Follow Your Heart (16 page)

She spoke with a pride which Della felt was rather touching. She knew in the future that was what she would feel herself.

Even as she thought of it, everything seemed too incredible to be true.

“Now come along,” urged Nanny, “I'll take you down to the Chapel. His Lordship has left a bouquet of flowers for you.”

She opened the door as she spoke.

She brought in a beautiful bouquet made up of white orchids with just a touch of pink in the centre.

As she took the flowers in her hands Nanny said,

“Be kind to my baby, I've loved him as if he were my own ever since he were born. I'd give my life to make him happy.”

“I promise you, Nanny, I will do my very best to make him the happiest man in the world,” answered Della. “And thank you so very much for helping me.”

She bent to kiss the old woman's cheeks and saw the tears in her eyes.

Then walking slowly because her veil trailed a little behind her, she let Nanny guide her along the corridor.

They did not use the impressive staircase that came up from the hall and Della guessed that there would be a special staircase leading from the Master Suite down to the Chapel. It would be a unique feature the Adam brothers would have designed for Clare Court and many other great houses.

When they duly arrived at the first step, Nanny beckoned her to descend first.

As she walked slowly down the Adam staircase, Della could hear an organ playing very softly in the distance.

Then as she reached the ground floor, she saw an impressive gothic door immediately in front of her.

Opening the door hesitatingly, she found that the Marquis was waiting for her. Two more steps and she arrived at his side.

He was looking at her with an expression of pure love and devotion in his eyes.

She felt as if the stars were shining above her head and the light of the moon enveloped them both.

There was no need for words and the Marquis held out his arm and she slipped her hand into it.

As she did so she was aware that he was wearing his decorations and they glittered in the light of the candles on the altar.

The Chapel was small but very beautiful and behind the cross on the altar the sun was streaming through an exquisite stained glass window.

It seemed to Della as if there was light everywhere.

A light that was divine and heavenly.

The Marquis drew her a few steps up the aisle and a Priest was waiting for them at the altar.

When the organ lapsed into silence he started the marriage service.

Della felt as if every instinct in her body and her heart were extended towards the Marquis and she knew he felt the same.

When he placed the ring carefully on her finger they were already joined together by every breath they drew. Their hearts and souls were linked irrevocably and could never be divided.

They knelt in front of the Priest and he blessed them and Della was sure that her father and mother were blessing her too.

God had answered her prayers.

He enveloped them both with a wonder and a glory they could never lose.

When they rose to their feet the Priest knelt down in front of the altar and the Marquis, holding Della by the hand, drew her out of the Chapel.

The only witness who had been present at their marriage was Nanny and she was wiping the tears from her eyes as the Marquis took Della away from the Chapel.

They walked up the staircase she had descended with Nanny and he opened a door on the landing. Della thought it must be the entrance to the Master Suite and she was not mistaken.

It was a lovely room with sky blue carpet and curtains and a huge canopied bed with gold cupids occupied the centre of the room.

For a moment Della could only see flowers. The whole room had been decorated with endless blooms and they were all white.

Never had she seen such a profusion of lilies, orchids and roses which scented the air with their sublime fragrance, making the room seem to Della an essential part of the enchanted world into which the Marquis had spirited her.

He was looking at the surprise and excitement in her eyes.

“You are
so
lovely,” he sighed in a deep voice. “I am still afraid you are not real, my adorable Della, and you might vanish in a puff of smoke.”

“Nothing that has happened since you came to the gypsy camp has seemed real,” replied Della, “but as you said, it is all so marvellous and so perfect that I think we must both have died and are in Heaven.”

“You have not died, my precious one,” the Marquis assured her. “Now I am able to tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me.”

His voice had deepened as he continued,

“But first I am going to take off my finery and you, my lovely bride, must do the same.”

As he spoke he lifted her veil and started to undo the back of her wedding gown.

For a moment he paused.

She thought he was going to pull her into his arms and kiss her. Instead, almost as if he ordered himself to obey his own instructions, he left the room.

He disappeared through what Della imagined was a communicating door into his dressing room.

‘How can he be so wonderful and at the same time so well organised?' she asked herself.

But she knew he was right. If he wanted to kiss her it would be tiresome to have her wreath, her veil and her gown in the way.

She placed the veil on the dressing table and it was easy to slip out of her Greek wedding gown.

She was not surprised to see one of her prettiest nightgowns lying on the bed.

She took the pins out of her hair and her long golden tresses fell over her shoulders.

She lay back against the lace–edged pillows and waited breathlessly.

The evening sun was shining through the windows and its rays seemed to glitter on everything they touched and even the flowers looked more exquisite than they could ever have seemed.

‘Only a fairy Princess,' Della told herself, ‘could be blessed with such a wonderful setting and I am afraid it might vanish before my husband sees it.'

She blushed as she referred to the Marquis as her husband.

It all seemed so extraordinary.

How could she ever have guessed when she first met him that he was the man of her dreams? The man she thought she would never find because he did not really exist.

The door opened and the Marquis entered and stood for a moment looking at the room.

Then he turned his gaze on Della waiting for him in the large bed with its golden cupids over her head.

As he moved nearer to her she realised he was staring at her hair.

“That is how I have always wanted you to look,” he breathed, “but how is it possible?”

Della smiled.

“It is quite simple. I am not, as you supposed, a gypsy.”

The Marquis sat down on the edge of the bed facing her.

