Fascination in France Read online

  This had taken him by surprise.

  It had never occurred to him for one moment that their association was anything more than an affaire de coeur.

  Inevitably, like many others he had indulged in, it would soon come to an end.

  It had been impossible to explain to her that he wanted someone younger and unspoilt, pure and untouched, who would be the mother of his children.

  After what Lord Waterforde had told him, the Duc had assumed that his young wife would adore him. He would teach her gently the arts of love and she would be happy at the château with their children.

  But now, after what Celita had told him, he found himself thinking that he had been very foolish and over-optimistic.

  He had seen the expression on Judy’s face when she saw Clive Cunningham approaching.

  It had transformed her completely from a depressed-looking young girl into a woman pulsating with life and the throbs of her heart.

  The Duc had known in that moment that Celita was right. That was what he should be seeking and that, unless his luck deserted him, was what he was now determined to find.

  Chapter Five

  Coming in together from riding they went chattering into the breakfast room.

  It was the fourth day that they had ridden over the flat land and raced each other on the Racecourse.

  Celita felt that every time they did so it was more enjoyable than the time before.

  “You rode Petit Point very well today,” Clive said to Judy. “I can see he is improving every time you take him over the jumps.”

  “I do try,” Judy smiled.

  She looked up at Clive with an expression of love in her eyes that Celita thought was very touching.

  At the same time they had been finding it difficult to conceal from Lady Hilton what was going on.

  It would be a great mistake, Celita had warned Judy and Clive, if she found out and wrote to report it to Lord Waterforde.

  “Yes of course! Papa would be furious!” Judy exclaimed with a little cry of horror.

  “We will be very careful,” Clive promised.

  Equally it was impossible, because they were in love with each other, not to reveal it. Every time they spoke or were close together their feelings seemed to vibrate one to the other.

  Fortunately, Lady Hilton was so taken up with herself that she did not pay a great deal of attention to other people.

  But as the days passed, Celita could not help thinking that he must be blind, deaf and dumb if she did not realise how happy Judy was and how radiant she looked.

  “What are we going to do this afternoon?” Celita asked as she sat down at the luncheon table.

  “I am waiting to ask our host,” Clive replied. “I am sure he has some exciting plan up his sleeve.”

  The Duc enjoyed springing surprises on them.

  Last night there had been a huge dinner party with more guests coming in afterwards and they had danced to an extremely good band in the music room.

  The Duc had not said a word until they were going up to dress for dinner, when he had remarked,

  “Put on your best clothes and your most comfortable shoes because you will need them.”

  Celita stopped on the stairs.

  “Are you saying in a roundabout way that we are going to dance?”

  “We are,” the Duc replied. “And I shall be interested to learn if you are as light on your feet as you look or as heavy as a sack of potatoes!”

  “I am not going to rise to that remark,” Celita said, “but I shall do my best to stand on your toes if they get in my way.”

  The Duc laughed.

  She thought how different he had become in the last few days since their arrival.

  Then he had been extremely awe-inspiring.

  Now he enjoyed teasing her and being so provocative in his remarks that automatically she answered him back.

  “You may be very clever,” Judy confided in the Duc, “but you will never get the better of Celita. She always wins in an argument.”

  “I refuse to accept that from a mere woman,” the Duc retorted.

  Celita flung a silk cushion at him, then thought for a moment that perhaps he would be offended.

  Instead he threw one back and was, as he pointed out, a better shot than she was.

  It was all great fun and they always seemed to be laughing.

  Only in bed last night, after they had danced until one o’clock in the morning, did Celita wonder about the Duc.

  Did he miss the more exotic and certainly the more unusual amusements of Paris?

  Now as he came into the breakfast room she thought how handsome he looked in his riding clothes and at the same time so healthy.

  His skin was slightly sunburnt, his body slim and athletic and she also thought that no man could look more alert.

  The Duc walked to his place at the top of the table and said,

  “I have something to tell you.”

  They all turned their faces towards him and he said slowly,

  “I have received news that your father, Judy, will be joining us this afternoon.”

  Celita stiffened.

  Judy gave a little cry, which was unmistakably one of horror.

  “He – he – he is – coming – here?” she asked, as if she might not have heard aright.

  “He will be arriving about two o’clock,” the Duc said, “and I have arranged for him to have luncheon in the town. It means that he should be here at the château about three.”

  Judy was hardly listening. She was holding onto Clive’s hand and looking up at him pleadingly.

  The Duc sat down in his chair as he went on,

  “I think you will all agree that it would be a great mistake for Lord Waterforde’s sister, Lady Hilton, to see him before we do! I have therefore arranged that she will go out to luncheon with a friend of mine who has a very beautiful garden she is anxious to see.”

  Celita gave a little sigh of relief.

  “That is clever you,” she said. “Of course we must speak to Lord Waterforde first.”

