The White Witch Read online

  For a moment the Marquis became speechless.

  Then as if he thought it could not be true, he moved automatically across the hall.

  A footman opened the door of the drawing room and he walked in.

  Standing by the window looking extremely elegant but overdressed for the country was Locadi.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  It was with a considerable effort that the Marquis managed to force a smile to his lips.

  “This is a great surprise, Locadi,” he said, “I was not expecting you.”

  “As I did not hear from you, I felt sure you needed me,” Locadi stated calmly, “and I missed you, I missed you terribly.”

  There was a throbbing note in her voice.

  The Marquis turned hastily to Flora who had followed him into the room.

  “Let me introduce, Miss Flora Romilly, who has been helping me to put things to rights on the estate, and we are now very busy arranging a village party to take place on Saturday.”

  He spoke as if it was impossible for Locadi to take any part in it.

  “Then I hope dear, clever Ivor,” she replied calmly, “that I may help you too. You know how much I admire you when you are organising things.”

  There was a silky sweetness in her voice which made the Marquis want to squirm. He disliked this conversation taking place in front of Flora and he wondered what she would think of him.

  He looked to where an elaborate tea was laid out in front of the sofa.

  “Will you pour the tea?” he said to Flora.

  There was just a slight hesitation as if she thought he should have asked his new guest. Then obediently she sat down at the table and started to fill the tea cups from the George II silver teapot.

  “A real English tea,” Locadi said, “How exciting!”

  She sat in an armchair which meant the Marquis had to carry her cup, saucer and plate to her. And to offer her the sandwiches and cakes which were on the tea-table.

  “London has been very dull without you,” she chattered. “Everyone asks when you are coming back, so I thought I would come and find out for myself.”

  “It was most kind of you,” the Marquis said, “but I am afraid you will find it very dull here. Miss Flora and I are arranging a party for the villagers who have been badly treated by my estate manager whilst I have been away, and I think, Locadi, you would be far happier back amongst your friends in London.”

  “Not unless you come with me,” Locadi replied.

  She looked at him in a way which told the Marquis without further words that she had no intention of letting him escape.

  He was wondering frantically what he could do when he remembered that his grandmother was upstairs.

  Turning to Flora, he said,

  “I hope that Grandmama is well enough to come down to dinner this evening.”

  “She has been longing to,” Flora responded, “but I want her to rest as much as possible.”

  “As I have a guest tonight, I am sure she will be willing to chaperone us,” the Marquis suggested.

  He spoke as if he was joking and that a chaperone was quite unnecessary.

  However Locadi frowned and he knew she was annoyed.

  “What has been happening in London while I have been away?” he asked to change the subject.

  “Nothing of any great consequence,” Locadi replied, “except that of course I missed you at every ball and every reception.”

  She gave him a seductive glance as if she might have added, ‘and every night as well.’

  The Marquis quickly looked away.

  Feeling that she was very much in the way, Flora drank her tea quickly and rose from the sofa.

  “I must go upstairs and talk to her Ladyship,” she told the Marquis. “I will tell her you expect her to come down to dinner, but she should not stay up too late.”

  “I understand,” the Marquis replied.

  As Flora walked towards the door, he hurried to open it for her.

  Then as she stepped out into the passage he followed, closing the door behind him.

  “Will you and your father do me a great favour and come here to dinner with me tonight,” he asked in a low voice.

  Flora looked surprised before answering,

  “As it so happens we have the Chief Constable with Lady Carson and their son dining with us. Papa has practically finished his book and wants to celebrate.”

  For a moment the Marquis was silent before asking, “As they are coming to dinner with you and I would very much like to meet your father again, will you bring them to dine with me instead?”

  Flora stared at him.

  “I would be extremely grateful if you could arrange it,” the Marquis urged.

  There was an emphasis in his voice which Flora could not ignore.

  “I suppose,” she said slowly, “it could be managed. What time would you want us here?”

  “The question is,” the Marquis replied, “at what time have you asked your guests?”

  “For dinner at eight o’clock.”

  “Then dinner at the castle will be at eight fifteen,” he said, “and please do not fail me.”

  She looked up into his eyes and immediately understood that he was really pleading with her.

  “I will not fail you,” she breathed, “and I am sure that Papa will understand.”

  “I am very, very grateful, and now, as you are going up to see my grandmother, I will accompany you.”

  Flora was just about to ask what he was going to do with his new guest, when the Marquis moved a few steps into the hall and called to Bowles,

  “Ask Mrs. Shepherd to look after Lady Marshall and to suggest that she rests before dinner as I have a great number of matters to attend to.”

  “I’ll do that, my Lord.”

  The Marquis walked up the staircase beside Flora without speaking and when she knocked on the Dowager’s bedroom door and walked in, he followed her.

  “Oh, there you are, my dear,” the Dowager greeted Flora. “You have been neglecting me.”

