“Go on believing it. It would be a great mistake for you to become disenchanted and an even greater mistake if you married someone and found out the truth once the ring was on your finger.”
“That is what I am afraid of, but I pray and pray that one day someone will love me with his heart and soul and I will love him in the same way. Then we will really be happy.”
She spoke very softly and, as she finished speaking, the Earl put his hand over hers.
“Then go on praying, Flavia, and somehow we will ensure that you find what you are seeking.”
“And I hope you will find the same.”
For a moment they sat in silence, his hand covering hers.
Then she asked in an agitated voice,
“What is the time? How long have I been here?”
The Earl looked at his watch.
“It’s nearly a quarter to twelve.”
“I have left my old maid at the chemist and she will wonder what has happened to me.”
She picked up her handbag which was beside her.
“Promise me you will let me know what happens,” she urged. “I will look every day to see if there is another message.”
“I will let you know everything,” the Earl replied. “Actually I am going down to Windsor Castle this very afternoon.”
“Then you will not be at the dance tonight. I am sure you must have been invited to it as it is being given by one of the close friends of Mr. Disraeli.”
“Her Majesty has sent for me and who can be brave enough to refuse a Royal command?”
“No, I understand you must be at Windsor Castle with her, but do find out what they are now planning and let me know as soon as you can.”
“I promise you I will, Flavia. I am finding it as difficult as you are to think of a reasonable answer to Her Majesty.”
“Reasonable! Nothing is reasonable if it is forced upon people when they don’t want it.”
“I agree with you, but don’t be frightened. If the worst comes to the worst, then I can always sail off to some strange land I have not yet visited. Then while I am away everyone will forget about my very existence.”
“How can you possibly do so when you have horses running at Ascot and you will surely then be planning an unusual event for the autumn?”
The Earl smiled.
“Well, I was thinking of a new and challenging steeplechase.”
“I might have guessed it. Papa has told me you have a Racecourse on your estate and I am sure you are training your horses to win at Goodwood and all the other Classics.”
“You must be reading my thoughts, Flavia.”
“I really must go,” she asserted, “at the same time please don’t forget me and I will be longing to hear if it comes down to you either having to leave the country or facing the music.”
“What about your side of the problem, Flavia? We have not even discussed it yet.”
“I was just wondering,” she replied after a moment, “whether I should indeed marry someone I don’t yet know or meekly obey Her Majesty’s command to marry you.”
She was teasing the Earl and he was aware of it.
His eyes were twinkling as he answered her,
“You can always close your eyes and take a lucky dip to see which name comes out of the hat first.”
“Perhaps I will try it. Now goodbye, and please, please remember that I am waiting to hear from you.”
Flavia slipped away as she spoke.
The Earl, who had risen, sat down again.
He was thinking as he heard her footsteps down the stairs that she was surely the prettiest and definitely the most interesting young woman he had met for years.
Then, as if there was no escape, he could hear the Queen’s stringent voice telling him what he had to do.
Flavia hurried back to the chemist afraid that Molly would be wondering what had kept her.
However, she found that the old maid was perfectly happy, inspecting a whole array of different scents that the chemist had laid out on the counter in front of her.
“I’m sorry if I have been too long, Molly, but I met an old friend and we started talking.”
“That’ll be all right, miss. I were just wondering which of these scents you’d prefer. Mr. Coombes tells me that your favourite be out of fashion now.”
Mr. Coombes was the chemist and Flavia smiled at him.
“Is that true? I always thought it a very nice scent.”
“If you try one of the new ones, miss, you’ll find them much improved. It’s because, although I shouldn’t be saying so, they come from France.”
“I have heard that French scents are now the very best, but my mother always felt she was being unpatriotic if she bought one.”
“Well, miss, you try this one,” Mr. Coombes said, putting the bottle into her hand. “It’s the best one I have and every young man who dances with you will tell you the same.”
Flavia took his advice and paid for the scent, which she was sure would be very romantic.
Then, as she and Molly walked on home, she was thinking of how excellent it would be to see the Earl again.
What a grave problem they shared between them in making up their minds over what they should do!
‘He is so clever and I am sure that he will think of something,’ Flavia told herself.
It was only as she was nearly home that she realised she no longer disliked the Earl as she had at first.
Nor did she think him as stuck-up and conceited as she had expected him to be.
He had been human and understanding – and not in the least theatrical or disagreeable about the position they were now in.
‘I have a feeling he will find a way out,’ Flavia told herself and there was no need, as he had said, for her to be frightened.
However, she thought it shrewd and at the same time annoying of her father to have asked the Queen to interfere in what was their very private and personal affair.
But by doing so, he had made it extremely difficult for the Earl.
