She had, of course, remembered to send the gypsies the chickens and eggs she had promised.
This morning she had sent a groom with vegetables and jams she knew they would enjoy. Now she picked some flowers from the garden, which she could carry on the front of her saddle.
She walked slowly to her uncle’s stable.
The one horse she owned she had christened Apollo and he nuzzled against her when she entered his stall.
She always felt guilty that she had neglected Apollo, as there were so many finer and more spirited horses at her disposal in the Duke’s stables.
She remembered something as she patted Apollo. If things went wrong and she could not face marrying Jason, then he would be the only mount available to her.
‘I will ride him now,’ she resolved.
She told the old groom who had been with her uncle for years to saddle Apollo.
It was a lovely afternoon and the sun was warm on her bare head. She tried to feel the excitement that was always hers when she was riding.
Instead, however, she could only think that she was to greet Jason this very evening and after they had met, her uncle and the Duke would be expecting Jason to ask her to marry him.
It took her only fifteen minutes to reach the gypsy camp and as usual in the afternoon everything seemed very quiet and still.
However, as she approached the caravans Piramus appeared and stood waiting for her.
“Nice to see you, Lady,” he said as she reached him. “I thinks you be comin’ to say goodbye.”
“You are leaving!” exclaimed Della in surprise.
“Early morrow morn,” replied Piramus. “We happy here – very grateful what – Lady and my Lord give, but must move on.”
Della knew that ‘the travellers’, as the gypsies were often called, could never stay anywhere very long.
There were many legends as to why they needed to keep moving and one of them she knew only too well. The gypsies were said to have hammered the nails into the cross on which Christ was crucified and their punishment was that they should wander all over the world until He returned.
The Romanies were the true ancient gypsy race and they had first come to England in the reign of Henry VIII.
They had their own taboos, marriage service and unusual gypsy customs of death and burial.
The women were fortune–tellers, although few, Della was sure, were as good as Lendi.
She was upset to hear that they were leaving and she wanted to see Lendi right away, but it might have been more significant to talk to her after she had actually met Jason.
As she slipped from the saddle, she said to Piramus,
“I have brought some flowers for Lendi.”
“She pleased, Lady, but this moment – asleep. Pity to wake her.”
“Of course I will not disturb her. I will just place the flowers on her bed.”
She left Piramus holding Apollo’s bridle and walked up the steps into Lendi’s caravan.
As her son had told her, the old gypsy was fast asleep. Della was longing to talk to her, but she would not do anything as unkind as wake her.
If Lendi were ill the ancient gypsies remedy of sleep and fresh herbs would be a better healer than anything else.
She stood for a little while by the bed and felt as if she was reaching out to Lendi with her troubles.
In some strange way it seemed as though the sleeping gypsy heard her plea and comforted her.
Della could almost hear her voice saying again,
‘Follow your heart.’
‘That will be impossible if I am forced to marry Jason,’ she wanted to tell her.
She longed for Lendi to explain to her what she had meant by her words.
However, the sleeping Romany did not move and finally Della had to turn away and leave the caravan.
Piramus was still standing where she had left him, patting Apollo.
“Fine horse,” he said as Della joined him.
“You have met him before and he is a very dear friend.”
Piramus smiled and she knew he understood. To the gypsies their horses were sacred. They were their best friends and they treated them ‘as man to man’.
She knew that in return the horses obeyed their master’s orders almost like a human being.
“I wish you were not leaving,” she told Piramus. “Say goodbye to all your family and tell them my uncle and I will look forward to seeing you all again next year.”
She almost added that she might, when they came, be in a different house to the one she was living in now. It was something she could have said to Lendi, but not to Piramus.
She merely bent down to hold out her hand.
“Goodbye, Piramus, and take good care of yourself and Lendi. You know how fond my uncle and I are of all of you.”
Piramus bowed over her hand.
“Lady – very gracious, anything – you need us, we – come.”
“How can I let you know when I am in trouble?” enquired Della.
“You call – we will hear.”
Piramus spoke so positively that she knew he was telling her the truth from his heart.
She found his words very comforting. If everyone else failed her, the gypsies would still be her friends.
It was impossible, however, to put her feelings into words, so she simply said,
“Thank you so very much, Piramus.”
He bowed again.
Della rode home, put Apollo into his stall and walked slowly into the house.
*
Storton had laid the table for dinner beautifully. The flowers she had picked earlier in the day looked most attractive and the silver candlesticks had been cleaned until they shone, while the glasses on the table sparkled.
“It looks very nice, Storton,” said Della knowing well that he liked to be praised. “And I am sure the Duke will enjoy the dishes that Mrs Beston and I have chosen.”
Storton assured her that everyone would find the menu delicious.
