Read Online Hiding from Love by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page B

around him and then he turned round and made his way miserably down the gangplank.
    On the quay he turned again and stared up at her.
    She had to fight back an urge to run after him.
    Then she hoisted up the sheet – too embarrassed to ask any of the porters to carry such strange luggage for her – and made for the cabin indicated on her ticket.
    She threw off her hat and looked around.
    The cabin was rather small but comfortable enough.  There was a washstand with a bowl and jug, towels laid out and a writing table with a stool.
    On the table was a pen, inkwell and writing paper.
    Leonora clapped her hands to her head – she had intended to write to Mama while the ship was still in port.  She should not have dismissed Finny, but asked him to wait so that he could post the letter for her onshore.
    She rushed to the porthole and peered out.
    Her cabin was portside and she could see the quay, but there was no sign of Finny.
    Well, she must write the letter anyway, there would surely be a Steward who would take the letter ashore and post it before the ship sailed.
    She sat at the writing table and took up the pen.
    â€œ Darling Mama ,” she wrote,
    â€œ By the time you read this I shall be far away, but you are not to worry about me, please.
    I am quite safe, on board The Teresa of the Sea and sailing to Brazil.  My friend Isobel will look after me when I arrive.  I am going to work as a Governess.
    When I have earned enough to pay for your fare, I will send for you.  I am sure you understand why I had to lie to you and why I have run away.
    Please do not return to that dreadful Mr. Schilling and please do not tell him where I am.
    I took his money, Mama, to pay my fare.  He will tell you that I am a thief, but I intend to pay it back when I can – after all he stole your money without compunction.
    As for Lord Merton – if you should encounter him, tell him nothing either.  Except to take away those clothes he bought for me!
    Your loving Leonora. ”
    She reread the letter, folded and sealed it, picked up her reticule and then stepped out into the corridor.
    She peered at cabin doors as she hurried along, but most were closed, although one or two stood open.
    In one a startled young girl looked up as she passed, catching a glimpse of a long bony face and pale hair.
    â€œDesirée!” a voice called from inside the cabin and the girl turned away.
    On deck the Officer who had taken Leonora’s ticket agreed to send someone ashore with her letter.
    â€œThere is plenty of time,” he added.  “We don’t sail for another three hours.”
    Leonora returned to her cabin where she untied the sheet and stared down at what it had held.
    Her mother’s dresses suddenly appeared to be old-fashioned and somewhat large.
    She held them up against her with a sinking heart.  She would need a needle and thread to take them in or she would be a laughing stock on board.
    She sank onto the bed, a green dress in her hands.
    She remembered this dress.  Her mother had worn it years ago on the occasion of their one and only meeting at a hotel with Aunt Doris.
    She recalled the elderly lady smelling of lavender water gazing down at her solemnly.
    Even then Aunt Doris had talked affectionately of her sister’s son, Arthur, her sole heir, and described him as a handsome lad with a streak of wildness.
    She lay back on the bed, holding the dress tightly as if this vestige of her mother and happier times might prove of consolation in the trials that surely lay ahead.
    She closed her eyes aware of the slight movement of the ship as it lay at anchor, and then sleep overtook her wearied senses.
    *
    A strange sound woke her.
    She thought it was the bellow of a bull.  Then she realised it was the ship’s funnel!
    She sat up and from the porthole she could see the quayside receding.
    She must have slept for nearly three hours!
    The ship was sailing and all of a sudden