He had hoped that Shenda was still not aware who he was, although she might have been suspicious.
Or maybe the Duke might have told her the truth?
Now it dawned on him that what he had always wanted and searched for had come true – he had married a woman who had married him for himself alone.
Not for his title, which had dazzled every woman he met, so that she responded to his position and not to him.
Then as he looked down at the puzzled expression in Shenda’s eyes, he sighed,
“My darling, my wonderful little wife, you have not only given me back my belief in myself, but you have shown me that not all women are as contemptible as I believed them to be.”
“Of course they are not, but I still don’t know if you have a different name from the one you used in Paris.”
“That is only a part of my name. I am actually the Marquis of Kenworth, and you, my darling wife, are now the Marchioness of Kenworth.”
For a moment there was complete silence and then Shenda exploded,
“I don’t believe it! Why were you pretending to be just Captain Worth?”
“I was a Captain and very proud of it, but I joined the Duke at Waterloo because I had been disillusioned by a woman and I told him I wanted to be just one of his junior Officers. In fact I wished to be just Lieutenant Worth. But at the Battle of Waterloo I was promoted to Captain. After that you know what happened.”
“What happened was that the Maidenhair tree saved you! Please, my darling, the first thing we must do is to try to find a Maidenhair tree to plant in your garden in the country so that it can help other people as it helped you.”
“It is truly the Tree of Love, my glorious Shenda, and you shall have a hundred if you want them.”
He thought as he spoke that he must be the luckiest man in the world.
He knew now that Shenda had married him solely for himself.
She was not in the least bit concerned that she was a Marchioness, only with how the wonderful Maidenhair tree had saved him and could help others.
‘How, just how,’ he now asked himself, ‘could any woman be more lovable or more perfect in every way?’
He thought that they had won, the two of them, a Battle of Waterloo all of their own.
Like the Duke of Wellington they were completely and absolutely victorious.
*
Much later that night Shenda put her cheek against her new husband’s undamaged shoulder and murmured,
“How can love be so unbelievably thrilling and so wildly exciting?”
“I too find it so utterly different from everything I ever expected.”
“You are not disappointed, my darling Ivan?” she whispered, suddenly worried.
“How could I possibly be? I felt that we travelled up into the sky together and the music you were playing for me came from the stars themselves.”
“I felt just the same. Oh, darling, we are so lucky, so very very lucky. How could I have ever hoped when the Duke did not know what to do with me that he would take me to you?”
“He has been our Guardian Angel and at the same time, my precious, you are what I have been looking for ever since I was old enough to become aware of women, yet until I found you I was completely disillusioned.”
“All I want, Ivan, is to make you happy. I love you so much that there is nothing in the world to think about or to dream about except for you.”
He drew her closer still.
“I love you and I worship you, Shenda. You are so right, my glorious wife; we will now plant our own Tree of Love so that we can make sure that people feel as well and as happy as we do.
“There are thousands of ways we can express our love through helping other people and by banishing from our home anything that is selfish, unkind and hurtful.”
He was thinking about Lady Helen as he spoke and then he eliminated her completely from his mind.
He had found the perfect love that all men seek but few are privileged to find.
At this moment it was impossible to feel happier or to be any more grateful to the Great Power above who had brought them together.
Because he seemed reflective, Shenda moved a little closer to him.
“I adore you, my Ivan, with all my heart and soul and I hope never to disappoint you in any way?”
“You could never disappoint me. Our wonderful love, my precious, beautiful Shenda, will increase year by year forever.”
“You say such marvellous things to me and you must teach me all about love because, as you realise, I am very ignorant.”
“I don’t want you to be anything else. The love I have for you, my lovely one, is perfect and never again will I lose you or the love you have given me.”
“You really did hear me saying it to you when I was playing the piano?”
“You told me of perfect love and that is exactly what I have been searching for, even without realising it, ever since I became a man.
“Now, my darling, we can touch the stars together and learn about each other, but nothing we do or think will be more marvellous than what has happened to us tonight.”
“I still think I must be dreaming,” she whispered. “Please, darling, kiss me and tell me that this is real and I will not wake up.”
Ivan laughed very gently.
Then, as his kisses became more demanding, Shenda felt that once again the angels were singing.
She and he were now moving up into a Heaven of their own.
As Ivan made Shenda his, they both knew that God had blessed them, and would go on blessing them, not only in this life but for all Eternity.
Where to buy other titles in this series
The Barbara Cartland Pink collection is available for download at the following online bookshops :-
www.barnesandnoble.com - epub format for the Nook eReader
www.whsmith.co.uk - epub format for the Smiths/Kobo eReader
www.firstyfish.com - epub format
ebookstore.sony.com - epub format for Sony eReaders
www.amazon.co.uk - For UK Kindle users
www.amazon.com - For international Kindle users
itunes.apple.com - for Apple iOS users
www.barbaracartland.com - Printed paperbacks
The Tree of Love Page 14