  “That is what I thought,” the Duc said, “and I have a suggestion to make which I think, Judy, you will approve of.”

  “What is that?” Judy asked in a low and depressed voice.

  “When I was with your father at Newmarket, we were told that a well-known Peer had died and his stables were to be sold.”

  Judy was listening, but Celita knew that she was wondering how this could affect her.

  “Your father and I went to look at the horses, which we both liked. I was also impressed with the house, which was a perfect example of Queen Anne style and in very good repair. It stood in a delightful garden surrounded by fifty acres of land.”

  He paused and now Celita was wondering why he was telling them all this.

  “I have just learnt,” the Duc continued, “That the bid I made for the whole place has been accepted and I thought that if, I offered it to Clive as manager of my racehorses in England, it might make his position more important than it is at the moment.”

  His three guests at the table looked at him with wide eyes and there was dead silence.

  Then Judy jumped up from her chair and, running to the top of the table, put her arms around the Duc’s neck.

  “You are the – kindest and most generous – man in – the whole wide world,” she enthused and kissed his cheek.

  As she did so, it suddenly struck Celita that she too had an urge to kiss the Duc.

  ‘How can any man think of anything so generous at this difficult moment,’ she wondered, ‘and at the same time be so understanding about what Judy and Clive are feeling?’

  As the Duc smiled at Judy, she added to herself,

  ‘He is wonderful! If anyone can make the situation have a happy ending, it will be he.’

  The Duc’s eyes met hers across the table.

  She knew he was telling her that he had understood exactly what Judy and Clive felt for each other and believed, as she did, that the
y had found perfection.

  They were, however, a little subdued as they finished breakfast.

  Next the Duc said,

  “What do you want to do this morning, Clive?”

  “I have promised your Chief Groom,” Clive answered, “that I would take two horses over the jumps that he thinks need a little encouragement. The bay is certainly rather nervous, but I am sure that I can cure her if I have enough time to do so.”

  “Can I come with you?” Judy asked.

  “But of course,” he answered.

  Celita saw Judy’s hand go out to touch his.

  “I have to call on a farmer at the far end of the estate,” the Duc announced, “and I thought, Celita, that you would like to come with me.”

  “I would love to,” she answered. “Are we riding or driving?”

  “I thought we would drive for a change,” he suggested. “I have a pair of white horses which you have not yet seen, but which I guarantee will break any record that exists so far.”

  “I would really enjoy that,” Celita replied.

  Then she went up to change.

  She had the frightening feeling that perhaps this would be the last time she would be driving alone with the Duc.

  If Lord Waterforde was really angry with her, he might send her home in disgrace.

  Then her mother would become depressed and anything might happen.

  She chose a thin frock as the sun was hot and an attractive hat, which would shade her face without being blown away too easily.

  She did not take long and, when she hurried downstairs, it was to find that Judy and Clive had already left for the stables.

  The Duc was waiting for her in the hall.

  They looked first at the pair of white horses, which were certainly outstanding and so alike it would be impossible to tell them apart.

  “How could you find anything so unusual?” she asked him.

  “I bred them myself,” the Duc answered.

  This was another activity that Lord Waterforde was interested in.

  Even to think of his Lordship made Celita give a little shudder.

  She had been living in ‘Cloud-Cuckoo-Land’ she told herself, as she climbed into the chaise.

  Now they had to come back to reality!

  As they drove down the drive, the Duc said,

  “Stop being frightened! I have a feeling in my bones that everything is going to be all right.”

  “I wish I could say the same,” Celita answered. “But you know as well as I do that Lord Waterforde is not going to be pleased that a Duc has eluded him and his daughter will never be more than the Honourable Mrs. Cunningham, however important her husband becomes in the racing world.”

  Before the Duc could reply, she added impulsively,

  “It was so kind of you! So very very kind of you to give Clive that position at Newmarket! It is something he will greatly enjoy and will, I am sure, do extremely well.”

  “That is what I thought myself,” the Duc agreed. “Incidentally, he is a charming young man and both Gustav and I like him very much.”

  The Vicomte was not with them today because he had to leave very early to visit one of his relatives who lived about twenty miles away. He had, however, assured them last night that he would be back in time for dinner.

  “I am frightened,” Celita went on, “that Lord Waterforde will be so disappointed that he will take Judy and me away immediately in disgrace. What will you do then?”

  “I shall have to tighten my belt,” the Duc said, “and decide how I can save the money I need in some way that I have not thought of before. It will be something I shall dislike doing, but it will have to be done.”

  Celita clasped her hands together.

  “I shall be praying. Praying very hard that Lord Waterforde will still want you as his partner even if you will not be his son-in-law. Then at least you can have your horses, your breeding mares, and – ”

  She paused for a moment.

  Then, feeling that she was being rather dramatic, she added mischievously,

  “ – and of course the perfect wife, who will not only be exactly as you want her to be but also extremely rich.”

