Love and The Marquis. Barbara Cartland

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ the way I loved your mother and she loved me,” the Earl replied, “and, because we were the other part of each other, it would be impossible for any other woman to mean the same to me.”

      He spoke simply and to Imeldra his words were very moving.

      “At the same time,” he said as if he must tell the truth, “you know there have been times when I have been infatuated, beguiled and bemused by women, but because I have known the best, I am not prepared to accept second best in my heart whatever my lips may say.”

      “I understand, Papa,” Imeldra answered, “and I hope that one day I shall love in the same way.”

      “That is the whole point,” the Earl said as if she had played into his hands. “That is what I want for you and that is what I am determined, if it is at all possible, you shall find.”

      Imeldra did not speak and he went on,

      “But as I have already said told you, you will not find it in the gutters or in the sort of places where I reign as King, albeit over a very scruffy little Kingdom.”

      He laughed, but the sound had very little humour in it.

      “Yes, a real King, because I am rich and because in a foreign land I am accepted by the noblest families who excuse anything I do since I am an English ‘Milord’! But you, dearest child, are not concerned with the French, the Italians, the Austrians or the Spanish but with English ladies. Their Society is the most snobbish and the most critical in the world.”

      “Then why must I mix with them?”

      “Because, my precious, only from the heights to which they can take you will you marry into the life that I wish you to lead and then meet the right sort of man who will offer you marriage.”

      There was a sudden sharpening of the Earl’s voice as he went on,

      “Make no mistake, from now on you will find it a great handicap that I should be your father. But your beauty, your wealth and the fact that your aunt is a Duchess of impeccable respectability will make you acceptable.”

      “But, Papa, do you imagine I would agree to marry any man who thought of me in those terms?”

      The Earl’s voice softened and he declared,

      “He will also love you, my darling, love you passionately and with his whole heart. But his mind and his critical sense must assure him that in making you his wife he is doing the right thing.”

      Because Imeldra was perceptive and so closely attuned to her father, she knew exactly what he was trying to say to her.

      She would have been very stupid if she had not been aware that many of the people he entertained in foreign Capitals would not have been acceptable in the aristocratic houses of England when ladies were present.

      There had often been times when she had been told not to come downstairs and she had known the following morning that the party that went on until dawn had been rowdy and very far from respectable.

      She accepted it because she loved her father deeply and because her life with him was so adventurous, delightful and constantly changing.

      She had never known from one day to the next what would happen and often, when the lessons at school seemed extremely dull, she had slipped away back into the past.

      When the class was droning on over French irregular verbs, she could see in front of her eyes the beauty of Versailles, the clouds over Mount Vesuvius, the Coliseum or the crowds at St. Peter’s when she was learning Italian.

      When the teacher pointed to Greece on the map, she saw the Acropolis and the ruins of Delphi.

      ‘I am so lucky to have seen the real thing,’ she told herself.

      She knew that the other pupils in the class could not understand the beauty of such places that had become a part of her and something she could never lose.

      The butler announced luncheon and while she and her father ate they talked of the places they had visited in the past and he told her about the Palazzo he had bought in Venice, which was a very old one.

      As she had never visited Venice and could not visualise what he was trying to tell her, she suggested,

      “Please send me a painting of it, Papa, so that I shall be able to feel that I am near you.”

      “I will do that,” the Earl promised, “but even if we do not see each other, my dearest, we can still keep in touch by letter.”

      “And in our thoughts,” Imeldra added. “I have often believed at night when I have been at school that I was sending my thoughts winging towards you and wherever you were you would receive them.”

      “I am sure I did,” the Earl replied, “and I am telling you the truth when I say that I was often conscious of your presence and my thoughts were continually with you.”

      “I think I know that, Papa, so you see that we can never really lose each other.”

      “No, of course not,” the Earl said, but his eyes were sad.

      As they walked back to the salon, Imeldra asked,

      “When are you leaving?”

      “I was intending to do so this afternoon,” he said, “but I have changed my plans. It will not matter if I reach London tomorrow morning instead of tonight.”

      “Then I can dine with you?” Imeldra asked in a rapt little voice.

      “Of course,” the Earl agreed. “And we must also, my darling, make plans about where you are to go until your aunt is prepared to receive you.”

      Imeldra looked at him and he said,

      “I happen to know from reading the Court page of The Times that she is in Scotland at the moment staying with the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch.”

      “Good!” Imeldra exclaimed. “That means I cannot go to her until she comes South.”

      “Exactly,” the Earl said dryly. “Therefore, as you cannot return to school, you must go to your grandmother’s.”

      “Oh, no, Papa!”

      She was not at all fond of her grandmother who was old and at times very disagreeable.

      She disapproved of the deep affection Imeldra had for her father and had always resented that her granddaughter had not been sent to live with her as soon as her mother died.

      There was no doubt, however, Imeldra knew, that her grandmother would welcome her as a guest.

      At the same time she would not lose the opportunity of finding fault with the way she had been brought up and Imeldra felt that to have to listen to endless diatribes against her beloved father would be unbearable.

      “Please, Papa,” she pleaded, “don’t send me to Grandmama’s.”

      “Where else can you go, dearest, at a moment’s notice?” the Earl asked. “You can drive there in the carriage in СКАЧАТЬ