They Found their Way to Heaven Read online

  “My dear Duke, you are ignoring me and I wanted to ask you to come to Gorleston Towers next week. I plan to give a party in honour of your birthday.”

  “My birthday?” he exclaimed in surprise. “But it’s not – good Heavens, so it is! I shall be thirty-four.”

  “And we must mark such an important occasion suitably,” Lady Gorleston cooed. “Mustn’t we, Alexandra?”

  “Yes, Mama.”

  “Dear girl, she’s so enthusiastic! On the way here she kept asking if I thought you would be pleased. ‘My love’, I told her, ‘when the Duke knows that you are putting yourself out to celebrate his birthday, he will be delighted.’ And then she was ecstatic.”

  There was a stunned moment, during which the others contemplated Lady Alexandra being ecstatic.

  “You were overwhelmed with joy, were you not, my dear?”

  “Yes, Mama.”

  “This is most kind,” the Duke said in a carefully expressionless voice, “but I beg you not go to any trouble – ”

  “But it is no trouble at all,” Lady Gorleston gushed. “You must come and stay the night at Gorleston Towers. And Violet, of course, must come with you. A small party will be the perfect preparation for her debut next year.”

  “Oh, yes!” Violet agreed. Then, turning to Elvina, she sighed, “won’t that be exciting?” “There will, of course, be no need for Mrs. Winters to come,” Lady Gorleston added.

  After a small silence, the Duke said,

  “Mrs. Winters is as much a friend as a governess, and I prefer Violet not to go anywhere except under her chaperonage.”

  But Lady Gorleston was not ready to give up.

  “Oh, but dear Violet will be under my care and I shall personally ensure that she will looked after perfectly.”

  “I am sure that you will do so admirably, Countess, but I prefer Violet to remain in the care of her friend.

  “It is kind of you to want to mark my birthday, but I think it would be better if I held a small celebration here. Then your whole family could come and Violet can learn Society behaviour in her own home.”

  Thoroughly outmanoeuvred, Lady Gorleston had no choice but to smile and assure him mendaciously of her delight.

  Gleefully aware of these undercurrents, Violet burst out with,

  “And you must tell us where I can buy some pretty dresses? Mrs. Winters is horrified at how out-of-date and old-fashioned my wardrobe is. We want to go shopping to buy me some beautiful clothes, like she herself owns.”

  After what had just been said, Lady Gorleston was so infuriated that Elvina almost burst out laughing at the expression in her eyes.

  Before she could say anything the Duke chipped in, “That is a good idea. I am sure Mrs. Winters has a marvellous taste in clothes as she herself is always so smart. But I doubt if the shops in our nearest town sell the kind of fashions that she bought in London.”

  “Perhaps her Ladyship can inform us of a good seamstress,” suggested Elvina.

  Fighting to recover lost ground, the Countess purred, “Of course I will help you in every way I can. I am sure if your sister needs a seamstress I will be able to find one.”

  “That is very thoughtful of you,” the Duke said.

  She gazed at him, placing her hand firmly on his arm.

  “You know, dear David, I would do anything to help you.”

  The way she spoke and the caressing movement of her hand made Elvina well aware that what Violet had told her was the truth.

  This woman, whom she had disliked as soon as she saw her, was after the Duke for her daughter as a way of moving into the castle herself.

  Elvina was quite certain that she would do everything in her power to succeed.

  ‘I must put a stop to her for Violet’s sake,’ she thought.

  Then it flashed through her mind that perhaps she had another reason – to prevent this pushy, rather unpleasant woman from gaining what she desired. A personal reason.

  But that was impossible, she thought. She was still in love with Andrew.

  But Andrew’s face was suddenly very blurred in her memory. Somehow the Duke’s face seemed to be there instead.

  As the meal was drawing to a close the Duke said,

  “I think the best thing we can do is to listen to some music. I am sure our guests would enjoy hearing Violet play the piano, so we will go to the music room.”

  “There is no hurry,” Lady Gorleston intervened. “If you wish for the ladies to leave you alone, as is correct, we will leave you to smoke a cigar before you join us.”

  “I can hardly smoke and drink alone, so I would rather come with you.”

  Defeated, Lady Gorleston swept into the music room.

  Violet opened up the piano.

  “You play first,” she murmured to Elvina, “because you play better than me.”

  “Why don’t you go and sit beside your brother while I play?” Elvina whispered, “and I will do so when you are at the piano.”

  Violet giggled softly.

  “The old trout is furious and I am enjoying it more than I can tell you. You do see what a nasty, beastly woman she is.”

  “I agree with you that she is very unpleasant!”

  At that moment the Duke had pulled a comfortable armchair in front of the platform.

  As they sat down in the front seats, Violet jumped down from the platform and sat on the other side of her brother.

  “Mrs. Winters plays so well,” she sighed, “and I am determined to be as good as she is. Then you will be very proud of me.”

  As Elvina started to play, the Duke became aware of how badly he had needed this scenario. To sit here watching her, looking so beautiful and elegant and listening to the exquisite sounds that she was causing to flow from the piano, seemed to make a beautiful peace steal over him.

