Lovers in London (12 page)

Then as he continued seeking resemblances he was aware again that the Princess was undoubtedly beginning to look a little older and he knew she was having difficulty in hearing what people said.

The Prince was laughing once again at something Lanthia had said to him.

The Marquis noticed a certain glitter in His Royal Highness's eyes that made him stiffen.

He recognised all too well what that look meant.

In his friendship with the Prince he had known it was always a danger signal to any woman to whom His Royal Highness was talking.

Quite unexpectedly the Marquis felt angry.

Last night, because he knew the Prince so well, he had suspected that his passion for Lillie Langtry was now on the wane.

It was nothing he could put into words and yet he was aware, as if the Prince had told him that the writing was on the wall.

Another passionate liaison between him and a great beauty was clearly coming to an end.

What the Marquis had never expected was that in inviting Lanthia to luncheon, the Prince meant something more than that he was anxious to show his affection for an old friend.

Yet there was now no doubt from the way he was looking at Lanthia that he found her entrancing.

It was with difficulty that the Marquis did not rise and take Lanthia away at once.

He had seen so many women succumb to the Prince as if he was a tidal wave they could not resist. The mere fact that he was even near to them would start their hearts beating faster.

Then he told himself he was being absurd.

How could the Prince ever consider Lanthia to be anything other than a young, unsophisticated and innocent girl? Plus she was engaged, as far as he knew, to be married to one of his closest friends.

At the same time he was well aware that the Prince did not bother with any conventions, rules or gentlemanly code of behaviour when it concerned his heart.

He always found a beautiful woman irresistible and when he did so there were no barriers he was not prepared to break down. In fact there were no steps he would not take to capture her.

‘It would be a crime against nature itself to let that happen,' the Marquis decided, ‘where young Lanthia is concerned.'

He appreciated that she had found everything they had done since he first met her part of her dream world and there had quite obviously been no reality at all about their encounter.

But she would find it very real indeed if the Prince started to make advances towards her.

Which, the Marquis now suspected, was already in his mind.

‘I will not allow it!' he fumed and wondered what on earth he could do to could prevent it.

The dishes provided for the guests at Marlborough House were invariably delicious, but the meals were never long drawn out affairs.

As soon as they had finished the dessert course, the Princess took the ladies back into the sitting room.

Lanthia had hardly looked at the room earlier and she now saw that it was heavily panelled with the sofas and easy chairs upholstered in leather of the same colour as the rich blue velvet curtains.

There was a large writing desk, which she guessed was used by the Prince, close to a table strewn with documents, reference books and newspapers.

There were two dogs lying on the rug in front of the fireplace and in the fashion set by the Queen at Windsor Castle there were enormous displays of family photographs everywhere.

But Lanthia only had a little time to look round.

As soon as the gentlemen had joined them from the dining room, the Marquis proposed that they should leave.

Lanthia was reluctant to do so, but she rose to her feet obediently, feeling as she did so that the Gladstones had settled down to stay for a much longer time.

She said her goodbyes to the Princess, curtsied and thanked her for inviting her to luncheon.

“It has most certainly been, Your Royal Highness, a wonderful experience which I shall always remember.”

“You must come again,” said Princess Alexandra, “the Prince and I are always glad to meet any friends of Rake's.”

She smiled at the Marquis and he kissed her hand.

“You have always been so very kind to me, ma'am, and one day perhaps I shall be able to repay you.”

He was ruminating that he was doing so already in taking Lanthia away!

His suspicions aroused at luncheon were increased when the Prince walked with them to the top of the stairs.

“I have found Lanthia even more enchanting that I did last night, Rake,” he confided. “We must fix up a little dinner party before the end of the week when I can see you both again.”

“What can I say, sir, except that I am very grateful to you.”

He could not, however, repress a touch of sharpness in his voice, as he was well aware that the Prince was not listening to him, but kept his eyes on Lanthia.

She was certainly the loveliest sight for anyone to behold.

The Marquis took his hat from one of the footmen and noticed that the Prince had not returned to the sitting room, but was watching them quizzically from behind a Chinese screen.

He pretended that he did not see him as he followed Lanthia through the door and they waited while his chaise drew up in front of them.

They climbed in and as they were driving away, Lanthia said,

“Thank you, thank you so much for taking me to Marlborough House. It was really a wonderful occasion I shall always remember.”

“And doubtless the Prince will remember you too!” the Marquis murmured.

Lanthia gave a little laugh.

“I think that is extremely unlikely, but he is very interesting and it was a great privilege for me to sit next to him at luncheon.”

“I thought you might find the occasion rather dull with everyone so much older than you.”

“I thought all the guests were fascinating including Mr. Gladstone.”

“At your age,” the Marquis remarked, driving carefully through the bustling traffic, “you should be with young gentlemen and finding yourself a suitable husband.”

Lanthia grinned.

“Now you sound like my mother! That is what she will expect me to do when we come up to London next month.”

“It is what I hope you will do too. You are so very beautiful, Lanthia, and there will be plenty of young men who will be eager to marry you.”

“I have no wish to be married until I find exactly the right person,” insisted Lanthia.

“What do you think he will be like?”

Lanthia was silent for a while and then she replied as if she was thinking out her answer very carefully,

“I am not exactly sure what he will look like, but I will know at once when I meet him that he is the one man I am looking for.”

The Marquis considered this to be a rather strange answer.

After passing a carriage that was going very slowly in front of him, he enquired,

“Who are you looking for exactly? Someone with an important title?”

