It was quite a relief to know that he could drive her home, then proceed to Belmont Park and assume his title.
He wondered if he should now tell her the full truth about his identity. But he was reluctant to do so, in case the knowledge of his title made her more interested in him.
He tried to tell himself that this wonderful girl was above such tiresome considerations yet caution was deeply ingrained in him.
He had been run after by a great number of women, some of whom he found fascinating for a short time.
They were attractive and he had made love to them, but inevitably after a brief while they had disappointed him.
He kept telling himself time after time that he was being ridiculous and asking too much. But in his heart he knew that they were attracted to his title and the woman he did marry must love him for himself alone.
‘What I need is love,’ he had told himself over and over again, ‘from a woman who loves me for myself and myself only.’
Now, for the first time, he was with a wonderful girl who had simply no idea of his worldly position. Yet she seemed to enjoy his company, actually seemed happy with him.
And he wanted this glorious time to last forever.
“I just cannot let you drive me such a distance,” she said. “I am sure you have affairs of your own to see to.”
“Do you really think that when we reach England I could merely shake you by the hand, say goodbye and then walk away?”
As he spoke he took her hand in his, as if to shake it. Actually he just sat still holding it and wondering if she had squeezed his hand back or it was just his wishful thinking.
“No,” she murmured softly. “I don’t think that.”
“Will you miss me when finally we say goodbye to each other?”
“Of course I will,” Verna answered him. “You have been so marvellous in every way.”
She paused for a moment before she questioned,
“Shall we ever see each other again?”
He could hardly hear the words. They were almost said in a whisper.
“We must – ”
There was a short silence before Verna whispered,
“Do you really want to see me again?”
“I would like to see you very much,” he replied. “The moment I saw you I thought you were different from anyone I had ever seen before. Now I find it is impossible to say goodbye.”
There was more silence before she muttered,
“I want – more than I can possibly say – to go on seeing you.”
“That is what I want, too. So – ”
Suddenly he knew what he had to do. It was sheer madness, but it was magnificent.
“You will probably laugh at me,” he stated baldly, “but I want to marry you.”
For a moment neither of them moved.
Then Verna tightened her fingers on his. He gave an answering squeeze, but he did not speak.
She was looking at him with wonder.
“Do you really mean it? We have only just met.”
Michael could barely speak.
Then, as he felt her tremble, he sighed,
“I knew the moment I saw you, you were so unlike any woman I had met before. There was something about you which made me feel I could not lose you.”
He smiled at her as he continued,
“I want you, Verna, I want you more than I have ever wanted any woman in the whole of my life. It seems impossible I should feel like this when we’ve only known each other for such a short time. But I know that if I lose you now, I will never be happy again.”
Verna drew in her breath.
Then she answered him in a low fervent voice,
“And I love you too. It might seem strange, but I realised the moment I saw you that you also were different from anyone I had ever known. Now I know that it was because I was falling in love.”
“That’s exactly what I feel,” he cried joyfully. “So, my darling, we’ll be married as soon as we can arrange it.”
Verna drew in her breath.
“Do you mean that? Do you really mean it?”
“Yes, of course I mean it, Verna. I have been in love before – or thought I was. Yet there was always something missing which told me that what I felt was more to do with my imagination than reality.”
His voice deepened as he continued,
“But with you everything is new. I know now that I must never let you go – ”
“I don’t want you to leave me,” she sighed. “I want to stay with you. Do you really want me to be your wife?”
“With all my heart. There will be many difficulties, but we will both overcome them. You must be certain that you want me as much as I want you.”
“But I do, I do.”
“I love you! I love you! You must never doubt it, Verna.”
“I never will. I just love you so much. I can hardly believe that you want me. But what did you mean about difficulties?”
“Well – ”
“Oh, I understand,” she said, breaking into a merry little laugh. “You mean because I have a silly title and you don’t have one. But that doesn’t matter. I am of age and can marry whom I please. Papa won’t oppose me when he knows how much I am in love with you.”
“Even if I have no money?” he asked, hardly able to believe his luck. “And that socially I’m just a nobody?”
“What matters is that you are you. Just love me, that is all I ask.”
“With all my heart and for all my life,” he vowed.
“Heaven seems to have opened for me and if you and I are together for the rest of our lives, it will be Heaven itself on earth.”
Then he could contain himself no longer and seized her in his arms and kissed her.
She returned his kiss with fervour.
In the back of her mind Verna knew that this was not really how a well-brought-up young lady was supposed to behave. Winifred would faint if she knew.
But she cared about nothing, except that she was in the arms of the man she loved and wished to stay there for ever.
When they finally drew apart, she was trembling and breathless.
“Oh, my love,” she murmured.
