Love Became Theirs (14 page)

Ignoring her cry he spoke in a harsh voice.

"Who is the master here?"

Monsieur Thierre stepped forward.

"My name is Armand Thierre, and this is my house. You are – ?"

"I am James Trafford. You must forgive me for disturbing you when you are having a meal, but I have come to fetch my daughter back to England. It was only last night that I was told where she was staying in Paris, otherwise I would have been here earlier."

Rona gave a murmur of horror and felt as if she was turned into stone.

Monsieur Thierre gave a little bow and addressed the intruder with exquisite courtesy.

"You are welcome in my house, Mr. Trafford," he said, and held out his hand.

Mr. Trafford ignored it and strode the length of the table until he reached Rona. He snapped,

"You have put me to a great deal of trouble to find you.

Now go upstairs and pack your case. I am taking you back to England."

For a moment Rona could only stare at him. Then she summoned up her courage and said,

"I am sorry, but I prefer to stay here."

"You are coming back to England with me immediately," her father answered angrily. "You have behaved in a disgraceful manner in running away and you will marry Lord Robert as soon as we get home."

"I am not coming home, Papa," Rona replied, as firmly as she could. "I am engaged as a governess. I am very happy in my employment."

"Stuff and nonsense!" her father exclaimed. "You are no more a governess than I am. You are engaged to Lord Robert and you will conduct yourself with propriety. You had no right to run away in that scandalous manner causing both me and him a great deal of trouble. Go upstairs at once, do you hear me?"

There was silence, as though nobody knew what to do. He was speaking in English, but the guests around the table were all cultivated people, and knew enough of the language to understand what was happening.

Then the Earl who had been staring with astonishment at Mr. Trafford, said,

"I think, sir, you are being, to say the least of it, somewhat offensive. Your daughter is employed by me as a governess, and I would be very sorry to lose her."

Mr. Trafford stared at him and said sharply: "If my daughter is pretending to be a governess, it is all part of her disgraceful behaviour in running away from home and from the man she is to marry."

Rona sprang to her feet.

"No! No! No!" she cried. "I will not do that. I will not marry Lord Robert whatever you say."

"You are my daughter, and you will do what I tell you to do."

"I will not marry him! I will not!" Rona exclaimed angrily.

Now there were tears in her eyes and her words came shakily.

It was then the Earl went to stand beside Rona.

"Your daughter is remaining here," he said.

"You should be silent, sir," Mr. Trafford thundered. "You have no standing in this matter."

"On the contrary. My standing is that of her promised husband."

Rona gasped and stared at him, uncertain whether she had heard correctly.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Trafford asked sharply.

"What I say," the Earl answered. "Your daughter has promised to be my wife."

Silence.

"My daughter, sir, is engaged to another man."

"No," said the Earl quietly. "She is not."

"How dare you – "

"It is her decision, not yours. I will not permit you to bully her or take her away against her will."

"
You
will not permit – ? You have absolutely no authority – "

"I am Rona's fiancé. This is my authority, and I shall exercise it to the full to stop her being upset in any way. There is, after all, no reason why you should forbid the marriage."

"Forbid it, of course I forbid it!" Mr. Trafford said angrily. "I have made other plans for her."

"But they are not
my
plans," said Rona desperately.

She understood now that the Earl had made this desperate gamble to save her, but would not expect her to take him seriously. Once her father had departed, things would resume their normal course. All she had to do was play her part.

Her heart ached a little that it was not Peter who had exerted himself to save her. But he was standing close to the Countess, half turned away from Rona. She had the feeling that he was deliberately avoiding looking at her. Her anger flared, and it gave her courage.

"You should listen to her," said the Earl gravely. "If she is set against this man, you surely cannot expect to force her."

"She is my daughter and I demand her obedience. I have her best interests at heart, and have arranged a good marriage for her – a man with a title – "

"A Duke perhaps?" enquired the Earl with cool courtesy. "Or a Marquis?"

