The Cross of Love

by Barbara Cartland

  "This tower is impossible," he said. "You must strengthen the foundations first."

  Simpkins gave a sigh of relief. "That's what I keep trying to - "

  "Shut up, both of you," snarled Wyngate. "That tower is what I want, just as it is. And I want it now. If you think - what the devil are you doing here?" The other two looked up to see Adolphus standing in the doorway, regarding his son with sad, terrible eyes.

  "Because I have longed to see you again," he said.

  "Well, I haven't longed to see you, and I don't want to see you. I told you yesterday to get out. Why do you pursue me?"

  "Perhaps because you are my son, and despite everything, I still love you."

  "Sentimental nonsense!" Wyngate said with a kind of soft savagery. "Stay away from me. I won't be haunted by you."

  "But you are haunted by me," said Adolphus in the same melancholy tone. "In your mind I have haunted you more with every act of wickedness. That is why the sight of me is so intolerable to you."

  "Get out of this house."

  "That is for the owner to say," Adolphus said, meeting his eyes. "You are not the owner, and you never will ever be."

  "You're wrong. I've never been defeated yet.

  "He - " Wyngate shot out his arm towards John, "won't refuse me in the end. He can't afford to."

  "You are mistaken," said Adolphus. "He can't afford not to refuse you."

  John moved to join him in the doorway.

  "Mr. Simpkins," he said, "if I am fortunate, you and I may talk another time. In the meantime, stay well clear of the tower."

  "You take your orders from me," Wyngate flashed at the architect.

  "Now, come along, sir," Simpkins soothed him. "You wouldn't like me to bring the house down about your ears, would you?"

  John took the opportunity to draw Adolphus out of the room.

  "I thought you were going to stay hidden," he murmured.

  "I will not hide from my own son. Strange as it may seem, I still love him, even hope to reclaim him."

  As they spoke they were heading towards the back of the house where the chapel was. Cecil, Matilda and Rena were hunting through it. It was a big job, although the chapel itself was small.

  "Of course it might be up there," said John, pointing upwards to the gallery that ran along one side of the chapel. "How can we reach it?"

  "It's not accessible from down here," said Rena. "It was where the servants used to sit. They came in by their own door at the back."

  "We must search the main chapel thoroughly first," said Adolphus. "And consider the gallery afterwards."

  To everyone's dismay a thorough search of the chapel revealed nothing.

  "What lies through that door?" Adolphus asked Rena. "The vestry, I suppose."

  "Yes, just a very tiny one. Papa used it when he conducted services here, when I was a child. That didn't happen very often. Apart from the old Earl's funeral he baptised two children, and conducted one marriage. It was the Earl's great niece and she asked me to be her bridesmaid. I was so excited."

  As she spoke she was opening the door to the vestry. There was the little table, and on it the register of births, marriages and funerals, still open, her father's writing clearly visible.

  "Let's look at this wall behind," said Adolphus. "It's exactly the kind of place where a concealed cupboard could be. Help me move the desk."

  Together they tried to push it but the desk wouldn't move.

  "It's stuck on something," said Adolphus. "There's a loose floorboard sticking up. Let me try to - "

  He was working away at the floorboard until suddenly it came loose in his hand and he lifted it right out.

  There, in the gap beneath, was a leather purse, like the one Rena and John had found under the cross, but larger.

  "Adolphus - "

  "Steady my dear, don't get your hopes up too soon."

  But she couldn't help darting to the door and calling into the chapel, "Come quickly. We've found something."

  In a moment the others were all huddled in the little vestry, crowding round Adolphus as he opened the bag, thrust in his hand, took out the contents and laid them on the desk.

  Gold coins. Twenty three of them.

  "Have we found them?" Rena whispered.

  "We have found them," said Adolphus. "The twenty

  three remaining gold coins that once belonged to King Charles II."

  "And does that mean - ?" John also did not dare voice his hopes.

  "It means that you have all thirty," said Adolphus. "Part of this nation's history. And as you have the complete set, their value is fabulous."

  "You said a hundred thousand?" John said. "Can it really be so much?"

  "I can give you the name of a collector who has been seeking these for years," said Adolphus. "I have no doubt of what they are worth to him. You will soon be safe."

  "Safe!"

