverton Hall he was thinking – as he had forgotten to do it before – what name he would now give himself.

  He then decided that he could call himself Milton, as it was an ordinary name used by many and an easy name for him to remember.

  He had been christened Ivor John, the latter name after one of his Godfathers and so he would therefore be ‘John Milton’ who was obviously of no social significance.

  It was a beautiful day with just enough breeze and as he rode away he knew that the Head Groom and the two grooms were wondering where he was going.

  They were obviously speculating as to why he was so mysterious about it.

  It was, in fact, what he was wondering himself.

  He rode through the nearby village where some of the blinds were still drawn and he thought as he did so that he was certainly a wanderer in a strange land with nowhere to go and no one to meet.

  However, Firefly was enjoying himself and proving somewhat obstreperous.

  The Marquis then left the main road and took to the fields – for the first two miles he was on his own land and when he reached his boundary, he took a road going North, having the idea that most of his friends would go South.

  He passed through several small villages without seeing anything or anyone to attract his attention.

  The hours passed by quickly and as he was feeling hungry, he stopped at a village that had a finer looking inn than the rest.

  It was in black and white and faced the inevitable village green with a duck pond and it looked, the Marquis thought, as if he might get a decent meal there and he could make enquiries as to what was happening locally.

  He rode Firefly into the back of the inn where he guessed the stables would be.

  There was no ostler in sight and so he took Firefly inside the stable and found to his relief that it was clean. He located a bucket of water before venturing into the inn.

  When he found someone in charge, he asked if he could have some food to eat.

  “Would you like it outside or in, sir,” the publican enquired.

  “I think outside would be more enjoyable as it is a nice day.”

  He walked out onto the village green and sat down on the hard bench and thought that the village below him with its thatched cottages looked particularly attractive.

  The publican hurried out to tell him that his wife would cook for him and to ask what he wished to drink.

  “It’s ain’t often we ’as a visitor for lunch, sir,” he said. “Everyone ’ere be workin’ till the evenin’. Me wife complains that the food she ’as in store be wasted.”

  “Well, as I am hungry, she will not waste anything today,” the Marquis told him. “Tell me about your village. I have not seen it before and so I know nothing about it.”

  “It be called Little Meadowick, sir, and as you can see, it’s a right quiet place with nothin’ much ’appenin’.”

  “What about the young people. Surely they find it rather dull here?”

  “Well, some of ’em be tryin’ to cheer the place up, sir, and if they don’t do much mischief, I’ve nothin’ to say against ’em.”

  “Tell me about those who are cheering it up.”

  The publican laughed.

  “They be two young monkeys. Their father be the new Vicar and a very nice man ’e seems to be.”

  “So the Vicar’s family are livening the place up? And how are they doing that?”

  The publican laughed again.

  “I thinks they’d better tell you all that themselves. They be comin’ in in a short while to buy what they wants for their parties they ’as in the woods.”

  “Parties in the woods! That does sound unusual.”

  “Tell ’em so and pr’aps they’ll ask you to join ’em.”

  As the publican finished speaking there was a call from his wife and he hurried back for the Marquis’s lunch.

  It was plain, fresh and well cooked and he ate with relish and ordered a second glass of cider which he never drank in London, but it seemed appropriate in the country.

  After he had finished the Marquis remarked,

  “You are extremely lucky to have a wife who is such a good cook.”

  “She’s as keen as I be to make a bit of money and move nearer to a town, sir. We want to ’ave more visitors ’ere and we be ambitious to make good money while we be still young enough to enjoy it.”

  As the man could not be more than thirty-five the Marquis chuckled.

  “You have plenty of time ahead of you,” he said, “but I do see that, as your wife is so talented in the kitchen, she must be rather wasted in the country.”

  “That be true enough, sir. Most people round ’ere wouldn’t know a good meal if they ate it!”

  The publican spoke scathingly and then before the Marquis could answer him, he saw two young girls coming across the village green and he guessed from the way they were well dressed that they were the Vicar’s daughters.

  He was not surprised when the publican came out with his second glass of cider and exclaimed,

  “’Ere they be! Now you’ll meet Miss Alice and Miss Melanie and make ’em tell you what they be up to.”

  The girls came nearer.

  He thought they were about sixteen or seventeen and looked quite presentable but by no means beautiful.

  As they reached him, they looked at him curiously.

  The Marquis took off his hat.