  “I have no wish to do that,” Flora replied, “but the Marquis and I have covered a lot of ground today and helped a great number of people who are much happier this evening than they were this morning.”

  The Dowager smiled.

  “I think they always feel like that when you have been with them, my dear.”

  The Marquis kissed his grandmother saying,

  “I am going to ask you, Grandmama, to come down to dinner tonight because we have a party and of course you too must be present.”

  “It is something I am longing to do,” she replied. “I am feeling so much better, thanks entirely to this dear child.”

  She patted Flora’s hand as she said so and the Marquis said,

  “Lady Marshall has arrived unexpectedly and of course we must entertain her.”

  “Lady Marshall!” the Dowager exclaimed. “I cannot imagine why you asked her to stay.”

  “Actually I did not ask her,” the Marquis replied defensively, “she just walked in and I could hardly leave her sitting outside the front door.”

  He spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice, but Flora realised to her surprise that this was just the impression he wanted to portray.

  “It sounds unlike her to arrive if the red carpet is not down and the band is not playing,” the Dowager added sarcastically.

  “That is why I felt I must give a party tonight,” the Marquis said as if jumping at the excuse.

  “Well, I would have been a great deal happier if I could have just been alone with you and Flora,” the Dowager remarked.

  “I have also asked Mr. Romilly,” the Marquis continued, “and the Chief Constable and his wife.”

  “Oh, well, that is different. I shall enjoy meeting both these distinguished gentlemen although I expect Lady Marshall will try to grab them before I can get a word in!”

  “My money is on you, Grandmama.”

  She laughed and he bent to kiss her.

  �
�Put on your best gown and all your diamonds and stun them!” he said. “You were a great beauty long before it was fashionable to become one.”

  The Dowager blushed and enjoyed the compliment.

  Then when the Marquis had left the room, she said to Flora,

  “Now what is all this about and why has Lady Marshall turned up unexpectedly?”

  “She said she was missing his Lordship in London,” Flora informed her frankly.

  “I did hear he was seeing rather a lot of her,” the Dowager replied, “and thought it was a mistake. She has a bad reputation and my friends have told me that now her husband is dead, she is looking for a rich bridegroom.”

  Flora looked at the Dowager in surprise.

  She was thinking no one could be a more unsuitable chatelaine of Wyn Castle than the overdressed woman downstairs. There was no doubt she was beautiful, but there was something about her which was definitely unpleasant and in a way frightening.

  Flora was not certain what it was, but she could feel it instinctively and she sensed that the Marquis was feeling the same.

  ‘Surely she cannot harm him,’ she thought apprehensively.

  Yet her perception told her that here was an element of danger that she did not understand.

  She talked to the Dowager for a little while longer and then she slipped out of the house without seeing the Marquis and hurried home.

  *

  She needed to break the news to her father that they were dining at the castle and not at home. She also needed to persuade him that there was nothing wrong in taking their dinner-guests with them.

  Fortunately her father was delighted at having completed his book, except for what he called ‘the finishing touches’. He was therefore not really concerned about anything else.

  “I suppose you are going to be busy with this party you are arranging at the castle,” he had said. “So if I have a quiet day tomorrow and Saturday, I really think the manuscript can go to the publishers on Monday.”

  “That is wonderful news, Papa!” Flora cried. “I am sure they will be delighted. They have kept asking when the book will be ready.”

  “I do not believe they will be disappointed,” her father replied, “I consider it the best and certainly the most informative book I have ever written.

  Flora kissed him.

  “You are so brilliant, Papa, and I know if Mama was with us she would be as thrilled as I am.”

  “You are a good girl, Flora,” he said, “and it must have been very dull for you these past months while I have been so busy. But now we will make up for it, and we might even go to France for a short while.”

  “That will be lovely, Papa.”

  She knew as she spoke she did not really want to go away.

  Now that the Marquis was back at the castle there was so much for him to do and he needed her help.

  She had no wish to leave the village and she found this rather surprising considering that before the Marquis’s return she had felt so depressed.

  She had longed to get away from all the misery of the villagers if only for a few days.

  Now everything was changed and she had enjoyed today more than she had enjoyed any day for a very long time.

  It was sheer delight to see the farmers looking happy again.

  Their faces had lit up when the Marquis told them what they could now do and that he would finance any sensible project they brought to him.

  The farmer’s wives had been moved to tears.

  When they had ridden away, Flora felt that they looked younger than they had for over a year.

  ‘He is doing exactly the right thing,’ she told herself.

  At the same time she could not help feeling that a great deal of it was due to her. He was in fact relying on her in a way that she found most flattering.

  As her father had agreed to the changed arrangements for dinner, she hurried upstairs to decide what she would wear.

  She had not worried much about her appearance when things were so difficult all around them. But now she became self-conscious of her somewhat neglected wardrobe.

  She looked at her evening gowns and wondered which was the most attractive, but there was not a great deal of choice.

