She could imagine how furious her stepfather would be when he found that she had disappeared. She could only pray that he would not catch up with them, but she feared that he might try to do so.
‘He will be furious that I have brought so much of my money with me,’ she thought.
At the same time she was sure that now she was with Hugh and Martina they would protect her however aggressive and violent her stepfather became.
‘And Lord Brompton,’ she whispered. ‘For I am sure that he too would protect me.’
On that happy thought she climbed into bed and soon fell fast asleep.
She dreamt that she was a child again and her mother was holding her in her arms.
In the next cabin Martina as well was snuggled down in the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in.
And now that the drama of the day was over she was suffering a reaction. When she thought of the risks they had taken and how easily everything might have gone wrong, she was almost faint with relief.
‘We were so lucky,’ she pondered, ‘that Hugh has been so understanding and so kind. And so clever, I must admit. It might have been otherwise. What a risk I took throwing us on the mercy of a man I do not really know.
‘And the truth is, I actually don’t know him at all, although I used to think I did. I am not sure why, but I once considered him rather dull.
‘Nobody but he would have agreed to this incredible idea. But did he do it for me or because he enjoys challenges that are unusual and adventurous?’
She reminded herself that since they had boarded his yacht he was still hinting about how much she meant to him. Surely that proved he had done it for her?
But somehow she was not quite convinced. And she wanted to be.
‘I suppose it is because he is different from anyone else I have ever met,’ she thought, ‘I could not see marvellous man he really is. I have been very silly in refusing even to listen to him when he proposed.’
She smiled to herself.
‘Well, there is still time yet. We are all going to learn so much about each other before this journey is over.’
She fell asleep feeling happy.
The following morning they slept late and nobody troubled them.
Martina was to learn afterwards that the Steward had been given strict instructions never to wake any of the guests, but to let them sleep on for as long as they pleased.
“You must always remember,” Sir Hugh had told his crew, “that most people go to sea when they are either overworked or worried and upset personally.
“You are therefore to pander to them and to make them forget everything but the fact that they are enjoying themselves, and that there is nothing to upset or frighten them on board. I want them to forget whatever might have happened in the past.”
His crew thought it a strange order. But they soon learnt that when their Master travelled he was usually accompanied by a friend who was suffering in some unusual way.
There were gentlemen who had lost all their money and who were on the verge of committing suicide.
There were ladies who had lost their husbands, a child or a lover and wanted only to cry on the Master’s shoulder until, in some magical way, he made them smile and see that life could still be worth living.
Sir Hugh had chosen each man who worked on board his yacht not only because he knew his job but because of his character. He must have a nature that Sir Hugh personally found congenial. As a result the atmosphere on the ship was gentle and kindly.
Both girls felt it when they awoke the next day to the gleaming light from beyond the porthole. Kitty looked in on each of them and said they were to be served breakfast in their cabins while they dressed, and the gentlemen would be waiting for them when they were ready.
An hour later they advanced on deck, Harriet in an elegant walking dress of dark blue and Martina attired in olive green.
Together the four of them left the yacht and took a carriage to explore Cherbourg.
They did not head for any particular place. It was enough to have escaped and be free to roam as they wished.
They enjoyed lunch at an outdoor restaurant, raising sparkling glasses to the sun and watching the light wink off them.
A spirit of mischief impelled Martina to comment,
“Your arrival is delightful, Lord Brompton – ”
“Robin, please,” he said at once.
“Very well. Your arrival is delightful, Robin, since it makes us an even number – ”
“That is just what I said,” Hugh declared at once.
“But would it be tactless to enquire as to what we owe this pleasure?” Martina quizzed.
“Yes, it might,” Hugh said.
“You mean,” Robin answered, “what terrible crime did I commit that made it necessary for me to run away?”
“Yes, that was exactly what I meant,” Martina said without hesitation.
Hugh covered his eyes. Harriet looked mildly shocked at this forwardness.
“Of course,” she hastened to say, “it doesn’t really concern us – ”
“Nonsense, of course it does,” Martina interrupted. “After all, we are all refugees.”
“Whatever from?” Robin asked.
“That need not concern you,” Hugh intervened with a small frown at Martina and Harriet.
That frown said,
‘Robin in a charming boy, but he is not sufficiently reliable to be entrusted with our story.’
The quick-witted young man took in everything.
“Now why am I being excluded from your great secret?” he wanted to know.
“Because you are an addle-pated young fool,” Hugh told him bluntly. “And a gentleman does not enquire into a lady’s secrets – so be silent!
“For myself,” he continued, “there is no secret in my flight. I am fleeing boredom.”
“You can never get bored with me around,” Robin said at once.
“That I believe,” Hugh agreed fervently and they all laughed.
“I must confess,” Robin muttered in a penitent voice that fooled nobody sitting at the table in the sun, “that I have been extremely wicked – ”
“How thrilling!” Martina cried.