  “Good afternoon to you, ladies” he began. “I have just been hearing from the publican of this delightful inn how you are cheering up this village.”

  The elder of the two girls, who he thought must be Alice, responded,

  “I expect he has been telling you stories about us. But as they are all half asleep here we have to pass the time somehow!”

  “Do tell me what you are doing?”

  The girls glanced at each other as if they thought he had some reason for questioning them.

  Then as the publican came out with the extra glass of cider, he told them,

  “This ’ere gentleman’s been enjoyin’ ’is meal while I’ve been a-tellin’ ’im ’ow you young ladies be cheerin’ up Little Meadowick and not afore it needs it.”

  “That is what we think,” the gi
rls chorused.

  “Now suppose you sit down and tell me about it,” the Marquis suggested, “and I am sure you will join me in a glass of cider or some other drink.”

  The girls looked at each other, before Alice said,

  “That is very kind of you, sir, and we would like to accept your invitation, although I expect our father would say that we should not talk to strangers.”

  “As far as I can see there are not many other people to talk to and as I am alone, you will be doing a kind act in joining me.”

  Melanie laughed.

  “That is what they always expect from the Vicarage and naturally it’s the one place where kindness is free!”

  The Marquis thought this was rather amusing.

  “Now please tell me what you are doing.”

  “We are going to have a party tonight in the wood,” Melanie answered. “If we had one in the Church Hall or anywhere else, there would be too many old people prying at us and saying that anything we did was wrong!”

  The Marquis could well understand this.

  “We therefore ask anyone who is young and wants to enjoy life,” Melanie continued, “to join us in different places in the woods each time we have a party. The elders are not able to find us there!”

  “That’s a really good idea and one I would never have thought of myself.”

  The publican came out with a large cup of coffee.

  “Me wife ’as told me that in the best ’ouses they always finishes a meal with coffee,” he announced. “So I’ve brought you a cup, sir, which I ’opes you enjoys.”

  “I most certainly will and these two young ladies will be joining me in a drink. Perhaps you have something unusual for them.”

  “Now it just ’appens, sir, that the man who brings our stores yesterday ’ad some fresh lemons and me wife’s made ’er lemonade that be very special.”

  “Oh, please let’s have a glass,” Melanie begged. “I love lemonade and they never have lemons in the shops.”

  The girls seated themselves opposite the Marquis.

  “Where are you going?” Alice asked him.

  “I am just riding about,” he replied evasively.

  “Then if you are stopping here you had better come to our party tonight,” came in Melanie. “You are a bit old, but I think you would enjoy it!”

  “I am sure I should and thank you very much. You have made a decision for me that I shall stay here tonight as the food is good and I’m sure the beds are comfortable.”

  Alice lowered her voice.

  “He is a very nice man, but they are really too good for this village. We are always afraid they will leave.”

  The Marquis could understand this and he thought it was rather intelligent of the two girls to realise it too.

  “Where do you come from?” he enquired.

  “Our Papa was only a Curate at Bristol and when he was offered a Living here he thought he was going up in the world. He had no idea when he arrived how dull it is!”

  “You had more fun in Bristol?”

  “Of course we did,” replied Alice. “We were going to a really lively school and at Christmas there were lots of parties. In the summer we could play tennis, swim and do all sorts of other things.”

  “I am really sorry for you, ladies, but surely you enjoy being in the country more than in the town.”

  Both girls wrinkled their noses.

  “Not really!” said Melanie. “After all it is awfully dull having no one to talk to except the old people in the cottages. The young go out to work and Papa is, I think, already regretting he didn’t stay on in Bristol.”

  “I am sure if your father agitated the Bishop who sent him here, he could find him a more agreeable Living.”

  “I doubt it,” said Alice. “If you ask me, the Church puts a Parson wherever there is an empty Vicarage and no matter how good he is, they don’t worry about him again.”

  The Marquis found this all rather interesting.

  “I tell you what you could do to help us,” Melanie proposed. “We have to carry the beer and food for tonight to the place we have chosen for our party.”

  She looked at the Marquis pleadingly.

  “If you have a horse it would be much simpler if we took it on his back and we could go further than usual.”

  The Marquis smiled at her.

  “I am quite prepared to help, madam, and I am sure your party is different to anything one would expect in this part of the world.”

  The two girls giggled.

  “That is true enough,” agreed Melanie. “But just you wait and see and you will be surprised how much our guests all enjoy themselves.

