Free The Cross of Love by Barbara Cartland Page A

with which she extracted her father's cash in order to defy him.
    "You're shocked, aren't you?" Matilda said, reading her face. "But I'm his daughter and I can be as determined as he is. And how else can I defend myself from him?"
    "You can't," Rena agreed. "When the danger is great, you must use whatever defence will succeed. And if I can help you in any way, perhaps hide you, or prevent your father from guessing what you are doing, then you can trust me."
    "I knew that when I first saw you," Matilda said eagerly. "I haven't had anyone to talk to for such a long time, and I was sure as soon as I came into the house that the Earl wasn't the least in love with me, no matter what Papa said."
    She gave Rena an impish smile. "In fact, I think he'd rather marry you."
    Rena stared, her heart pounding. Suddenly she was short of breath. Then she pulled herself together. "You are forgetting that I'm a married woman."
    "Oh, nonsense, of course you're not. That story will do very well for Papa, but not for me. Don't worry. You keep my secret, and I will keep yours."
    "In any case, I'm sure you're mistaken," Rena said hurriedly. "His Lordship is not interested in me - in that way?"
    "Do you call him 'Your Lordship' when you're alone together?" Matilda asked mischievously.
    "I really don't see - in any case you've only seen us together for about five minutes - "
    "And for all that five minutes his eyes followed you about. I know how he feels about you, but how do you feel about him? Hasn't he ever clasped you in his arms and held you against him? Wasn't it thrilling?"
    Rena recalled the hug John had given her earlier that day. It had been kind and brotherly, no more. But then she remembered that other time, when they had fallen on the carpet together, because he had thought she was the ghost. She couldn't banish from her consciousness the feeling of John's hard body against hers, the power she had sensed in him. Matilda was right. It had been thrilling.
    But that had been an accident, nothing to do with love. And yet…..
    "I hope you find a way to be with the man you love," she said, meaning it.
    For a moment Matilda's brave mood seemed to fall away and she sighed. "If he ever knew I was in love with Cecil or that Cecil loved me, he would find some way of either getting him out of the country or perhaps even killing him. Papa has always got what he wanted, and sometimes I think he always will."
    "I can imagine. You will have to be very, very clever."
    The impish smile returned to Matilda's face. "But of course I'm clever. I'm not Jeremiah Wyngate's daughter for nothing."
    * "Now listen here, Lansdale, if you refuse my suggestion you'll regret it for the rest of your life. You've got to learn to seize your chances, and take what you want in life.
    It's insane to turn down a good offer when it is made to you."
    "You are very kind, but - "
    "Never mind all that. I'm offering you an excellent bargain. You'll get your house restored to perfect order, everything that money can buy. What more could you want?"
    "A wife I loved, and who loved me?" the Earl suggested lightly.
    "Sentimental nonsense! Besides, my daughter has always found you very attractive. She confided as much to me after your last meeting."
    "As I recall I talked mostly about my ship. I think she was thoroughly bored."
    "Well, of course she didn't show her feelings. Girls don't. But I knew. Now it's time for action."
    "You're going much too fast," John said. "Even if I can believe that your daughter had any feelings for me at that ball, it was some time back. She may have other ideas now. Women like to choose their own husbands, not to have them chosen for them!"
    "My daughter is different," Mr. Wyngate replied. "She does what I want and she knows which side her bread is buttered!"
    The Earl winced at the brutality of this utterance.
    "You won't know this place when my men have finished with it," Wyngate said.
    "Your men?"
    "The men I shall employ to bring it back to its best.