These were the only two titles that outranked his own.

"A connection to a Duke," said Rona's father stiffly.

"Oh Papa!" she exclaimed in despair. "He's a younger son, and he has no hope of the title, because if he had he wouldn't be bothering with me."

"Then he's a great fool," said the Earl, smiling at her. "Sir – " he returned his attention to Mr Trafford, "I should have introduced myself before. I am the Earl of Lancing, and it will be my pleasure – my honour – to make Rona my Countess. I know that I shall be happy with her, and I shall do my best to make her happy with me."

At that, the guests broke into applause. All around the table people were smiling, looking from Rona to the Earl, then back to the outraged father.

Mr. Trafford reacted to this announcement very curiously. He should have been pleased at the prospect of this advancement for his daughter, but the scowl did not leave his face.

Rona, knowing her father, guessed that his chief emotion at this moment was fury at being defied. He had decreed that she should marry Lord Robert, and he wanted his own way, even in the face of a better prospect for her.

He glared at the Earl.

"I will consider your application for my daughter's hand," he said stiffly. "I am far from certain that you would be a suitable husband for her. In the meantime she must come with me."

"No," said the Earl quietly.

He guessed, as did Rona, that once she was in her father's power there would be no escape again. This man was too angry to think clearly.

Mr. Trafford's next act confirmed it. He shot out a hand to grasp Rona's wrist.

"You will come with me," he raged, trying to pull her to her feet.

But he was thwarted by the Earl's hand on his arm. Looking around he saw that every man in the room had closed in behind him.

"Come to see me tomorrow," said the Earl, "and we will discuss arrangements, settlements and so forth. I love your daughter, and you will not find me ungenerous. But for the moment I think you should leave. Perhaps later your natural fatherly affection will enable you to wish us happiness."

For a moment Mr. Trafford stared at his daughter, then at the Earl. His face was black with fury.

Then he turned sharply round and walked from the room.

He slammed the door behind him and for a moment no one moved.

Then uproar broke out. There was more applause and a few cheers. Monsieur Thierre signalled to the butler, and within moments footmen began bringing in champagne.

Alice was in ecstasies.

"Oh, I'm so happy. Now you'll stay with us for always."

"No, no, darling, you don't understand," Rona said frantically. "It isn't real. Your Papa said that in order to protect me, but he didn't mean it."

"Did I not mean it?" the Earl asked her quizzically.

"My Lord, please, you mustn't think – I know very well that you were only being kind. Please don't imagine that I'll try to take advantage by holding you to it."

He took both her hands in his and spoke gravely. "I know that you are the most honourable woman in the world, far too honourable to take advantage of me. Perhaps it is I who has taken advantage of you."

He smiled at her warmly.

"You had to choose between returning with that dreadful bully of a father, or accepting my hand. My dear, what a terrible choice. How unfair for you to be put in that position! We will say no more for now. Let them drink to us if they want to, and then you and I will talk privately together later. Never fear. Nobody will force you to do anything you don't like. I won't allow that."

Rona heard these gentle words with astonishment. For the first time it dawned on her that the Earl was following his heart. He actually wanted to marry her.

Looking into his eyes she saw warmth and tender devotion.

And love.

Rona was shaken to the depths by the discovery.

This generous man loved her, and suddenly her situation was not simple after all.

"Do you know what I think?" he asked lightly. "I think the best thing either of us can do is to simply go along with this for as long as necessary."

"But think what a position you're putting yourself in," she urged. "If I were unscrupulous, I could sue you for breach of promise."

He smiled tenderly.

"Now, why didn't it occur to me that you might be unscrupulous?" he asked. "But you know, my dear Miss Johnson, I feel strangely safe putting my fate in your hands."

His eyes were glowing with love for her. She wanted to turn away from the beauty of that glow. He was such a good man, and she felt as guilty as if she was deliberately deceiving him. But she was trapped, with no escape.

