Love Drives In (6 page)

But then she remembered that she was here under false pretences. How could she blame him for keeping his secrets when she herself was keeping so many?

"What I came to tell you," Mr. Johnson said, "is that we're planning a big meeting in Birmingham, to which we will invite buyers from all over the world. There we will put our horseless carriage on display and gather orders ahead of our competitors. I'll write to you soon when I know more. But be prepared to come to Birmingham quickly."

"I will," she said.

"I know your father, if he were alive, would be thrilled and delighted that we have been so successful. I think it only right, if you agree, that if our great new invention is praised, as it will be, you take the credit of owning it and make everyone aware that your father unfortunately is no longer with us."

Dorina drew in her breath.

For a moment she almost felt as if the room was swinging round her.

She found it difficult to believe what she had heard and to realise the importance of it.

Then she told herself that she must not behave like a frightened woman.

As her father's daughter, she must bravely face the future carrying on his great legacy.

And yet it flashed through her mind that she would be far happier if she remained as she was, with the Earl, growing closer to him.

Then she told herself she would not be a coward.

At last she managed to say,

"Of course I will do exactly what you want me to do. I can only thank you, as my father would have done, from the bottom of my heart. Have people not been curious as to where he is?"

"I told them he was abroad looking for new ideas and new inventions," Mr. Johnson said, "and, of course, everyone in their minds added – 'and new customers.'"

Then almost as if he thought the Earl might be listening, Mr. Johnson added,

"Are you quite certain Lord Kennington does not know who you really are?"

"Of course not," Dorina replied. "I came here as his secretary, and he has no idea I have any interest other than the work I am doing for him."

"Good. Let's hope it stays that way. I gather that his own vehicle is so far advanced that it might cause us problems if news gets out. As things are, we will soon have the world at our feet."

"Or perhaps
he
will," she murmured.

'I suppose,' she told herself, 'I ought to hate him, because if his car is at all good, it will take some of the glory away from me and Papa.'

However she did not say this aloud.

"It will certainly do that," Mr. Johnson agreed. "May I say you are your father's daughter in thinking of other people as well as yourself?"

"Thank you," Dorina said.

"Perhaps I should go now. It would be better if the Earl does not find me here."

When he had left, Dorina sat silently thinking over what she had heard. She knew that this should be her proudest and happiest moment. But all she could think of was how the Earl had thrown dust in her eyes.

'He is cleverer than I thought him to be,' she thought.

In a strange way she found that she was almost as eager for his success as she was for her own, even though they were rivals.

She wished that she could discuss it with him, and no longer keep her true identity a secret.

'How close we might have grown, sharing the same ambitions,' she thought. 'Now, perhaps he will think I was spying on him.'

She could not bear that thought. She had found that there was something almost magical in being with him.

But now, how could things ever be right between them again?

After a while Dorina realised that she could not go on day dreaming all this time and went back to work.

But within a few minutes there was another interruption.

She heard the sound of voices in the hall. The butler seemed to be trying to restrain someone who would not be denied.

She was very smartly dressed. The feathers in her hat fluttered as she shut the door behind her.

As she approached the desk she gave an exclamation and stared at Dorina.

"Where is Evelyn?" she asked, naming Dorina's predecessor.

"I am afraid Miss Barnes is very ill, so I have taken her place."

"Are you now his Lordship's secretary?" the woman asked in such a scathing voice that Dorina looked at her in surprise.

She thought she was deliberately being unpleasant.

"I have come," she said quietly, "to help his Lordship in an emergency. Fortunately that is what I am able to do."

"I should be very much surprised if you can," the woman answered. "I told him that I would be calling on him this morning. Where is he?"

"He has had to go out," Dorina told her.

"But I want to see him at once," the newcomer persisted. "In fact we had arranged to be together today, and that is why I came here as early as I could."

"I am sure his Lordship will be returning as soon as possible," Dorina replied. "In the meantime perhaps you would like to wait for him."

She spoke in a polite voice, but it was hard to keep her temper in the face of so much unpleasantness.

"He should have informed me," the woman went on accusingly, "that he required a secretary. I would have found him one who would be, I am quite sure, far more capable of doing his very difficult work than you are."

She was being very rude. But Dorina knew that in her position, it would be a mistake to be rude in return.

"I am sure, madam, you know your way about the house and the butler will bring you any refreshment you require. I will tell his Lordship as soon as he arrives home that you are waiting for him."

"I will be very surprised," the woman retorted, "if you do anything efficiently. You are far too young and far too inexperienced for this work, and I will tell him so as soon as he comes back."

With that she went out slamming the door behind her.

Dorina was astonished that anyone so smartly dressed, who was obviously of some importance, should behave in such a way.

When a few moments later, the butler appeared she asked,

"Who was that lady? She was very upset not to find his Lordship at home."

Henly laughed.

