Just Fate Page 6

  Mena hesitated and then she asked herself what did it matter?

  Both her mother and Lais would be horrified if they knew what she was doing, but she was sure that her father would have understood.

  However lowly his position in life might be, Lindon was well read and well educated.

  This last year she had so desperately missed the intelligent conversations that she had always enjoyed with her father.

  She knew that it would be an unmitigated joy to talk to Lindon and she longed to be able to discuss Greece or indeed anywhere else in the world with him.

  On Monday she and her mother would be going back home.

  She adored her mother, but she could not discuss any abstract subject or even relate something fascinating that she had found in one of the many books she read.

  She had the feeling that when her mother returned home she would once again grow limp and listless and it would be difficult to rouse her from her lethargy.

  No one could really understand just how dull and dreary this last year had been.

  She then made up her mind.

  “If you – really want me,” she stammered, “it would be exciting – to have dinner with you and also – to ride there.”

  “Then that is what we will do,” Lindon said. “It would be easier for you to meet me in the paddock where you suddenly appeared yesterday. There will be nobody about at that hour.”

  “Then I will come just as soon as everybody has gone down the stairs to dinner.”

  She saw the satisfaction on his face.

  And then she said a little tentatively,

  “Y-you don’t think it is – wrong of me? After all I shall – not be – chaperoned.”

  She had forgotten for the moment that she was supposed to be an independent and self-assured young woman who had to earn her own living.

  “I promise you,” Lindon said quite seriously, “that I will bring two horses who are elderly and will be perfectly prepared to chaperone you from the time you leave The Castle until you return!”

  Mena chuckled.

  “I can see them shaking their heads if I behave badly and, of course, rebuking you for enticing me into – mischief!”

  “I shall behave with the utmost propriety,” Lindon promised.

  They were galloping back the way they had come and the sunshine suddenly seemed dazzling.

  Mrs. Mansforde told her that she had enjoyed a delightful day.

  “You must see the Herb Garden, dearest,” she said. “When I looked at it I felt ashamed that I have neglected ours for so long.”

  “We will weed it as soon as we get back, Mama,” Mena told her, “and what else did you see?”

  “Orchids. Like those I used to wear in my hair, except that they are far more exotic and unusual. And the peaches in the Peach House are already enormous.”

  Mena thought that there were a lot of things she must try and see before they left The Castle.

  It was going to be difficult, however, if she spent all her free time with Lindon and the horses.

  Her mother was obviously entranced with the gardens, but she did not ask Mena what she had been doing.

  “In the afternoon,” Mrs. Mansforde went on, “most of the guests went for a drive.”

  “Who did you go with, Mama?” Mena asked.

  “The Duke took me in a very comfortable chaise and Lais was with two young men who were obviously, I thought, very infatuated with her.”

  “Do you not think that she had expected to be with – the Duke?” Mena asked.

  Her mother looked at her in consternation.

  “I never thought of that! Was it wrong of me to monopolise him?”

  “No, no, of course not,” Mena replied quickly. “You came here because he wanted to meet you and he is very wisely finding out everything he wants to know about you.”

  Mrs. Mansforde smiled.

  “I think he is charming and I cannot imagine anybody I would rather have as a son-in-law.”

  *

  Just as she had the night before, Lais came to collect her mother before dinner.

  Tonight she was wearing a flame-coloured gown trimmed with feathers and Mena realised that it must have been very expensive.

  She had chosen for her mother a gown of pale mauve, the colour of Parma violets and she looked very lovely with a glittering tiara on her head and wearing the same necklace that she had worn the night before.

  Mena remembered how Lais had said that her mother looked like a violet.

  She thought, however, that if she too had gone down to dinner no one would have noticed her beside Lais.

  “That is a fantastic gown, Lais,” she exclaimed to her sister.

  “That is just what I think,” Lais said complacently.

  “And your tiara is beautiful too,” Mena added.

  “Wait until you see me wearing the Kernthorpe diamonds!” Lais replied. “They have a tiara that is like a crown and strings of pearls which reach almost to one’s knees!”

  Mena thought that would be rather overwhelming, but aloud she said,

  “I know you will look marvellous in them.”

  Lais walked towards the door.

  “Come along, Mama,” she said. “I am very pleased at the way the Duke has taken to you and you were very good to go with him to look at his boring Herb Garden.”

  “I did not find it at all boring,” Mrs. Mansforde replied, “and His Grace is actually very knowledgeable about herbs and flowers.”

  Lais was obviously not listening.

  Mena kissed her mother before she left the room and whispered,

  “Enjoy yourself, Mama, and don’t forget to tell the Duke about the plants that Papa brought back from Greece.”

  “I had forgotten those,” Mrs. Mansforde answered. “And I am sure that he will be very interested.”

  She hurried after her elder daughter.