When he did not reply, she looked anxiously into his face.
“What is it?” she asked.
“There’s something I have to tell you, my dearest. I had meant to save it until later, but if you are so willing to entrust your life to me – ”
“For ever and ever,” she avowed.
“Then you must know the truth.”
“Is the truth so very terrible? I just don’t believe it. Everything about you is wonderful.”
“Thank you. But I am not what I seem. I’ve been playing a part, because I had to. But when we reach home, I can become my own true self.”
“Who is your true self?”
“I am the Earl of Belmont – at least, I will be when I reach home and assume the title. My father has just died. That is why I was hurrying home.”
“The Earl of Belmont?” she repeated slowly. “Are you making fun of me?”
“I don’t blame you for thinking so, darling. I don’t look much like an Earl, do I? But believe me, it’s true.”
“But how – I mean – ?”
“Just how does an Earl come to look like a tramp, without enough money to get home? It’s a long story and it does not do me much credit. I have lived selfishly, never thinking about anyone but myself.
“But all that will change, because of my great love for you. I want you to know the truth that you will not be marrying a nobody.”
“You could never be a nobody,” she averred. “You are the man I adore and that makes you somebody.”
“I’ll be somebody when you have married me!”
“It cannot be too soon for me,” Verna whispered, “and it will be wonderful to be married to you. It doesn’t matter that you are an Earl, although, of course, I am very glad. I would love you even if you were just ‘Mr. Nobody’.
“It’s so marvellous finding you when I thought I would never find anyone so wonderful, so exciting and so handsome.”
Michael smiled.
“Now you are flattering me and I love it. As long as you feel like that about me, I want you to go on telling me from first thing in the morning until last thing at night.”
Verna laughed.
“How could I have known, how could I have ever guessed that I would find you? It is the most marvellous thing that has ever happened to me.”
“I can say the same,” Michael breathed. “I will be honest and tell you I have known a few beautiful women, but none has ever been as beautiful as you are or made me feel as you make me feel. I truly feel that because you are mine, I possess the most fabulous jewel in the whole world.”
Verna gave a cry.
“Please go on thinking that way for always. I was certain that I would never fall in love with anyone.”
“So you really are in love with me?”
“More than I can possibly tell you, even if we live for a thousand years,” replied Verna.
Michael drew in his breath.
“I have something to tell you that may make you feel differently about me.”
Verna looked up at him with surprised eyes.
He became aware that for the moment she found it impossible to breathe.
Then she said in a voice he could hardly hear,
“What have you to tell me?”
Now Michael found that he was nervous.
“It may shock you,” he warned, “and you may feel that you cannot marry me after all.”
“But why? Why do you say that? What have you done?”
“My father and I didn’t always get on well together. He was a very rich man but, because he was annoyed with me, he cut off my allowance.”
He paused to gather his courage,
“He told me that I should receive nothing from him when he died and the money and the family estate would all go to my younger brother.
“He could not deny me the title, but he could deny me his money. So, except for a small amount I inherited from my mother, I am more or less penniless!”
He thought as he was speaking, he was destroying his heart.
How could Verna love him after this news?
Then, in a very quiet voice, she replied,
“I love you, Michael, and you love me. Love is not determined by money. As long as we both love each other, I think we are the richest people on earth.”
“Do you mean it? My darling, we might find life extremely difficult and have to count every penny before we spend it.”
“I don’t think money matters one way or another. Somehow God will look after us, because he has already given us the greatest gift of all.”
“Do you really mean that?” he asked.
“I mean it because it is the real truth. I love you because you are you. I don’t care if you are a millionaire or just plain Mr. Michael, as long as you are you.”
With a gasp of joy he drew her even closer to him, her head against his shoulder.
He looked down at her, his lips seeking hers.
Then he was kissing her again – kissing her wildly, passionately, until he could feel her sublime body quivering against his.
She clung to him fiercely, feeling that they had both reached Heaven.
They were united by their shared love.
What could possibly go wrong now?
CHAPTER FIVE
Michael felt that he could sit there forever with his beloved Verna in his arms. He had never in his life felt as happy as he was at this very moment.
If only he could find a way to make their happiness last.
But he recognised that, for this to happen, he must be completely honest with her.
“I still haven’t told you the whole story, Verna, my darling. I told you that my father cut me off, but I did not explain how much of it was my own fault. I said I lived selfishly, but it was more than that. I have been self-indulgent, thoughtless – ”
“Hush!” She stopped him with her fingers over his mouth. “That was the old you. The new you starts right now and he is the man I know and love.”
“Bless you. But I must take action to make certain that the past really is the past. For instance – ”
“Go on,” Verna teased him when he hesitated.
