A Virgin Bride (9 page)

“I am so sorry, my dearest, that Leone has become infatuated with that stuck-up young Rockinston.

I have always found him very tiresome.”

That was all – but it was enough.

The Earl immediately rushed back to London arriving at three o'clock in the morning, catching Rock virtually red-handed.

When he thought it all over in the cold light of day, Rock realised he had in fact been very stupid.

He should never have embarked on an
affaire-de-coeur
with Leone knowing the enmity her husband had for him. Indeed the Earl had made it quite obvious during the past few years that he disliked even hearing Rock's name mentioned in his presence.

‘It was foolish of me,' Rock mused in the darkness of the Master Cabin.

They had stopped for the last night of the voyage in a quiet bay so they could anchor at The Castle conveniently before midday.

Rock still found it impossible to fall asleep.

He was thinking that at least he had been astute enough to avoid a duel, which was forbidden by Queen Victoria, and had avoided meeting the Earl face to face.

The Earl had called at Rock's house in Park Lane, but the servant's had been instructed to say he had gone away and that they had no idea when their Master was expected back.

In the meantime just like a message from the Gods, he had thought that his only possible way of escape was to announce his engagement.

He had received a pathetic note from Leone, saying that her husband was threatening her with divorce and if that happened she would be exiled from London – and she would have to live abroad or kill herself.

Rock did not take her threat to kill herself seriously, but he felt very sorry for her – she was so beautiful and had such an unpleasant husband.

It was so obvious she would look elsewhere for the love, affection and admiration she naturally craved.

Rock knew that he was not the first lover she had taken when the Earl was away, nor would he be the last.

But he had no wish to be involved in a scandal and, as he well knew, nothing could be more scandalous than a divorce.

If the Earl divorced Leone it would take a very long time, as it had to be approved by Parliament.

Then he would, as a gentleman, have to offer her marriage and that would still be completely unacceptable in the Social world, so they would both be obliged to live abroad.

He had been frantic and spent sleepless hours wondering desperately what he could do.

It occurred to him how angry his family would be – they may even turn their backs on him for creating such a scandal and blackening the family name.

When he went through friends he could count upon to stand by him, he instinctively thought of the Duke of Lynbrook.

He had seen him only the previous week.

The Duke had been interested in him and fond of him since he was a boy, and had told him where there were some excellent thoroughbreds soon to be put up for sale.

“I have been offered them confidentially,” he said, “as the owner has no wish for anyone to know that he is in trouble and is obliged to sell his stable. Naturally he does not want his relations to know about it.”

“I can understand,” Rock had murmured.

“Of course you can. But I do know I can trust you Rock, not to let this go any further. You can see the horses immediately and I will tell him that you are as trustworthy as I am. We two will be the only people who are aware of the predicament he finds himself in.”

“I am very grateful to you indeed. It is very kind of you to trust me.”

“I was very fond of your father and I always thought he would have been proud of you if he had seen you win the Oaks last year and the Derby the year before.”

“I was so fortunate that he taught me how to ride and how to pick out a good horse as soon as I could walk.”

The Duke of Lynbrook laughed.

“You certainly succeeded in making your name in the racing world and I am told in other fields as well!”

“You should not listen to women's talk,” Rock said rather daringly.

“I admit they talk too much, but as you will find, my dear boy, life would be very dull without them.”

Rock had bought six horses from the man's stable and because he was sorry for anyone down on their luck, he paid more for them than he should have done.

But they were all particularly fine horseflesh and he was very grateful to the Duke of Lynbrook for giving him the opportunity to purchase them.

When he was thinking about him, he remembered that his wife had once been a great beauty and that he had a daughter.

Someone had mentioned the Duchess of Lynbrook at a party he had attended recently, saying,

“If Lynbrook's daughter is as beautiful as Elizabeth was when she first came to London, all I can say is that the girl will have a dozen hearts thrown at her feet from the moment she appears!”

Rock was already certain that the one person who would help him in his present predicament was the Duke of Lynbrook.

‘Even if he will not assist me,' he reflected at the time, ‘he will not talk.'

Rock had therefore gone to visit him at his house in Berkeley Square the following morning.

The Duke of Lynbrook had already been told what had happened and he realised, without asking too many questions or making any comment, that Rock was in a very difficult situation and had to be saved.

He had not thought of the possible solution himself until Rock had suggested a little hesitantly,

“The only way I can think of to save myself from – utter destruction and also the Countess's reputation would be if you would allow me to marry your daughter – ”

He thought even as he spoke that the Duke might fly into a rage and throw him out of the house.

Instead there was an astonished silence.

The Duke had looked at him as if he half suspected this was a joke and finally he replied,

“There is nothing, my dear boy, that would please me more.”

To Rock it seemed as if the dark cloud which had enveloped him ever since he had opened the front door to find the Earl facing him, was evaporating.

An hour later he left the house in Berkeley Square feeling as if he was walking on air – the Duke of Lynbrook had taken everything out of his hands.

He had also advised Rock to leave London just as quickly as he could.

“To go to Scotland to tell your mother you are to be married is an excellent excuse for your absence,” he said. “No one can openly accuse you of running away then.”

Rock had been only too glad to do exactly as he suggested and hurried back to Park Lane to order his valet to pack his clothes.

Then he had joined his yacht, which was moored some way down the Thames, before it was time for luncheon.

As
The Thistle
moved out to sea, he said a prayer of thankfulness.