“Not a gypsy!” he exclaimed. “Then why were you with them? How can you tell fortunes so brilliantly and if I have not married a gypsy, then
who
are you?”

Della gave a little laugh.

“It is a long story – but – ”

It was not possible to say any more.

The Marquis had put his arms round her and was kissing her fervently.

At first his kisses were gentle as if she was so precious that he was afraid of hurting her. Then he became more possessive as if he wanted to make sure she was his and could not escape from him.

Somehow Della was never quite certain when it happened, but they became closer still.

His kisses were so passionate and demanding it was impossible to think, only to feel.

Not only did her whole body become part of him, but her heart and her soul were his as well.

They belonged completely to each other.

When the Marquis carried her up to the sky on the wings of ecstasy, they were no longer two people but one.

*

A long time later the Marquis murmured,

“My darling, my precious, how can I ever have guessed that anyone could be as perfect as you? Or I would find you of all unexpected places in a gypsy caravan?”

Della chuckled.

“And how could I find the man of my dreams in the same place? In addition he is the star I always believed would be somewhere in the world and he would love me as I love him?”

“You do love me?” the Marquis demanded in a deep voice.

“I love you – and adore you, my husband. Promise me you will never love anyone else because if you do I shall only – want to die.”

“I have never loved anyone as I love you, my darling, and I know it would be impossible for me to think about, let alone marry, anyone else. As you have just said we have been looking for each other for perhaps a million years. Now we are together and that is how I am convinced we shall remain for all eternity.”

He spoke from the depths of his heart and Della gave a cry of sheer happiness.

“This is just what I believe and I love you and love you, until it is –
impossible
for me to say it in – any other – words.”

The Marquis did not ask her to try and instead he kissed her again and again until they were both breathless.

Then as her head rested on his shoulder and he kissed her golden hair, he said,

“We are going away first thing tomorrow morning on our honeymoon. My new yacht is waiting for us at Southampton so we do not have very far to go.”

It was then Della remembered something.

To reach Southampton they would almost pass her own home and her uncle must be told what had happened to her. Yet she had no wish for the present to even think what the consequences of her news might be.

“Now you are worried,” the Marquis interrupted her thoughts, “and that is something I cannot allow you to be.”

Della thought quickly.

“Let us leave all the explanations about ourselves until tomorrow,” she suggested. “Tonight is so blissful in this enchanted room, I only want to think of you and love.”

“It is completely impossible for me to think of anything but you,” he answered. “You are quite right, my precious Della, you are mine and no one can take you away from me. We will leave all the explanations until later.”

“I knew you would understand as you have always understood me from the very first moment I met you.”

“I still do not believe you are real, my Della. Promise me you will not suddenly vanish with the Gods to Olympus or into the pool in the woods where all I can see will be your reflection in the water.”

“I will do nothing of the sort,” Della promised. “I am so wildly – happy to be – close to you like this, the world outside is of no importance.”

“And it will never be,” agreed the Marquis firmly.

It was almost as if he was making a vow.

Della sensed that he was thinking of how angry and shocked his family would be if he had married someone of no consequence.

The truth was very different, but still she did not wish to talk about it tonight.

To mention Jason and the Duke might spoil the exquisite wonder of their wedding night and she did not want him to think of anything or anyone but her. She wanted to blot out the memory of the fear that had made her run away.

Moving even closer she put her arms round the Marquis's neck and drew his lips down to hers.

Then he was kissing her again.

His hand was touching her body and their hearts were beating frantically against each other.

This was the wild unfettered music of the woods.

The water was falling from the fountain.

The glitter of the stars was coming out in the sky overhead.

This was the perfection of love.

A love which would never die and which would be theirs forever.

*

The following morning, although they had not slept for very long, the Marquis insisted on having breakfast early.

When they walked outside Della saw the carriage that was to take them to Southampton, drawn by a team of perfectly matched chestnuts.

The ‘travelling chariot', as it was named, was very light and beside the driver's seat there was only one small place for the groom behind the hood.

The horses were finer than any team Della had ever seen and the Marquis smiled at her enthusiasm as she patted them.

Their luggage had already left, before they came down to breakfast.

“Nanny says she has packed everything she thought you would need,” the Marquis informed Della, “but I dare say you can collect a few dresses if we stop at your home as you have asked me to do.”

“Yes, of course,” she agreed.

She had told him they would be passing very near to her home on their way to Southampton and she wanted to introduce him to the relative who had brought her up.

“My father and mother are dead,” she explained, “and I must tell my uncle what has happened to me.”

“Yes, of course, my darling.”

The Marquis had readily concurred with her request, but he had, however, spoken indifferently and Della suspected that he resented this intrusion of reality back into their lives.

When they left Clare Court he drove the horses rapidly with an expertise that Della expected from him. He was looking so happy that he seemed almost to vibrate a burning light towards her.

As the servants said goodbye and waved as they drove down the drive Della knew they were delighted at how happy their Master was.

They reached her uncle's village at about twelve o'clock, rather earlier than Della had expected, but the Marquis had given his team their heads. He was an exceptional driver and Della felt sure he would break every record on the roads.

She thought now that on reaching her home they might stay for luncheon.

She was, however, not quite sure if that would be what her husband would desire and she was feeling nervous.

What would her uncle say to her marriage without his permission or even an invitation to the wedding?

The Marquis turned his horses in at the gate and Della was conscious of an expression of surprise in his eyes when he saw the house.