Read Online An Angel Runs Away by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page B

the most fascinating toy she had ever imagined.
    She realised that the Marquis had exercised all his ingenuity to make the ball different from any other ball that had taken place recently in London, especially in regard to the decorations.
    Not only were the candles pink but the flowers were all pink and white and the chefs had been instructed to see that the supper echoed the same colours.
    Up the stairway that led to the ballroom there were great banks of pink and white flowers.
    The Marquis had arranged that at midnight, pink and white balloons should be released from the top of the house.
    They would float down into the garden, where Chinese lanterns hung from the trees and the paths around the lawn and amongst the flower beds were picked out with fairy lights.
    It was all so beautiful that Ula was quite certain that no one would look at her.
    But the gown the Duchess had ordered for her was as unusual and sensational as was everything else.
    Because it was correct that Ula should wear white, her gown was white, but with a difference.
    Underneath it there was a silver sheath which fitted close to her body.
    There was a fringe of diamante falling around the hem and hanging from the exquisitely cut bodice, which revealed the curves of her figure and set off the translucent whiteness of her skin.
    Every time she moved she shimmered and glittered almost like a fountain and there were diamonds sprinkled in her fair hair and on her shoes, which peeped from beneath the hem of her gown.
    She looked like a nymph who had risen from the lake and was still glistening from the silver water.
    “You look very beautiful, my child,” the Duchess said as they met when she came into the drawing room, where the guests dining in the house were assembled.
    Ula watched to see if the Marquis approved and she saw his eyes under his drooping eyelids flickering over her.
    He himself was looking positively Regal, wearing the Order of the Garter and decorations on his evening coat, which had been awarded not only for his position at Court but had also been won for gallantry in battle.
    The diamond garter around his leg and his exquisitely tied cravat would have made him outstanding even apart from his handsome looks, dark hair and broad shoulders.
    “You look magnificent!” Ula exclaimed impulsively.
    “You should be waiting to receive my compliments,” the Marquis drawled with a bored expression on his face. “That is the way a young lady of fashion and, of course, an ‘Incomparable’ would behave.”
    For a moment Ula, thinking he was serious, looked upset and the colour rose in her cheeks.
    Then she realised that he was teasing her and countered,
    “Lady of fashion or not, I am speaking the truth and I am sure that most of our guests, and especially the ladies like myself, would far rather look at you than at me!”
    The Marquis laughed as if he could not help it.
    Then he said,
    “Tonight it is you we are concerned with. You have to shine and make certain that everybody is aware of you.”
    “Now you are frightening me,” Ula said. “Suppose I fail you – and you are angry.”
    “If I am, I can always drown you in the fountain!”
    She laughed again.
    “That would be a delightful death and certainly a very original one!”
    “You are not to talk of death,” the Duchess said sharply. “It is unlucky. Tonight we are all very much alive and remember, Ula, to enjoy your compliments and not be embarrassed by them.”
    “I shall not be embarrassed,” Ula replied, “just suspicious that they are not sincere.”
    “They will be,” the Duchess added firmly. “You can be sure of that!”
    *
    Ula certainly did receive a great number of compliments as soon as the guests began to arrive.
    She was aware, too, that they looked at her with curiosity.
    They also found it exceedingly surprising that the Marquis should have broken his rule of the past of never giving a ball at his own house.
    It was always thought, she had discovered, that