Read Online An Introduction to the Pink Collection by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page A

His manner changed at once, becoming the gentle, kindly one that touched her heart. He took hold of her shoulders. “I’m a selfish beast. I forgot how much you’ve had to put up with. My poor, dear girl, are you crying?”
    â€œNo,” she said into her handkerchief.
    â€œWell, nobody could blame you. Come here.”
    He drew her against him and wrapped his arms about her, holding her in a warm, brotherly hug. It was the second time that day he had held her close to him, and it threw her into a state of confusion.
    â€œYou’ve been a tower of strength and I don’t know what I would have done without you,” he said tenderly. “And all I do is make your life difficult. I ought to be shot for my appalling behaviour, oughtn’t I?”
    â€œYes,” she mumbled.
    He chuckled. “That’s my girl. Never mince matters. Heaven help me if I ever get on your wrong side.”
    He tightened his arms so that she was held hard against a broad, comforting chest. He was taller by several inches, and she had a faint awareness of a soft thunder where his heart was.
    Then there was another feeling, almost incredible, on the top of her head, as though he had planted a light kiss on her hair. But he released her straight after, so she might have imagined it.
    â€œHow do I put this back?” he asked, holding up the cap and pins.
    â€œI’ll do it. You go and – I don’t know. Practise looking like an Earl.”
    He grinned. “Do you think I’ll pass muster?”
    He looked splendidly handsome in a dark suit. But it was his height that was impressive, plus his broad shoulders and long legs.
    His face was good looking, but it was more than that, she decided, giving the matter her full attention. It was his proud carriage, the way he carried himself with an air. And then there was the indefinable something in his blue eyes, the gleam of humour and lust for life that was never far away.
    It was hard to see how Miss Wyngate would not fall in love with him. In fact, she was probably the one behind this, and her father was acting at her wishes.
    Rena had a sense of alarm, as though she could see some terrible danger rushing towards John, and she might pluck him from its path.
    But then she realised that she was powerless to do any such thing. They might find more coins, but were unlikely to find enough to help.
    She returned to work with a heavy heart.
    An hour later there was a sound of wheels outside the front door. They were here at last. She and John had talked so much about them that they had come to feel strangely unreal.
    But now they were very real, standing outside, demanding admittance. She felt herself become breathless and a little afraid.
    She pulled herself together and tried to assume the demeanour of a servant.
    After all, she had wanted to be an actress. This was her chance.
    The front door bell rang.
    Eyes cast down she crossed the great hall and opened the door.
    Outside stood a man in his fifties who, despite his lack of inches, managed to be extremely impressive. He was not particularly attractive, but there was something about him that she had never seen before, an aura of wealth, and power.
    It was not only the fact that his heavy Astrakhan coat and gleaming top hat were obviously new and expensive. Nor that his diamond tie-pin was sparkling in the sunshine or that the ring on his finger was also a diamond. It was something more.
    She felt it come at her like a blast of air from the furnace of hell. Sheer brute determination to have his own way in all things.Callousness, cruelty, the hardness of rock. She sensed all these things.
    Sinister. She had used the word to John almost without thinking, but now that she was faced with the reality she recognised it at once. He was sinister. He was frightening.
    And he was something far worse. Rena was a parson’s daughter, subtly attuned to the vibrations of another world, and now the hairs stood up on