The Audacious Adventuress by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788672078
Published: 2019-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

“There are ever so many presents arrived for you, miss,” Rose announced excitedly as she brought Druscilla her breakfast tray.

“Oh dear!” Druscilla sighed. “That means more letters of thanks.” But quickly she added, “That sounds ungrateful. I am really delighted to have – so many wonderful gifts.”

“They are indeed magnificent, miss,” Rose agreed with a note of awe in her voice.

Downstairs in the Blue Salon all the presents had been unpacked with the card bearing the giver’s name attached to each by a piece of white ribbon.

Druscilla knew that the guests who were to attend the Wedding would be not only curious but critical of the presents that she and the Marquis had received.

She was well aware that the quality of the gifts and the extravagance of many of them were entirely due to the Marquis’s station in Society.

She could not help thinking with a wry smile that had she been marrying someone of little import, there would not have been the massive silver plate, the huge candelabra, the gold ornaments or indeed any of the treasures of great value that came pouring into the house hour after hour.

The Dowager’s Comptroller, Mr. Hanbury, had listed everything punctiliously, so Druscilla knew it was unlikely that anyone would be offended at being thanked for a gift that they had not sent or have their present ignored by an oversight.

But yesterday evening she had looked with dismay at the long list of letters that she would have to write as soon as they reached Lynche Hall.

At the same time she could not help being rather thrilled at the thought of being in part anyway a recipient of so much largesse.

The Dowager Marchioness’s gift had been a manificent diamond necklace.

“This is for you alone,” she had said to Druscilla, “and this is your own personal property. If you wish to dispose of it, you can without having all the family Trustees and Solicitors looking down their noses.”

“I shall never part with it,” Druscilla cried and there were tears in her eyes as she bent to kiss the old lady’s cheek. “There is nothing I can give to you in gratitude for all you have done for me – except my heart.”

“I thought that belonged to your bridegroom,” the Dowager remarked with a cynical note in her voice.

“He must spare you a very large portion of it,” Druscilla laughed and then added with a little throb in her voice, “If only you knew what it means to me – to possess anything as sublime and precious as this.”

“It will become you. You are very beautiful, my child, but you will be more beautiful still when you become a woman.”

Druscilla blushed, knowing full well what she meant.

When she carried the diamond necklace up to her bedroom, she had sat for a long time in front of her mirror, wondering at its sparkle and brilliance and feeling that the mere possession of it healed many of the scars that she had incurred when she had been alone and penniless.

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.