"My real name is Rona Trafford. The man who burst in here is my father, and he's trying to force me to marry Lord Robert Horton. I'll die first."

Rona was sitting with the Earl in the library of the Thierre house. The evening was over and their hosts had kindly left them alone.

"I've met Lord Robert," the Earl mused. "Cannington's son. I've never liked him, or his father, come to that. From what I hear he needs an heiress."

"Exactly," said Rona bitterly. "Lord Robert wants me only for my father's money, but he's been making love to a friend of mine. Insofar as he has a heart at all, it belongs to her. But he abandoned her, so that he could court me.

"When I found out the truth, I was determined to do anything to get away. Then I saw your advertisement in the newspaper. Forgive me for deceiving you."

"There is nothing to forgive," the Earl said at once. "I think you were very brave. Of course this explains everything about you that has puzzled me."

Rona gave a faint smile.

"Yes, I didn't play the part very convincingly, did I?"

"Well, you're like no other governess I've ever met, but my family is so much happier since you joined it. I think your father will never give up until we announce an official engagement."

"Please don't worry about that, my Lord – "

"But I'm not worried. It's what I hope for. Of course, from your point of view it's a very poor match. I'm a lot older than you, and I know you're not in love with me, as I am with you. But if you have nowhere else to go then perhaps – you might consider becoming my wife."

Rona gazed at him, touched by the humility with which he described himself as a poor match, and was prepared to accept second best.

"You would marry a woman who is not in love with you?" she asked at last.

"I love you so much I would care for nothing else. You could have anything you wanted to make you happy."

Now she must tell him that it was hopeless because she loved his brother-in-law. But that would involve explanations that she could not make. Her promise to Peter held her silent.

"Don't answer now," the Earl said. "We have until tomorrow to decide how to confront your father."

His tone was so kind that her conscience tortured her. Surely she might give him just a hint of the truth, to save him suffering? Peter would understand.

And then Peter walked into the library.

Overjoyed, Rona looked into his face, trying to read there some sign that she might speak. But the Earl spoke first.

"Peter, I'm glad you came."

"That was quite a speech you made in there, old boy," Peter observed.

"I meant every word of it. I've just been telling Rona how much I love her and long to marry her. I can tell you, because you're family. You don't mind, do you – about Valerie?"

From outside the library came the sound of Emilia's voice, advancing on them.

Rona had the feeling that Peter pulled himself together.

"Valerie has been dead for four years, Giles," he said in a voice that revealed nothing. "I'm glad for anything that makes you happy. Is it settled?"

"Good heavens, no! Rona hasn't made her decision and since her position is delicate, I think we'd better leave matters until the morning."

But the Earl's looks belied his words. He was glowing with joy.

"Oh, you poor darling!"

Emilia stood in the doorway, in a froth of theatrical sympathy. She darted across the room to touch Rona on the cheek.

"How terrible for you! But how delightful that everything has ended so happily. And now you will be Lady Lancing."

"She will if I have my way," said the Earl warmly.

"Then I wish you both very happy," said Emilia at once, kissing Rona on both cheeks.

Rona felt stunned. A great tidal wave was carrying her onwards and she could do nothing to stop it. Whatever help she had expected from Peter was not going to be forthcoming. She knew that now.

She had a stark choice.

Return to her father, to be bullied into marriage with a man she despised.

Or marry this warm-hearted man who loved her, although she did not love him. Ally herself with Peter by marriage, and endure the torment of loving him hopelessly all her life.

"I'm very tired," she said hurriedly.

"Of course you must go to bed," said the Earl at once.

"And you and I must go out dancing," Emilia told Peter. "Come, you promised me."

"And I never break a promise to a lady," he said lightly.

But he could not look at Rona while he said it.

*

Rona rose early and dressed quietly so as not to wake Alice, and slipped downstairs to the garden, and from there to the little wood beyond. She desperately needed to be alone to weep.