"Upset, is the right word," he replied. "She's been scowling at me as if it is my fault he's forgotten the appointment."

"Who is she?" Dorina enquired.

"Lady Musgrove. She's been after his Lordship for some months. If you ask me she fancies herself as a Countess and there's not a person in this house who's not praying it won't happen."

"She certainly seemed annoyed and surprised to find me here," Dorina replied.

"Of course she was," Henly answered. "You're far too pretty for her Ladyship's liking, and I know now why she snapped at me in the drawing room."

Dorina laughed.

"Of course not," the butler agreed. "But Miss Barnes is about fifty. She's a good worker but she doesn't look as good as you do. You're like a bit of sunshine in the early morning."

Dorina laughed.

"That is the nicest compliment I have ever received," she said. "I would love to be a bit of sunshine, and I hope I've helped his Lordship with this huge amount of correspondence. Just look at what has arrived this morning and someone has to answer them for him."

"Well, her Ladyship thinks you're too pretty to be useful behind a desk," the butler said. "If you ask me it would be a disaster for us all if his Lordship married her, as she wants him to do."

Dorina could understand that.

After the way Lady Musgrove had spoken to her, she was quite certain that she could not manage the household in the way her mother had always done.

As she had said so often,

"If the servants are happy, their master is happy. Always remember that, darling, and it is something which should be written in every rich man's and woman's diary."

Dorina had laughed at the time and her father did too.

But she knew that all the servants at home were devoted to them both.

They had been unceasingly kind to her from the time she left the pram and toddled into the kitchen.

But she did not allow herself to think too much about who the right wife might be.

She was still working on the correspondence, when Lady Musgrove reappeared.

"Exactly when did his Lordship depart?" she snapped.

"I am afraid I have no information," Dorina replied, "as he left before I came down to breakfast."

Lady Musgrove stared at her.

"Are you staying here in the house?" she asked in astonishment.

"When I applied for the job, I explained to his Lordship that I had only just returned home from the continent," Dorina told her. "He therefore offered me a room until I found somewhere else."

"All I can say is that you should do so as quickly as possible," Lady Musgrove replied. "It is not a good idea for people to think he has a young secretary who looks, to my mind, overdressed. That sort of thing is not good for his reputation."

Dorina drew in her breath.

For a moment she thought she should be as rude to Lady Musgrove as she was being to her.

Again she thought it would be a mistake.

Instead she said,

"Lodgings in London are very expensive."

"Then I suggest is that you look harder," Lady Musgrove retorted. "I am sure in some back alley you will find a cheap bedroom where, at least, you can spend any free time you have, rather than staying here in Grosvenor Square."

As she finished speaking she turned on her heel and swept out of the office.

'She
is
ghastly,' Dorina thought. 'I expect she is honey-mouthed and charming when the Earl is here. But he has no idea that she can be so poisonous to anyone she thinks is beneath her.'

She did not see Lady Musgrove again and learned later that, after waiting for another hour, she had left.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, as far as I'm concerned," the butler said.

Dorina laughed.

"She certainly told me off and I expect when she comes back again she will hope to find this room empty."

"Don't take any notice what she says to you," Henly told her. "She's been the same ever since I first saw her. She orders me about and complains that the food isn't cooked as she really likes it. Then when his Lordship appears she's sweetness and light."

"Does he believe all that nonsense?" Dorina asked.

Henly shrugged his shoulders.

"Men are always taken in by a pretty face," he replied. "Her Ladyship never lets him forget for a moment that she was once known as the prettiest girl in Mayfair."

"I'm surprised at that!" Dorina exclaimed with unusual tartness.

The butler grinned in comprehension.

"That was ten years ago," he told her. "Now I think her looks have got as sharp as her tongue, and that's saying something!"

Dorina laughed.

"It certainly is," she agreed. "I only hope that his Lordship does not listen to her. But I suppose all men like to be praised."

The butler thought for a moment before saying,

"If a man has any sense he'd want to see the woman he marries when she's her real self and not blinding him from the truth, which he learns soon enough after they are married."

"Now you're being very cynical," Dorina said.

"When you work for an Earl you do get a bit cynical about the tricks ladies get up to," he said. "They all want to trap him into marriage. She's not the only one."

"No, I'm sure." Dorina agreed, thinking of Elsie.

'How can they do it?' she thought silently. 'How can any woman marry a man for his title? When I marry, if I ever do, I want to be very much in love.'

The butler left her and sometime later she heard the Earl's voice in the hall and knew that he had returned.

To her surprise, for it was something he had not done before, he came into her office instead of sending for her to go to his sitting room.

"How were the races?" she asked, thinking how well he looked.

"Wonderful. My horse won. Now I'm in festive mood, and want to celebrate. Let us go out somewhere tonight."

"What?" she echoed, half laughing.

"Come, let us have an evening of celebration. We will wine, dine and be merry. Say that you'll come with me."