Free Sally James by At the Earls Command Page A

one of the larger booths, and he was still bending solicitously over his lovely companion. After one swift glance Kate hurried past with her face averted.
    They ate lavishly and Martin pressed them to drink champagne which Kate had never before tasted.
    'Why do people make such a fuss about it?' she enquired, holding out her glass for Martin to refill. 'It's pleasant enough when one is thirsty, but why is it regarded as so special?'
    'This is not the most superior champagne,' Luke replied. 'I have tasted superb wines in France which never seem to find their way to England.'
    'They seem to have drunk a great deal over there,' Chloe remarked, nodding towards the booth opposite. The scantily clad females and their escorts had been joined by several other young men, all talking and laughing noisily.
    Kate glanced across and then stared with narrowed eyes.
    'Chloe, it's Darcy Limmering, in that yellow waistcoat,' she said slowly. 'Doesn't it make him look a fright? And I wonder what he is doing in such company?'
    'So it is. I didn't recognize him at first.'
    'Did you say Darcy Limmering?' Martin asked, overhearing these exchanges. 'How do you know him, Kate?'
    'He's my cousin's brother-in-law,' Kate replied.
    At that moment Chloe and Luke suddenly stood up.
    'Come, the fireworks are beginning,' Luke said, and taking Chloe's arm led the way out of the booth.
    'I feel dizzy,' Kate said, and then laughed. 'Surely that isn't the effect of the champagne?'
    'Of course not. Have some more to keep you warm,' Martin suggested, and Kate, laughing, drained the glass he offered her.
    Then they followed the others, but the crush of people heading in the same direction became so great that the two couples were soon separated.
    'Never mind, we can find them afterwards,' Martin said slipping an arm protectively round Kate's waist as a crowd of revellers rushed past and almost swept her off her feet. 'Let's go this way, we shall have just as good a view but the crowd is thinner.'
    They went along a side path, less brightly lit than the main ones, and found a vantage point from where they could watch the fireworks. Kate was so entranced by the spectacle that she forgot the disturbing fact that she was clasped tightly in Martin's arm, which he had kept about her after they had escaped from the crowd.
    The fireworks fizzed and flared, scattered coloured sparks across the sky, and for minutes at a time illuminated the Gardens brightly, dimming the lanterns which were strung out along the walks so that when, at last, the display ended, the outer sections of the Gardens seemed even darker than before.
    Either that, or there were fewer lanterns now alight, Kate thought as Martin began to guide her back towards the booth.
    'That was magnificent,' she breathed, still in a glow of enchantment. 'I am so pleased I came, this is a sight I shall always remember!'
    'We must come here on some really special occasion,' Martin suggested.
    ‘I would love that, but you are going back to the country, and I have no notion of where I shall be,' Kate said, brought back to reality with an unpleasant jolt. Then she stopped suddenly.
    'What is it?'
    'Adam Rhydd, he's there, in front of us, coming this way!' Kate gasped, and swung round hastily. 'Where can we go? Martin, I don't want to see him! He would be sure to blame you for my being here in this part of the Gardens.'
    'This way,' Martin said calmly, and led Kate along a narrower, dimly illuminated path between dense bushes.
    'I'm sure he saw me!' Kate exclaimed. She couldn't explain why she was so reluctant to face Adam. She had, after all, her aunt's full approval for being at Vauxhall, and Adam himself had mentioned it once, though he had not again offered to arrange a visit. For some reason Adam seemed to deplore any social activity. Did he think she ought to be sitting at her grandfather's side every waking minute?
    Martin squeezed her waist comfortingly. 'Don't be concerned. We can lose him in the darkness, even if