Read Online The House of Happiness by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page B

quickly.
    â€œBless you, dear,” murmured Mrs. Dovedale.
    â€œBut who then will look after me ?” cried Great-Aunt Cloris, her face growing very red and strained. “Who will act as housekeeper? I cannot afford to hire a temporary house-keeper and provide for the upkeep of an invalid. This was not – in the scheme of things. What am I to do?”
    Doctor Parfitt was regarding her closely and frowned.
    â€œMrs. Dewitt, you must calm yourself. Remember your blood pressure.”
    â€œMy blood pressure – yes – there is a kind of mist before my eyes. I need to sit down. If you would be so kind as to escort me downstairs, doctor. I seem to remember Bridget brought in some tea. May I take your arm?”
    â€œBy all means.”
    The door had barely closed behind them when Eugenia, still kneeling at the bedside, burst into tears.
    â€œOh, Mama! How could Great-Aunt Cloris be so – so mean spirited!”
    Mrs. Dovedale raised a shaking hand to stroke Eugenia’s head.  “There, there,” she coaxed in a feeble voice. “Don’t mind your great-aunt.  It’s her age.”
    Eugenia buried her head in her arms.
    â€œMiss Dovedale.”
    The voice of the Marquis rang from the shadows. Eugenia raised her tear-streaked face, having almost forgotten that the Marquis was present.  She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as the Marquis stepped into the lamplight. He reached down and helped Eugenia to her feet.
    â€œYour mother is quite right,” he said gently.  “Mrs. Dewitt is elderly and elderly people can be easily frightened by any rupture in routine. She is afraid of the spectacle of injury, because it reminds her of her own increasing fragility.”
    â€œShe is afraid of the expense, too!” lamented Mrs. Dovedale, clutching the sheet to her chin. “She thinks I will empty her coffers for her.  Oh, if only my dear daughter and myself were not so impoverished!”
    â€œMama!” murmured Eugenia, mortified, but nothing would silence her once she had started on this particular topic.
    â€œLord knows why she is so penny-pinching,” she moaned. “She has plenty of money in the bank, and hundreds of pounds tucked away in old stockings and pillowcases and frayed slippers.” She eyed the Marquis craftily over the top of the sheet. “While we – myself and my poor daughter – live on little more than bread and dripping and a ration of sugar half the time.”
    â€œ Mama !” Eugenia groaned, hiding her face in her hands.
    The Marquis’s lips twitched with amusement.  He cleared his throat before speaking.
    â€œMrs. Dovedale,” he said, “I have a proposal to make. I should like to put Buckbury Abbey at the disposal of you and your daughter.  It is an ideal spot for you to recuperate. My own doctor will attend you. I shall not be there myself – at least not for a while – but my servants will look after you. You shall want for nothing – including bread and dripping should you so choose.”
    Mrs. Dovedale’s eyes lit up.  “Buckbury Abbey?  Oh, there is nothing I could desire more. This is most kind of you, my Lord. Is it not, Eugenia?”
    Eugenia could only give a faint nod of assent, so seized was she with a tempest of emotions.
    Who knew how long it would take her mother to recover? Weeks, months? Months more likely! Months during which she, Eugenia, would not be able to so much as glimpse Gregor.  
    That was obviously to be her penance . It was her passion for Gregor that had caused her to change her mind and accept the invitation to the ball and that had led to the accident! But oh, how the idea of being so far away from the object of her deepest desire pained her.  Yet – yet she would not be just any where. She would be at Buckbury Abbey. 
    But, she reminded herself in her next breath, that is the home of the Marquis , the