Little Tongues of Fire

by Barbara Cartland

  She had tried to plan her departure with the same expertise that her father would have used, writing her letters to the Duke and to the Solicitors giving fifty thousand pounds to Lord Edgar.

  She thought after that they would not be concerned with her anymore.

  She had realised that her aunt would be furious, but once she was in India, it might be years before they found her and a long time before she would have to communicate with them.

  It was when she thought of India that it had seemed as if her father was telling her exactly where she would be safe and where no one could force her to marry Lord Edgar.

  Her jewellery was so valuable that she knew that if she sold it she could live for a lifetime on the proceeds.

  She was sensible enough to realise that she would need money in cash for her fare and her expenses on the voyage.

  By questioning her maid, she had learned that there was a train to London, which the servants sometimes caught on their days off, that passed through the Halt at Quarington at dawn.

  She also knew where her Bank was situated and it was fortunately on the way to Fenchurch Street Station.

  When she caught the train without any difficulty, she thought how clever she had been and now everything was plain sailing.

  Although she had arrived from India at Southampton and the S.S. Magnificent was sailing the next day, she was aware that she must catch the boat train to Tilbury.

  What she had not anticipated was that travelling alone was very different from journeying with her father or with the chaperone whom her uncle had engaged to escort her back from India.

  As she waited on the platform, she had been aware that several men had eyed her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.

  She found into a carriage that was empty except for one lady.

  Soon after the train had started, a man, flashily dressed and whom she guessed was a commercial traveller, came in from another compartment and sat down opposite her.

  He had insisted on talking to her although she tried to read the newspaper that she had bought at the Station.

  When they arrived at Tilbury, he officiously called a porter for her and insisted that they walked the short distance to the P. & O. Liner together.

  She was able to pay for one of the more expensive cabins and indeed one was available.

  When the Steward carried her baggage into it, she thought with relief that she was now rid of the man who had refused to leave her side.

  She had hoped that he would be travelling in another class, but unfortunately he was booked into a First Class cabin although she realised that his was not as expensive as hers.

  She had, however, no intention of mixing with the other passengers on board and was prepared to stay in her cabin even before the storm sprang up.

  Then she had learned from her Stewardess that everybody had been advised not to move about.

  The Stewardess brought her books from the library and she was happy reading, even though she could not help wondering what had happened at Quarington when the Duke had received her letter.

  She wondered too if he would be relieved that she was no longer there to cause problems and what he might think of her when he rode Hercules.

  It was difficult, when the Liner pitched and tossed, not to think that she might be riding him over the jumps that the Duke had said were too high and too dangerous for her.

  She was sure that it was the most exciting thing she had ever done.

  She kept remembering as well how kind the Duke had been when he had talked to her on top of the Tower and had prevented her from ending her life as she had meant to do.

  On the second day of the storm she received a note from the man who had talked to her in the train and whose name, she learned, was Rawlinson.

  Then she had felt a sudden longing for the Duke’s protection.

  She told herself she was being very foolish to be frightened.

  All she had to do was to ignore Mr. Rawlinson’s suggestion that they should meet as soon as she felt well enough.

  If she stayed in her cabin, there was nothing he could do to upset her.

  She had therefore torn up the note and tried to tell herself that she was perfectly safe on her own.

  A little later there had been a knock on the door and, when Vina had called out, “come in”, the knock had come again.

  It had never struck her for one moment that it might be Rawlinson.

  When she opened the door and saw him outside, she gave a little gasp of horror.

  “I heard that you were not seasick like the rest of the passengers,” he began, “so, as we have the Liner almost to ourselves, suppose you come and do a bit of exploring with me?”

  “No – thank you,” Vina said firmly.

  She would have closed the door of her cabin, but he put his foot inside.

  “Come on,” he insisted, “be friendly. I want to talk to you and I’ve a great deal to say.”

  “Will you please go away?” Vina said. “You have no right to come to my – cabin as you – well know.”

  “Now you’re being unkind,” he said accusingly. “There’s no one on board as pretty as you are and if I help you to the Saloon, which is empty, I’ll see that you don’t fall down.”

  He put out his hand towards her as he spoke and Vina gave a little cry.

  Then, as he came farther into the cabin, she pressed the bell for the Stewardess.

  As she did so, the Liner rolled so heavily that she fell onto the bed, then she realised that Mr. Rawlinson was sitting beside her.

  “Go – away!” she said angrily. “Go – away at – once!”

  He laughed and put his arms round her.

  At that moment the Stewardess appeared in the open doorway.

  Mr. Rawlinson realised that he was defeated and, rising from the bed but holding onto it to steady himself, moved towards the door.

  “See you later!” he called back. “And perhaps the sea’ll be calmer tomorrow. Until then toodle-oo!”