For desert he had strawberries from the garden and grapes, which had arrived from Wood Hall.
“Did anything else come with them?” Della wanted to know.
“Four bottles of champagne, Miss Della, two bottles of brandy and one of Cointreau.”
Della felt herself stiffen.
The Duke was certainly making certain that everyone enjoyed themselves tonight. Equally she was conscious that he would not have sent them champagne if Jason had not been one of the guests.
Food from the Home Farm and the greenhouse were one thing, but her uncle, who had a great experience of good wines, had always provided the best vintages at his table.
However, it would be a mistake to say anything in front of Storton so she merely congratulated him once again on the table and left the dining room.
Her uncle joined her for tea and deliberately talked about his book and the chapter he had just written.
Della became aware when he left her that he was almost as nervous as she was at what was to transpire later.
She went up to her bedroom to dress. She wanted to put on the plainest gown she possessed or wear something black.
‘It will reflect the way I feel,’ she thought.
Then she felt that she was being childish and stupid.
It would be a bad mistake to antagonise the Duke before it was absolutely necessary.
‘What I will have to do,’ Della told herself firmly, ‘is to play for time. The Duke is in a hurry because he is afraid Jason will revert back to his old ways and this sudden penitence would be lost overnight.’
He would then very likely return to Paris and she was longing for him to do just that!
At the same time she must not be disloyal, it would undoubtedly upset her uncle if the Duke should realise that she was deliberately trying to avoid Jason – or worse still make him unwilling to marry her.
‘Time! Time! Time!’ she kept repeating in her mind. ‘Time is what I need, but I must not appear to be reaching out fo
r it.’
She forced herself to dress in one of her loveliest gowns. In fact it was the prettiest she had bought to wear in London before she was able to come and live in the country.
She had not been invited to a ball or party important enough to wear it so it had languished in her wardrobe and never been seen.
Now as she pulled it on she wished she were going to a glamorous ball in London where she might meet the Prince Charming of her dreams. A man who would love the same things she loved and understand what she felt about life.
‘We would both know the moment we met,’ she pondered, ‘that we were meant for each other.’
She looked at her reflection in the mirror as she dreamed on.
‘There would be no need for words as my heart would reach out towards his heart. After that it would only be a question of how soon we told each other of our love.’
But it was just a dream.
It was still in her mind until she was finally dressed and her hair had been arranged by Emily.
Her gown was white with just the slightest glimmer of diamante as if it was the dew on a flower. Emily pinned three pink roses at the back of her head, which was certainly very becoming and indeed no tiara could have been more attractive.
Round her neck she wore a single row of pearls, which had been her mother’s and a bracelet to match them on her left wrist.
“Young girls should not wear jewellery,” her mother had always told her.
Yet Della knew that tonight she needed the help only her mother could have given her if she was still alive.
‘What would you have said, Mama?’ she asked silently. ‘Would you have told me that I must marry Jason or would you have come up with a brilliant and magical idea of how I could escape my fate?’
She thought she must ask the question of the stars.
Leaving the dressing table she walked towards the window to pull back the curtains.
It was not yet completely dark.
The first evening stars were shining over the trees and later there would be a young moon climbing up the sky.
‘Help me – Mama, help me!’ Della prayed. ‘I am so frightened. The Duke is a very powerful enemy.’
She felt that as she prayed that her mother had heard and understood. Della felt she could almost see her smiling at her and it was so comforting.
She turned away from the window and descended the stairs.
As she expected, her uncle had already changed into his white tie and tails and was waiting for her in the drawing room. The chandeliers had been lit by Storton and the room looked very welcoming.
As Della walked towards her uncle she realised that he was watching her intently and when she reached him he said,
“You look lovely, my dear, very lovely. I only wish I was taking you to a ball in London or dinner at Marlborough House.”
“I wish that too, Uncle Edward, but we must try and enjoy ourselves this evening. I am hoping you will find Lady Southgate, who is sitting next to you, an amusing partner.”
“I am sure I shall, my dear, and who have you placed next to Jason?”
It was a question that Della hoped he would not ask her and to her relief, Storton opened the door before she had time to reply
He announced two of the guests.
Della had thought it was too obvious if she placed Jason on her left. As she was the hostess she had seated the Duke on her right, as was socially correct.
On her left she had put the elder gentleman of the two married couples who she always found interesting.
She placed Jason on Lady Southgate’s right.
On his other side she put the happily married lady and Della felt she was sure to talk to him about her love for her husband.
The guests now began arriving one after another.
As Della had expected, her uncle was delighted with Lady Southgate. She was looking very attractive and talking excitedly about a new litter of puppies one of her bitches had just produced that she was certain would turn out to be champions. She was so enthusiastic that those who were listening became animated.
