The Devil Defeated
Page 13
The words were only a murmur beneath her breath, but her face was suddenly radiant with an almost strange, unearthly happiness.
The Earl realised that he had never seen anyone look so lovely, with a beauty that was part of the sunshine and of the stars – too exquisite to be human.
“I love you,” he said again, “but I want you to love me not because I own Yarde, but because I am myself.”
As he spoke, he put his arms around her and drew her against him.
Before she could say anything his lips were on hers.
He kissed her very gently, not only because he knew that she had never been kissed before, but also because it was impossible for him to think of her with anything but reverence. There was something holy about her that he had never encountered previously in his life.
Then, as he felt the softness and innocence of her lips, his own became more insistent, more demanding and, as she trembled against him, he felt that he was trembling too.
Everything about Dorina was so different from the passionate, promiscuous women he had known in the past that he was half-afraid he was dreaming and she would fly out of his arms to vanish like an illusion that was a figment of his imagination.
Then, as he raised his head, Dorina said to him in a rapt little voice that was no louder than the whisper of the trees,
“I – love – you! I – love – you, but I did not realise that what I felt – was love!”
“What do you feel now?” the Earl asked.
“That you are – so – wonderful, so – Godlike, it cannot be true that you – love me.”
“It would take a long time to tell you how much,” he replied, “but thanks to you, we have all our lives in front of us and I shall love, adore and worship you, knowing that our happiness will make everyone we know happy as well.”
Dorina made a little sound and hid her face against his shoulder.
“You are not crying, my darling?” he asked. “Have I said something to make you cry?”
“It is – only that I am so – happy,” Dorina said in a tremulous voice. “I thought today that now you were safe and had – everything you wanted, you would no longer want – me.”
“What I want above all else is you. I cannot, and this is the truth, my precious, live without you.”
“How can you – possibly feel like – that?”
“It is not only possible, but something I shall find increasingly true hour by hour, day by day, every year of my life.”
He gave a sigh as he held her still closer.
“You are what I have always been looking for, but was quite certain I would never find since you did not even exist!”
He put his fingers under her chin and turned her face up to his.
“How can you be so beautiful and at the same time so sweet, unspoilt and unselfish? And how can I have been lucky enough to find you?”
“I am afraid that since I have always lived here in Little Sodbury, when you know me better you will perhaps be – bored and want to return to the – exciting ladies you – knew in London.”
He knew as she spoke that she was thinking of Lady Maureen and he added,
“I have something to tell you, my darling, although it is not immediately important. However, I expect that by the time you get home, the news of what has happened will have reached the Vicarage.”
Dorina’s eyes widened.
“What has happened?” she asked anxiously.
“Just before luncheon,” the Earl said, “Sir Roger Chatham arrived and I threw him out of the house.”
She did not speak and he went on,
“That is what I thought you would want me to do.”
Dorina gave a cry.
“But of course I would want you to do so! Now everyone will know you did not approve of his behaviour with Mary Bell, and it will make them admire you more than they do already – and also – trust you.”
“I knew you would understand. I must tell you also that Lady Maureen came with him and I sent them back to London together.”
Dorina’s eyes flickered and he knew what she was feeling. Then he said very quietly,
“That is all over and finished. Again, Dorina, I made a mistake and admit it was wrong to get myself involved with a married woman.”
“Was – she very – upset?”
“She was incredulous and very angry! But I want you to understand and I do not wish to discuss it further, that entirely owing to you I now realise what is right and honourable and good in life. That is what we together will strive for in the future, for ourselves and for our people.”
“Can you really be saying this?” Dorina asked.
“I am saying it and truly believing it,” the Earl said. “I am wearing around my neck, darling, your mother’s cross and I have the feeling that, when we are married and are together by day and by night, it will help me make the right decisions in all the problems that arise.”
Now the tears filled Donna’s eyes and fell down her cheeks.
“How can – you say – things like – that?” she said in a broken voice. “How can – you be so magnificent – and at the same time – everything a man – should be, especially one who is the – Earl of Yardecombe?”
The Earl smiled.
“I thought we should get back to Yarde!” he said. “At the same time, my darling, this is all due to you and perhaps to Jarvis too, although it seems a strange thing to say!”
Then, before she could speak, he pulled her close to him again and said,
“How soon will you marry me? I want you with me at Yarde and there is so much to do here on the estate that I cannot allow you the time for a long honeymoon even though it will be a very wonderful one.
Dorina gave a little laugh and it was like the song of the birds at dawn waking up with the sunrise.
“You are going too fast! I have not yet said I will marry – you.”
“Would you dare to refuse me?”
“I am just a little –frightened that I am not the right person – for you.”
She looked away from him for a moment over the view and sighed,
“I never in my wildest dreams thought I should live at Yarde and be the wife of the man who owned it.”
“And who else, except you,” the Earl asked, “would understand how important it is or how much it means to so many people?”
‘That is what I mean and why I am frightened of being your wife in case I – fail you.”
“You will never do that.”
“How can you be – sure?”
“Because you have the perception and instinct for doing what is right the moment it is necessary, without hesitation and perhaps without conscious thought.”
“If that is what I do, it is because God helps me.”
“I know,” the Earl said seriously, “and that is why I need your help, Dorina. In fact I cannot manage without it!”
He smiled and she felt as he did so, that no man could look more attractive. Then he said in a beguiling voice which made her heart turn over in her breast,
“Now I ask you again. How soon, my precious, protector and guide, will you marry me?”
“Whenever – you want me.”
“That is what I wanted you to say.”
Then he was kissing her, kissing her wildly, passionately and demandingly, until their hearts were beating frantically and he felt her whole body quivering against him.
“We will be married immediately,” he said, “and unless you particularly want something different, my darling, very quietly.”