  As she disappeared down the stairs, Mena saw a housemaid coming down the corridor.

  She was just about to tell her that she did not want any dinner and then knew that it would be a mistake.

  It would seem strange and Lais’s lady’s maid would repeat to her everything she learned from the other servants.

  She therefore waited impatiently in the sitting room until the footman appeared.

  A cloth had already been laid on the table and, as he put down the tray, she said,

  “I have an urgent letter I have to write, so perhaps you would leave my dinner and come back to collect the tray later?”

  “You are quite sure you can manage, miss?” the footman enquired.

  “Yes, of course,” Mena smiled.

  He hurried away, thinking that it was a relief that he did not have to stay behind and wait on her.

  As soon as he had gone, Mena took off the covers.

  And then she removed some of the food from each of the plates so that it looked as if she had sampled every dish and she hid two peaches in the cupboard so that she could eat them later.

  Then, having made sure that there was nobody about, she slipped along the corridor and down the stairs that led to the garden door.

  It might be wrong, it might well be reprehensible!

  But she was very excited at the idea of going out to dinner for the first time in her life alone with a man.

  She let herself out into the garden and then she found her way as quickly as possible through the orchard.

  When she reached the paddock, he was there.

  For a moment she looked at him in surprise because he was dressed as a gentleman.

  Then she realised that it was his informal evening dress worn in some Regiments in the Officers’ Mess. It was in fact very much the same as her father had worn when he was a young man and a soldier.

  Lindon’s trousers, which fitted closely to his legs, had a red stripe down the sides.

  She stared at him before she exclaimed,

  “You are a soldier!”

  “I was,” Lindon replied, “and I though
t that this was the most appropriate way to be dressed when having dinner with a beautiful woman.”

  Mena thought that he was probably excusing himself for not having the correct evening attire, which he could not afford.

  “You look very smart,” she told him thinking that her approval would put him at his ease.

  “And you look very lovely,” he replied.

  She had put on one of her simple gowns and it became her because it accentuated the curves of her breasts and her tiny waist.

  It was not very low, but there were little puffed sleeves above her bare arms and to make herself look a little more festive she had taken two of the roses out of a vase in her bedroom and pinned them in the front of her gown.

  But she had no idea how lovely she looked as the setting sun touched the gold of her hair.

  Because she was excited her eyes were shining like stars and Lindon stood still gazing at her for a long moment.

  Then without speaking he picked her up and placed her on the saddle of one of the horses.

  “What do you think of your chaperones?” he asked. “I think they will he needed this evening!”

  It took Mena a minute or two to realise that he was paying her a compliment.

  Then he mounted the other horse and next they were riding away from The Castle.

  They moved in silence until Mena said,

  “This is very very thrilling! I cannot believe that there are many people who go out to dinner on horseback!”

  “Not if they look like you,” Lindon replied. “This is an adventure that I hope you will enjoy.”

  “I am already beginning to think that it is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me!” Mena said.

  Lindon did not answer.

  He only urged his horse to go a little faster and she hurried to keep up with him.

  As they rode on, she wondered what was happening in The Castle dining room to Lais and her mother.

  She was sure it could not be as glorious as what was happening to her.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  They rode in silence for about three miles across country until they came to a house surrounded by elm trees.

  There was a drive, which Lindon turned down.

  It was not very long and at the end of it Mena gave an exclamation of surprise.

  “It is Elizabethan!” she exclaimed. “Like my own home.”

  She spoke without thinking and then she wondered if Lindon, because he admired her father, had any idea that her home was famous because of its age.

  He rode up to the front door, dismounted and lifted Mena to the ground.

  As he was doing so, an elderly man appeared.

  He touched his forelock and led the horses away in the direction of what Mena guessed were the stables.

  There was a porch attached to the house and the same diamond-paned windows that she had at home.

  It was, however, very much smaller than her father’s house.

  In fact when Lindon took her inside she found the tiny hall seemed almost overwhelmed by a large open fireplace.

  Lindon took from her hands the shawl that she had carried in front of her saddle and he put it down on a chair.

  Then he opened the door of what she knew would be the sitting room.

  Although small it was beautiful and she realised at once that the furniture was all very antique and fitting for the room.

  Through a bow window she could see the garden and knew at a glance that it had been laid out in the Elizabethan manner.

  “This is lovely – perfectly lovely!” she said. “I always think Elizabethan buildings are the most romantic of all.”

  “I most certainly agree with you,” Lindon nodded, “and what could be more appropriate for us tonight?”

  As he was looking at her admiringly, Mena blushed and went to the window.

  “My – Mrs. Mansforde,” she said stumbling as usual over the name, “was telling me about the Herb Garden at The Castle and I am wondering if there is one here as well.”

  “Of course,” Lindon said. “But it is not kept up as well as I should like.”