Everyone was laughing and talking when Storton announced,
“His Grace the Duke of Marchwood and his Lordship the Earl of Rannock.”
The two men entered the room.
For a moment it was impossible for Della to look at Jason and then when the Duke had kissed her on the cheek she found herself facing him.
Jason looked, she thought at first glance, rather better than she had expected.
He was thinner and Della thought that perhaps his unhappiness in his marriage had in some way improved him.
As he took her hand in his she felt the same as she had in the past.
It was as if she was touching pitch.
As she took her hand away from his she felt almost contaminated.
Fortunately her uncle was greeting him and talking about the old days when Jason had been a boy and they had hunted together.
It was easy for Della to move away as she now wished to speak to someone on the other side of the room.
Even as she did so, she knew she was trying to escape from Jason and what he had made her feel about him.
Fortunately dinner was announced a few minutes later.
Della had written out everyone’s name and put the cards in front of their places at the table.
She had the feeling the Duke was surprised Jason was not sitting next to her. However, he did not say anything.
As soon as they had all sat down, she stated to talk to the Duke about his horses, as it was a subject he always enjoyed.
By the time the first course was finished she was aware from the chatter and laughter at the table that the party was a success.
One thing was quite obvious, that Jason was trying, perhaps on his father’s instructions, to make himself charming to everyone, especially to the two ladies beside him who certainly seemed to find him amusing.
Della noticed that the Duke kept glancing in his son’s direction and he was obviously pleased with what he was observing.
Towards the end of the dinner, he enquired of Della,
“What have you arranged for us to do after dinner?”
“I thought,” she replied, “that as no one would want to play bridge, which is always I feel a somewhat dull game, it would be pleasant to talk and, of course, have an early evening.”
It was what she desired herself, but as an excuse she added,
“Uncle Edward has been working so hard on his book and I think it would be a mistake for him to stay up too late. It is something, as you know, he has always disliked.”
The Duke smiled.
“Edward certainly had too many late nights when he was at the Foreign Office. I remember him telling me that the Germans could never be persuaded to retire to bed at a reasonable hour and the French usually went home when it was dawn!”
Della chuckled.
“I have heard him tell that story and that is why here we retire to bed early and rise early.”
“Indeed you do,” exclaimed the Duke. “When I looked out from my bedroom window yesterday morning just after I had been called, I saw you riding through the Park and down towards the woods.”
“I love your woods, Your Grace, I always feel happy in them.”
“Then I do hope they will be always be at your disposal, my dear.”
Once again she felt that a cold hand was touching her. He was warning her, threatening her, that if she did not do what he wanted the woods would be closed to her and so would his stables.
With an effort Della forced herself to reply lightly,
“I am relying on Your Grace to leave early tonight and then everyone else will depart too.”
There was a pause before the Duke said in a low voice,
“I feel that Jason has not had a chance to talk to you this evening, so I will send him over to see you tomorrow afternoon. Shall we say about three o’clock?”
Della did not answer.
She f
elt it was unnecessary, the Duke knew she dared not refuse to see his son.
It was fortunate that it was now time for her to withdraw with the ladies and leave the gentlemen to their port.
Della rose to her feet and they followed suit as she moved towards the door.
“That was such a delicious dinner, Della,” gushed Lady Southgate as they walked down the passage. “Do tell your cook how much I enjoyed it.”
“I will not forget to do so,” replied Della. “Like everyone else she loves to be praised.”
“Of course,” agreed Lady Southgate, “and I want you to come and praise my puppies, they really are adorable.”
“I am very much looking forward to seeing them and I am sure Uncle Edward will want one.”
“I have already promised to give him the best of the litter and the Earl intends to have one too.”
Della thought it sounded as if Jason intended to settle down, but at the same time she could not prevent herself from shivering.
The ladies walked upstairs to tidy their hair and powder their noses.
When they returned to the drawing room, both the married couples had asked her and Lord Lainden to dinner the following week.
They all sat down in the comfortable chairs and one of the ladies said,
“I was very surprised to see Lord Rannock here this evening. I had no idea he had returned from abroad.”
Lady Southgate laughed.
“The village has talked of nothing else since he arrived. It is only now that they have learned that his wife has died.”
“And a very good job too,” added the lady who had started the conversation. “From what I have heard about her it would be impossible for anyone to accept her, so he was wise enough not to bring her to England.”
“I am sure he will settle down now and enjoy being at Wood Hall,” continued Lady Southgate. “How could he be anything else in such a lovely house?”
“And, of course,” agreed the other lady, “with all those wonderful horses.”
She looked at Della.
“You do not know how much I envy you being allowed to ride them. Jimmy has promised he will buy me a new mount as a birthday present, but I feel we shall never be able to compete with His Grace’s stables.”
Follow Your Heart Page 5