  “Now you are asking for too much,” the Duc laughed, “and I don’t believe that the Gods expect one to be greedy.”

  “You want the best,” Celita countered. “Or, as you yourself would say, perfection.”

  “And if it eludes me?” the Duc enquired.

  “Then you will just have to go on looking and looking until you are so old that you will be able to hobble no further. You will die dreaming that the woman of your heart is waiting for you in Heaven.”

  The Duc laughed.

  “Judy is right. You have an answer to everything, Celita. But I am rather depressed at the thought of the long years in which I must seek only to be disappointed.”

  “Perhaps you will be fortunate enough to find what you want when you least expect it,” Celita said. “You must, of course, believe that ultimately you will be the winner.”

  The Duc did not reply, but kept his eyes firmly on the road ahead.

  She had the feeling, however, that he was thinking over what she had said.

  Considering how she and Judy had upset all his plans, he was being very sporting about it.

  He was behaving exactly as they might have expected if he had not at first seemed so apprehensive.

  When they reached the farm, which was a very attractive one, the farmer came out to greet them.

  He was delighted that the Duc was visiting them and he immediately informed them that his wife had given birth two days before to their first child.

  “Is it a boy or a girl?” the Duc asked.

  “A boy. Monsieur le Duc. We thought, if you don’t think it an impertinence, we’d give him your name.”

  “I should be delighted,” the Duc smiled. “Of course I must be his Godfather and give him his first golden Louis so he can start saving.”

  The farmer was overcome with delight.

  Celita asked if she could see the baby and he took her into his wife’s room and Celita found that she was quite a young woman. They had been married nearly two years before their first child had arrived.

  She was nursing the baby in bed and she handed him proudly to Celita, who saw that he was an attractive little boy.

  He looked rather like one of the cherubs painted on the ceilings of the Chapel and he already had a few little curls of dark hair.

  Celita took him into her arms and said,

  “Monsieur le Duc has promised to be Godfather to little René. If you would permit me, I would like to show him the baby.”

  “Yes, of course,” the farmer’s wife agreed eagerly.

  Celita walked out of the bedroom, holding the baby tenderly in her arms, and found the Duc and the farmer having a glass of homebrewed cider in the parlour.

  “I have brought you your new God son, monsieur,” Celita said.

  She lifted the baby up and looked down at him as she did so.

  She thought that one day she would want to hold her own son in the same way.

  Then perhaps she, like the Duc, would have found perfection and they would each be married to the person who was the other half of themselves.

  She had no idea how expressive her eyes were as she looked down at the baby.

  Then the Duc, who had been standing beside her without speaking, said very quietly,

  “We shall both find what we seek, if we seek for it long enough.”

  Celita looked up at him and smiled.

  “You are reading my thoughts, again,” she protested. “But you must say that he is a very attractive baby.”

  “Now you are making me determined,” the Duc said, “to have a large family of my own.”

  ‘Of course you must,” Celita answered. “Think what a wonderful place the château will be for them to play in. They will all ride your horses and find the gardens and fountains an enchantment from the time they are born.”


  She spoke in a rapt little voice.

  The Duc did not speak, but just stood looking at her.

  Then the farmer, who had gone to find some accounts to show the Duc, came into the room and the spell was broken.

  Celita took the baby back to his mother and soon they were driving away from the farm.

  The Duc had ordered luncheon to be late and did not take Celita back the way they had come.

  Instead he diverted their route to include the Grand Canyon of Provence, which Celita had mentioned to the Duc.

  They drove off the main road and started to climb higher and higher up the side of what seemed to be an enormous mountain.

  Celita could hardly believe that the gorges below them were real.

  Further on there was a huge drop, as the Duc had said, of a thousand feet. It fell straight down from the road they were on to the narrow winding gorges below with their cascades breaking over the rocks.

  But still they went higher and higher until Celita said,

  “I am too frightened to look down. Suppose you tip us over the edge?”

  The Duc laughed.

  “If I drove as badly as that I would not have risked your life by coming here. I promise you, you are quite safe. You must see how beautiful each gorge is and, of course, they all have legends that the local folk fervently believe in.”

  They twisted and turned for several miles.

  Then, as they began to descend, Celita could not help giving a sigh of relief that they were still unhurt.

  When finally they reached the château, they found that Clive and Judy were waiting for them.

  “I thought you must be lost!” Judy exclaimed, when they appeared.

  “We have been looking at the gorges,” Celita sighed, “and you were quite right, Judy, they are terrifying, but incredibly beautiful!”

  “We have had a wonderful time with the horses,” Judy said in an exciting voice. “Clive was so, so clever with them.”

  She was looking at him with adoring eyes as they went into luncheon.

  Although the meal was delicious, Celita felt so nervous that she found it hard to enjoy the specialities the chef had provided.

  When they left the dining room, they walked to the drawing room where they were to receive Lord Waterforde.