Follow Your Heart (3 page)

“I am back, Uncle Edward,” she puffed, “and exactly on time.”

She curtsied to the Duke, who bent and kissed her cheek.

“How are you, my dear, or is that a silly question?” he asked. “You look very pretty and there is a flush in your cheeks which tells me you have been riding again.”

“Yes, indeed I have - one of your horses which I highly recommend as being outstanding even amongst the rest of your stable.”

“That is most interesting, my dear, and I must certainly try the newcomer for myself. What is his name?”

“Most appropriately – Samson, and as I always imagine the great man to have been not only strong but intelligent and with an irresistible charm, that accolade also applies to your stallion!”

The Duke chortled.

“What a very excellent recommendation and one I hope you will soon be applying to a man.”

As he finished speaking he moved towards the front door and to her surprise Della realised he was leaving.

“Why, are you not staying for luncheon?” she asked.

The Duke shook his head.

“I have a number of people waiting for me at the Hall and fortunately luncheon is at one–thirty as my sister is arriving from London, so I will not be late.”

He looked at Lord Lainden as he spoke and his eyes twinkled in case he might be accused of the crime of being late.

Then as the Duke took his hat from the footman he turned to say,

“Goodbye, Edward, and I shall be waiting eagerly to hear your answer to my question.”

Lord Lainden did not reply. He walked to the door to watch the Duke hurry into the waiting carriage.

The footman, wearing an impressive uniform, closed the carriage door before climbing up onto the box beside the coachman.

As the horses moved off, the Duke bent forward to raise his hand and Lord Lainden waved back.

The carriage proceeded swiftly down the drive.

“I felt sure he would stay to luncheon,” sighed Della.

“He has rather important friends staying with him,” commented her uncle, “and now we must not keep
our
luncheon waiting.”

He walked quickly towards the dining room with Della following him.

She wondered vaguely what the answer might be to the Duke's important question, but her uncle spoke of other matters as soon as they sat down.

She thought it must be something confidential that could not be discussed in front of the servants.

The luncheon was excellent, but Della thought Mrs Beston would be disappointed that the Duke had not stayed.

She had, however, a great deal to tell her uncle about her ride and informed him that the gypsies were now in residence in the field beside Long Wood where they camped year after year.

“So they are back!” exclaimed Lord Lainden. “That is good and of course I must go and see them.”

“They will be very disappointed if you do not.”

Della then told him how Lendi was now bedridden and added that Mireli was learning to take her place.

She knew her uncle was listening intently, but at the same time she could sense there was something on his mind.

And it was worrying him.

Della had always been able to pick up on the thoughts and feelings of others, ascribing her feyness to her mother's Scottish ancestors and their folklore of those born with ‘second sight'. Even as a child she had been sensitive to what was happening around her, aware of secrets that never occurred to other children the same age.

When she grew older she found she knew things which grown–ups either kept hidden or were not aware of themselves.

Sometimes she found herself predicting an occurrence before it happened.

During her first stay at Wood Hall she had been aware of the ghost before anyone else told her about it.

‘I wonder what is worrying Uncle Edward,' she pondered before luncheon was over.

She knew her uncle so well. He never had to tell her when he was faced with a difficult political problem, as she was aware of it from the way he spoke or perhaps it came from his vibrations.

She was glad it was the Duke who had been the visitor otherwise she would have been suspicious that he was being asked once again to go abroad. Perhaps it would be either to Paris, Berlin or Amsterdam to settle some international difficulty for which no one else could find a solution.

But it was the Duke who had brought a note of discord to the house.

Della therefore supposed it must be something to do with his family. At one time there had been a monumental crisis when the Duke's nephew became infatuated with a most unsuitable woman. If it had just been an
affaire–de–coeur
no one would have worried particularly.

The gossips would soon have found someone else to talk about, but the Duke, however, had learned that his nephew was contemplating marrying the woman in question.

She was absolutely determined to make herself a Duchess and the Duke had, of course, turned to Lord Lainden in despair. It was not surprising to Della that her uncle with his usual brilliance and understanding of people had in some way managed to get rid of the woman and at least there had been no scandal.

She wondered if one of the Duke's family was in trouble again, or alternatively it might be just something wrong on the estate.

Whatever it was she realised that it was worrying her uncle.

She considered that it was rather tiresome of the Duke not to try to solve his own problems.

It was so important for her Uncle Edward to rest.

He was, in fact, writing his memoirs which Della found extremely interesting. He had known so many famous politicians and had travelled to so many fascinating countries. In addition he possessed a sardonic sense of humour that was all his own.

She was certain that his book, when it was finished, would be a bestseller. The difficulty with her uncle, however, was that he always wanted everything done immediately, on time and at a moment's notice!

That was quite impossible where a book was concerned, as there was so much he had to look up and so much he had to remember.

Della longed to help him and yet it was impossible for her to do more than encourage and praise him. She was also able to point out any passage she found difficult to understand.

Luncheon was not a large meal. Lord Lainden was usually in a hurry at midday, but was prepared to relax in the evening.

As the coffee was served Della asked,

“What are you going to do this afternoon, Uncle Edward?”

“I think after what you have told me, I will ride down and see the Lee family at the gypsy camp, but first I want to talk to you, so let us go into the study.”

Now, Della thought, she would hear what had been worrying him.

There was a serious note in his voice, which made her think it was a somewhat serious problem. She wished the Duke would not come to upset them and it was particularly annoying when her uncle had been in such a good mood for the last two or three days.