“I know what you are saying,” Dorina answered, “and it is what I want too. I should feel frightened if there were crowds of your fashionable friends there, criticizing me and perhaps hating me for taking you away – from – them.”
The Earl did not interrupt and Dorina went on,
“But I think you will understand that everyone in the village and on the estate should come to our wedding, because just as they belong to you – you bel
ong to – them.”
“As you do,” the Earl added.
“They would be hurt and distressed if they could not be with us when we are married and I think – ”
Dorina paused and looked at him a little shyly under her eyelashes as she continued,
“I think they will expect to drink your health in ale and perhaps have fireworks on the lawn afterwards.”
The Earl laughed.
“I understand exactly what you are saying, my darling. They will all be invited and will have all the ale they can drink, all the food they can consume and, of course, fireworks, so that they will not feel defrauded of a very special occasion.”
“I knew you would understand.”
“And there is something else I understand,” the Earl said, “which you have forgotten, as no other woman would have done.”
“What is – that?” Dorina asked anxiously.
“Your trousseau, my precious! But I daresay we can manage to send to London for enough gowns to make you happy and I will organise that as well as the fireworks.”
Dorina put her hands against his shoulder.
“You think of everything,” she sighed, “and I honestly had – forgotten. I would very much look the Goose Girl at the feast dressed as I am – now!”
“You look lovely in everything I have ever seen you wearing, but just as you know what is expected of me as the Earl of Yardecombe, I know what is expected of you as the Countess and you shall have, my darling, the most expensive and beautiful trousseau any bride could ever desire.”
Dorina drew in her breath and then she said,
“All I want is that you should think I look pretty.”
The Earl once again turned her face up to his.
“Whatever you do or do not wear is immaterial. What I shall be looking at, my precious one, are your eyes which mirror your soul, a soul which is so beautiful and so perfect that I want to go down on my knees and thank God for it.”
He spoke with a seriousness that made every word he said seem to vibrate in the quietness around them.
Then, as if her loveliness and the radiance in her eyes made it impossible for the Earl to go on talking, he was kissing her again.
Kissing her with long, slow passionate kisses that drew her heart from her body and made it his.
Then she knew that they were already one in their minds and that no ceremony, however sacred, could make them closer in their hearts than they already were at this very moment.
She was his and he was hers and the Divine Power which had carried them through so many strange and terrifying experiences had brought them finally together with the love and magic that was to be theirs for all Eternity.
* * *
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
The Barbara Cartland Eternal Collection is the unique opportunity to collect as ebooks all five hundred of the timeless beautiful romantic novels written by the world’s most celebrated and enduring romantic author.
Named the Eternal Collection because Barbara’s inspiring stories of pure love, just the same as love itself, the books will be published on the internet at the rate of four titles per month until all five hundred are available.
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Elizabethan Lover
The Little Pretender
A Ghost in Monte Carlo
A Duel of Hearts
The Saint and the Sinner
The Penniless Peer
The Proud Princess
The Dare-Devil Duke
Diona and a Dalmatian
A Shaft of Sunlight
Lies for Love
Love and Lucia
Love and the Loathsome Leopard
Beauty or Brains
The Temptation of Torilla
The Goddess and the Gaiety Girl
Fragrant Flower
Look Listen and Love
The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter
A Kiss for the King
The Mysterious Maid-servant
Lucky Logan Finds Love
The Wings of Ecstacy
Mission to Monte Carlo
Revenge of the Heart
The Unbreakable Spell
Never Laugh at Love
Bride to a Brigand
Lucifer and the Angel
Journey to a Star
Solita and the Spies
The Chieftain Without a Heart
No Escape from Love
Dollars for the duke
Pure and Untouched
Secrets
Fire in the Blood
Love, Lies and Marriage
The Ghost who Fell in Love
Hungry for Love
The Wild Cry of Love
The Blue-eyed Witch
The Punishment of a Vixen
The Secret of the Glen
Bride to the King
For All Eternity
King in Love
A Marriage made in Heaven
Who can deny Love?
Riding to the Moon
Wish for Love
Dancing on a Rainbow
Gypsy Magic
Love in the Clouds
Count the Stars
White Lilac
Too Precious to Lose
The Devil Defeated
THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND
Barbara Cartland, who sadly died in May 2000 at the grand age of ninety eight, remains one of the world’s most famous romantic novelists. With worldwide sales of over one billion, her outstanding 723 books have been translated into thirty six different languages, to be enjoyed by readers of romance globally.
Writing her first book ‘Jigsaw’ at the age of 21, Barbara became an immediate bestseller. Building upon this initial success, she wrote continuously throughout her life, producing bestsellers for an astonishing 76 years. In addition to Barbara Cartland’s legion of fans in the UK and across Europe, her books have always been immensely popular in the USA. In 1976 she achieved the unprecedented feat of having books at numbers 1 & 2 in the prestigious B. Dalton Bookseller bestsellers list.
Although she is often referred to as the ‘Queen of Romance’, Barbara Cartland also wrote several historical biographies, six autobiographies and numerous theatrical plays as well as books on life, love, health and cookery. Becoming one of Britain’s most popular media personalities and dressed in her trademark pink, Barbara spoke on radio and television about social and political issues, as well as making many public appearances.
In 1991 she became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to literature and her work for humanitarian and charitable causes.
Known for her glamour, style, and vitality Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime. Best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels and loved by millions of readers worldwide, her books remain treasured for their heroic heroes, plucky heroines and traditional values. But above all, it was Barbara Cartland’s overriding belief in the positive power of love to help, heal and improve the quality of life for everyone that made her truly unique.
The Devil Defeated
Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd
This edition © 2013
Copyright Cartland Promotions 1986
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