He had, of course, done that deliberately and it was equally difficult for her and she had no idea what she could do now.
It was all very well for the Earl to know that he could run away to some distant and obscure place and he was undoubtedly being honest in saying he would enjoy it much more than the London Season.
But then he would be running away from his own responsibilities at home.
Although he had not said so, she felt he was well aware that his great possessions needed his presence as well as his interest in them.
Whichever way she looked at it, Flavia found the situation more and more difficult – and indeed much more upsetting than she had anticipated.
How could she have guessed that her father would ask for the Queen’s help in getting rid of the Earl and, of course, because he was so grand and so rich, her father would welcome him as a son-in-law.
Papa doubtless assumed that she would be happy with him and she was sure he truly wanted that because he loved her.
‘How then could I possibly be happy,’ Flavia asked herself angrily, ‘with a man who was forced to marry me when he did not want to? A man who was accepting me as his wife merely because it was a Royal command.’
Then once again she thought the only alternative where she was concerned was to marry someone else.
But who?
She thought of the men she had met since she came to London.
Of the two who had said they wanted to marry her, although she had not given them the least encouragement, and she knew, as she had said to the Earl, she would rather die than marry either of them.
‘They are stupid,’ she thought, ‘and have had no experience of life in any other part of the world, as Papa and the Earl have.’
As she drew in her breath, she wondered what it would be like to travel with the Earl, to visit one of the strange places where he, on his travels, had already been.
She suddenly had a strange feeling that it might b
e wonderful!
CHAPTER SEVEN
At the ball that evening Flavia received her third proposal of marriage.
It was her own fault that the man reached such a climax, as she was not attending to what he was saying.
She was thinking of Windsor Castle and the Earl.
Then, as they danced out of the ballroom and into a quiet conservatory, the gentleman who still had an arm round her waist, piped up,
“Promise you will marry me, Flavia. I want you more than I have ever wanted anyone before. I know I will make you happy.”
It was difficult for Flavia to explain to him that she had no wish to marry anyone – not until she loved a man beyond peradventure and she did not love him.
“I will make you love me,” he persisted.
Flavia shook her head.
“Love does not happen like this. You have to love a person instinctively while your vibrations touch his.”
She did not know why she was explaining this to him, except that in a way she was explaining it to herself.
However, he said firmly when she was going home,
“I will be seeing you again as soon as I can and I will not give up hoping.”
He had spoken almost in a whisper so that only she could hear him.
But her Aunt Edith, who had chaperoned her to the ball because her father could not manage to be with her that evening, asked,
“What has this Richard just said to you? I may be wrong, but I feel he is very much in love with you.”
Flavia smiled.
“I think many people believe they are in love when they are dancing to a vibrant band as we had this evening – but when they wake up in the morning and it is not there, they feel very different.”
Her aunt looked at her as if she thought she was speaking strangely, but she did not argue.
She dropped Flavia off at Grosvenor Square and, as there were still three others with them in the carriage, there was no possibility of an intimate conversation.
Flavia found out from the night-footman that her father had already returned home and gone to bed early, saying he was tired.
“I will be careful not to wake him,” she cautioned.
But she was glad that her father was back and not staying the night at Windsor Castle.
However, she found an unexpected note from him lying on her bed.
She opened it, guessing what it contained before she read,
“My dear Flavia,
I am sorry to be late, but I have exciting news for you. Her Majesty wishes to meet you tomorrow. Therefore don’t go riding as we will leave fairly early for luncheon at Windsor.
Bless you and sleep well.
Your loving father.”
Flavia read the note through twice.
She knew it was just as she expected and what the Earl had warned her was about to happen.
It was now when she saw it written down in black and white that she began to feel really apprehensive.
Was there any way either of them could escape?
Or was the Earl just being over-optimistic in saying he would think of something?
There was no answer to these questions.
She expected to lie awake ruminating about her predicament, but she was more tired than she realised and fell asleep almost immediately.
*
She woke when her maid called her and she had slept peacefully without dreaming.
”Breakfast’s at nine o’clock, Miss Flavia,” the maid said. “His Lordship says you’ll be leaving soon after ten.”
She dressed quickly in one of her prettiest gowns, as she knew she must look her best for her father.
Whatever the difficulties that lay ahead, she must be careful not to spoil her father’s relationship with the Queen. He was so proud of being Her Majesty’s confidant and it made up in some degree for the loss of her mother.
She looked at herself in the mirror when she was finally dressed.
Then she wondered if she should, for her father’s sake, agree to marry the Earl even if he did not wish to marry her.
‘I love Papa and I know he loves me,’ she said to herself, ‘but equally, he is no way entitled and nor is Lord Carlsby to choose a husband for me – especially someone who does not wish to marry me.’