“He hasn’t been wicked at all,” Hugh said in a dampening voice, “just a complete and utter fool, as usual.”
“You see how it is,” Robin replied mournfully. “My friend, Hugh, knows me better than anyone. I always turn to him to rescue me from the result of my folly. Then I go back and start all over again.”
They laughed even louder but Harriet said softly,
“I am sure you are not as bad as you paint yourself.”
Robin was laughing, but he stopped and turned towards her. As he looked at her, a gentle smile came over his face.
“Nobody could be as bad as I paint myself,” he concurred. “Thank you so much for your understanding. Perhaps now I can believe in myself again.”
When they walked on after lunch, they seemed to divide naturally into two parties with Martina and Hugh in front, the other two dawdling behind, engrossed in conversation.
“I am not really sure I approve of your friend,” Martina murmured. “His way of implying that he is a bad character is very clever. It makes one think that he is modest and self-critical, which I suspect is the reverse of the truth.”
“Is any man ever truly modest?” he asked.
“A good point. But I also suspect him to be devoted only to his own pleasure and a cunning schemer.”
There was a thunderstruck silence before Hugh exclaimed in a stunned voice,
“Martina, if we are to talk about scheming – ”
“That is quite a different matter,” she said hastily.
He grinned. “I am glad you think so.”
“Shall we walk on?” she suggested primly.
It might have been accidental that Robin did not walk too quickly or he might simply have been considerate to Harriet, who was clinging to his arm. For one reason or anot
her they fell behind.
“Are you beginning to feel better yet?” he asked kindly.
“I – I don’t quite know what you mean?” she stammered, on her guard. She too had understood the significance of Hugh’s frown, and although Robin charmed her she was not yet sure that he was a solid character.
“Hugh’s guests are usually suffering in some way and he brings them for a trip on his yacht to help them. I just wondered why you were unhappy.”
“How do you know the problem is mine?” Harriet hedged. “Perhaps it is Martina who needs help, and I am simply here as her chaperone?”
“Perhaps, but I see a sadness in your eyes that makes me wonder. I think you have been very frightened. I see you look out over the sea, almost as though you were afraid of being pursued.”
“Oh, yes, I am,” she burst out. “I am running away from my stepfather who wants to marry me to the most terrible man, a huge, red-faced, bawling vulgar creature called Brendan Muncaster.”
“Good grief!” Robin exclaimed. “Him!”
“You know him?”
“I met him once at the Bellinghams’ ball the other night. I saw you and Miss Lawson there too, although we were not introduced. I cannot believe that any lady would want to ally herself to an object like Muncaster.”
“He would carry me away to the North, where nobody would ever see me again,” Harriet said. “What could I do but run away?”
“Nothing,” Robin replied fervently. “Of course you had to flee.”
“I was so lucky that Martina helped me. I was in despair, but she thought of the cleverest plan – ” Harriet broke off suddenly.
“You mean she thought of appealing to Hugh?” he asked.
“Yes,” Harriet agreed hurriedly. “That’s what I meant. “We fled to his house and – and he saved us.”
“By bringing both of you abroad on his yacht?” Robin encouraged her.
“Yes, that is what he did.”
Robin waited to see if she would say any more, but it was plain he was not going to learn any secrets from her.
He shrugged good-humouredly. He could wait. His eyes were fixed on her face and the movements of her pretty mouth.
Harriet was devoutly thankful that he asked her no more questions. She knew that she was not as quick-witted as Martina, who would have dealt with him easily.
Besides, she did not feel like a duel of wits with Robin. She merely desired to walk in the summer sun with him, occasionally glancing into his handsome, kindly face and feeling happy.
At last the two couples joined up again and returned to the ship.
The chef arrived just ahead of them with a carriage full of vegetables, meats, cheeses and spices.
“Good Heavens, we must be going on a very long voyage,” Martina exclaimed in a significant voice.
“I suppose we must,” Hugh said, with a twinkle in his eyes. “Why, what is it?”
His question was in response to a gasp from Harriet, who was staring out to sea.
“What’s that?” she demanded, indicating a ship that was advancing quickly.
“The mail boat from England,” Hugh told her.
“Does it take passengers?”
“Sometimes.”
“Oh, please,” she begged, “will we be leaving soon?”
“Almost at once,” he assured her. “Let’s go aboard.”
They did so and Harriet went straight to the rail, watching the approaching boat with frightened eyes.
“You think your stepfather would pursue you across the water?” Robin asked, coming up beside her.
“I don’t know,” she whispered in terror, “but to me every man on that deck looks like him.”
“Well, if one of them is him, he had better not see you here,” Robin suggested. “Look away.”
She obeyed him and somehow her face ended up against his coat and his arms moved protectively around her.
“Do not worry,” he murmured. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
*
Martina chose the gown she meant to wear for the evening and took it to Harriet’s room. It made it easier for Kitty to dress them together, and it gave her the chance to keep a protective eye on Harriet.
