65 A Heart Is Stolen (17 page)

The Marquis laughed.

“Like all women you nag until you get your own way. All right! Markham can stay but I warn you, I shall check the ledgers very carefully every month.”

“Oh – thank you – thank you,” Ivana said, clasping her hands together. “He is such a kind, generous man – I think it would – kill him if he had to suffer because of what he – did for me.”

“I daresay you nagged him as you have nagged me.”

“That is not true,” she protested, “and I hate the word ‘nag’. It sounds horrid and overbearing.”

“Then I will retract it as long as you will help me as you have helped everybody else.”

“How can I do – that?”

“I imagine the first step would be for you to accompany me to Brighton, so that I can obey His Royal Highness’s instructions and take you to meet Mrs. Fitzherbert.”

The Marquis’s lips twisted for a moment as he added,

“It is somewhat of a doubtful compliment, since those who are closest to the King and Queen, as you must be aware, will have nothing to do with her.”

“I believe she is a good woman,” Ivana said in a low voice, “and I am not prepared to sit in judgement upon anybody – at the same time – how can I – possibly go with – you?”

“I see no alternative,” the Marquis replied. “Even if, as you suggest, you get drowned or disappear to the West Indies, people would think it strange so soon after our supposed marriage and it would hardly be a compliment to my attractions.”

“Now you are making a joke of everything,” Ivana said accusingly, “and I suppose you do not really mean what you say in suggesting that I should go with you to call on Mrs. Fitzherbert.”

“I mean it in all sincerity,” the Marquis answered. “The Prince will undoubtedly be extremely annoyed if we leave his invitation unanswered for more than a week.”

Ivana clasped her hands together.

“I-I cannot – do it.”

“Why not?” the Marquis asked. “I have never known anyone who can act better when it concerns her own interests. You can surely do the same for me?”

“This – is very different.”

“I should have thought it would be easier to play the part of a woman than a man.”

Ivana drew in her breath.

“Please – please don’t make me – do this. I shall – let you down – I shall say all the wrong things – and you will be ashamed – and besides – I have no suitable clothes in which to – play a part like that.”

As she spoke, she had a picture of Lady Rose and knew that never could she emulate anyone so smart and overwhelming.

She was the sort of woman who should accompany the Marquis whether she was his wife or someone he fancied.

But for her it was utterly and completely impossible.

As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, the Marquis said softly,

“The Prince Regent thought you beautiful. ‘
The loveliest Marchioness of the Veryans
!’ Was not that what he said?”

“That is certainly not true, except – perhaps to a – man?”

The Marquis smiled.

“So you are afraid of what the women will think?”

“Of course!”

“That is why you want a beautiful gown in which to compete with them!”

“How do you propose I should acquire one?” Ivana asked sharply.

“You could always sell another snuffbox!”

She turned her face away from him again.

“Now you are mocking me.”

“Shall I say I am teasing you?” the Marquis said. “If you will come to Brighton with me, I promise you shall be dressed in a fashion which will make all the other women extremely envious.”

“If, by that, you are suggesting that you should buy a gown for me, my Lord,” Ivana said, “it is something – I could not accept.”

“It’s too late to start being conventional,” the Marquis objected, “after you have been so unconventional as to enter my house as though it was your own, to purloin my servants’ wages, to sell a unique collection of snuffboxes and to persuade my agent to aid and abet you!”

Ivana looked at the Marquis as he spoke and realised that he was not angry as she might have expected, but underlying everything he said was a distinct note of amusement.

“After all that,” he went on, “to jib at accepting a gown, a bonnet and doubtless a pair of gloves, is not worth arguing about.”

He paused for a moment before he added slowly,

“Anyway, you are no longer a young and innocent
debutante
who is afraid of losing her reputation and, of course, her innocence.”

He waited for the flush that suffused Ivana’s face as it had done before and he thought it was very lovely, like the sun coming over the horizon.

“P-please – my Lord – don’t make me go to Brighton,” Ivana pleaded after a moment. “It would be more – frightening than anything I have – ever done in my life.”

“I will look after you,” the Marquis said. “I will see that you make no mistakes and I promise that you will find it extremely enjoyable.”

He thought Ivana was going to protest again and he said hastily,

“Before we get as far as Brighton there are other things to be done and I am sure you realise what the first must be.”

“What is that?” Ivana asked. “I have no idea.”

“You must, of course, come to Heathcliffe,” the Marquis answered. “I have a feeling that, although we are supposed to be on our honeymoon, the news of our marriage might bring a number of guests, whether they are welcome or not, to visit me. It will seem peculiar, to say the least of it, if my wife is living in one house and I in another.”

Ivana was staring at him with her eyes very wide.

“You cannot – really mean this?”

“I certainly mean it,” the Marquis replied. “First from my point of view, then from yours. And whether you are acting the part of my wife or not, I have no intention of leaving you and your Nanny alone here with five crippled men to become the prey of every scrounger who has nothing to live on but his wits.”

He rose to his feet saying,

“I do not intend to argue. I am riding back now to Heathcliffe and I will order a carriage for you and your Nanny and a landau for the injured men. Travers can arrange accommodation for them. As you know, Heathcliffe is big enough for an Army, or should I say a Navy, if necessary! Your house will be locked up, but I will see that there is someone to keep an eye on it.”

As he finished speaking, the Marquis looked down at Ivana’s bewildered and frightened face.

She was staring up at him, her fingers linked together in her lap like a child’s and he thought how lovely she looked and at the same time very innocent and untouched.

“Leave everything to me,” he said quietly.

Then, as Ivana could find no words to answer him and it seemed impossible even to breathe, he went from the room and she heard his footsteps crossing the hall.

“It seems incredible that we have now been here five days,” Ivana said to Nanny as she was changing from her riding habit into her green gown for tea.

