A Road to Romance Read online

  “You would buy it for Johnny?” she asked.

  “He will be more comfortable and so will I,” the Marquis replied, “although it will undoubtedly make us slower than we wanted to be.”

  Velina smiled.

  “I am not in a hurry and if you want to go away you must, of course, do so and leave him with me.”

  “I think as things are,” the Marquis said, “you need someone to look after you just as you want to look after Johnny. Therefore we had better stay as we are. At the same time I am wondering just how large my family will be before I reach Northumberland!”

  “You are too kind!” Velina whispered. “I will pay for Johnny.”

  “I have already told you we will argue about money when we reach our destination. So come along and let’s hope the pony is properly trained otherwise we might have Johnny with us on a stretcher.”

  Velina gave a cry of horror.

  “You are frightening me. I am sure that he is a very sensible boy and will do exactly what you tell him.”

  “I only hope that you are right, but he is certainly an attractive little chap and I am sure when we do reach your aunt’s that either you or I will find someone who will care for him as he is so bereft of people at the moment.”

  Velina bent down to whisper in his ear,

  “And I should not tell him about his mother at the moment, as it will only make him unhappy.”

  “I agree that it would be a mistake,” the Marquis answered.

  He thought as Velina bent towards him to whisper in his ear that there was a faint scent of violets that came from her hair.

  As they rode on, he thought that, if she could afford an expensive scent and was continually offering to share expenses with him, she was not penniless.

  It was another piece of information he could add to what he knew about Velina, which was still very little.

  Equally it was all a puzzle that he found extremely interesting and unusual and it was definitely something he would add to the story he was planning to tell the Duke.

  They rode on and came to the farm.

  It was then that Velina turned to the Marquis and said to him in French,

  “I think that you should go ahead and find out first if the pony is available and if it is well-trained. If Johnny sees it and thinks that you are going to give it to him, he will be so excited it will only upset him if you decide after seeing it, it is not good enough.”

  “I know exactly what you are saying,” the Marquis agreed, “and I will do just as you suggest. You and Johnny stay here and let the horses eat the grass. I am sure it will do Jimmie good to have a run with his young Master.”

  Velina smiled at him.

  “You are very sensible,” she said. “I feel that you must already have a family of your own. Although I am curious, I have not yet asked you if you are married.”

  “I am not married,” he replied, “and therefore, at the moment, have no children. But I am hoping that one day I will have a sporting little boy who enjoys riding as much as Johnny does.”

  “I am sure you will and it is what I want myself,” Velina said.

  There was a note in her voice that told the Marquis, without words, that she was thinking again of the man her stepfather was forcing her into marring and how terrible it would be if she had a child by him.

  Then he told himself how ridiculous he was being.

  Putting Johnny down onto the ground, he then rode off to leave them in a corner of a field where the horses found plenty to eat.

  Velina sat under a tree which was a protection from the sun and Johnny sat down beside her.

  “When I am big,” he said, “I’m goin’ to ’ave lots of ’orses just like these and they’ll run ever so fast and we’ll win lots of races.”

  “If you make up your mind and put that in your prayers, I am sure it will happen,” Velina told him.

  “Me Mum said I ’ad to pray to be a good boy and do as I was told,” Johnny said.

  “Quite right,” Velina agreed, “and that is what you must do! At the same time God will always hear when you ask for something special and, if you have horses of your own, you will have to learn about them.”

  She smiled at him before she went on,

  “You will have to take good care of them and talk to them, like the kind man told you to do just now.”

  Johnny thought this over for a while and then, with his head on one side, he said,

  “If I talk to the ’orses, will they talk back to me?”

  “They will in a way. I talk to Fireball and tell him he is a good boy and that he must jump the next fence with plenty of room to spare. Then he does what I tell him.”

  She paused before she added,

  “When I tell him how fast he can go, he obeys me, just as he obeys me when I tell him to stop and not to push forward as he wants to do.”

  “I will talk to my ’orse like that when I ’ave one,” Johnny said.

  They were still discussing horses when a little later they saw the Marquis coming back towards them

  Velina jumped up and ran to him first.

  “Was it any good?” she asked.

  “The pony was too slow and too old,” the Marquis replied. “But he has a yearling there that I think Johnny will be able to manage.”

  “A yearling?” Velina questioned.

  “He is young, but he has already had quite a lot of training,” the Marquis said. “The farmer has a son of his own who is fifteen and who has been riding him for six months. But the horse is now too small for him.”

  Velina looked at Johnny talking to Fireball.

  “I only hope we don’t have an accident,” she said. “It would certainly make us very slow if we had to keep to the speed of an old tired pony.”

  “That is what I was thinking,” the Marquis replied. “It would also be very uncomfortable both for Johnny and me to share the same saddle.”

  Velina laughed.

  “That is the real reason why you are buying the yearling!”