  Suddenly he was pervaded by happiness that he only half understood.

  Elvina played for over a quarter-of-an-hour before finishing triumphantly. The Duke applauded and exclaimed,

  “That was wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! I had no idea that you could play so well.”

  “I am not always so fortunate to be able to play such a lovely piano,” Elvina said. “And thank you for those kind words.”

  The Duke smiled at her.

  She smiled back and it was as though everyone else in the room had vanished. Now she knew how badly she had missed him while he had been away.

  And why.

  The knowledge was overwhelming.

  Lady Gorleston hung on until the last possible moment, but eventually even she was forced to concede defeat. After making many protestations of eagerness for the coming party, she departed with her daughter.

  “A party, a party!” Violet cried excitedly. “I am so looking forward to it.

  “We had better start sending out the invitations,” the Duke suggested. “Mrs. Winters, I rely on you to help me with the organisation.”

  They talked about the party over dinner that evening.

  Before they retired to bed the Duke said,

  “I shall go out riding early tomorrow, if anyone wants to join me.”

  “Oh, yes,” Elvina agreed. “Let us get up really early for a long ride before breakfast. To me it is always the best part of the day.”

  “I hoped you would come, because now I shall have the chance to see you ride one of your horses. Which will it be, I wonder?”

  “I haven’t yet made up my mind,” Elvina teased.

  He turned to his sister,

  “I was very pleased to see that you made an effort to be polite to Lady Gorleston. Well done, my dear!”

  “Thank you, thank you, darling David. I will try always to make you proud of me.”

  She hugged and kissed him.

  Then she turned towards the stairs. Elvina held up her hand to say goodnight. As the Duke took it he asked,

  “How is it possible you can have waved a magic wand and improved my sister so much? Everything that is happening now is so different from wh
en you arrived that I think you must have come from Heaven!”

  “That is what I want you to believe,” Elvina replied. “Thank you for saying such kind things to me.”

  Holding her hand in both of his, the Duke looked at her.

  For a moment as their eyes met, neither of them moved.

  Then the same sweet sensation as before came over her. She murmured quickly,

  “Thank you and goodnight.”

  She took her hand away as she spoke and ran down the corridor to follow Violet.

  As she reached the staircase she wanted to look back to see if the Duke was still watching her. But she told herself that would be a mistake and skipped up the stairs to where Violet was waiting.

  As they walked to their own rooms, Violet called out,

  “I am so looking forward to tomorrow.”

  “So am I,” Elvina said absently. “Goodnight, my dear.”

  Then she went to her own room. Quickly she undressed and climbed into bed.

  She lay very still for a long time, looking into the darkness and wondering what was happening to her.

  *

  When she woke early in the morning she felt suddenly excited at the thought of riding again with the Duke.

  She jumped out of bed and ran to Violet’s room. She found she was already awake and drawing back the curtains.

  “I have been thinking about David’s birthday and what to buy him for a gift,” she said. “After all, he has everything.”

  “There is one thing he does not have, which surprises me,” Elvina suggested. “Most men seem to have a dog in the country, but he doesn’t have one.”

  “That is because David’s dog died when he was quite young,” Violet explained. “He was broken-hearted and never owned a dog again. But I am sure, although he has never said so, that he misses having one.”

  “Of course he does,” Elvina agreed. “Every man likes a dog. What sort of dog was it?”

  “A Labrador,” Violet replied.

  “Then that is what we should give him for his birthday,” Elvina stated firmly.

  “There’s a man in a village, not far from here, who breeds Labradors.”

  “We must go and see him as soon as possible.”

  They ate breakfast quickly, then ran to the stables and found the Duke already there.

  “You are late,” he said jokingly. “Mrs. Winters you are riding Jupiter this morning. Simpson says so.”

  “Oh, well, if Simpson says so, then I must.”

  At that moment Simpson appeared leading Jupiter. When Elvina had greeted him he said, “Mars is a little unsettled after the journey, ma’am, and he only needs gentle exercise for the moment.”

  “And how do you know that I am not planning to take gentle exercise this morning?” she asked, raising her voice so that he could hear.

  Simpson grinned.

  “I don’t think so, ma’am.”

  “No, I don’t either,” the Duke agreed, also grinning.

  “I’ll ride Mars myself, ma’am.”

  “I don’t think I will need you this morning, Simpson.”

  “I think you will, ma’am,” he countered firmly.

  As soon as they were out of the yard they all gave their horses their heads, so that Elvina and the Duke outstripped Violet. Soon she was far behind, but with Simpson looking after her, they knew there was no need for them to be concerned.

  When they neared the stream, the Duke pulled in his mount.

  “I cannot beat your wonderful horse,” he declared. “I can only just keep up with him. I will pay you anything you want for him.”

  Elvina merely laughed.

  “You won’t sell him to me?”

  “Did you really think I would?”

  “No, not for a moment.”

  As their horses drank from the stream the Duke said,

  “I am looking forward to hearing you play again tonight. I have been thinking about it ever since we said goodnight yesterday evening.”

