Read Online The Saint and the Sinner by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online Page B

defiantly.
    “What did you – do after – I left?”
    The question was almost wistful, as if she thought she had missed something.
    The Earl hesitated and as he did so the door of the room opened and Sir Gilbert Longridge came in.
    He had changed from his evening-clothes into a long robe of red brocade with the white frill of his nightshirt showing above it.
    He stopped in the doorway at the sight of the Earl, and Pandora turned her head to look at him in astonishment.
    The Earl rose from where he had seated himself at the farthest corner of the bed.
    “I am afraid you have lost your way, Gilbert,” he said genially. “It is very easy to do so in this large house. “
    “I did not expect to find you here, Norvin,” Sir Gilbert replied.
    “I was just saying good-night to my cousin. As you know, she went to bed early, but unfortunately she fell asleep and left the candles burning.”
    Sir Gilbert obviously was not listening to what the Earl was saying. He was only staring at him in a glowering manner.
    The Earl walked towards him and as he reached him Sir Gilbert said,
    “You have Kitty. I cannot think why I should be left out!”
    “I will see what I can do for you tomorrow,” the Earl replied, “but now Pandora wishes to go to sleep, and so do I.”
    There was that authoritative note in his voice which Pandora had noticed before when he sent her to bed.
    For a moment Sir Gilbert did not move. Then with what was an oath beneath his breath he turned and walked from the room.
    The Earl looked at Pandora. Her eyes were very wide in her small face.
    “I am now going to my own room,” he said, and as soon as I have gone, you are to lock the door. Do you understand? Get out of bed and lock the door. And do not open it until you are called in the morning.”
    For a moment she did not understand. Then he saw the colour come into her face.
    “Do you – think Sir Gilbert might – come back?” she asked almost beneath her breath.
    “It is very easy for people to get lost in these long corridors,” the Earl replied evasively.
    He walked through the door.
    “Lock the door, Pandora, and do not open it again until the morning. Is that clear?”
    “Yes, Cousin Norvin, and I am – sorry I left the – candles burning.”
    “I will forgive you this time. Sleep well, Pandora.”
    He left, and obediently Pandora pushed back the sheets and crossed the room.
    She turned the key in the lock and as she did so she thought with a shiver how frightening it would have been if the Earl had not been there when Sir Gilbert had arrived.
    He might have tried to kiss her – in fact she was sure he would have done so after all he had said at dinner – and she knew she would have been afraid, very afraid, and perhaps no-one would have heard her cries.
    “It must have been Mama who sent Cousin Norvin to see if I was all right,” she told herself. “It would have been terrible if I had set the house on fire and perhaps even more terrible if Sir Gilbert had found me alone.”
    She got back into bed but now it was difficult to fall asleep again.
    She found herself thinking of what had happened during the day, then worrying as to what other damage might have been done after she left the Dining-Room.
    She wondered if it would be possible to persuade the Butler to put away the Sevres service and replace it with the very attractive but not so priceless one that had always been in use in her grandfather’s time.
    Then she told herself she had no right to do so, and it would be extremely presumptuous of her to interfere in any way with the running of the household.
    She had no standing here and she should just be grateful that her cousin had been so kind to her.
    She snuggled down against the pillows.
    ‘I am sure he is not as bad as they say he is, or as he pretends to be,’ she thought.
    She had a feeling that he was putting on an act of being so wicked. But why? What was his motive? Some words of Milton came to her mind.
     
    Wisest