Lanthia smiled.

“No, of course not! Someone who will understand me and what I am thinking.”

“Is that so very difficult? And naturally, like every other young woman, you hope to wear a coronet on your head and throw large parties like the Duke of Sutherland's last night.”

There was a cynical note in his voice.

“That is
not
what I want!” she asserted positively. “I want something
very
different.”

“I don't believe you. You are just trying to make it sound more difficult than it really is!”

Lanthia did not answer and after a moment he said,

“Supposing, now just supposing, that someone like me asked you to be my wife, what would you say?”

Lanthia did not hesitate.

“I would say
no
. Although it would be very kind of you to think of it.”

The Marquis was astonished.

He had expected her, as he had mentioned himself, to look coy or perhaps shy and avoid the question.

Because he could not help being curious, he asked her,

“Why would you refuse me?”

“It is rather difficult to put into words, but there is something missing.”

The Marquis turned his head to look at her in sheer amazement.

“In me?” he questioned.

Lanthia nodded.

“I cannot really explain it, but I shall never be able to say ‘yes' to any man until I am convinced that he is the one who is with me in my dreams.”

The Marquis could not think of any answer to her.

In fact he was completely astounded.

He was so used to women clinging onto him and falling into his arms. They would look at him passionately almost before he was even introduced to them.

He could not believe that Lanthia had actually said she would not marry him even if he asked her to do so.

It was naturally something he had no intention of doing.

Equally how was it possible that she was the only woman in the world he had ever met who did not desire him as her husband or lover?

‘I must be growing old,' he pondered to himself, ‘and perhaps I am losing my attractions!'

At the same time he had seen the fire glowing in the Contessa's eyes yesterday, and the same familiar flicker was very present in the eyes of several of the ladies he had spoken to at the Duke's dinner party.

This young girl from the country had been with him in the most unusual circumstances during the last twenty-four hours.

Yet she had told him quite firmly and truthfully that something was
missing
in him.

‘I just do not understand,' mused the Marquis.

He drove on further and as they proceeded down Regent Street he was aware that Lanthia was looking at the shops with delight.

She was obviously completely unaware that she had dropped a bombshell at his feet.

As they neared
The Langham
, the Marquis said,

“I am afraid I cannot ask you out to dinner tonight as I have a long-standing engagement with some friends at White's Club.”

“It was very kind of you to take me to luncheon at Marlborough House and I enjoyed it all enormously,” she replied, hiding her disappointment.

“We will have luncheon tomorrow,” suggested the Marquis, “and I will try to find out, perhaps tonight, how long the Conté is staying at the hotel. As soon as he leaves we will no longer need to be scared of him and what he might do to me next.”

“I too must return home to the country perhaps the day after tomorrow.”

“We can only hope that nothing untoward happens before then, but we must make our plans tomorrow as to what we shall say and what we shall do if the Conté has talked to any more people.”

“Do you think His Royal Highness will talk?”

“I managed to have a word with him before we left the dining room,” answered the Marquis, “and he promised to keep our engagement a secret.”

“Then I am sure he will keep his word,” she said confidently.

The Marquis drew up outside
The Langham
.

“Thank you for a lovely time,” Lanthia said again.

She smiled at him and when a porter opened the carriage door, she stepped out of the chaise.

She waved her hand and the Marquis raised his hat.

Then as he drove off, she walked up the steps and into the entrance hall.

The manager was standing just inside.

“Did you have a nice luncheon, Miss Grenville?” he enquired.

“I have had such a wonderful time,” replied Lanthia dreamily.

“I hope everything is to your satisfaction here in the hotel?”

“We are very comfortable and I enjoyed the party last night enormously.”

“I guessed that you would,” answered the manager.

Lanthia walked towards the lift, thinking that she had perhaps been a little extravagant in buying the extra evening dresses.

Unless of course the Marquis should take her out again tomorrow night.

‘It must be so boring for him to be hampered with me,' she told herself in the lift. ‘And I still cannot believe I have really had luncheon at Marlborough House with the Prince and Princess of Wales. It is a pity I cannot tell Mrs. Blossom about it all and I must ask the Marquis first before I let anyone into the secret.'

*

The Marquis drove away from
The Langham
.

He realised that Lanthia was disappointed that he was not taking her out to dinner tonight.

It was something he would have liked to do, but he had, however, thought it was a mistake to be seen in public with her.

It would undoubtedly mean more people talking about them than there were already.

He hoped that although they had both been at the Duke's party last night, no one except the Spaniards and the Prince of Wales would connect them with each other.

He believed that the Prince would keep his promise not to tell anyone that they were engaged.

‘Lanthia has behaved so extremely well in the most difficult circumstances,' he murmured to himself.

It now occurred to him that he should have sent her flowers, as he would have done automatically with any other woman.

As she was so young and their relationship with each other so completely different, he had not thought of it.

Now as he had nothing else to do, he drove to Bond Street to a flower shop where his secretary bought some of the flowers that decorated his house in Park Lane.

As he entered the flower shop, the proprietor bowed respectfully and asked what he could do for him.

“I am seeking something unusual,” he replied.

He looked around and noticed a basket filled with pink rosebuds not yet in bloom. They were most skilfully arranged with bows of pink ribbon tied onto the basket.

“I will take that,” he said.

The shopkeeper hurriedly wrapped up the bottom of the basket and carried it out to the chaise.

The Marquis was just about to climb back into the driving seat when he saw that the shop next door was the jeweller his mother and some of his relations patronised.