103. She Wanted Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

plain coat and skirt she had worn at school and put it on, together with a pair of flat shoes.
    Then she hesitated.
    Most of her hats were elaborately ornate with many flowers and ribbons and they would look very out of place.
    Then she remembered that when she was riding she often wore a plain felt hat with a brim. It was especially useful when the sun was hot and it shaded her eyes.
    It took her some moments to find it.
    Her clothes from Paris had not all been unpacked and finally she discovered it folded flat at the bottom of one of her hat-boxes.
    She put it on her head after pulling back her curly fair hair and pinning it tidily in place and, when she looked in the mirror, she laughed.
    She certainly did not look like herself, but at the same time it was no use pretending that she did not still look very attractive and very young.
    Betty came back after quite a time.
    “The Master’s just left,” she said, “and I heard him givin’ a message to Mr. Buxton that he wanted to see you when he returns.”
    “At any rate he has gone for the moment,” Eleta said, “so we can leave as soon as you are ready.”
    Betty looked at her quizzically
    “If you asks me, they’ll think it strange downstairs if you appear in that get-up.”
    “But what can I do, Betty, unless I jump out of the window?”
    “Then we’ll go out the back way, my Lady. When they’ve finished in the kitchen, Mrs. Buxton lies down and those who help her goes shoppin’.”
    Eleta spread out her hands.
    “I will leave it to you, Betty, to get me out of this house without anyone being suspicious of my appearance. The last thing I want when I do disappear is for them to tell Step-papa that I did not look like myself.”
    “I’ll get my bonnet,” Betty said. “I won’t be long.”
    She hurried away and Eleta went along the corridor to her mother’s bedroom.
    It was just as she had left it. Only the flowers were missing, which had always scented the room and made it look even lovelier than it already was.
    As soon as Eleta walked through the door, she was aware of the fragrant smell of violets. It was the scent her mother always used and had been her father’s favourite.
    When Eleta shut her eyes, she could almost believe that her Mama was either lying in the bed or sitting on the sofa by the windows.
    ‘Help me, Mama, do help me,’ she begged silently. ‘You know I cannot marry this horrible man whom Step-papa has found for me. So help me! Help me disappear until he gives up this awful idea.’
    She felt her whole being reach out to her Mama.
    Then somehow she felt her mother answering her and telling her not to worry. And she could almost see her smiling at her as she had always done and Eleta knew that whatever else might happen to her, her mother was there thinking of her and loving her.
    Almost as if she was being directed by her Mama, Eleta was suddenly aware that if she went to an Agency she would need references.
    She sat down at the beautiful French secretaire in the corner of the room and opened the drawers.
    There was the writing paper her mother had always used with the Family Crest die-stamped on it.
    Eleta thought for a moment that she could not use it and then she asked herself why not?
    She would have to apply under an assumed name and there was no reason why her mother could not have employed her in the past.
    She therefore wrote quickly,
    “ The Countess of Stanrenton is very pleased to recommend as a Governess – ”
    Eleta hesitated and then continued,
    “ Miss Ellen Lawson, who I have employed for the past three years and has proved most satisfactory .
    She is very intelligent, speaks several languages and has carried out her work in a conscientious manner .
    In fact the Countess cannot speak too highly of Miss Lawson and is prepared to give her a reference at any time she needs one .”
    Eleta read what she had written and she thought it was just the sort of thing her mother would have said in giving a reference to