Free A Virgin Bride by Barbara Cartland

would have circulated from house to house.
    Another man might have felt that he should protect his wife, however badly she behaved, and certainly would not have publicised, as the Earl was, her misdoing.
    â€˜How could I have guessed,’ Rock asked himself, ‘he would come back at three o’clock that morning when he was not supposed to return for another week?’
    He was sure someone had been mischief making.
    He or she had doubtless told the Earl, who had been in Cornwall, that his wife was being unfaithful.
    As everyone recognised, the Earl was continually unfaithful himself and yet he was furious not only that his beautiful wife should have strayed, but also that it should be with the Duke of Rockinston.
    They had always been at daggers drawn ever since Rock, when he first arrived in London, had taken a very pretty actress away from the Earl.
    She was young and had made her name on the stage at Drury Lane and she considered the Earl unpleasant, as so many others did.
    She had therefore kept him at arms length, but the Earl was determined to become her protector and he was sure it was only a question of time before she succumbed to his very genuine offers.
    When Rock swept her away from him just as he felt he was about to be victorious, he was wild with anger.
    From that moment on, although Rock did not worry himself about it, he became a bitter enemy.
    And now that the man he most disliked should have made love to his wife was too much for the Earl to endure.
    He had been told it was happening, as Rock had guessed, by a mischief-maker, a woman who actually had a grudge against both men.
    The Earl had spent a month or so at her beck and call, but eventually found her a bore and discarded her promptly. Rock had simply taken no notice of her at all, although they met frequently.
    She was considered a beauty and did have a certain standing in some Social circles.
    She had been determined to wreak her revenge at some point on both of them.
    When she was informed in a whisper that Rock was having an affair with the beautiful Leone Darran, she realised that her opportunity had finally come.
    Managing to find out where the Earl was staying in Cornwall, she wrote him an affectionate letter in which she spoke of the old times when they had been so happy with each other and said how much she had missed him at a recent party.
    Then at the end she wrote,
    â€œI am so sorry, my dearest, that Leone has become infatuated with that stuck-up young Rockinston.
    I have always found him very tiresome.”
    That was all – but it was enough.
    The Earl immediately rushed back to London arriving at three o’clock in the morning, catching Rock virtually red-handed.
    When he thought it all over in the cold light of day, Rock realised he had in fact been very stupid.
    He should never have embarked on an affaire-de-coeur with Leone knowing the enmity her husband had for him. Indeed the Earl had made it quite obvious during the past few years that he disliked even hearing Rock’s name mentioned in his presence.
    â€˜It was foolish of me,’ Rock mused in the darkness of the Master Cabin.
    They had stopped for the last night of the voyage in a quiet bay so they could anchor at The Castle conveniently before midday.
    Rock still found it impossible to fall asleep.
    He was thinking that at least he had been astute enough to avoid a duel, which was forbidden by Queen Victoria, and had avoided meeting the Earl face to face.
    The Earl had called at Rock’s house in Park Lane, but the servant’s had been instructed to say he had gone away and that they had no idea when their Master was expected back.
    In the meantime just like a message from the Gods, he had thought that his only possible way of escape was to announce his engagement.
    He had received a pathetic note from Leone, saying that her husband was threatening her with divorce and if that happened she would be exiled from London – and she would have to