Read Online 103. She Wanted Love by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online
Authors: Barbara Cartland
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all right on the small seat,” Eleta said. “Or if you think it might fall, put it on the floor.”
“If you asks me that’s more sensible,” the footman replied. “Do you want a rug over your knees, miss?”
“Thank you,” Eleta said. “Now I am comfortable and I hope I will go to sleep.”
“I could do with a wee bit of shut-eye meself,” the footman said, “but there won’t be no time for that.”
He grinned as he closed the door and climbed up on the front seat and then they drove off.
The man was, she thought, somewhat cheeky for a footman and then she remembered she was no longer Lady Eleta Renton but just a Governess – someone he would say ‘miss’ to when he thought about it, but was more likely to forget it.
‘Now that I am below stairs,’ Eleta reflected, ‘I will doubtless learn so much I did not know before.’
Yet, as she thought it over, she decided that she was not quite below stairs like the rest of the staff.
As one Governess had said to her years ago, her position was between Heaven and Hell!
She laughed at the time, but now she told herself it was no laughing matter and she would have to be careful to keep her dignity, while at the same time to be friendly and at ease with the other staff.
At least her stepfather would not expect her to be in such a position and she reckoned that he would first try to find her amongst her friends.
This would be much more difficult than it sounded because her friends of the last three years lived abroad and he would undoubtedly first ask her friends in France.
If he was at a loss as to where else she was likely to be, he only had to look at her letters to her mother.
The last batch of letters had been from Africa, but he would hardly expect her to travel all that way alone and before that there were letters she had written from Spain and Portugal.
‘If Step-papa has to write to all those people,’ Eleta thought, ‘it will certainly take him a good long time. And he will be embarrassed at having to say he has lost me.’
She almost laughed at that idea, knowing it was something her stepfather would never admit.
But he would have to make some excuse for being anxious to get in touch with her immediately.
She had locked her bedroom door before she left, slipping the key back into the room by pushing it under the door and onto the carpet inside.
They would either have to break down the door to get in or find another key that fitted it.
She could imagine all too clearly her stepfather’s fury and anger when he found her room empty and only a few clothes left in the wardrobe.
He would know then that she had gone away and there would be no one in the house to inform him when she left or where she went.
Eleta knew that she could trust Betty.
She would be surprised, astonished and appear very worried because she was not there, all of which would be of no help to her stepfather, who would be frantic in his efforts to find her.
‘It will never enter his head for a moment,’ Eleta thought, ‘that I would go to an Agency and find a situation for which I was being paid.’
Seeing how rich she was, that would never occur to him, any more than he had expected her to run away.
If he had thought of it, she was certain he would have locked her in her bedroom and at night put a guard on the door without her being aware of it.
‘I think I am safe, I am almost sure I am,’ she told herself. ‘But I must not take any chances. It is essential, if the Marquis entertains his friends, they do not see me.’
Then she told herself that was not as dangerous as it might be.
She had not been in England since her mother had died and she had deliberately stayed away, as she could not bear to go back to the house without her. Above all she had no wish to be with her stepfather.
‘How could I have imagined for a moment that he would try to marry me to a man I have never seen,’ she asked herself, ‘who is old and prepared to sell his title to the
“If you asks me that’s more sensible,” the footman replied. “Do you want a rug over your knees, miss?”
“Thank you,” Eleta said. “Now I am comfortable and I hope I will go to sleep.”
“I could do with a wee bit of shut-eye meself,” the footman said, “but there won’t be no time for that.”
He grinned as he closed the door and climbed up on the front seat and then they drove off.
The man was, she thought, somewhat cheeky for a footman and then she remembered she was no longer Lady Eleta Renton but just a Governess – someone he would say ‘miss’ to when he thought about it, but was more likely to forget it.
‘Now that I am below stairs,’ Eleta reflected, ‘I will doubtless learn so much I did not know before.’
Yet, as she thought it over, she decided that she was not quite below stairs like the rest of the staff.
As one Governess had said to her years ago, her position was between Heaven and Hell!
She laughed at the time, but now she told herself it was no laughing matter and she would have to be careful to keep her dignity, while at the same time to be friendly and at ease with the other staff.
At least her stepfather would not expect her to be in such a position and she reckoned that he would first try to find her amongst her friends.
This would be much more difficult than it sounded because her friends of the last three years lived abroad and he would undoubtedly first ask her friends in France.
If he was at a loss as to where else she was likely to be, he only had to look at her letters to her mother.
The last batch of letters had been from Africa, but he would hardly expect her to travel all that way alone and before that there were letters she had written from Spain and Portugal.
‘If Step-papa has to write to all those people,’ Eleta thought, ‘it will certainly take him a good long time. And he will be embarrassed at having to say he has lost me.’
She almost laughed at that idea, knowing it was something her stepfather would never admit.
But he would have to make some excuse for being anxious to get in touch with her immediately.
She had locked her bedroom door before she left, slipping the key back into the room by pushing it under the door and onto the carpet inside.
They would either have to break down the door to get in or find another key that fitted it.
She could imagine all too clearly her stepfather’s fury and anger when he found her room empty and only a few clothes left in the wardrobe.
He would know then that she had gone away and there would be no one in the house to inform him when she left or where she went.
Eleta knew that she could trust Betty.
She would be surprised, astonished and appear very worried because she was not there, all of which would be of no help to her stepfather, who would be frantic in his efforts to find her.
‘It will never enter his head for a moment,’ Eleta thought, ‘that I would go to an Agency and find a situation for which I was being paid.’
Seeing how rich she was, that would never occur to him, any more than he had expected her to run away.
If he had thought of it, she was certain he would have locked her in her bedroom and at night put a guard on the door without her being aware of it.
‘I think I am safe, I am almost sure I am,’ she told herself. ‘But I must not take any chances. It is essential, if the Marquis entertains his friends, they do not see me.’
Then she told herself that was not as dangerous as it might be.
She had not been in England since her mother had died and she had deliberately stayed away, as she could not bear to go back to the house without her. Above all she had no wish to be with her stepfather.
‘How could I have imagined for a moment that he would try to marry me to a man I have never seen,’ she asked herself, ‘who is old and prepared to sell his title to the
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