  He walked out in a swanky manner that was made slightly ridiculous by the fact that only by holding on to the lintel of the door was he able to prevent himself from falling over

  The Stewardess looked across the cabin at Vina sitting pale and frightened on the bed.

  “How did he get in?” she asked.

  “He – knocked on the door and I – thought it was – you,” Vina explained.

  “Well, in future, miss, I’ll bring my key with me or else I’ll tell you who is outside. I know his type and they’re a real nuisance on board any ship.”

  She had then gone out of the cabin and closed the door, leaving Vina alone.

  *

  When the Duke had saved her from Mr. Rawlinson, she had not been able to believe that he was really there.

  She knew that she was not imagining things, he was alive, but she felt as if he had stepped out of a dream. It was impossible to look away from him. His eyes seemed to grow larger and larger until they filled the whole world and then there was only him.

  As he kissed her, she knew that this was what she had wanted.

  Although she had escaped from Quarington and Lord Edgar, she had felt as if something precious had been left behind.

  The Duke went on kissing her and she knew that she had loved him for a long time, certainly, although she had not realised it then, since the moment when they had ridden together and she had been afraid because he was angry with her.

  She had never been frightened of him as she was frightened of Lord Edgar.

  She could not explain why, when he was in the room, despite her terror of his brother, his presence had given her a feeling of confidence.

  It was a strong feeling of security that somehow resembled what she had felt from her father.

  Now she knew it was love.

  She felt as if the light from the moon and the stars, which had been so beautiful when they had looked at them together from the top of the Tower, was moving through her body.

&nbs
p; “How could you try to leave me?” the Duke asked and his voice was unsteady.

  “I love – you!” Vina whispered. “I know – now that I love – you.”

  “As I love you, my beautiful one,” the Duke answered.

  Then he was kissing her again, kissing her insistently as if he was afraid of losing her and chaining her to him with his kisses.

  Only the roll of the Liner made them once again sit down on the sofa.

  Now the Duke held Vina close against him and, as her head fell back onto his shoulder, he kissed her forehead, her eyes, her little straight nose and then her mouth.

  “How can you be so undeniably enchanting?” he asked.

  “I-I never thought – you would – admire me,” Vina replied, “when you had – Lady Halford and all those – beautiful women to look at.”

  “Your beauty is very different from theirs and you are different from anybody else I have ever known.”

  Vina drew in her breath.

  “Do you – mean that?”

  “I mean it, my darling, and now there will be no more problems.”

  “What – do you – mean?”

  “I mean,” the Duke replied, “that I will look after you, protect you and keep you from anyone who tries to intimidate you.”

  For a moment he saw a radiance in her eyes that reminded him of the stars and then she looked away to say in a small voice,

  “I was – going to India – where no one would ever – find me.”

  “Do you really believe that I would have allowed you to do so or that you could manage on your own?” the Duke asked.

  She did not answer and after a moment he said,

  “You said you found England dull, but perhaps it will not be so very dull if we are together.”

  She looked at him a little uncertainly and he said,

  “I am asking you, my precious, to marry me and that is something I have never asked any other woman!”

  “But – you cannot – m-marry me!” Vina said quietly.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I am not – grand enough – and there is – Lord Edgar.”

  “All my brother wants is money,” the Duke said in a hard voice. “So, once again, I will pay his debts and he will spend it on women in the irresponsible way that has shocked you so greatly.”

  “I can do – that,” Vina said.

  “As you so rightly thought,” the Duke replied, “whatever we give to Edgar is a criminal waste of money, which should be spent on people who really need it.”

  Vina drew in her breath.

  “But he – wants money – and I think he will be very – angry and disagreeable if I – married you.”

  The Duke thought that this was, unfortunately, true, but, because he did not want Vina to be upset, he said quickly,

  “I am sure that we can think of some way of controlling him, but one thing is absolutely certain, you are not going to marry him simply because he is greedy for your fortune!”

  Vina gave a deep sigh of relief.

  Then she said,

  “But I am – still not – important enough to be – your wife.”

  “The only person who can decide that is me,” the Duke said firmly, “and I need you, Vina, as I have never needed anyone in my whole life.”

  She drew a little closer to him as he continued,

  “It was a crazy idea in the first place that Edgar should marry a woman just because she is rich. From the moment I saw you, I knew that for you, it would be impossible.”

  “Did you – really think – that?” Vina asked him.

  “I think I fell in love with you,” the Duke answered, “when you came into the drawing room looking so beautiful. Then after you had spoken with Edgar I saw the terror in your eyes. I knew then, although I would not admit it to myself, that I had to save you from him.”

  “You saved my – life when we were on the – top of the – Tower,” she murmured.

  “I don’t want to think of it,” the Duke said. “If I had lost you, I would have lost the most precious thing in the whole world!”

  He did not wait for her reply, but was kissing her again, kissing her until she felt that she was no longer on earth, but flying with him in the sky.

