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Authors: Barbara Cartland

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BOOK: The Importance of Love
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“Of course. Brilliant, simply brilliant!”

“You are not seeing the wood for the trees,” suggested Luella impishly.

She got up and walked over to his drawing board and examined his drawings. She stood so close to the Viscount that he was almost overcome with love for her.

“It will be a very fine house,” she said appreciatively. “I do believe I would like to live in such a place.”

Enraptured by her nearness the Viscount could not help himself.

“You could, Luella – if you agreed to be my wife!”

Almost as soon as the words had left his lips, he realised he had made a grave error in giving voice to his feelings.

Luella's expression changed from rapt interest to chilly distance, as she moved away from the drawing board and towards the door.

“I have just remembered, there is a letter I should write informing the servants at Aunt Edith's home to make ready for our return. Much as we have enjoyed your hospitality, we are eager to see our own beds again. Now, if you will excuse me – ”

With a swishing of skirts, she left the room.

The Viscount thumped his fist down on his drawing board.

“Damn! Damn!” he cried. “Now, I have lost her. should not have blurted out what I was thinking. I am such a
fool
.”

*

He did not see Luella again until dinner that evening.

Even the arrival of a new telephone, an event that had caused much excitement with the servants, did not appear to interest her when he had tried to demonstrate it.

The Countess joined them, which served to make the atmosphere less strained.

Luella looked lovelier than ever and it hurt the Viscount to see her act in such a cool manner towards him.

“You really must come and stay with us in Perthshire,” Aunt Edith was saying, enjoying Mrs. Cork's
minestrone
soup. “Braemore Castle, although ancient and a little draughty, is splendid in August. You could come in time for the grouse.”

The Viscount cast a glance at Luella and saw a look of dismay cross her features, so he replied,

“Thank you, but I shall be occupied here with the renovations. I intend to have the builders begin work the moment I have finished the plans. In fact some will be arriving next week to knock down some old outbuildings and I have taken your suggestion of siting the orangery near the kitchen, Luella.”

“My niece is a very clever young lady,” observed the Countess. “If she was a man, she would be the most successful in whichever field she chose to specialise.”

“Aunt, you are making me blush,” exclaimed Luella, putting down her spoon. “Besides, Lord Kennington is a most brilliant architect – of that I have no doubt.”

When she spoke about him, Luella did not look directly at him and it hurt that she referred to him so formally. He loved to hear his name on her lips.

“I shall be sorry to leave on Monday,” continued the Countess. “We shall go to London for a week – the coast should be clear and, no doubt, Frank Connolly will have given up chasing around trying to find us.”

“You are quite welcome to stay as long as you like,” offered the Viscount.

“Thank you, but we wish to return home after shopping in London. We have been away for long enough,” jumped in Luella.

Her swift retort stung the Viscount and he resolved to speak with her alone as soon as he could.

‘She is obviously deeply offended by my sudden proposal,' he thought, ‘and I do not wish her to feel as if I am another troublesome pest in her life.'

As they retired to the drawing room the Viscount took Luella to one side. “Luella, I fear I have upset you by proposing,” he said, as the Countess tactfully left them alone.

She flushed deep scarlet.

“You have not,” she replied awkwardly. “I confess I was taken aback by you, but I do not find the idea out of the question. Just not yet awhile, that is all – ”

The Viscount took her hand in his, ever so gently, and looked into her eyes.

“Might I hope?”

“Let me think on what you have said, David, and I promise I will give you an answer after I have returned home. I will need to consult Aunt Edith.”

“Of course,” he answered eagerly. “Now, we should join her as she will be wondering where we are.”

Luella turned and left the dining room.

The Viscount paused for a moment and breathed deeply to calm himself.

‘She has not said no,' he thought. ‘
There is hope yet
.'

Later, as they finished their coffee, the Viscount announced that, rather than stay in a hotel, he proposed they should use his house in South Audley Street.

“I shall telephone the servants and ask them to make the house ready for you,” he said. “Bennett will take you to the station in Barnstaple. I would not hear otherwise so please do not protest.”

“Thank you, it is most kind of you,” said the Countess. “You will not want for anything while you are under my roof.”

The Viscount shot a look at Luella and a surge of love filled his heart.

‘Please say
yes
,' he urged her silently, as she chatted gaily with her aunt. ‘My life is utterly in your hands.'

*

It was with a heavy heart that the Viscount waved goodbye to the Countess and Luella the following Monday morning.

Almost as soon as they left, Torr House felt enormous and empty.

With a resigned sigh, he returned to his drawing board and worked as hard as he could. The builders were due later that week and there was no time to spare.

The Countess enjoyed her ride in the Daimler immensely and remarked to Luella that she might consider buying such a machine once they had returned to Scotland.

“Think of all the day trips we can make to the Highlands,” she mused.

“And I do not wish to sit and grow old without something to look forward to.”

Luella laughed as the Countess sat beaming in the passenger seat.

They both felt incredibly sad to leave Torr House.

Luella found she had a lump in her throat as they reached the end of the drive, as she realised that she would not see the Viscount again for a long while.

*

And whilst they were boarding the train to Exeter and onwards to London, in a small Duke Street hotel, Frank Connolly was registering himself as a guest.

“How long will you be staying with us, Mr. Connolly?” asked the clerk.

“I don't know. Perhaps a week, perhaps longer.”

“Very well, sir. Now, if you will follow the porter, he will see that you are settled into your room. I hope you have a pleasant stay.”

Frank Connolly grunted with ill humour.

He had no intention of having a pleasant stay. He had one matter on his mind – and one only.

Once inside he dropped his bag to the floor and cast a perfunctory glance around the room. He then went straight out again.