He had just completed a whole chapter of his book and Della had expected him to continue writing this afternoon so that they could discuss what he had done over dinner.

Yet he suddenly wanted to go riding and visit the Lees, almost before they had settled down. This was something he had never done before and she could not help thinking that whatever the Duke had said was really worrying him.

As they walked down the corridor Lord Lainden put his hand on Della's shoulder.

“You know how much I love having you here with me, my dear,” he began. ‘In fact you have brought sunshine into the house which has made a great deal of difference to me and to everyone else.”

Della looked at him in surprise.

“That is a very sweet compliment to pay me, Uncle Edward, but I cannot help wondering why you have done so now.”

They had reached the study door and her uncle took his hand from her shoulder.

“That is just what I am going to tell you, my dear Della.”

They walked into the room.

As Della expected her uncle went to stand in front of the fireplace as he invariably did when he was discussing anything important. In the winter the fire was warming, but now the fireplace was merely filled with plants, which created a patch of colour whilst looking very attractive.

Della sat down in one of the armchairs in front of her uncle.

She thought, as she looked at him, that despite his age he was a very good–looking and attractive man. There was an air of authority and gravitas about him, which was only to be expected after his distinguished career.

Although his hair was turning white, it still covered his head and he was by no means bald.

Silhouetted against a magnificent picture of horses by Stubbs, he looked, she decided, exactly as an Englishman should and it would be difficult even at his age to find anyone to rival him.

Although she had sat down, Lord Lainden had not spoken.

“What is worrying you, Uncle Edward?” asked Della quietly. “I cannot think why His Grace must bring all his problems to you.”

Lord Lainden smiled.

“He expects me to solve them for him, my dear, as you are well aware. But this one actually concerns
you
.”

Della looked astonished.

“Concerns me! But why
me
– and about what?”

There was a pause before Lord Lainden replied simply,

“Jason has come home.”

Della stared at the uncle in sheer astonishment. “Jason has come home!” she exclaimed. “I do
not
believe it.”

“It is true and I thought you would be surprised.”

“I am astonished. But why after all these years?”

They were speaking about the Duke's only son, the Earl of Rannock, who had lived abroad in France for the last five years.

He had always been a raffish young man.

When he grew older, although his father and everyone else begged him to settle down, he refused. He spent his time with the fastest and most questionable Society beauties when he was living in London.

Then he journeyed to Paris and the stories of the parties he gave, and the women he gave them for, were the talk of his relatives and friends. The gossips of Mayfair naturally found him an irresistible subject of their conversation.

Perhaps only Lord Lainden knew how deeply hurt the Duke was by the behaviour of his son and heir.

He certainly tried in every possible way to make Jason see sense and behave more reasonably.

Of course he suggested he should marry and have a family.

If Jason did not do so, the title and the estate would pass to an obscure cousin on the Duke's death and he was unmarried and nearly as old as the Duke.

It seemed as if the Dukedom might be lost forever and there would be no future Earl of Rannock, which would be a tragedy as the Dukedom was extremely old and could be traced back to the Battle of Agincourt.

To say that the Duke was proud of his antecedence was to put it mildly. To him it was almost sacred.

He had spent a lifetime improving Wood Hall and the estate and he had collected every possible portrait he could find of his many ancestors.

The Duke had many relatives, but there were none in the direct line except for Jason.

Jason had been in trouble ever since he was born.

He was a sour, sickly child who became almost uncontrollable as he grew stronger. He behaved so badly when he was sent to Eton that the Headmaster threatened to expel him.

It was understandable that when Jason appeared in the Social world, women pursued him for his title and his money.

However, he chose the most outrageous and notorious females to be his closest associates. In vain the Duke begged his more respectable friends to invite Jason to their parties, but he either refused them or behaved so badly when he did attend that they never asked him again.

In some ways it was a relief when he moved out of England announcing that he found London boring and bought a house in Paris.

It was impossible for people not to learn how he was behaving in France and for the Duke not to hear about it.

Over and over again, as Della knew, the Duke had rushed to her uncle with a story of Jason's latest outrageous behaviour. At times he seemed almost in tears.

That Jason ran up enormous bills was immaterial, the only thing the Duke wanted was for him to marry some suitable young lady so that he could take over the running of the estate.

Jason's answer was very clear.

He was not interested in country life or country pursuits.

He rode and he drove in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris accompanied by the most fantastic Parisian
cocottes
, who he encouraged to be even more outlandish than he was.

Della was a schoolgirl when her parents were living in London and the Duke's relatives would whisper about Jason when she was present. Yet invariably sooner or later, she heard of his latest escapade.

Now she remembered that three years ago when she was only fifteen, the balloon had gone up.

Jason had married without informing his father until after the ceremony had taken place and when the Duke had heard the news, he nearly died of shock.

He learnt that Jason had married one of the most notorious of all the
cocottes
in Paris. She had already been the mistress of two Princes and the King of the Netherlands!

When Lord Lainden was first informed he was immediately suspicious of her motives.

Later he was proved right that the woman had more or less tricked Jason into marriage, craving his title and his fortune.

There was no doubt that he was infatuated with her, but the Duke had believed that he still had the decency not to besmirch the family name. So how could Jason marry a woman who they would be ashamed to put on the family tree?

The Duke wanted to find excuses for his son, but it was impossible to escape the anger and the disapproval of his relatives, besides the humiliating pity of his friends.

“There is nothing I can do,” he wailed to Lord Lainden in a broken–hearted voice.