  They were enveloped by a Divine Light that could have come only from God.

  *

  A long time later the Duke said,

  “Do you feel that the sea is very much calmer? Or perhaps it is because I am happy and all the depressions, doubts and fears have gone.”

  Vina laughed and he suggested,

  “Shall we walk round the deck together? Tomorrow we arrive at Gibraltar.”

  He looked at her enquiringly as he spoke and Vina asked,

  “Do you – want to go – back from – there?”

  “I was just thinking about it and, as we have the chance of getting to know each other without a great many explanations or interruptions, I suggest, if you agree, my darling, that we go on to Alexandria.”

  He saw Vina’s eyes light up and, before she could answer, he carried on,

  “Perhaps an even better idea would be if we honeymooned in India and you can show me some of the places where you have stayed with your father. I also have some friends there I would like you to meet.”

  Vina stared at him in astonishment and then she asked,

  “Do you – mean – that?”

  “Of course I mean it!” the Duke said. “And as I can hardly arrive in India alone with a beautiful young woman, even though she is my fiancée, I propose that we are married tomorrow in Gibraltar.”

  Vina gave a little gasp.

  Then she said falteringly,

  “Is that – really possible?”

  “I can imagine nothing more wonderful than being married to you, my darling one, and I dread the thought of a grand Wedding with all our friends speculating as to why we have married each other and coming to entirely the wrong conclusions!”

  Vina laughed and the Duke added with a note of urgency in his voice,

  “What are we waiting for? I love you and I know that you love me. If you can run away, that is what I intend to do as well and if people complain we shall not hear them.”

  Vina gave a little laugh.

  Then, as she moved closer to him, she said,

  “I too would be – frightened of a grand – Wedding and perhaps – no one would understand – least of all Aunt Marjory, but I do – wish that you were – not a Duke!”

  “It is something I cannot help,” the Duke replied with a wry smile.

  “I know,” Vina agreed, “but, if you were an ordinary man, no one would be surprised at you marrying me – and they would not – think I was – marrying you for your – title.”

  “What does it matter what they think?” the Duke asked. “I am not, my lovely Vina, marrying you for your fortune or your jewels and I believe, perhaps conceitedly, that you love me for myself.”

  “I love you – because you are the – most wonderful – man who ever lived,” Vina said with a note of passion in her voice, “and my intuition, which you have too – tells me that we have – loved each other in other lives – and I know that this life is not – long enough for me to discover how – marvellous you are!”

  The Duke had no words to answer her, so he kissed her.

  He knew as he did so that this was what he had always wanted. But he had thought that it was impossible to find a woman who loved him completely for himself and actually wished that he was not a Duke.

  He had been used to women running after him.

  Yet he had always been cynically aware that, if they were attracted by his looks and because he was an ardent lover, the glamour of Quarington and his social position was indivisible from him as a mere man. Because, as Vina had said, his perception was acute, he knew that she loved him in a very different way from how any other woman in his life had done.

  He had believed her when she said that she would have been content to travel with him around
the world as two ordinary people, a man and a woman, who had little to recommend them except their intelligence.

  Now, because he had been seeking for the end of the rainbow all his life, although he could not actually put it into words, he knew that he was inestimably lucky.

  And he went on kissing Vina, aware that she was very young, very unspoilt, and very innocent.

  It was what he had always wanted to find in his wife and he knew that at last he had found perfection.

  Together he and Vina could spend her money and use his authority to do good in the world, especially in India and in England.

  “I love you, my precious,” he said very quietly.

  It was not only the truth but also a vow that he intended to keep for the rest of his life.

  *

  The Liner entered Gibraltar Harbour early in the morning and The Rock was looking formidable and golden in the sun.

  The sea was blue and Vina looked at the people waiting for the Liner to dock and the Union Jack flying in the breeze.

  She felt as if everything was enchanted.

  Standing on deck beside the Duke, she slipped her hand into his and, as he looked down at her with a smile, she asked,

  “What plans have you made?”

  “I will tell you all about them a little later,” the Duke told her, “and, as you will see in a minute, Hodgson will be the first ashore and will carry out my instructions.”

  “You are making me curious.”

  “The first thing we have to do,” the Duke replied, “is to buy you a Wedding ring and I do not think that will be very difficult. At the same time we have no wish for anyone to be curious about us.”

  “No – of course – not,” Vina agreed, glancing over her shoulder.

  She returned to her cabin and two hours later met the Duke and they went ashore to a jewellery shop, where he bought her a Wedding ring and also a large aquamarine, which she looked at with delight.

  “There are a large number of rings at home that have been worn by the family brides,” he said, “and I do not presume to rival the jewels that belonged to the Maharajah. But this, darling, is just a small token of my love and my gratitude for the happiness you have already given me.”

  She looked at him with an expression that made him want to kiss her and, as they left the shop, she asked,