“Our invalids certainly look better,” Nanny replied, “and, although I likes to think it’s the way we nurse them, I believe really, it’s his Lordship’s good food. I didn’t, until I came here, know that so much meat existed.”

Ivana smiled.

She had already heard this several times and she knew that Nanny was enjoying every moment of their visit to Heathcliffe.

She was waited on, she had plenty of other servants to talk to and every time she was with Ivana she praised the arrangements in the household and the manner in which everything was organised.

“I cannot imagine what Grandpapa would say if he could hear you,” Ivana would say teasingly.

She knew that after years of scrimping and pinching and wondering where each penny would come from, it was, in fact, a holiday that Nanny richly deserved.

For her own part she too was enjoying herself inordinately.

She had never realised how fascinating it was not only to have superb horses to ride and her every wish anticipated almost before she thought of it but also to have all to herself the companionship of two handsome young gentlemen.

She always thought, because she had heard stories of the Marquis’s extravagance and raffish behaviour, that he would be stupid and uninterested in anything except the pleasures of the
Beau Monde
.

Instead she found he had read extensively and the conversation when they had meals together was so sparkling and so stimulating that she felt as if she was taking part in a play.

In fact everything that happened at Heathcliffe seemed a theatrical fantasy and, although she would not admit it to herself, she was dreading the moment when the curtain would fall and she must go back to the life she had known before.

When she went to bed at night, she found herself going over in her mind not only what had been said but the way the Marquis had looked.

She had never imagined any man could be so amazingly handsome without apparently being conscious of it or considering his appearance of any consequence.

It also surprised her that he was so strong and that not even the most strenuous exertions seemed to tire him.

As the weather was still very hot, the Marquis and Sir Anthony swam every morning in the sea. Then they would come back glowing with health and high spirits to eat an enormous breakfast with Ivana before they all went riding.

There were great stretches of the Downs where they could gallop until even the horses were exhausted and there were parts of the Heathcliffe estate which the Marquis had not seen for years and which Ivana could show him and tell him the local legends connected with them.

The two men listened to her and teased her and Anthony paid her extravagant compliments, which she laughed at as soon as she grew used to them.

She liked to think that he admired, her but she would wonder over and over again what the Marquis really felt about her.

It seemed to her that he watched her, but she thought he was probably being suspicious in case she did something else outrageous or perhaps because she was different from Lady Rose and the beauties who had always amused him in the past.

She found herself longing, as she went down to dinner in the same gown she had worn the first night she had dined at Heathcliffe, to be dressed in a manner that would make him gaze at her in admiration.

While he had remembered that the Prince Regent had said she would be the loveliest Marchioness of the Veryans, he had never told her what he personally thought of her looks.

‘I am sure he really admires fair-haired women like Lady Rose,’ she had thought last night despairingly.

Sir Anthony had kissed her hand almost passionately as he had said goodnight, but the Marquis had merely bowed in response to her curtsey and, although his eyes were on her face, she had no idea what he was thinking.

Now she had the frightening feeling that the sands were running out and in two days they would be going to Brighton together as the Marquis had insisted she must.

After that there was a huge question mark over her future.

She wanted to discuss it with him again, but there had been no opportunity as Sir Anthony was always with them. But today might be different.

When they had turned to ride back to Heathcliffe for luncheon, Anthony said unexpectedly,

“I am thinking of going to Lewes Races as soon as we get back. Are you coming with me, Justin?”

“I cannot,” the Marquis had replied. “It would be a mistake to appear in public without Ivana and the clothes I have ordered for her from London have not yet arrived.”

“Yes, in the circumstances it would be a mistake for you to be seen there,” Anthony admitted, “but I will go and find out how the land lies and what people are saying about your secret marriage!”

The Marquis did not reply and Ivana looked at him nervously.

“I expect the Prince Regent will ask when you will be bringing Ivana to see Mrs. Fitzherbert,” Anthony remarked.

“Tell him it will be about the middle of next week,” the Marquis told him, “and suggest tactfully if you can, that we don’t want a huge crowd of fools gaping at us and would rather be alone with His Royal Highness and Mrs. Fitz.”

“I doubt if he will listen to me,” Anthony replied. “You know as well as I do that at the Royal Pavilion it’s a case of any excuse for a party.”

Ivana gave a little cry.

“Oh, please,” she said, “do persuade him not to invite all his Lordship’s friends! I shall be terrified anyway – and if – ”

She stopped, feeling she could not put into words what she really wanted to say, which was that, if the Marquis was occupied with other women, he would not be able to look after her.

The consternation over what might happen showed in her face and the Marquis said quietly,

“I promise you it will not be as bad as you anticipate.”

Then he started to ride faster and there was no chance of more conversation before they reached Heathcliffe.

It was the first time that Ivana had eaten a meal alone with the Marquis since she had arrived and she told herself as they walked towards the dining room that she must not bore him with her fears, but try to amuse him as she was certain somebody like Lady Rose would do.

Anyway it would be impossible to speak intimately with Travers and the new footmen in the room.

It did in fact prove surprisingly easy not only to have an interesting conversation but also to make the Marquis laugh.

When after luncheon he suggested that they should ride once again, this time along the shore, she had been too thrilled by the horse she was riding, and of course the Marquis, to spoil the time with him by expressing anything but her appreciation and what she knew was an inexpressible happiness.

Now as Nanny buttoned her into the familiar green gown there was a knock on the bedroom door.

Nanny went to open it and then stepped back to allow the three footmen to come in each carrying a number of boxes.

There were long ones, which Ivana guessed contained gowns and a number of round ones that were obviously made for bonnets and others which she had no idea what they might contain.

There seemed to be dozens of them and as she gazed wide-eyed at them one of the footmen said to Nanny,