For herself she had chosen a dress of dark blue silk trimmed with lace and set off by sapphires. Kitty dressed her fair hair into an elaborate creation. She looked magnificent.
Harriet was not magnificent, but she was pretty and charming in her soft yellow gown adorned with pearls. She looked what she was, a gentle, unassuming girl with a sweet retiring nature.
The gentlemen were waiting for them in the dining room on the next deck. They were both elegantly dressed in white tie and tails.
Martina thought that she had never seen Hugh look so handsome.
“We are not eating outside tonight,” he told Martina. “I think Harriet will feel more at ease if she is safely under cover, although I promise you there is no boat in pursuit.”
“Thank you, that’s most understanding,” Martina said with a smile.
“Am I allowed to tell you that you look splendid
tonight? My other wife is also pretty, of course – ”
“Hush, you must not talk like that in front of Robin. I think you were quite right not to tell him.”
“So do I. A more feather-brained young idiot I never did meet. But it’s a pity in a way. I was enjoying the joke!”
“What you were enjoying,” she told him severely, “was the prospect of being covered in kisses by two young women.”
“No, only one,” he parried quietly.
His remark left her at a loss for words. Suddenly her heart was beating faster and she was wondering why she had never realised how dangerously attractive this man was, and how much more interesting than mere boys.
Robin for all his pretty face and charming ways aroused in her nothing but indifference.
As they were about to head for the dining room, Robin moved alongside Martina and murmured,
“Is Miss Shepton all right? She seemed so distressed this afternoon.”
“She is much recovered now, thank you.”
“I had no idea that she had suffered so much. How brave she is! We must all take great care of her.”
“We are taking great care of her, Lord Brompton,” Martina replied with a touch of irony in her voice.
To Hugh, a few minutes later, she observed crossly,
“That young man can be rather annoying. I do not need him to tell me to take care of my friend.”
“Be kind to him. He’s falling in love.”
“Again?”
“What do you know about that?”
“When a young man flees as he has done, he is usually running away from a trip up the aisle!”
“That is certainly most perceptive of you. I had not realised you were such an astute judge of the world. Another feather in your cap.”
“Actually I cheated,” Martina confessed ruefully. “I am not being astute. I heard people talking about him at the Bellinghams’ ball!”
Hugh roared with laughter.
“I should have known you would keep a trick or two up your sleeve,” he said appreciatively.
“I couldn’t place him at first, but in the last half hour it has come back to me. He is known as a hardened flirt. I think I should warn Harriet about him.”
“By all means, if you want her to find him more attractive than ever.”
She sighed.
“You are right. There is nothing like a bad reputation to enhance a man in a woman’s eyes.”
“I wish I had known you felt like that, I would have had several desperate affairs and made as much scandal as possible.”
“But then you would not have been you,” she replied. “And I would have hated that.”
He took her hand smiling.
“Let us go inside before I say something extremely foolish.”
“Why not say it?”
“Because you have always reproved my foolishness in
the past.”
“I don’t think I would mind you being just a little bit foolish.”
He regarded her with his head on one side.
“What game are you playing, Martina? I mistrust that demure tone.”
Their eyes met. Each was regarding the other with faint humour, spiced with curiosity.
Anything might happen now – anything at all –
“I say, come along you two,” Robin called. “We’re feeling hungry.”
Hugh gave a little sigh and his lips shaped the words, “another time.”
“Yes,” Martina murmured.
“We are coming,” he responded, taking her hand.
They ate at a small round table, seating themselves so that the two ladies faced each other and the two gentlemen likewise. This made it possible for Harriet and Robin to plunge into conversion, leaving Martina and Hugh to talk together.
“You still haven’t told me where we are going,” she reminded him.
“Ultimately the Mediterranean. We are sailing South down the coast of Spain, through the Straits of Gibraltar and then on to Monte Carlo.”
“Monte Carlo!” she breathed in delight.
“You once told me that you longed to see it.”
“And you remembered?”
“I remember everything you have ever told me about yourself,” he replied lightly. “Mind you, I did once plan to take you there on our honeymoon – ”
“Well, in a way, that is just what you are doing,” she murmured.
“I do not think you should have said that, madam. It was most improper.”
“Well, really! Many people would say this whole expedition is improper.”
“Does that worry you?” he enquired, regarding her curiously.
“Not in the least.”
“Well done! I always admire your spirit. May I pour you some more wine?”
“Just a little more, thank you.”
“And you, Miss Shepton? Miss Shepton?”
He had to raise his voice a little before Harriet heard him, so engrossed was she in what Robin was saying. She accepted some wine and so did he, but then they returned to being absorbed in each other.
To her surprise and delight, Harriet had realised that Robin, despite his light-hearted manner, had an interest in flowers and birds that equalled her own.
Journey to Happiness Page 8