  “You can hardly blame me for thinking of my own comfort,” the Marquis replied. “What I have really come to tell you is that whilst the farmer is grooming the horse, which I have insisted on and finding a saddle I can buy, his wife invited us to tea. I am sure that is something Johnny will enjoy. So will you.”

  “You think of everything,” Velina said. “And I am perfectly content to do whatever you suggest.”

  The Marquis felt that the expression of gratitude came from her heart.

  At the same time, although she had no idea what it might have suggested, his eyes were twinkling.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  They took tea with the farmer and his wife and as the Marquis had expected, it was a substantial meal with eggs and meat for the men.

  He thought that they would be in no hurry to reach a place to stay.

  He asked the farmer if there was a good inn about ten or fifteen miles away.

  “I knows of one,” he said. “It be in a village called Hopely and I went there some years ago.”

  The Marquis thought that at least it was on the road they were already on, while the farmer’s son was giving Johnny instructions how to handle the yearling and he was also telling him his name.

  “I’ve always called ’im ‘Hunter’,” he explained, “as I was allowed, the first time I rode ’im, to go out with the ’ounds.”

  “I think it’s a good name,” the Marquis said, “as we have had to hunt for him and you have been kind enough to find him for us.”

  The farmer laughed at this, but his wife advised,

  “You be very careful young man. Them ’orses can be dangerous animals. If you rides ’im carefully and obey this kind man, you’ll come to no ’arm.”

  “I’ll do what ’e tells me,” Johnny agreed as Velina smiled at him.

  They set off at a fairly good pace.

  From the farmer’s description of it, the inn that they were seeking might be even further than the Marquis had expected.<
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  Johnny was very excited at the idea of riding such a fine horse and the farmer’s son gave him some last minute instructions when he was in the saddle.

  Watching him, however, the Marquis realised that he was a natural horseman so that when he was older he would obviously be a very good rider.

  He had often wondered why he himself had been able to ride so well when he was still very young and he was sure that it was an inheritance from his father who was an outstanding equestrian.

  He had had friends when he had been at school who had no idea how to handle a horse and they always turned out to be bad riders.

  This had convinced him that it was something one inherited in one’s blood and was an excellent attribute to possess.

  As Johnny rode a little ahead of him, he told Velina what he was thinking and she agreed with him.

  “I always thought I inherited my love of horses and the way I can handle even the most difficult of them from my father,” she said. “I believe that my grandfather was also a fine equestrian and much admired when he rode to hounds.”

  The Marquis longed to ask her who her father and grandfather were. But he knew if he did so he would have to say who he was and that would be a mistake.

  They had introduced themselves at the beginning by their Christian names and that is how it should remain until the end of their journey.

  However, he thought that every day he spent with Velina, he found her more and more interesting. She was so different in every way from the young women he had known before.

  He realised soon after they met that she was very well read and, when he spoke of anything historical she was not only well aware of the facts, but often knew more than he knew himself.

  As they rode along narrow lanes, he thought that no one could look more elegant or more attractive on a horse.

  He was quite certain, from some of the things she had said to him that she had hunted with a major pack.

  When they eventually arrived at the inn the farmer had recommended, Johnny was now obviously tired, but the Marquis, however, made him put his horse into the stall in the yard of the inn.

  He was also told to see that there was food in the manger and fresh water in the bucket.

  When he had done that, he told him to run and find Velina, while he saw to the two other horses.

  Then he walked to the inn to join Velina.

  He had asked when they had dismounted whether they could stay for the night and the publican had told him that it was possible and there was an enthusiastic note in his voice that told the Marquis that paying customers were few and far between in this isolated spot.

  Velina was sitting alone by the fireplace and, as he sat down beside her, he enquired,

  “Where is Johnny?”

  “I showed him his room,” Velina replied, “and told him to undress and get into bed. He is very tired and after such a large tea he is not hungry. But I have ordered some soup which I will take up to him when it is ready.”

  “I can see you are a very efficient Nanny besides everything else,” the Marquis commented with a smile.

  “He is a dear little boy and I don’t think he will be any trouble to us,” Velina replied. “But I have not yet told him that his mother is dead.”

  “He does not appear to miss her very much, and so I would keep the bad news until the end of our journey and then we will then have to find someone to adopt him.”

  “I don’t think there will be any trouble about that, Neil. He is such a charming child that he deserves a kind and loving home.”

  “I am sure that you will be able to find one if I do not,” the Marquis said.

  “It was wonderful of you to find that horse for him, which is surprisingly quiet. When I saw him ride it, I just knew that there was no need to be nervous about him.”

  “I felt the same,” the Marquis agreed. “I am just amazed that you should be so efficient when faced with a very unpleasant situation as we have had over Johnny.”

  “I don’t wish to talk of that man who was so cruel to him,” Velina said. “When I helped him off with his jacket, there was blood over the back of his shirt. I am wondering whether I could ask the publican’s wife here to wash it before we start off tomorrow morning.”