  Mena turned her head to look at him.

  “As you would like?” she asked. “Does this house belong to you?”

  “It does, although I have been abroad for some time and it has been awaiting my return to care for it.”

  “Then you are very very lucky to own anything – so precious,” Mena murmured.

  “That is what I think,” he replied. “Now come and have dinner and I will show you the rest of the house later.”

  They crossed the tiny hall and went into what Mena saw was the dining room.

  It was very small, but again perfectly in period.

  In the centre of the room there was a round table with candles on it, which Lindon then lit.

  “We are going to help ourselves,” he said, “because there is no one to wait on us. But I do hope that you will enjoy the meal I have provided.”

  “How could I not enjoy being in such beautiful surroundings?” Mena asked, “And, of course – ”

  She was going to say “with you” and then she realised that it would have sounded too intimate.

  Instead she finished,

  “ – with – somebody who likes the – same things that I – do.”

  Lindon did not answer, but went to the sideboard.

  There was food in dishes and plates there so that they could help themselves.

  “I am going to wait on you,” he said with his back turned towards her.

  There were two carved chairs at the table the more elaborate of which was obviously Lindon’s.

  Although she did not say so, she knew they were not Elizabethan but were Charles II and this was because the carving depicted cupids holding a crown in their hands.

  She sat down in the chair that she thought was meant for her.

  Lindon brought her a glass of champagne and then poured out one for himself.

  “This is a very special occasion,” he smiled, “and so we are being extravagant.”

  Mena looked at him questioningly and he added,

  “You told me that this was the first time you had ever dined alone with a man.”

  “Yes, so it is indeed very special,” Mena agreed, “but I did not – expect such – beautiful surroundings.”

  “The house was left to me by my father,” Lindon explained, “and wherever I am travelling or whatever I am doing, I like to believe that there is one place that is mine.”

  He helped Mena to the first dish and she found that it was a delicious piece of lemon sole.

  After that, because they had so much to say to each other, it was difficult for Mena to realise what she was eating.

  Ideas that she had not been able to express for a long time seemed to suddenly flood into her mind.

  And she thought that many of Lindon’s replies were witty and amusing.

  They laughed a lot and the conversation seemed to jump from one subject to another, each one more stimulating than the last.

  When dinner was finished, they continued to sit at the table.

  At last Mena said reluctantly,

  “I suppose I – ought to – think of going back.”

  “There is no hurry,” Lindon replied. “You know as well as I do that there is a big party tonight at The Castle and they will be up late playing cards and dancing.”

  “Dancing?” Mena exclaimed.

  “I heard,” Lindon replied, “that there was to be a small orchestra in the ballroom.”

  With difficulty Mena prevented herself from saying that Lais would enjoy that.

  Then Lindon must have read her thoughts because he said,

  “I am afraid that that is something I cannot offer you.”

  Mena laughed.

  “As though I would want – anything else rather than being – here in this lovely – perfect little house that is like – something out of a dream.”

  There was silence.

  Then Lindon
said,

  “I wonder how many women, if they had the choice of living in something as large as The Castle or as small as this, would hesitate over which one to choose?”

  “I think the answer really depends on whom they were with,” Mena replied. “If it was with somebody they loved it would not matter whether the house was – big or small.”

  “I wonder if you really mean that,” Lindon replied.

  There was a somewhat cynical note in his voice.

  “Of course I mean it!” Mena answered. “And I think I would prefer a small house, just in case I lost the man I loved in a very big one!”

  She thought that Lindon looked at her in a puzzled manner and she explained,

  “I remember my father saying once that, whenever he took my mother to a party where she was greatly admired, he hurried her home early because he was afraid of losing her.”

  “So your mother was beautiful!” Lindon remarked. “And, of course, you are like her.”

  “M – Mrs. Mansforde used to say,” Mena replied, “that the Greeks did not believe that a child was beautiful because of its father’s or mother’s features but because of their thoughts.”

  She wondered if Lindon was interested in what she was saying as she went on,

  “The Ancient Greeks had beautiful statues in the places where women went to have their children and Mr. Mansforde believed that when they were with child it was from the very beginning that their thoughts and feelings affected not only the child’s looks but its whole character.”

  “I like the idea of that,” Lindon responded, “and I am sure that your children, when you have any, will be as lovely as you.”

  There was a deep note in his voice that made Mena blush.

  She rose from the table saying,

  “Please show me the rest of the house before I go, otherwise I shall always wonder what it is like.”

  “You are quite certain that you will never come here again?” Lindon asked as he rose to his feet.

  “We leave on Monday,”

  She moved towards the door and he opened it for her.

  There was a small carved oak staircase not unlike the one in her home except that this was very much smaller.

  He took her up it and she found that on the first floor there were three bedrooms.