  The Marquis was curious. It seemed strange that these two lively young girls should be living in such a quiet and peaceful village – yet unlike most girls he had met, they were willing to do something about it.

  He finished his coffee and the two girls drank their lemonade.

  Then he went to collect Firefly from the stable.

  He took him into the yard just as the two girls were staggering out of the back of the inn with a number of beer bottles in a wicker basket.

  The Marquis looked at it in surprise.

  “We thought if we put the beer on his back,” Alice explained, “it would be easier than carrying it in bags.”

  He felt doubtful and anyway he thought that Firefly had enough to carry. In addition he had no wish to discuss his well-packed clothes.

  Nevertheless, if he was staying at the inn, it must be easier than carrying the heavy basket, but he did not want to overload Firefly as he might rear up and if he did, the beer would all fall to the ground and be smashed.

  “I will tell you what we will do,” he suggested. “I will talk to the publican and ask him if I can stay the night and then I can leave my luggage here and he can provide me with two bags to hang on either side of my horse.”

  The girls agreed with this idea.

  The publican said that he was delighted to have the Marquis as a guest and the best room in the inn would be made ready for him.

  He then took down his luggage and the publican’s wife packed the bottles of beer in small sacks.

  It all took time and the Marquis, although he had never done anything like this before, found he was more dextrous than the girls in making Firefly a useful carrier.

  When the beer bottles were all arranged, there were also buns and biscuits to be taken with them and they too had to be placed in a secure position on Firefly.

  Taking Firefly by the bridle he told the two girls to go ahead and show him the way.

  They took him round the back of the inn and across a field that led to a large wood.

  “We have not had a party on this side of the village before,” Alice said, “and we never tell our guests where we are going until they meet us outside the churchyard.”

  The Marquis wanted to say he thought that it was an odd place to start the festivities, but they might not find such a remark as amusing as he did.

  The girls went ahead to make sure there was no one watching and then they signalled for the Marquis to bring Firefly after them.

  It was slow walking across the field. The Marquis wished he was riding, but Firefly did not seem to mind.

  At the edge of the wood he realised that it was an excellently isolated spot to hold what he suspected would be a somewhat rowdy party.

  There was a clearing which, he imagined, had been made long ago in the very centre of the wood and the girls decided that it was the perfect place for their party.

  They told him that the last party had been down the other end of the village, and as it had been raining hard the mothers made a huge fuss when their children went home covered in mud.

  The girls said they spent ages washing their dresses and much of the mud did not come off, while the Marquis did wonder vaguely why they should get so muddy, but he did not ask too many questions.

  He was thinking that it was most interesting to meet people he would never have kn
own before and to find that in their own way they were making the best of their lives.

  Most of his richer friends moaned and complained loudly if they did not have exactly what they wanted at the moment they wanted it.

  He and the two girls then unpacked the beer and the food, covering it up so that the rabbits would not be able to get at it.

  By the time they finished it was getting late in the afternoon.

  “You had better have dinner before you join us,” suggested Alice, “and don’t bring your horse or everyone will want to ride it!”

  It was a point that had been troubling the Marquis as he had no wish for anyone to ride Firefly but himself.

  “I will leave my horse at the inn and I will come at whatever time you tell me.”

  The two girls consulted each other and decided that by nine o’clock the party would be in full swing.

  The Marquis had no idea what he would find there or exactly what they were planning and he decided that it would rather spoil things if he was curious, so he told them that he would be with them soon after nine o’clock.

  He then went for a short ride on Firefly.

  He found that the village was larger than he thought when he had first inspected it. The cottages were all small and rather poor. The Church being Norman was large and impressive and the Vicarage beside it was quite a pleasant looking house.

  He felt most Parsons and doubtless the girls’ father enjoyed being in the country as it would be easier for them and less demanding than being in a town like Bristol.

  However he could very easily understand that the two girls, who were reasonably attractive, found it boring. Naturally they would miss going to parties and all the other entertainments easily available in a City.

  The publican was delighted that the Marquis should stay for dinner and his wife excelled herself in providing good well-cooked fresh food.

  He was, as it happened, not alone as several men came in. First they had their evening drink, sitting outside and smoking their pipes while they drank.

  The Marquis talked to them and found they were all engaged in working on the land that he gathered belonged to several different owners – none of them seemed to be a Squire or of any particular Social significance.