  They all said the word, looking at each other. Then they said it again, for it was suddenly the most beautiful word in the world.

  "Why do you say 'will be safe'?" John wanted to know. "Surely we are safe now?"

  "You will not be safe until you are legally married," said Adolphus. "And that should take place as soon as possible."

  "But he will stop us," said Matilda. "Not John and Rena, but he'll find a way to prevent me marrying Cecil.

  He'll just drag me off to London."

  "Not if you marry here and now," said Adolphus.

  Again they exchanged glances. "But can we?" asked John.

  "I am a minister of the church, retired but still in orders. This chapel is still consecrated, so you told me Miss Colwell."

  "Of course. You mean that you were thinking of this even then?"

  "I like to look far ahead."

  "Will it be valid without witnesses?" Cecil wanted to know.

  "But we have witnesses," said Adolphus. "Each of you will witness the marriage of the other. And if my son tries to make trouble I shall simply refer the matter to the local bishop, who will support me."

  "You know Bishop Hoston?" asked Rena.

  "Know him? I taught him at theological college. He used to borrow books from me. In fact, I think he still has one or two. So that's all taken care of. Matilda, are you legally of age?"

  "I am twenty-four."

  "And you?" he looked at Rena.

  "I am twenty-two, and have no family."

  "Then I can marry you now, if that is your wish."

  "Yes!" The four of them said it together.

  "Then bolt the doors," said Adolphus robustly. "Let no-one enter until our work is done."

  They were the strangest wedding ceremonies Rena had ever seen, yet she had no doubt that they were safe in the hands of this holy man. Apart from her father, no man had ever impressed her so deeply with his power for good.

  By common consent Matilda and Cecil married first, since they had the most to fear from her father. Or, as John put it to his beloved, "Wyngate cannot harm us now."

  They married with curtain rings which Adolphus 'just happened' to have slipped into his pocket, at about the same time that he asked Rena about the status of the chapel.

  John stood groomsman to Cecil, and then he and Rena signed the register which they had found in the vestry only half an hour ago.

  Then the newly married Cecil became groomsman to the Earl, while Mrs. Cecil Jenkins was Rena's attendant, both of them covered with dust but full of joy.

  "Wilt thou take this woman - ?"

  "I will."

  "Wilt thou take this man - obey him and serve him, love, honour and keep him - forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, as long as ye both shall live."

  With profound joy, Rena responded, "I will."

  "With this ring, I thee wed - "

  Before John could say more there was a thunderous knocking on the door outside.

  "Let me in!" bawled Wyngate's voice.

  The door shook under his assault. But it held.

  John's hand tightened on hi
s bride's in silent reassurance, while his voice continued steadily reciting his vows.

  The noise retreated from the door, and they heard footsteps climbing. The next moment Wyngate had appeared in the gallery high above, his face contorted with rage. He could see them, but not get to them.

  "Stop this!" he screamed. "I demand that you stop!"

  "Never fear," said Adolphus. "He has no power here."

  He raised his voice.

  "Forasmuch as John and Rena have consented together in holy wedlock - "

  "No-oh!" shrieked Wyngate.

  Adolphus made his measured way through the words, almost as though he could not hear the howls of rage and frustration coming from above.

  " - I pronounce that they be man and wife together."

  Now Wyngate had stopped screaming. In the silence he sent them a look of such malevolent hatred that Rena was startled.

  "You'll pay for this," he snarled. "You think you can defy me and get away with it? Nobody has ever done that. I'll ruin you."

  "You cannot ruin us," John called up to him. "We no longer need your money to safeguard the people or restore the house."

  "The house," sneered Wyngate. "You think you're going to enjoy the house? This should have been my house. Nobody shall take it from me."

  He turned sharply and the next moment he was gone. Distantly they could hear the sound of voices, shouts of warning, Simpkins calling, "Not up there, sir. It isn't safe."

  "The roof," said John.

  Hastily Adolphus pulled back the bolts and they all rushed out. From the gallery Wyngate had a good head start, and they could already hear him above them.

  The next moment something went flying down past the window, to land with a crash on the terrace outside.

  "It's a piece of stone from the turrets," said John. "He must be trying to destroy the house. Rena, stay here. Don't go outside whatever you do. It isn't safe."

  "I'm coming with you," she cried, fearful for him.

  "No darling, I want you to stay here."