“I gambled all my money away and when I heard about my father’s death, I just did not have enough to get back to England.”
“So that is why you needed to come with me!”
“Yes, but there is worse to come. The reason you see me in these clothes is that I had to pawn my best ones. Even so, I was still short of money, so I – ”
He gulped.
“You what?” Verna asked anxiously.
“I left my hotel without paying the bill,” he forced himself to say.
Eyes wide, she stared at him.
“You did what?” she demanded very slowly.
Michael heartily wished that he had not started to tell her this story. He could tell from her face that she was shocked and disbelieving.
“I escaped without paying my bill, but of course I’ll send them the money as soon as I can. Verna please don’t condemn me – ”
He was interrupted by the last sound he expected to hear. Verna leaned back against the seat as peal after peal of laughter burst from her.
“My darling,” he stuttered, half in delight and half in disbelief, “I am glad that you can see the funny side – ”
“Oh, but you don’t know,” she choked. “It’s much funnier than you can imagine. Oh dear, oh dear – ”
She went off in another burst of laughter, clutching her side, rocking back and forth.
“I am so sorry,” she gasped at last. “It’s just that – Winifred – ”
“Winifred?” he cried in alarm. “For Heaven’s sake, don’t tell her. She thinks badly enough of me already.”
“She thinks you look just like the sort of man who would sneak out of a hotel without paying his bill,” Verna chuckled. “She said so last night.”
“She said what?” asked Michael, aghast. “What a terrible thing to say about me. I call that impertinent.”
“I call it accurate,” she laughed, managing to calm down. “After all, it’s exactly what you did.”
“Yes, but – ” he subsided, laughing reluctantly.
“Just promise me that you’ll never tell her. I would never live it down.”
“Ah, but wait until she learns who you really are.”
“It might be better for her not to know for a while, Verna, let’s keep it to ourselves until we get home.”
“Perhaps your father did not cut you off without a penny after all,” she mused. “I didn’t like him, but I can’t believe him capable of that.”
Michael stared.
“You knew my father?”
“Not ‘knew’ exactly, but I did meet him a couple of times. He and my father quarrelled years ago over a piece of land they both wanted to buy, I think. So years passed without any meetings.
“Then they bumped into each other at some party. They didn’t exactly become friends, but they seem to have been bored with being enemies. I’ve met your sister Jane and your brother Anthony, but you were never there.”
“I was most probably spending my life abroad by that time. So that’s how we have lived so close, yet missed meeting each other all these years.”
She squeezed his hand.
“We have a lot of time to make up for.”
He leaned down and kissed her tenderly.
“The ship is slowing down,” she sighed. “We will be landing in a minute. I had better go and find Winifred.”
“I’ll wait for you on deck, my darling.”
As they emerged into fresh air, the dawn was just breaking and they could see the port of Dover just ahead.
Verna went below deck and returned with Winifred a few minutes later.
Michael enquired very polit
ely after her health and received a frosty reply. It was clear that Winifred was in an unyielding mood and he doubted that she would warm to him any more when she learned the truth.
To his relief she fell asleep in the back seat as soon as they were on the road. After a few miles he could hear her snoring gently just behind them, so he asked Verna,
“What sort of wedding shall we have? A big grand ceremony in London or something in the country?”
“I would like to marry you quietly without any fuss and commotion. People asked to weddings always have so much to say and those not asked are furious. So let’s be married in your village Church with no one present except your close relations.”
“What about your relations?”
Verna laughed.
“Most of my relations are annoyed with me because I would not marry the man they had chosen. I was always afraid that if I weakened, I would wake up and find myself wife to a stranger.
“I knew I could never fall in love with any of those men my family had chosen for me. But as soon as I saw you, I knew that you were so unlike all the others.”
“That’s just what I feel about you. So, my darling, there is no reason why we should not be blissfully happy forever. There may be difficulties – one especially, but we will fight all our troubles together.”
The words came from the very depths of his heart.
She moved a little closer to him and put her hand on his knee.
“I love you! I love you, my Michael. I am so happy that I would like to go on driving with you until Eternity. Then we would never have to be worried by other people.”
“If we remain as much in love as we are now, then we are strong enough to take on the world. I will be yours as you will be mine until, please God, we will both go to Heaven together.”
“How lovely – ” she sighed.
They drove on, sometimes talking to each other and sometimes just continuing to feel they were close together.
Now that Michael was in a more cheerful mood, he wondered if perhaps he was being too gloomy. His father might not yet have changed his will, and even if he had, he would probably not cut his heir off without a single penny.
It was likely that he would receive at least a small inheritance, one that would be enough to live on with the addition of his mother’s legacy.
It Is Love Page 6