  “I am sure she will do so if you are certain that it will dry in time,” the Marquis replied.

  “That is what is worrying me,” Velina added.

  Then suddenly she laughed.

  “Why are you laughing?” the Marquis enquired.

  “Because actually it is so funny,” Velina answered. “Here we are fussing over a child we had not seen until this morning and all because I was brave enough to talk to you when I was escaping from my stepfather.”

  The Marquis laughed as well.

  “It makes a story which might have come straight out of a book. It only remains for us to dig up gold in an unexpected place and that will make a significant finale!”

  He thought as he spoke that the real end to the story was that he and Velina should fall in love with each other.

  It was something he might have said laughingly to any woman he was flirting with or on the verge of having an affaire de coeur, but he realised from the first moment he met her that she was completely unaware of the world he lived in.

  She had not once, as far as he could guess, looked upon him as an attractive man.

  He had been friendly and he had helped her, but she talked to him as she might have talked to someone of twice his age or even to a trusted servant she had known since she was a child.

  ‘If this is an experience for her,’ he thought, ‘it is also quite an experience for me and maybe a lesson I much needed.’

  At that moment the publican’s wife came in with a bowl of soup and said,

  “Here’s what you asked for and I ’opes the little ’un enjoys it.”

  “I am sure he will,” Velina replied, “and thank you very much for taking so much trouble.”

  She took the soup from the woman and walked to the stairs.

  The Marquis took the liberty of asking what they were having for dinner and then suggested something extra that he thought Velina would enjoy.

  “You must ’ave travelled a long way today,” the publican’s wife said curiously.

  “We have indeed and your inn was recommended most favourably by a farmer,” the Marquis told her, “and we were determined to reach you even though it was quite an effort.”

  “Well, we’re right glad to ’ave you,” the woman said, “and I ’opes you’ll enjoy your dinner and ’ave a quiet night.”

  The Marquis assured her that they would and she went back to the kitchen.

  It was some time before Velina returned and when she did the Marquis asked her,

  “Is Johnny all right?”

  “I have tucked him up in bed. He enjoyed the soup, but he was almost too sleepy to drink it.”

  “He is a very sporting little boy. We were lucky to find a horse he could ride.”

  “He will not be lucky if he has to be alone in the world,” Velina said. “But I think his mother must have been very strange to have left him alone with that drunken uncle instead of taking him with her when she went to her father’s funeral.”

  “I thought the same. It will mean that if he is not so fond of her as we expected, he will not be so upset when he learns that he will not see her again.”

  Velina gave a sigh.

  “I cannot bear to think of him being unhappy. We must find a really nice couple to look after him, unless, of course, you adopt him yourself, Neil.”

  “I think that would be rather difficult,” the Marquis replied. “One day I hope to have sons of my own who will enjoy riding as much as Johnny and you do.”

  And once again they were talking about horses.

  When dinner was over, they continued to talk for some time until Velina asked,

  “At what hour do you think we should leave here tomorrow morning?”

  “There is no great hurr
y,” the Marquis replied. “At the same time you want to put as many miles between you and your pursuers as is possible.”

  “Yes, of course,” Velina agreed quickly. “Do you really think they will still be following me?”

  “If your stepfather is determined to take you back,” the Marquis replied, “presumably they will be looking for you further up the main road.”

  He saw Velina tremble and he added,

  “Forget them for a moment. I am quite certain that they will not find us where we are now. I want you to look happy and not be frightened.”

  “But I am frightened. My stepfather, when he does make up his mind, can be so terrifying! He is absolutely determined I will marry this horrible man he has chosen for me.”

  “Do you think your aunt will be willing to protect you?” the Marquis asked.

  “I know that she has never liked my stepfather and was devoted to my father. I can only hope for his sake that she will help me.”

  The Marquis was trying to remember exactly how powerful a Guardian could be and if there was any legal way that he could be removed from his position. However, he could not think of any solution to the problem.

  After a moment’s silence Velina rose to her feet.

  “I am going to bed and I will be ready for breakfast at eight o’clock unless you would like it any earlier, Neil.”

  “No, eight o’clock will be fine for me,” the Marquis replied. “Goodnight and sleep well.”

  Velina hesitated for a moment before saying,

  “If by chance I am feeling frightened in the night, I will call for you and then please come and rescue me.”

  The Marquis knew she was thinking that the three men pursuing her could by chance find this inn.

  “I am a light sleeper,” he said reassuringly. “You only have to call out and I promise you that I will come to you immediately.”

  “I thought it was what you would say, Neil. Thank you, thank you! There is so much I am very grateful to you for, I really don’t know how to put it into words.”

  “Just take it for granted,” the Marquis replied “and think happy thoughts before you go to sleep.”

  “I will pray for you and Johnny,” she said.