It was a rainy day in London and for July a trifle chilly. Frank Connolly buttoned up his coat with its old-fashioned caped shoulders against the drizzle and bent his head low as he made his way to Marylebone High Street.

There in a quiet side street he entered an open doorway and ascended the grubby stairs. Outside, the brass plaque read
Henry Jones, Private Detective
.

At the top of the stairs, he twisted the black doorknob and entered. A secretary asked his name and bade him sit down.

A few moments later, he was in Mr. Jones's office, showing him a photograph of Luella.

“I want you to find my – sister-in-law at all costs,” he began and then adjusted his tone when he saw the look on Mr. Jones's face. “She disappeared months ago and has come into an inheritance that she knows nothing about and I have been charged to find her. My late brother would have wished it.”

“It will not be cheap, Mr. Connolly,” said Mr. Jones, taking the photograph and examining it. “But she is a fine-looking woman. Should not be too hard to track her down. A toff, you say?”

“I have reason to believe that she is travelling with the Countess of Ridgeway.”

“Then, we shall find her, rest assured, Mr. Connolly. At this time of year the nobs desert London, so if she's here, I'll soon track her down.”

“Spare no expense,” said Frank Connolly, as he put on his hat and rose to leave. “She must be found at any cost.” As he descended the stairs, he felt a sense of growing satisfaction.

‘She will not be able to hide for much longer and I have ascertained that they have yet to return to Scotland, so they can only be in London,' he murmured. ‘If Jones is as good as his reputation states, then, Luella Ridgeway, wherever you are, I shall discover your whereabouts and claim you!'

Rubbing his hands together in glee he emerged onto the street with something approaching a smile on his face.

CHAPTER SIX

Luella and the Countess arrived at Paddington station late that night exhausted from their long and arduous journey.

They were surprised to find that the Viscount had arranged for them to be met by his large and gleaming phaeton.

“These cannot be the Viscount's footmen,” whispered Luella, as she helped her aunt settle into the carriage. “Did he not say that only two servants remained in his London home? He must have hired them especially for the occasion.”

“He is, indeed, a generous man,” commented the Countess. “But that is hardly surprising considering he is a man in love – ”


Aunt
!”

Luella blushed to the roots of her hair and cast her eyes downwards as Aunt Edith continued,

“But I am right, am I not?
He is in love with you
.”

Luella looked down at her gloves and bit her bottom lip.

“He has asked me to marry him.”

“Then, why, my dear girl, did you not accept? I am assuming that you did not, otherwise he would have come to speak with me.”

“I cannot and you know the reasons why.”

“I know of
one
reason why you believe yourself not worthy of him and I hope the other was not me. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself and going back to Scotland on my own.”

“Aunt, I would not hear of it. But you are right about the other reason.”

“The shadow of Jean-Marie Bouillicault still casts a shadow over you even now, nearly a year later?”

The Countess shook her head and took Luella's hand in hers.

“Luella, dearest, it was not your fault what happened.”

“But I was engaged to him after a whirlwind romance that would have caused a scandal as it was. And, worse still, I ran away with him only to find that he was already married to another! How foolish will David think me? In addition, he will view me as second-hand goods.”

“Darling, everyone knows that your virtue was never compromised by him. I would vouch for your purity. Besides, no one in England has heard of him and you were not named in the French newspapers, so what is there to worry about?”

“I think he will no longer love me if he discovers the truth,” she sighed.

“And do you love him?” asked her aunt. “I can see that something has been troubling you deeply and I have been wondering – ”


Oh
,
yes
,” replied Luella fervently. “It was only when we were on the train that I realised just how much. I did not expect it to be such a wrench to leave him. But, with each passing mile, I felt distressed to no longer be with him.”

“Then, do not hesitate, darling, seize your chance of happiness.”

“Excuse me, my Lady. We are here.”

The carriage had come to a halt and the footman was on the pavement, holding open the door.

Luella looked up at the elegant house with its walls of red London brick and black-framed windows.

An electric light burned in the hall of number 23, South Audley Street and Luella could see a butler waiting for them.

“Welcome, Miss Ridgeway. My Lady. My name is Bellamy,” he said bowing to them. “If you would come this way, you will be shown straight to your rooms.”

Luella was delighted to find that she had been given a large room with a comfortable bathroom. She was so tired, she did not bother to unpack. Instead she undressed, put on her nightdress and went straight to bed.

‘I wonder where Frank Connolly is?' she asked herself as she drifted off. ‘But I feel so safe beneath the Viscount's roof, I really must stop worrying.'

*

At the same time in Torr House, Hoskin, found his Master pacing the bedroom when he entered with a glass of water.

“Will that be all, my Lord?”

“Thank you, yes.”

Hoskin closed the door and left the Viscount alone with his thoughts. Taking his candle to the mirror, he held up the long blonde hair that he had found on the back of the sofa and admired it as if it was a holy relic.

‘Luella,' he muttered. ‘I would have not believed how much I could miss you already.'

*

The next few days were highly enjoyable for Luella and the Countess.

The Viscount's carriage was totally at their disposal and they took a great many trips in it – Bond Street, Knightsbridge, Kew Gardens and the museums at South Kensington, to name but a few.

At first, they did not pay any heed to the man in the bowler hat and checked overcoat, who lingered in the shadows wherever they went.

He watched as they emerged from a fashionable Bond Street couturier and noted down the time, and he stood silently in a doorway as they left Harrods, burdened down with packages.

He wrote down everything he saw until he was satisfied that he had garnered enough information to report back to his client.

Mr. Jones sent a message to Frank Connolly's hotel and asked him to come to his office at once. Barely two hours later, he was at the door, impatiently pacing around the waiting room.

“Mr. Jones will not be much longer,” said the secretary, after he had demanded for the third time in fifteen minutes to see the detective.

BOOK: The Importance of Love
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