Free A Night of Gaiety by Barbara Cartland

time intelligent and able to do almost anything well.
    T hat was not to say that riding, fishing, shooting, and making a house a happy place were accomplishments fo r which anyone would employ her.
    T hen uncomfortably she knew the answer.
    W hat her mother had been was a very accomplished wife, and Mr. Stirling had been right when he had said she ought to get married.
    “ Perhaps I shall meet someone here in London,’ she thought, and knew, although she had no reason for thinking so, that it was unlikely.
    S he was quite sure that whatever Katie might have said about Gaiety Girls getting married, the men she had seen last night were out to enjoy themselves and were not looking for a wife amongst the glamorous, lovely actresses they escorted to Romano’s.
    T hey were fascinated, amused, and certainly entertained by the charmers sitting under the flowery bells inscribed with their names, or leaning towards them across the table in a manner which made the lowness of their elaborate gowns seem somewhat immodest. But that did not mean marriage.
    “ Besides,” Davita said to herself, “if I married into that sort of life, I would be like a fish out of water.”
    A s if it was something somebody had said aloud, she knew she would never marry any man unless she loved him.
    W hen Lord Mundesley had put his arm round her she had felt a little shiver of distaste go through her, and when he had kissed her hand good-night she had wanted to snatch it away from him.
    W hy did she feel like that, when he had been far more affectionate towards Violet and had kissed her on the lips?
    D avita shuddered as she thought of how unpleasant it would be to feel his mouth touch hers, and she told herself, although she knew it was very stupid, that she hoped she would never see him again.
    “ I will have to find out about a Domestic Bureau today,’ she thought, and said aloud to Mrs. Jenkins:
    “ Is there a Domestic Bureau near here where employers engage staff?”
    M rs. Jenkins turned from the stove to ask:
    “ What do yer want a Domestic Bureau for?”
    “ I have to find myself some work, Mrs. Jenkins.”
    “Yer mean yer’re not planning to go on the stage like yer friend?”
    D avita shook her head. Then she said anxiously: “You would not refuse to keep me because I have said that? I know you only take Theatrical people, but I am very happy here with you.”
    “ Don’t fret yerself,” Mrs. Jenkins replied. “I’ll not turn yer away. I can see yer’re a lidy without knowing who yer father was. But wot sort of work was yer planning on gettin’?”
    “ I really do not know,” Davita replied. “It is ... difficult. I have no experience and everything I have been taught seems particularly unsaleable.”
    S he thought Mrs. Jenkins looked at her in a rather strange way before she replied:
    “ Perhaps Violet’ll ’ave some ideas on the subject. She can look after ’erself, that one can!”
    “ She is so beautiful,” Davita said. “I can understand her getting good parts in the Theatre, even if she does not act.”
    M rs. Jenkins did not reply but returned to her cooking, and Davita went on as if following the train of her thoughts:
    ‘ Perhaps she will get married ...’
    S he stopped as she thought she had been very stupid. Of course Violet would marry Lord Mundesley!
    S he had made it very clear that he belonged to her, and he certainly had behaved in a very possessive manner. Why otherwise should she have kissed him?
    “ You see, Mrs. Jenkins,” she said, “if Violet gets married, then I should have to find someone else to be with, and ...”
    “ What makes yer think she’s likely to be married?” Mrs. Jenkins interrupted.
    “ I was thinking that perhaps she is secretly engaged, although she has ... not told me so, to Lord Mundesley.”
    M rs. Jenkins gave a short laugh without much humour in it.
    “ Now yer’re barking up the wrong tree,” she said. “ ’Ow d’yer expect Violet to marry Lord Mundesley, when