A Duel With Destiny by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782137412
Publisher: Barbara Cartland Ebooks ltd
Published: 2015-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

“Dear Papa,

I don’t wish to go to school. I want to be with horses, so I am going away to earn my living.

Don’t worry about me. I have taken half a sovereign from Rowena’s housekeeping money and will pay it back as soon as possible.

With love to everybody,

Your affectionate son,

Mark.”

Rowena read it through at first quickly and then more slowly.

Her lips tightened before she then said aloud,

“This is the Marquis’s doing – this is all his fault!”

CHAPTER FIVE

“I took the liberty while you were away, my Lord, of ordering a number of new paints and the gold and silver leaf that Mr. Gaynor required for his work.”

“Quite right, Ashburn,” the Marquis replied. “I hope you ordered in large quantities as I have some further work for Mr. Gaynor to begin immediately.”

“I will see there is enough, my Lord.”

The Marquis signed some papers lying on his desk and handed them to his secretary.

“This letter,” he remarked, “can wait – ”

He was interrupted as the door opened.

“Excuse me, my Lord,” the butler said, “but there is a lady to see you – a Miss Winsford. She says it’s urgent.”

For a moment the Marquis was still.

And then he said,

“Show her in, Newman.”

“Very good, my Lord.”

The butler withdrew and Mr. Ashburn moved towards the door.

Before he reached it, it opened again and the butler announced,

“Miss Rowena Winsford, my Lord!” and Rowena came into the room.

She was looking very pale and her bonnet, although plain and cheap, did not disguise the sun-tints of her hair or the translucence of her blue eyes.

The Marquis rose to his feet, Mr. Ashburn bowed and withdrew as Rowena walked towards the desk.

As the door closed behind his secretary the Marquis asked quietly,

“What has happened?”

“You may well ask,” Rowena replied in a low voice. “This is your doing!”

She held out Mark’s letter towards him as she spoke and he took it from her, well aware that she would not have come to Swayneling Park unless something very untoward had happened.

The Marquis read the note and then he said,

“I am sorry that this has occurred. I should have talked to Mark myself. I should have anticipated that he might feel apprehensive at being removed from the environment he is familiar with and sent away to a strange place.”

“I don’t believe that would have troubled him if he had not become obsessed with your horses,” Rowena commented bitterly. “I told you that you were upsetting the whole household and this is the only one of the disasters that will be the direct result of your interference.”

“Suppose we sit down and discuss it?” the Marquis suggested.

“There is nothing to discuss,” Rowena replied. “I am here because I wish to speak with your grooms and find out what they have said to Mark and what stories they have told him. He obviously has some idea in his mind as to where he could go to work in someone’s stables.”

Just for a moment she paused and then she added in a quieter tone,

“I do ‘t imagine that he would come here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.