  “Yes,” she agreed. “After I had played last night, I felt the melody inside me and I was accompanied by it all night. I woke up with it still singing in my head.”

  She spoke in a dreamy way which made the Duke look at her.

  “I thought when I was listening to you last night,” he said, “that you were thinking about love. It certainly seemed to come out to us from your fingers.”

  “I only hope that is true,” Elvina sighed.

  “I think some people are musical even when they are just thinking, but you gave us music last night which seemed to come from your heart.”

  “It did come from my heart, because I was thanking the angels who brought me here.”

  She spoke with utter sincerity. Then as her eyes met the Duke’s, they both felt there was no need for them to say any more. For a moment there was silence.

  “Hey!”

  They both turned to find that Violet was catching up with them with Simpson in the rear.

  “Let’s race each other,” she cried, setting off as she spoke.

  It seemed as if the Duke could not take his eyes off Elvina. Then he seemed to wake up.

  “We should go,” he said.

  Then they were all three racing each other to the end of the field. The Duke won by a neck.

  Laughing together they rode home.

  Elvina felt somehow that they had spent a happier morning than she had enjoyed for a very long time.

  Something was happening between herself and the Duke, but there were no words to describe it.

  It was better that way. Words could spoil everything.

  The three of them ate a cheerful lunch together before the Duke left for a meeting with the Lord Lieutenant of the County.

  “What are the two of you going to do this afternoon?” he asked as he prepared for departure.

  “Oh, – this and that,” Violet replied airily.

  He raised his eyebrows in Elvina’s direction.

  “This and that,” she repeated, smiling back at him mysteriously.

  “Then I will leave the two of you to your secrets.”

  As soon as he had gone Violet giggled,

  “Now he’s wondering. This is going to be such fun.”

  “Give him time to leave properly,” Elvina said. “And then we’ll go.”

  They took the carriage into the nearby village and after enquiring the way, managed to find the house where the puppy breeder lived.

  When they drew up outside the front door, they could already hear high pitched yelps coming from inside.

  Instead of knocking at the front door they wandered around the back where there was a large garden. They stopped in delight at the sight that awaited them.

  In the centre of the lawn was a black Labrador and gambolling round her were three black puppies, two large and one tiny. From the way she occasionally nuzzled them, especially the tiny one, it was clear that they were her offspring.

  “Can I help you ladies?” asked a man, dressed in working clothes, who was filling a bowl with feed.

  “I think we have already found what we are looking for,” Elvina replied. “Are they for sale?”

  “The two large ones are,” the man said. “We’re keeping the little one because he’s his mother’s favourite. The other two are the naughtiest pups you ever knew!”

  “Good. They are the ones we want,” Elvina exclaimed. “The naughtier the better.”

  The deal was soon settled. The pups were expensive, but Elvina paid the price without protest, knowing by instinct that these two bundles of mischief would suit the Duke better than any others.

  As they drove home Violet commented,

  “I did not realise that it would be so much. I will pay you back, but I don’t have much of my allowance left at the moment.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Oh, but it does. I must buy them or they won’t be my gift.”

  “Buy one. Let me give him the other.”

  “All right. That will be nice
. Oh, David’s going to be so thrilled. I wonder what names we should give them.”

  “We must leave that to him,” Elvina replied. “It has always annoyed me when someone has given me an animal that already had a name. Then I have to keep the name whether I like it or not, so as not to confuse the poor creature.”

  “David will love them,” Violet said in delight. “He cried when he lost Bruno, his last dog, although he did not let anyone see the tears in his eyes.”

  ‘No, he would not have done,’ Elvina thought. ‘He had been reared to be serious and had inherited his responsibilities too soon. There had been too few people in his life to whom he could feel close. He loved his sister, but she was too young to be his confidante. Perhaps his beloved dog was the only creature he could trust.

  ‘And then Bruno had died, leaving him terribly alone, with no one to turn to. And he had closed in on himself. His duty to his great house had become all important and he had almost forgotten how vital it was to love.’

  “Bruno’s death must have made him very lonely,” she reflected. “And very vulnerable.”

  “Yes,” Violet agreed hotly. “Vulnerable to scheming women and their matchmaking Mamas.”

  “That is why you must protect him by becoming closer to him,” Elvina advised. “So that he doesn’t end up marrying the wrong woman out of loneliness.”

  “I wonder what the right woman would be like,” Violet mused.

  ‘Yes, I wonder,’ Elvina thought, although she did not say it aloud. ‘Is she anything like me?’ “Well, if he marries Alexandra I shall run away,” Violet declared mutinously.

  “You will not run away,” Elvina said. “You are going to stay and make your brother happy until someone tall, attractive, charming and very intelligent asks you to marry him.”

  Violet burst out laughing,

  “Do you really think that will really happen to me?”

  “Of course it will,” Elvina told her. “You have to be very careful and quite certain that a man marries you because you are you and not for what you possess.”

  There was silence for a moment. Then Violet asked,

  “How do you know when a man is really in love with you and not just entranced because you have money and a title?”

  It was a question which Elvina had often asked herself.

  After a while she responded,