He was quite sure he could leave everything in the capable hands of the Duke of Lynbrook.

Even by the time he reached his castle in Scotland he had hardly given a passing thought to his future wife as a person.

Vaguely at the back of his mind he reckoned that she must be as beautiful as her mother and her father was a most distinguished-looking man.

What was more important than anything else was that his family would be very delighted and there was no question of his mother being upset and thinking he was making a
mésalliance.

His mother was largely responsible for the fact that he had given up making love to actresses and dancers and turned instead to bored married women. They were Socially acceptable but more importantly ‘safe'.

Some time ago he had realised from conversations with his uncle and cousins that his mother – and they – were desperately worried about him.

He had been enjoying himself, as most young men of his age did, with those who were called ‘
white doves
', and they feared he would somehow be led into marrying one of them.

He had no intention of doing anything so stupid and, despite all the efforts of his family to marry him off and provide an heir, he had managed to remain a bachelor.

Most of his contemporaries had found themselves married well before they were twenty-five and there was practically no girl in Society from a distinguished family he had not been pressured into meeting.

Of course he was an exceptional catch, he realised that.

But he had a long time ago made up his mind that marriage was not for him, unless he fell head over heels in love.

His friends from Oxford, who he saw frequently at White's Club, had all been married several years ago and if not actually bored with their wives, they were always ready to enjoy a new attraction on the side.

One of them had confided in him,

“You are wise, Rock, not to have married too young. I find now that the responsibility of a wife and family can be very boring. Next time you go off on one of your trips abroad, unless you take a female companion, you might like to ask me to accompany you.”

Rock had vaguely agreed to such a proposition, but he found that when he did go abroad, he liked going alone to unusual places.

He knew that was not the sort of holiday he would be expected to give his friends, but parties at which everyone drank too much were not his idea of fun.

However, now he was in trouble he was sensible enough to realise that only a woman could save him.

He must marry whether he wanted to or not.

If it were to someone like the Duke of Lynbrook's daughter, it would then be impossible for the Earl to bring a case against him.

The Duke of Lynbrook was always welcomed at Windsor Castle and there was little doubt that the Queen would approve of his daughter's marriage, especially if it was to someone as ‘illustrious' as himself.

That they would then be accepted enthusiastically by Society went without saying.

No one could complain that the new Duchess of Rockinston did not have a family tree as good as his own.

“Blue blood should go to blue blood.”

How many times had his relatives said that to him?

He knew that everyone respected the Duke and his wife's beauty was still referred to every time her name was mentioned, even after her early demise.

‘I have been exceptionally astute,' he told himself.

At the same time he was wondering just how he would cope with a wife who was so much younger.

He thought of the many
debutantes
who had been presented to him and from whom he had escaped as soon as possible – and he imagined that she would be like them.

Those he had talked to, and there were very few, he had found incredibly dull. They were either very shy or, when they did make an effort to speak, they talked, in his opinion, utter nonsense.

He could imagine nothing more dreary in the long winter evenings than if his new wife either had nothing to say or indeed too much!

But he knew he should be eternally grateful that he could be engaged at a moment's notice to someone who would be acceptable not only to his mother and family but also to the Queen.

Because the Queen had been fond of Rock's father, she had always been extremely pleasant to him.

He had been summoned to Windsor Castle on odd occasions and the Queen congratulated him on his horses.

She had always made it abundantly clear that she was genuinely pleased to see him and he supposed that one day when she was older, his wife would take her traditional place as the Lady of the Bedchamber.

Then they would both have to be frequently at Windsor Castle, which he did not look forward to with much enthusiasm as he found the pomp and ceremony a bore.

“I don't want to be married – and that is the truth!” Rock exclaimed not once but a dozen times when he was alone in his cabin.

*

When next morning they anchored in front of his castle, he felt depressed.

Certainly, as far as his mother was concerned, she would be thrilled that he was at last seeing what she called ‘sense'.

But he knew that even though he had no intention of confiding in anyone else, he would have to tell her the truth, no matter how horrified she might be by it.

Sighing heavily he stood up straighter, mentally preparing himself for the day ahead.

Because he had sent her a telegram to say that he was arriving, he was not at all surprised when the moment the yacht appeared the pipers began to play.

When he stepped ashore there were servants in their kilts and his mother's companion waiting to welcome him.

Then, accompanied by the pipers, he walked through the garden and up the long flight of steps to The Castle itself, which had been constructed high above the sea with a magnificent view over the bay.

“How is my mother?” he asked her companion.

“Very excited to be seeing you, Your Grace,” she replied. “She has been quite active recently despite the fact that the doctor keeps advising her to rest.”

Rock nodded, his mother was not the type of woman to spend her days resting.

In fact, during his last visit Rock's mother had said to him,

“I told them, dearest, that I can rest in the grave!”

She now exclaimed in delight at seeing him, telling him animatedly, almost before he asked, of the prospects for the grouse shooting in the autumn and that the river was full of salmon.

“Then I will certainly return again to Scotland as soon as possible,” he responded.

“But why are you here now, Rock?” she demanded. “I felt sure that you would be far too busy enjoying yourself and making sure your horse wins the Gold Cup at Ascot.”

Rock laughed.

It was so like his mother, even though she was in the depths of Scotland, to know exactly what was happening.

He glanced round the room to make certain they were alone before bending forward confidentially,

“My engagement was announced in
The Gazette
three days ago.”

His mother gave a little cry.