Read Online 63 Ola and the Sea Wolf by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Cartland
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think.”
“Yes, I told you Step-Mama was always saying I would have to be a cocotte , but that I was not certain exactly what that means.”
She looked at the Marquis as if he could supply the answer. When he did not do so, she went on,
“I looked the word up in the French dictionary, and it said, ‘ fille de joie ’ – ‘woman of joy’ and I thought that must mean an actress of some sort. Is that not so?”
“Not exactly – ” the Marquis replied, amazed at her innocence.
“I expect they will tell me what it is when I get to Paris. The trouble is I can hardly walk down the street asking for an instructor on how to be a ‘ fille de joie ’! Perhaps they would be able to tell me at a theatre?”
She gave him a mischievous little smile as she went on,
“The nuns would be very shocked! They thought theatres were the invention of the Devil and always warned us against visiting them, although we were allowed occasionally to attend the Opera House.”
The Marquis was finding it almost impossible to know what he could say to this ridiculous ignorant child.
He made up his mind.
“The best thing I can do,” he said firmly, “is to sail to Plymouth. There I will engage a responsible Courier who will take you back to your stepmother.”
Even before he had finished speaking Ola gave a cry of horror that seemed to echo round the cabin.
“How can you suggest anything so abominable, so cruel, so treacherous?” she cried. “You know I cannot go back to my stepmother and you have no authority to send me.”
She paused to catch her breath.
“I called you a Good Samaritan, but you are a wolf in sheep’s clothing and your yacht is aptly named – you are a sea wolf and I hate you!”
He rose from his chair as she spoke and, without looking at her, moved towards the door. It would have been a dignified exit except that a sudden movement of the yacht made him stagger and it was only with the greatest difficulty that he prevented himself from falling.
When he had gone, Ola stared despairingly at the door as if she could not believe that she had heard him aright.
He had seemed so kind, so helpful and she had thought at luncheon, apart from anything else, how interesting it would be to talk to him.
Now, suddenly for no reason, he had turned against her and was behaving as badly in his way as Giles had behaved in his.
“How dare he! How dare he treat me as if I was a child to be taken here or there without even being consulted!” she cried aloud.
She wanted to scream in defiance at the Marquis and yet at the same time her instinct told her that, sea wolf or not, it would be best for her to plead with him.
Then she knew by the tone of his voice and the squareness of his chin that he meant what he said and she would find it hard to dissuade him from doing what he intended.
‘If he sends me home,’ she thought, ‘I shall have to run away all over again and it will be more difficult another time.’
She had the feeling too that the Marquis would make sure she did not escape while she was with him and she wished now that she had not entrusted her jewellery to him.
She thought she now hated the Marquis as much as she had hated Giles.
‘Men are all the same,’ she muse. ‘They do not play fair unless it suits their own ends.’
She wondered why the girls at school were always talking of men as if they were something marvellous and more desirable than anything else on earth.
‘I hate men!’ Ola told herself. ‘I hate them as I hate my stepmother! All I want to do is to live by myself and be allowed to have friends and do everything I want to do without being ordered about by anybody!’
It had occurred to her a long time ago that when she was married she would always be at the beck and call of some man who believed he had authority over her.
Perhaps that would be endurable if she was in love, but otherwise it would be intolerable. She thought because she was that rich she need be in no hurry to get
“Yes, I told you Step-Mama was always saying I would have to be a cocotte , but that I was not certain exactly what that means.”
She looked at the Marquis as if he could supply the answer. When he did not do so, she went on,
“I looked the word up in the French dictionary, and it said, ‘ fille de joie ’ – ‘woman of joy’ and I thought that must mean an actress of some sort. Is that not so?”
“Not exactly – ” the Marquis replied, amazed at her innocence.
“I expect they will tell me what it is when I get to Paris. The trouble is I can hardly walk down the street asking for an instructor on how to be a ‘ fille de joie ’! Perhaps they would be able to tell me at a theatre?”
She gave him a mischievous little smile as she went on,
“The nuns would be very shocked! They thought theatres were the invention of the Devil and always warned us against visiting them, although we were allowed occasionally to attend the Opera House.”
The Marquis was finding it almost impossible to know what he could say to this ridiculous ignorant child.
He made up his mind.
“The best thing I can do,” he said firmly, “is to sail to Plymouth. There I will engage a responsible Courier who will take you back to your stepmother.”
Even before he had finished speaking Ola gave a cry of horror that seemed to echo round the cabin.
“How can you suggest anything so abominable, so cruel, so treacherous?” she cried. “You know I cannot go back to my stepmother and you have no authority to send me.”
She paused to catch her breath.
“I called you a Good Samaritan, but you are a wolf in sheep’s clothing and your yacht is aptly named – you are a sea wolf and I hate you!”
He rose from his chair as she spoke and, without looking at her, moved towards the door. It would have been a dignified exit except that a sudden movement of the yacht made him stagger and it was only with the greatest difficulty that he prevented himself from falling.
When he had gone, Ola stared despairingly at the door as if she could not believe that she had heard him aright.
He had seemed so kind, so helpful and she had thought at luncheon, apart from anything else, how interesting it would be to talk to him.
Now, suddenly for no reason, he had turned against her and was behaving as badly in his way as Giles had behaved in his.
“How dare he! How dare he treat me as if I was a child to be taken here or there without even being consulted!” she cried aloud.
She wanted to scream in defiance at the Marquis and yet at the same time her instinct told her that, sea wolf or not, it would be best for her to plead with him.
Then she knew by the tone of his voice and the squareness of his chin that he meant what he said and she would find it hard to dissuade him from doing what he intended.
‘If he sends me home,’ she thought, ‘I shall have to run away all over again and it will be more difficult another time.’
She had the feeling too that the Marquis would make sure she did not escape while she was with him and she wished now that she had not entrusted her jewellery to him.
She thought she now hated the Marquis as much as she had hated Giles.
‘Men are all the same,’ she muse. ‘They do not play fair unless it suits their own ends.’
She wondered why the girls at school were always talking of men as if they were something marvellous and more desirable than anything else on earth.
‘I hate men!’ Ola told herself. ‘I hate them as I hate my stepmother! All I want to do is to live by myself and be allowed to have friends and do everything I want to do without being ordered about by anybody!’
It had occurred to her a long time ago that when she was married she would always be at the beck and call of some man who believed he had authority over her.
Perhaps that would be endurable if she was in love, but otherwise it would be intolerable. She thought because she was that rich she need be in no hurry to get
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