Selena was unable to bear his unhappiness.
“From what Jemima has told me, I feel certain that she was happy with you.”
“Maybe she would have been if she had lived. As it was, she was irritated by the poor state of Wakefield. She wanted so much to restore it and the gardens were to be as splendid as the house.”
“They will be,” cried Selena, “and I wouldn’t mind living in the house as it is now. I would live in a hovel if I shared it with you!”
She sat down once more on the stone bench beside the open hole where the slab had fallen off.
He must come to her, she decided.
He had to acknowledge his love for her.
The Earl stood quite still.
“Do you know, Selena, I think I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you at Dover station, all upset and looking adorable. You were so shy and so nervous and yet you trusted yourself to me.”
“It was because you did not try to kiss me,” Selena laughed. “You were the first man who didn’t!”
“Ah, but you don’t know how much I wanted to,” he smiled, “but I could not abuse that trust.”
“And quite soon I was very very disappointed that you did not do what every other man I have ever met has done – try to sweep me off my feet and into his arms!”
Selena looked away from him.
“Am I being very forward?” she whispered.
“No, my love,” said the Earl with a hopeless sigh.
“You see, Alex, I so want you to kiss me again.”
Selena looked at him, all her love for him shining in her eyes and for once in her life confident in the power she had over a man.
In an instant he now pulled her back into his arms, kissing her in a way that was ardent and passionate.
“Oh, my darling Selena, you have come to me from Heaven,” he sighed unsteadily when at last he released her. “Are you very sure you do not mind living in this rundown place with no money to spend?”
She laid her head on his breast.
“I meant what I said. As long as I am with you, the humblest shack would be a Palace. I am sure that our love does indeed come straight from Heaven.”
He gave a bitter-sounding laugh.
“Heaven has much to answer for. Wakefield is not a Palace – nor never will be!”
“I think it might well be,” she replied mysteriously, pulling the leather purse out of her pocket. “Look what I have just found.”
Wonderingly, he took it from her, undid the string and shook out the contents onto the stone bench.
And there winking up at them was a collection of wondrous jewels in old-fashioned settings.
Drawing the eye above all the others was a massive emerald.
“Goodness gracious,” the Earl breathed in complete amazement. “It’s the Wakefield Gem itself and the family jewels! Where on earth did you find these?”
Selena laughed and waved at the gap in the bench.
“They were in there. When I tried to sit down, the slab fell off – and took me with it. I poked around for a bit and found the purse.”
The Earl looked at the piece of stone on the floor of the banqueting house and examined its underside.
“There are two sets of mortar. Both old, but one I would swear is more recent than the other.”
He looked up at Selena, elation in his eyes.
“It was always held that the robbery had been done by one of the servants, the one found drowned. No jewels were ever recovered, as I think I told you. The conclusion was that they must have been on him, and carried down the river by the swiftly flowing water.
“Now I realise that the servant must have prepared this slab and loosened it – or perhaps it was already loose.
“He had fresh mortar ready and as soon as he had stolen the jewellery, he hid the purse in here and secured it, meaning to retrieve it sometime after all the hue and cry had died down.
“When he was accused, he must have panicked and fled. No doubt he had still intended to return for his booty. Instead he found a watery grave.”
The Earl swept the jewellery back into the leather purse and hefted it in his hand as though assessing what it meant.
Then he turned a glowing face to Selena.
“My darling, now I can offer you a home that will be a fitting setting for your great beauty!”
She put her left hand on his arm.
“It matters nothing to me,” she said fervently. “You can spend it all on aeronautics if that is what you want.”
He swept her again into his arms.
“My very dearest darling, you have only to say the word and I will never spend another minute on my glider.”
Selena lifted her radiant face to his, every nerve in her body thrilling to his touch.
“Perhaps you can fly me to Heaven in one of your machines. Up to where our love has come from.”
For now it was enough that he loved her and they were to be together for the rest of their lives with a glorious love that could only have come from God.
Together for all of Eternity and beyond.
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
Love Came From Heaven Page 14
