Follow Your Heart (17 page)

The pink Elizabethan bricks looked most attractive in the sunshine and Della was certain that he had not expected anything so beautiful or so ancient.

He drew up the horses outside the front door.

Storton came running down the steps to greet the carriage.

“It's good to see you, Miss Della!” he exclaimed. “His Lordship's been worrying as to what had happened to you.”

“I am quite safe, Storton,” Della assured him. “Is his Lordship in the study?”

“Writing away, Miss Della, as might be expected.”

Della walked in through the front door and as the Marquis joined her, she said,

“Come and meet my uncle. I am a little frightened in case he is angry with me for getting married without his permission.”

“Leave everything to me,” replied the Marquis. “You know, my precious, I will not have you upset for anything.”

Della did not reply. She just walked to the study door and opened it.

Her uncle looked up, saw her and gave out an exclamation of delight.

“Della, you're back!”

She ran towards him.

“Please forgive me, Uncle Edward, for running away and for being married without telling you about it.”

Lord Lainden stared at her in astonishment.

“
Married
!”

“I have brought my husband here to meet you,” added Della breathlessly.

The two men looked at each other.

Then Lord Lainden spoke slowly,

“Perhaps I am mistaken but surely you are Kelvin Chorlton?”

“And you are Lord Lainden,” replied the Marquis. “I enjoyed your speech in the House of Lords last month and agree with every word.”

Lord Lainden held out his hand.

“I was exceedingly fond of your father,” he said looking confused, “but I cannot quite understand what Della has just said and why you are here.”

The Marquis smiled.

“We were married yesterday. It was a case of love at first sight and I was terrified of losing her.”

“Married!” cried Lord Lainden again. “I find it difficult to believe – ”

Della held on to his arm.

“We are so happy, Uncle Edward. And if the Duke is disagreeable then I am sure Kelvin can find you a house on his vast estate.”

“Which Duke is that?” asked the Marquis, “and why should he be disagreeable?”

“The reason – I ran away – to the gypsies – ”

“So Della, you were with the gypsies!” her uncle ejaculated. “I wondered where on earth you could have gone, but it never struck me you would go with Piramus and Lendi. But I am sure they looked after you well.”

“They dyed my hair to disguise me as a gypsy and Kelvin has been brave enough to marry me believing I was one of them,” Della told him simply.

She slipped her hand into the Marquis's as she spoke, half afraid he would be annoyed at her deception.

But he only said,

“How could you have deceived me so cleverly and how could you have told fortunes so well, if not better, than Lendi?”

“It is my Scottish blood which makes me capable of reading peoples' minds, a gift I inherited,” answered Della. “And I had to escape from the Earl of Rannock.”

The Marquis stared at her incredulously.

“Rannock!” he repeated sharply. “What have you got to do with that young swine?”

Della looked at her uncle.

“His father, the Duke, was determined that I should marry him. That is why I ran away.”

The Marquis put his arm round her protectively “Thank God you did so,” he sighed. “I would not want my worst enemy to have anything at all to do with Rannock!”

“The Duke was determined I should save him from – himself,” Della stammered. “And, because I was frightened he might make life very uncomfortable for Uncle Edward, I ran away to try and work out a solution to the dilemma.”

She smiled before she added softly,

“And – I – found –
you
.”

“For which I thank God, the stars, the moon and everyone else who might have been involved!”

He looked at Lord Lainden before he asked,

“Are you really likely to have any trouble with Marchwood over this?”

“I thought for one moment that we might be in a great deal of trouble,” explained Lord Lainden. “But as it happened, the most amazing thing has occurred.”

“What is it?” asked Della breathlessly.

“The rakish Earl has fallen in love,” replied her uncle.

Della stared at him.

“Not with – me,” she faltered.

“No, my dear, you are quite safe. As soon as you disappeared he spent every day, as far as I can ascertain, with Lady Southgate. She is taking as much trouble over him as she is taking over her puppies. And believe it or not he looks like becoming a reformed character, thanks to her.”

“Are you saying she will marry him?”

“Actually the village knows far more about the affair than I do,” answered Lord Lainden. “But that is exactly what she is considering she might do.”

Della clasped her hands together.

“Oh, Uncle Edward, how wonderful! This means the Duke will not be unpleasant to you and you will still be able to ride his horses.”

“I think,” the Marquis intervened, “it would be much more sensible if your uncle took a look at my Dower House which is empty at the moment. It is not unlike this house and it would give me great pleasure to have someone so distinguished living on my estate. I feel sure like you, my darling, that Lord Lainden will enjoy the use of my library.”

“What a really glorious idea,” enthused Della. “Oh, please, Uncle Edward, do consider it. I would love you to be near us and when Kelvin can spare me I can go on helping you with your book.”

“It is certainly something I would like to consider,” he responded. “And thank you, Kelvin, for such a generous offer.”

“I think actually I am being quite selfish,” added the Marquis. “I do not wish Della to be out of my sight for one moment, and it will be far better for her to run down to the Dower House than to tell me she has to come here to see you in case you are lonely.”

The two men laughed and Della pleaded,

“Please, Uncle Edward, be ready to move in as soon as we return from our honeymoon.”

They talked about the proposed move over luncheon and when they drove off the Marquis said,

“My precious, how could anything be so perfect? My family will be ecstatic with joy that I have married someone not only as beautiful as you, but who is the niece of your uncle whom they all respect.”

“I shall never forget that you wanted to marry me when you thought I was only a gypsy!”

Della moved a little nearer to him as she spoke and her hand was on his knee.

The Marquis took his eyes off the road to look down at her.

“You look so incredibly beautiful and if you speak to me with that little catch in your voice which I find irresistible, I shall forget I am driving and we shall have an accident.”

Della laughed.

“You are too good a driver for that. At the same time I want you to tell me that you like my hair the colour it is and that you are glad you did not have to fight for me because your relations thought you had picked me up in the gutter.”

“No one who ever looked at you could think such a travesty of the truth,” answered the Marquis. “Equally I admit it makes my life very much easier than I expected. But nothing in the world would have prevented me from marrying you anyway. You have stolen my heart and I would always have been crippled by the loss of it if I had not married you.”

“Oh, darling, darling Kelvin, I love you so. It is not only the exciting compliments you pay me, or the fact that when you kiss me you carry me up to Heaven. It is also because you are so kind, so clever and so understanding.”

“I adore and worship you,” sighed the Marquis. “And the sooner we sail away, the better. I want to tell you just how much you mean to me and it is far easier to say so without words.”

Della gave a little laugh of sheer happiness.

Then as she looked ahead she could see the outskirts of Southampton in the far distance.

The Marquis's yacht was waiting for them.

They would set off on a voyage of discovery which would make them inseparable because they were both longing for the joy and bliss of their divine future together.

It was a treasure beyond price.

It was the ecstasy and wonder that God has given to man.

Quite simply it is
love
.

The Love that comes from God, and makes those who are fortunate enough to find it, a part of God in this life and forever.