  Finally she selected a gown of pale pink chiffon, which made her look very young and ethereal.

  When the Marquis saw her, he was distinctly reminded of the buds that were bursting out on the fruit trees.

  *

  Back at the castle, the Marquis was deliberately making work for himself to try to take his mind off the vexed question of Locadi.

  He was very angry that she should have followed him, but he told himself it was something he might have expected.

  He understood exactly why she had come.

  After the restless nights he had spent finding it impossible to escape from her image, he was now faced with the reality of her in person.

  ‘What shall I do?’ he asked himself again and again.

  The question remained unanswered when finally he walked slowly upstairs for his bath and to dress for dinner.

  He was determined if at all possible not to be left alone with Locadi. He was not only afraid of recriminations and reproaches, but also that she might entice him further into her clutches.

  ‘If I could find an antidote to black magic,’ he thought as he tied his evening tie, ‘I would use it now’.

  Once again he was reflecting on the mandrake, but where could he obtain one?

  He deliberately waited until his grandmother was ready to descend the stairs, so that he could escort her down to dinner.

  He suspected and found that he was right, that Locadi had gone down early hoping to talk to him alone. He had given her no chance to succeed, having the Dowager beside him.

  Shortly after they reached the drawing room, the rest of the party arrived.

  The Marquis was interested to see that Frederick Romilly was an extremely good-looking man and as he might have expected he had a delightful voice and a very distinctive way of talking.

  “I must welcome you home, my Lord,” he said to the Marquis. “My daughter has told me about the great deal you have to do, but of course it is better late than never.”

  “That is what I have been telling myself,” the Marquis replied, “but the estate should not have fallen into such a disgraceful condition in the first place.”

  The Chief Constable was obviously delighted at his invitation to dinner at the castle and the Marquis found that Lady Carson was an attractive person with a sympathetic manner which he found most soothing.

  It was definitely something he needed after seeing the expression in Locadi’s eyes when he entered the room with his grandmother on his arm.

  It was strange sensation, he thought, but now he no longer found her beautiful – in fact she was almost repulsive.

  He did not understand how his feelings could have changed so quickly and he decided that it was primarily because she now scared him.

  ‘It is ridiculous to be frightened of a woman,’ he told himself.

  Yet he discerned when he met Locadi’s eyes that she was sending out waves towards him which it was difficult to repel or ignore.

  They walked into the dining room.

  The Marquis had arranged the table very astutely.

  “Because it is your first night downstairs Grandmama,” he announced, “you must sit on my right.”

  “I am delighted to be seated in the place of honour, dear boy,” the Dowager answered.

  It was then correct that Lady Carson should sit on his left.

  He arranged the other guests so that Locadi was sitting on the right of the Chief Constable, who was placed next to his grandmother.

  Mr. Romilly was on her other side, leaving young Henry Carson, who was always known as Harry, to sit next to Flora.

  The Marquis noticed how well they seemed to be getting on.

  He felt that he should be pleased that Flora was taking his advice and finding an eligible young gentleman
in the neighbourhood, yet he also decided very forcibly that he did not think Harry Carson was good enough for her.

  He was in fact an extremely handsome young man of about twenty-three, who had come down from Oxford with a good degree and was determined to seek a position in the Foreign Office.

  ‘She could do better than him,’ the Marquis thought to himself.

  Then he wondered why he should be worried or concerned about the love affairs of a local country girl.

  The conversation however seemed to revolve around Flora.

  “I hear,” the Chief Constable said in an amused voice, “that you are actually opening a school in the castle. I think that must be a major triumph for which you should receive an award.”

  “It was not as difficult as it may sound,” Flora answered, “and I have actually left his Lordship with the ball room, the music room, the library and the picture gallery all for himself!”

  They laughed at her remark before the Dowager added,

  “And of course you have left him the Chapel too. It seems a pity that it is not big enough for the children to say their prayers there each morning before they start their lessons.”

  “I had not thought of that,” Flora admitted.

  “You are so lucky to have a Chapel in the castle,” Lady Carson said. “Our Church is over a mile from us, and it is always a nuisance having to send the older members of the household in one of our carriages as they cannot walk so far to Church.”

  “We are fortunate enough to boast two Chapels,” the Dowager intervened.

  “Two!” Lady Carson exclaimed. “How is that possible?”

  “I see that being new to the County you have not heard of the Chapel in the shrubbery,” the Dowager replied.

  “How fascinating!” Lady Carson enthused. “Do tell us all about it.”

  “It was the sixth Earl who built it. After living a most outrageous and dissolute life, he repented of his sins in his old age. He was actually the last Earl, because his son became the first Marquis.”

  The Chief Constable laughed,

  “I hope we do not all have to follow his example.”

  “Earl William repented very thoroughly,” the Dowager continued. “He built himself a small hut where he slept and constructed a very beautiful Chapel right next to it.”