A Dream Come True Read Online Free PDF

answered, correcting herself quickly. “Mama and my stepfather are on honeymoon at the moment and I found myself with time on my hands, so I asked the chauffeur to teach me how to drive.”
    â€œSo, do you live nearby, Miss Mountford?” asked Edward in his quiet voice.
    â€œYes, quite nearby. At Bingham Hall.”
    â€œAh, I do not know it. I live in Mayfair mainly, but my parents have a house just outside Hertford.”
    â€œThen that is not too far away,” replied Lucia, thinking that she might care to see Edward de Redcliffe again.
    â€œYou must come to the Hall for tea with Emmeline.”
    She blushed as she spoke, hoping that she was not sounding as if she was being too forward.
    As they chattered, she noticed that Edward seemed to prefer to listen, rather than join in. Although with both Tristram and Cecily dominating the conversation, it would have taken a forceful soul to make his presence felt.
    â€œWell, I must be going,” announced Lucia eventually, as the clock in the hall struck midday. “With Mama and my stepfather away, it has fallen to me to be in charge and there is so much to be done.”
    She went round to everyone in turn and shook their hands.
    â€œIt was very nice to meet you,” she said firmly, as she lingered over her goodbyes to Edward.
    â€œLet me walk you to your motor car,” he offered.
    Outside he closed the car door behind her and admired the Silver Ghost.
    â€œIt’s a fine vehicle. They say it is the best on earth.”
    Lucia chuckled.
    â€œI could not possibly make that judgement as it is the only motor vehicle I have ever been in.”
    â€œMiss Mountford, might I call on you tomorrow?”
    Lucia blushed with pleasure. She felt a surge of excitement, as if her life was really beginning again.
    â€œYes, I would like that very much. Come for afternoon tea at three o’clock. I shall make certain that cook bakes one of her fine coconut cakes.”
    â€œUntil tomorrow,” he called, waving as she pulled off down the drive.
    *
    Â When Lucia returned to the Hall, she noticed a telegram in amongst the pile of letters on the desk in the study. She picked it up, at first fearing it was for her, but then she noticed that it was addressed to her stepfather.
    She put it back down at once, remembering only too clearly the day that the telegram had arrived from Mr. Urwin.
    â€˜I hope it is not bad news,’ she mused, suddenly filled with the urge to go upstairs to where she had erected a small shrine to her father.
    Leaving the study, she ran up the stairs to the tiny alcove where a candle always burned next to a photograph of Lord Mountford.
    â€˜I wonder if my stepfather will have this removed once he returns?’ she thought, as she stroked her father’s face.
    â€˜They say that he had his house in Manchester razed to the ground and a new one built before he would occupy it. If he has such a mania for change, might he not attempt to do the same at Bingham Hall?’
    Lucia lit another candle and placed it in a vacant holder and she prayed fervently to her father,
    â€˜If you have any influence up in Heaven, please, Papa, do not let Sir Arthur change one little thing at Bingham Hall.’
    She turned her face Heavenwards and prayed hard and long until her knees began to ache.
    â€˜If I can do anything to prevent change at the Hall, then I shall,’ she resolved, getting up. ‘Papa, I swear it to you!’
    *
    Â The next afternoon, as promised, Edward de Redcliffe arrived at Bingham Hall on horseback.
    They went for a ride together and Lucia felt very much as if their conversation consisted of a list of questions designed to ascertain whether or not she would make a suitable wife.
    On returning, she had the distinct impression that she had discounted herself by expressing sentiments that he could instantly label as suffragette.
    Although sympathetic to their cause, Lucia had bridled at being