When she went down to breakfast, her father was already there.
“Did you enjoy yourself last night?” he asked as she kissed him.
“I missed you Papa, and to tell the truth it was a very boring party, even though they had the best band and the supper was delicious.”
“Then what was wrong, my dear?”
“You can guess the answer to that,” replied Flavia.
She sat down at the breakfast-table.
“You mean the men bored you?” her father asked.
“They were much worse than usual and when I was thinking of something else, I had another proposal.”
“Which I presume you refused,”
“Yes, of course,” Flavia answered. “As you well know, Papa, I have no wish to marry anyone.”
Lord Linwood pressed his lips together, but he did not say anything.
Almost as soon as they had finished breakfast, they started off for Windsor Castle.
It was a beautiful sunny day and so there was no particular need to hurry.
Flavia would have enjoyed the drive if she had not known the reason for the invitation.
When they arrived at Windsor Castle, she thought it looked very impressive, in fact just as she had expected it to be.
They were met by an equerry who told them that he would inform Her Majesty of their arrival.
It had been arranged beforehand that they should have luncheon with Lord Carlsby and some other courtiers.
“Will Her Majesty be having luncheon in her own apartments?” Lord Linwood asked.
The equerry smiled.
“Yes. As you know, Her Majesty dislikes large parties unless they are absolutely unavoidable. We have quite a number of Her Majesty’s Royal relations staying in the Castle at the moment.”
There was a slight frown on Lord Linwood’s brow.
Flavia sensed he was worried that his plan might have to be postponed and she was half-afraid that the Earl might not turn up at the last moment and that would make her position even more difficult than it was already.
So she felt a sudden excitement and sense of relief at the sight of the Earl striding towards her
He shook her hand and pressed it.
She knew then that he was still confident he could deal with the situation.
Her father and Lord Carlsby were being careful and they did not want to make Flavia or the Earl for that matter, aware that anything unusual was likely to happen.
Flavia found herself seated at luncheon next to two elderly Statesmen and the Earl was at the other end of the table between two ancient Ladies-in-Waiting.
Flavia felt that the whole scenario was something they would laugh about later – if the situation was not now so critical that it became impossible for them to laugh at anything.
Fortunately, the Statesmen were only too anxious to tell Flavia about Windsor Castle and the significant part it had played in the history of England.
“It surprises me,” one of them said, “that you have never been here before.”
“I have been living in the country,” Flavia replied, “and, as I was in deep mourning for a year, I have only just been allowed to come to London.”
“Well, you have certainly been a sensation since you appeared,” the Statesman declared. “I am always being told by my wife and daughter what a success you are and now I have seen you I am not surprised.”
Flavia smiled at him.
“That is very kind of you. You must tell Papa that you approve of me. This is my first visit to the Castle and I am sure he is afraid I will do something outrageous that would let him down!”
The Statesman laughed.
“I am sure you would never do anything like that. As I
expect you know, Lord Linwood is a great help and comfort to Her Majesty.”
“He is very proud to be and she certainly needs his guidance in the present difficult situation in Europe and I am not surprised that Her Majesty is grateful.”
“Now, you must not worry your pretty head about such issues. All you should worry about are the charming young gentlemen who want to dance with you and who I am sure are waiting to ask you to spend the rest of your life with them.”
“What I want to do with my life is to see something of the world and to meet a great number of different people before I settle down with a husband and a large family.”
The Statesman chuckled.
“Well, that is frank at any rate. I only hope you will be allowed to enjoy yourself as you wish to do.”
He glanced up the table at the Earl as he spoke and Flavia had a suspicion that he had some idea of what had been taking place behind closed doors.
When luncheon was finished, and it did not take as long as Flavia expected, her father came to her side to say,
“Her Majesty the Queen has most graciously said she now wishes to meet you and I am to take you into her private apartments.”
“How kind of her. I suppose you must sometimes have spoken to Her Majesty about me, Papa.”
“I have talked about you a great deal. Her Majesty is delighted that you have been such a success since you arrived in London.”
Flavia did not answer.
Then, as they started to walk to the door, she asked,
“Will Her Majesty be seeing you and me alone, or will there be anyone else present?”
She sensed that her father did not want to answer that question.
They walked on silently before he responded,
“I think we must wait until we get there before I can tell you exactly what is likely to happen.”
Flavia drew in her breath.
Now the moment had actually arrived, she had to admit that she was feeling frightened.
It was all very well for the Earl to say he would think of some way to save them both.
Yet she was quite sure that it would be impossible for either of them to refuse to obey the Queen.
Even if she only expressed a wish, it was equivalent to a Royal command.
The Earl, she was increasingly convinced, had been overconfident in what was now a more or less impossible situation.
A Shooting Star Page 12
