An Innocent in Paris by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788673624
Publisher: Barbara Cartland Ebooks ltd
Published: 2020-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Faster, faster!” Gardenia cried excitedly as Bertie drove his splendidly matched tandem along the dusty almost empty roads that criss-crossed the Bois de Boulogne.

“If you want to go so fast then you should have let Bertie drive you in his Peugeot,” Lord Hartcourt remarked drily.

“Horses are much more fun,” Gardenia asserted positively. “Besides one feels as if one is going much faster.”

Bertie laughed.

“It all comes down in the end to imagination. So I have been imagining myself flying an aeroplane.”

“An aeroplane!” Gardenia exclaimed.

“I was talking to a chap called Gustav Hammel only last night,” Bertie went on. “He is determined to beat Bleriot and get to England in half the time. There is something in the idea, you know, Vane. We may all be flying in a few years’ time.”

“How thrilling!” Gardenia enthused. “I remember Mama and I were very thrilled when we read about Monsieur Bleriot crossing the Channel. The French always seem to think of something ahead of every other country.”

“Not always,” Bertie objected. “There is life in the old lion yet. Don’t you agree, Vane?”

“I hope so,” Lord Hartcourt said surlily, “but we have to admit the French have beaten us so far when it comes to progress in the air.”

“I would love to meet Monsieur Bleriot,” Gardenia said. “Do either of you know him?”

“Well, I can introduce you to Gustav Hammel, who will introduce you to Bleriot,” Bertie said, “and there is an Englishman who has done a lot for flying, Claude Graham-White. You know him, Vane?”

“I have met him,” Lord Hartcourt replied. “But I imagine the days when ladies take to the skies is very far off.”

“Don’t be so terribly damping,” Gardenia pleaded. “If you talk like that, I shall join the Suffragette Movement and scream for women’s rights!”

“That is the most awful lot of nonsense I have ever listened to,” Bertie said. “Women are making a blasted nuisance of themselves, forgive my language, Gardenia, tying themselves to railings and screaming outside the Houses of Parliament. It makes one quite ashamed of the fair sex!”

“I personally don’t want a vote,” Gardenia said, “but I think women have a very raw deal all round. Look how they are ordered about, first by their parents and then by their husbands. A woman never has a chance to think for herself or do anything she wants to do.”

“I will let you do anything you want to do,” Bertie said in a low voice.

“You are very kind,” Gardenia added lightly, “but I could not have come out today if Aunt Lily had said ‘no’.”

“What made her change her mind?” Bertie asked, guiding his tandem with exquisite skill past two stationary motor cars.

“I just cannot think,” Gardenia said quickly, not anxious to pursue the subject. “It must be because women are unpredictable.”

“That is for us to say,” Bertie laughed. “I have always found them so. What about you, Vane?”

Lord Hartcourt seemed uninterested in the subject. Instead he asked,

“What do you think of Bertie’s horses, Miss Weedon? Don’t you agree

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.