A Kiss In Rome. Barbara Cartland

and I will pray very hard that he is as miserable without you as you are without him.”

      “I remember your prayers,” Denise said. “You always told me that they were answered.”

      “That is what I am thinking of at this moment. When I do pray for a solution to my own problems, I even ask the birds outside in the garden for help.”

      “And here I am, ready to help you,” Denise replied. “Now, let’s make plans.”

      Because she was so determined to take Alina with her to Rome, Denise had worked it all out very intelligently.

      First of all, as her father was going away immediately, she thought it would be possible for Alina to come to Sedgewick House, her own home.

      Then they thought that the servants would know her and that could be dangerous for the cause.

      “I will pick you up here on Wednesday morning,” Denise decided, “and we will drive to the train together. When we reach London, Lord Teverton will be waiting for us at his house in Belgrave Square.”

      “I have no idea what he is like,” Alina said. “Supposing he is suspicious?”

      “You need not worry about him. He is extremely angry that I am to travel with him to Rome, so I doubt if he will so much as speak to us.”

      Alina looked surprised.

      “Why not?” she asked.

      “Because he is stuck up and interested only in himself! He is a huge success in London and a close friend of the Prince of Wales.”

      She lowered her voice, almost as if she was afraid that she would be overheard.

      “He also has affairs with the great beauties of London and I am told that when he leaves them they cry their eyes out!”

      Alina did not understand.

      “Leaves them?”

      “You know what I mean,” Denise said.

      She saw that her cousin was looking perplexed and explained,

      “He has what are called affaires de coeur and, because he is so smart and also so rich, the women run after him as if he was a golden apple at the top of a pear tree!”

      Alina laughed.

      “I don’t believe it!”

      “It is true!” Denise said. “He gives himself frightful airs and behaves as if everybody is beneath his condescension.”

      “He sounds horrible!” Alina commented.

      “I have disliked him for years,” Denise replied. “He always speaks to me as if I was a mentally deficient child.”

      “I cannot believe this.”

      “It is true and it is only because he enjoys riding my father’s horses that he comes to stay with us at all. And, of course, they meet on the Racecourse and talk about horses endlessly.”

      She gave a little laugh before she added,

      “I saw his face when Papa asked him to take me with him to Rome.”

      “He was not pleased at the idea?”

      “He was horrified!” Denise answered. “I could see him thinking up a dozen different excuses for refusing. Then finally, very grudgingly, he accepted the responsibility of having me with him providing I had a chaperone.”

      Alina thought indignantly that it was incredible that anyone could be unkind and nasty to someone as pretty and sweet as Denise.

      She remembered her father once saying that most of the young men in London thought that debutantes were a bore.

      Therefore the sooner they were married off to a suitable husband the better.

      “Why has your cousin never married?” she asked now. “How old is he?”

      “All of thirty,” Denise replied, “and he can hardly marry any of the women he makes love to because they are always already married.”

      Alina’s eyes widened.

      “Surely their husbands object?”

      “They don’t know about it. You would be amazed at how extraordinarily women behave in London. The Prince of Wales always associates with married women who are beautiful, witty and very sophisticated. My cousin, Marcus Teverton, behaves in the same way.”

      “Well, I think it is horrid!” Alina stressed firmly. “I cannot imagine that my Papa would have behaved like that and, if he had, it would have broken Mama’s heart.”

      “Your father and mother were so very different from anybody else,” Denise observed. “I never thought of her dying. She always seemed so young and happy.”

      “She was until she lost Papa,” Alina said softly, “but then the light went out and she could not bear to be in the darkness alone.”

      There was a break in her voice as she spoke.

      It was still hard to talk about her beloved mother without the tears coming into her eyes.

      “Poor Alina!” Denise said. “I know how much you must miss her. It would be the best thing in the world for you to come to Rome and I am sure it is what she would want you to do now.”

      Alina hesitated.

      “Perhaps Mama would be shocked at the idea of my telling lies and playing a part that is deceitful.”

      “If you ask me,” Denise replied, “I think she would consider it as a great joke. You know how she used to laugh at the ‘fuddy duddy’ people living in the County who disapproved in principle of everything we did.”

      She saw that Alina was looking a little happier and went on,

      “Do you remember when they said that the hedges we jumped were too high for us and we acted like young hooligans? It was your mother who said that she thought it was a very good thing for women to be able to ride well and not be afraid of a high jump.”

      Alina nodded.

      “That is what we are going to do now,” Denise continued, “We are going to take a high jump and you will forget all your problems. You will see Rome and all the beautiful things it contains.”

      Alina gave a little cry.

      “Do you really think, Denise, that I can do it? I want to and it will be a great adventure.”

      “Of course it will be,” Denise agreed at once, “and I will supply the happy ending when I marry Henry and make sure that he never leaves me again.”

      “Oh, dearest,” Alina sighed, “I do want you to be happy.”

      CHAPTER TWO

      Denise arrived the next afternoon.

      Alina watched in amazement from the window of the drawing room as the coachman and footman carried a number of trunks into the house.

      They hauled them up the stairs and into Alina’s bedroom and, as soon as they had done so, Denise started to open them.

      “I have brought you Mama’s luggage,” she said. “It has her initials on it and looks, I am sure, much more luxurious than anything you have.”

      Alina was aware of that and she also saw the initials ‘A.L.’ on the trunks.

      Before she could ask the question Denise said,

      “You must remember that Mama’s name was Alice.”

      “Of course it was!” Alina exclaimed. “I had almost forgotten.”

      “I suddenly thought of the luggage when I was driving home,” Denise said with glee. “As soon as I told Papa that Lady Langley was chaperoning me and he was delighted about