  "But - "

  He gave her a faint smile. "Only a few minutes ago you vowed to obey me. Where's Adolphus?"

  "He's gone up ahead."

  Another crash as more stone came down. John raced after Adolphus, but the old clergyman had already reached the roof ahead of him, and was standing, facing Wyngate.

  "Get away from me," Wyngate shrieked.

  "It is over, my son. You can harm these people no more. The Earl is married, your daughter is married, and they have gone beyond you."

  "This is your doing."

  "No, it is your doing. You have driven away everyone who loved you, until only I am left. I am still your father."

  "Keep your distance from me," Wyngate repeated, taking a step backwards.

  "Don't go too near the edge," Adolphus cried. "The stone is missing there."

  "This is mine," Wyngate said fiercely. "I will not give it up. I shall fight them for it. Look out there - " he swept his arm out in the direction of the estate. "Land fit for a king. Fit for me. Mine. Mine!"

  "Nothing is yours," said Adolphus. "You have thrown away everything that matters, and now nothing is left."

  Silence.

  Only the wind.

  They faced each other over several feet. Neither moved, but Adolphus saw in his son's eyes that he had understood.

  "Nothing - " Wyngate repeated hoarsely. "Nothing is mine. Nothing is left. Nothing."

  He looked out over the inheritance he had fought so hard to steal, and which now would never be his.

  The next moment he had vanished.

  From below came shouts of horror as he dropped sixty feet to land on the flagstones below.

  No man could survive such a fall.

  John, bursting out onto the roof, saw Adolphus standing there, stock still, his eyes fixed bleakly on the distance.

  "Adolphus, are you all right? Where is Wyngate."

  "He fell," the old man said through his tears. "He was standing by the edge and - he fell."

  Cautiously John went to the edge and looked over. Down below a crowd of workmen were standing in a circle around Wyngate, but still they kept their distance, as though even in death Wyngate was terrifying.

  He lay on his back, staring up to the sky, his eyes open and blank.

  John turned back to where Adolphus stood, still motionless.

  "Let's go down," he said gently.

  "He was my son," Adolphus said softly. "He was my son."

  * The coins fetched slightly more than Adolphus' prediction, and John immediately put the work in hand, not only on his own house but on the cottages that dotted the estate. Now there was accommodation for his workers, and jobs for everyone who needed them. Mr. Simpkins was summoned back to do a new set of plans, and the house rang with the sound of workmen. Best of all it was early enough in the year to revive the farms and sow this year's crops. "There's a lot more to be done," the Earl of Lansdale told his Countess as they strolled together by the stream when the harvest had been gathered. "It wasn't a large harvest this year, because we were so short of time. But next year will be an even greater success." "And the year after," said Rena, "and the year after that, and all the years to come. Nothing matters, except that we'll be together." Their walk had brought them to the cross, sturdy and upright since a group of workmen had dug new foundations and settled it securely in the earth. "I'm glad we asked Adolphus to bless it," said John.

  "Yes, now it speaks of him as well as Papa."

  "I think he's going to be all right."

  "I'm sure he will," said Rena. "Matilda writes to me from London that for a while they feared for his reason, so deep was his grief. But when he knew that he was to be a great grandfather he came back to life.

  "But what I think pleased him most was the news that Matilda planned to use only a small part of her vast inheritance, just enough to set Cecil up in his own business. The rest will go to making reparations to those her father injured. It was only then that Adolphus agreed to live with them."

  "I had hoped to persuade him to spend a little time with us," said John.

  "But of course," Rena assented eagerly. "Who else could baptise our child in the King's Chapel?"

  "Our child," he said tenderly. "Are you quite certain?"

  "Quite certain. In the spring. And then we will have everything."

  "No," he said, taking her face between his hands. "When I think of what could have happened, how we might have lost each other, then I know that I have everything now. Whatever else befalls us in life, you and you alone are my everything. And that is how it will be forever."

  "Forever," she murmured. "It has such a beautiful sound."

  "Yes," he said. "And it will be beautiful, in this life and the next, because we will have the love that God gave us. Forever. Until the end of time."

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Foreword

  Title Page

  THE BARBARA CARTLAND PINK COLLECTION

  Titles in this series

  THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND

  CHAPTER ONE - 1864

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN