Read Online A Night of Gaiety by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Barbara Cartland
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something there! It is certainly an idea!”
“ Well, think it over,” Violet answered.
A s she spoke the horses came to a standstill and Davita saw that they were outside Mrs. Jenkins’s tall, dingy house.
“G ood-night, Bertie,” Violet said to Lord Mundesley, “and thanks! You’re always the perfect host, as you well know.”
“ Good-night, my dear. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, and I will have a word with Boris. He’s the man we want for this.”
“ Yes, of course. The Marquis would never refuse one of the Prince’s parties,” Violet replied.
S o they were back talking once again about the Marquis, Davita thought, as she followed Violet out of the carriage, and she had a feeling, although she could not be sure, that they were plotting something against him.
L ord Mundesley kissed Violet good-night in the small, dark hallway, and Lord William also kissed her on the cheek.
“ You have been rather unkind to me this evening,” Davita heard him say. “Will you have supper with me tomorrow?”
“ I’ll think about it,” Violet replied.
S he looked at Lord Mundesley as she spoke, but he was raising Davita’s hand to his lips.
“ Good-night, and thank you very, very much,” she said. “It was the most exciting evening I have ever spent.”
S he did not wait for his reply because when he had kissed her hand she had been half-afraid that he would try to kiss her cheek, and she knew she had no wish for him to touch her.
S he had in fact hated the feeling of his lips on her skin.
A s she reached the turn in the stairway she looked back to see that Violet had not followed her but was talking to the two men.
S he was speaking in a low voice and very earnestly, and both L ord Mundesley and Lord William were listening to her intently.
D avita could not be sure, but she felt that once again they were talking about the Marquis.
“ It is ridiculous for them to hate him so violently!’ she thought, and remembered how he had advised her to return to Scotland.
I t was none of his business, but she went on thinking of what he had said even when she was in bed, and so tired after such a long day that she expected to fall asleep immediately.
I nstead, in the darkness she kept seeing the Marquis’s handsome face, his cynical, almost contemptuous expression, and that penetrating look in his eyes.
T o her surprise, when he had told her to go back to Scotland she had felt as if he was speaking sincerely and was really thinking it was the best thing for her.
T hen she told herself quickly that there must be a very good reason for Lord Mundesley and Violet to dislike him so much.
R osie obviously loved him, and he must have done something to make her fall in love with him so frantically.
T hinking back, Davita remembered Violet saying that the Marquis had turned her out “bag and baggage.”
S he wondered what that meant and why he should have done such a thing.
H ad she been staying with him as his guest? And what had Violet meant when she said the Marquis had remarked that she was lucky to be able to keep the jewellery?
D avita remembered her mother saying that no lady accepted presents from a gentleman unless she was engaged to marry him.
I t was then that she understood.
O f course! The Marquis must have asked Rosie to marry him, then perhaps because they had quarrelled the engagement had been broken off.
T hat was why Violet had said they must find her a husband, and Lord Mundesley had said sarcastically that the one person who would not marry her would be Vange.
I t struck Davita that Rosie must have been very stupid to have lost the Marquis once he had asked her to be his wife.
S he was well aware that because actresses had such a bad reputation it was unusual for them to marry into the aristocracy.
But it had happened, as when her father had married Katie King, and, as Violet had mentioned this evening, another Gaiety Girl, Belle Bilston, had married Lord Dunlo, who afterwards had
“ Well, think it over,” Violet answered.
A s she spoke the horses came to a standstill and Davita saw that they were outside Mrs. Jenkins’s tall, dingy house.
“G ood-night, Bertie,” Violet said to Lord Mundesley, “and thanks! You’re always the perfect host, as you well know.”
“ Good-night, my dear. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, and I will have a word with Boris. He’s the man we want for this.”
“ Yes, of course. The Marquis would never refuse one of the Prince’s parties,” Violet replied.
S o they were back talking once again about the Marquis, Davita thought, as she followed Violet out of the carriage, and she had a feeling, although she could not be sure, that they were plotting something against him.
L ord Mundesley kissed Violet good-night in the small, dark hallway, and Lord William also kissed her on the cheek.
“ You have been rather unkind to me this evening,” Davita heard him say. “Will you have supper with me tomorrow?”
“ I’ll think about it,” Violet replied.
S he looked at Lord Mundesley as she spoke, but he was raising Davita’s hand to his lips.
“ Good-night, and thank you very, very much,” she said. “It was the most exciting evening I have ever spent.”
S he did not wait for his reply because when he had kissed her hand she had been half-afraid that he would try to kiss her cheek, and she knew she had no wish for him to touch her.
S he had in fact hated the feeling of his lips on her skin.
A s she reached the turn in the stairway she looked back to see that Violet had not followed her but was talking to the two men.
S he was speaking in a low voice and very earnestly, and both L ord Mundesley and Lord William were listening to her intently.
D avita could not be sure, but she felt that once again they were talking about the Marquis.
“ It is ridiculous for them to hate him so violently!’ she thought, and remembered how he had advised her to return to Scotland.
I t was none of his business, but she went on thinking of what he had said even when she was in bed, and so tired after such a long day that she expected to fall asleep immediately.
I nstead, in the darkness she kept seeing the Marquis’s handsome face, his cynical, almost contemptuous expression, and that penetrating look in his eyes.
T o her surprise, when he had told her to go back to Scotland she had felt as if he was speaking sincerely and was really thinking it was the best thing for her.
T hen she told herself quickly that there must be a very good reason for Lord Mundesley and Violet to dislike him so much.
R osie obviously loved him, and he must have done something to make her fall in love with him so frantically.
T hinking back, Davita remembered Violet saying that the Marquis had turned her out “bag and baggage.”
S he wondered what that meant and why he should have done such a thing.
H ad she been staying with him as his guest? And what had Violet meant when she said the Marquis had remarked that she was lucky to be able to keep the jewellery?
D avita remembered her mother saying that no lady accepted presents from a gentleman unless she was engaged to marry him.
I t was then that she understood.
O f course! The Marquis must have asked Rosie to marry him, then perhaps because they had quarrelled the engagement had been broken off.
T hat was why Violet had said they must find her a husband, and Lord Mundesley had said sarcastically that the one person who would not marry her would be Vange.
I t struck Davita that Rosie must have been very stupid to have lost the Marquis once he had asked her to be his wife.
S he was well aware that because actresses had such a bad reputation it was unusual for them to marry into the aristocracy.
But it had happened, as when her father had married Katie King, and, as Violet had mentioned this evening, another Gaiety Girl, Belle Bilston, had married Lord Dunlo, who afterwards had
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