Read Online Sword to the Heart (Bantam Series No. 13) by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Cartland
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would be able to exchange your viewpoints on different subjects.
“You would begin to know a little about each other and be quite certain in your own mind he was the man you would love for the rest of your life.”
“I am quite certain about that!” Natalia said in a low voice.
The Reverend Adolphus rose to his feet and walked across to the window.
“I have been wondering during the night, and I have not slept very much, if your mother and I did wrong when we agreed to His Lordship’s proposal three years ago, when he said he wished you to marry him.”
He sighed.
“I thought it strange at the time, and yet to your mother it was understandable seeing you were a distant relative. Then you were educated and brought up in the way which he approved. Now I am not so sure.”
“What do you mean, you are not so sure?” Natalia enquired. There was a silence as her father did not answer.
“Explain to me what you are trying to say, Papa,” Natalia insisted. “After all, look at what Lord Colwall has done for me. Look at what he has given me. Can there be any doubt that he loves me as I love him?”
Again there was a silence.
Then in a strained voice her father said:
“I wish your mother were here. Did she talk to you, Natalia, about marriage before you left?”
“We have talked of little else,” Natalia said with a smile. “Mama, as you well know, Papa, was very excited that I should live in the Castle she had known as a child.”
“I did not mean that,” the Vicar said a little uncomfortably. “I mean, Natalia, did she explain to you that when a man and a woman are married they are very close and intimate with each other, and it is love which makes their marriage either a Heaven or a Hell . ”
There was a little pause and then Natalia said:
“I think I understand what you are trying to say, Papa, and although I am somewhat ignorant on this matter I am sure that I love Lord Colwall in the way of which you are speaking. I want to belong to him! I want to be very close to him!”
Her voice quivered a little as she spoke.
“You are quite certain, Natalia, that you would not rather come home with me today?” her father asked, turning round from the window to look at her. “We could tell Lord Colwall that his plans are too precipitate; that you would rather wait a few months, perhaps until the Spring.”
He looked at his daughter pleadingly.
“Then if you are both of the same mind, he can come to Pooley Bridge and you can be married from your own home as I always intended you would be.”
“Papa, how could we do such a thing?” Natalia cried. “His Lordship has made all the arrangements! Think of the flowers in the Chapel; the hundreds of people who are coming to the ceremony and the Medieval Feast. How could everything be cancelled at the last moment? He would never forgive me!”
“I suppose not,” the Reverend Adolphus admitted dully, “but I am not happy about it, Natalia.”
He walked towards his daughter and put his hands on her shoulders.
“You are so very lovely, my dearest, so very intelligent, and so very sweet. I think it would crucify me if I thought that you were unhappy.”
“But why should I be?” Natalia asked. “I have told you that I love Lord Colwall, that I want to be his wife, that I want to be with him now and for always.”
A smile lit her face.
“I have thought of him so often,” she said, “that I feel I know him just as if he had been with me these last three years. I am sure, quite sure he feels the same about me.”
There was an expression on her father’s face she did not understand.
He dropped his hands from her shoulders and with a heavy sigh turned towards the fire.
“If only your mother was here,” he muttered.
And because she did not understand she did not answer him.
As if he felt he could say no more, the Reverend Adolphus deliberately talked of other things—describing to Natalia the Library which she had not yet seen and which he had
“You would begin to know a little about each other and be quite certain in your own mind he was the man you would love for the rest of your life.”
“I am quite certain about that!” Natalia said in a low voice.
The Reverend Adolphus rose to his feet and walked across to the window.
“I have been wondering during the night, and I have not slept very much, if your mother and I did wrong when we agreed to His Lordship’s proposal three years ago, when he said he wished you to marry him.”
He sighed.
“I thought it strange at the time, and yet to your mother it was understandable seeing you were a distant relative. Then you were educated and brought up in the way which he approved. Now I am not so sure.”
“What do you mean, you are not so sure?” Natalia enquired. There was a silence as her father did not answer.
“Explain to me what you are trying to say, Papa,” Natalia insisted. “After all, look at what Lord Colwall has done for me. Look at what he has given me. Can there be any doubt that he loves me as I love him?”
Again there was a silence.
Then in a strained voice her father said:
“I wish your mother were here. Did she talk to you, Natalia, about marriage before you left?”
“We have talked of little else,” Natalia said with a smile. “Mama, as you well know, Papa, was very excited that I should live in the Castle she had known as a child.”
“I did not mean that,” the Vicar said a little uncomfortably. “I mean, Natalia, did she explain to you that when a man and a woman are married they are very close and intimate with each other, and it is love which makes their marriage either a Heaven or a Hell . ”
There was a little pause and then Natalia said:
“I think I understand what you are trying to say, Papa, and although I am somewhat ignorant on this matter I am sure that I love Lord Colwall in the way of which you are speaking. I want to belong to him! I want to be very close to him!”
Her voice quivered a little as she spoke.
“You are quite certain, Natalia, that you would not rather come home with me today?” her father asked, turning round from the window to look at her. “We could tell Lord Colwall that his plans are too precipitate; that you would rather wait a few months, perhaps until the Spring.”
He looked at his daughter pleadingly.
“Then if you are both of the same mind, he can come to Pooley Bridge and you can be married from your own home as I always intended you would be.”
“Papa, how could we do such a thing?” Natalia cried. “His Lordship has made all the arrangements! Think of the flowers in the Chapel; the hundreds of people who are coming to the ceremony and the Medieval Feast. How could everything be cancelled at the last moment? He would never forgive me!”
“I suppose not,” the Reverend Adolphus admitted dully, “but I am not happy about it, Natalia.”
He walked towards his daughter and put his hands on her shoulders.
“You are so very lovely, my dearest, so very intelligent, and so very sweet. I think it would crucify me if I thought that you were unhappy.”
“But why should I be?” Natalia asked. “I have told you that I love Lord Colwall, that I want to be his wife, that I want to be with him now and for always.”
A smile lit her face.
“I have thought of him so often,” she said, “that I feel I know him just as if he had been with me these last three years. I am sure, quite sure he feels the same about me.”
There was an expression on her father’s face she did not understand.
He dropped his hands from her shoulders and with a heavy sigh turned towards the fire.
“If only your mother was here,” he muttered.
And because she did not understand she did not answer him.
As if he felt he could say no more, the Reverend Adolphus deliberately talked of other things—describing to Natalia the Library which she had not yet seen and which he had
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