Love and the Loathsome Leopard Read Online Free PDF Page B

brother alone. I will not have him corrupted by you!”
    “It’s time Richard was a man and who better to teach him to behave like one than me?”
    “Leave him alone!” Wivina stormed. “I hate you! Do you hear? I hate you!”
    “We’ll talk about that another time,” the man said. “You’re looking very lovely today, Wivina! If I was not in such a hurry I’d stay and tell you how much you attract me, but I may drop in tomorrow.”
    “Stay away!” Wivina said. “Stay away from me and –from Richard!”
    She turned on her heel as she spoke, and Lord Cheriton just had time to cross the salon and resume his seat by the hearth.
    As she came back into the room, he saw that she was still very pale and in her eyes there was a look of fear which he had seen before when very young men went into battle for the first time.
    “I am – sorry to be so – long,” she said as she joined him at the end of the room, “but someone called – unexpectedly to see me.”
    “A neighbour?” Lord Cheriton asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I thought you said you had very few neighbours.”
    “Mr. Farlow has built a house two miles from here on the coast.”
    “Farlow?” Lord Cheriton repeated. “I seem to know that name. Is it well known in these parts?”
    “He is well known,” Wivina answered almost harshly, “but his father – ”
    She stopped suddenly and after a moment Lord Cheriton said,
    “You were about to tell me who Mr. Farlow’s father was.”
    “It can be of no interest to you,” Wivina replied, “but, as it happens, he was a shopkeeper in – Havant.”
    She spoke as though the words were dragged from her.
     Then with what Lord Cheriton knew was a considerable effort she said,
    “If you would like to see the house, I will show it to you. Then I am sure you would wish to be on your way to Dover.”
    Lord Cheriton did not move.
    “As it happens,” he said, “I was thinking when you left me just now that, as I have come a long distance today already, it would be sheer cruelty to take my horse any farther.”
    There was a pause before he added,
    “I have sent my servant to The Dog and Duck to ask if they can accommodate us for the night.”
    He realised that Wivina was looking at him in sheer terror, but after a moment she said,
    “There are no suitable rooms at The Dog and Duck .”
    “Then I wonder,” Lord Cheriton said tentatively, “since I know Lord Cheriton, if it would be possible for my man and me to stay here tonight?”
    He saw the consternation in her eyes and added,
    “I am quite prepared to sleep on the floor or even in a barn, if you prefer. We have slept in far worse places in Spain, I can assure you.”
    “You were with Wellington’s Army?”
    “I fought under Wellington for many years.”
    Wivina gave a little sigh.
    “He sounds so wonderful and now that he has beaten Napoleon he is the greatest hero of our time.”
    “That is true and you have no idea how fortunate you are to be living in England and not to have your country devastated like much of France.”
    Wivina did not speak and Lord Cheriton went on,
    “No one here seems to realise that behind the sacrifices and the romance of war lie the dreary landscapes of decay of dead horses and shattered houses, of Churches converted into stables and hospitals.”
    He went on as if speaking to himself:
    “The sick and wounded lie on heaps of straw in the village streets or drag their mangled limbs along the highways. Filthy inns are filled with troops, doors and window frames are torn from almost every house, and furniture is burnt or smashed.”
    Wivina gave a little cry.
    “I have indeed thought of it! I have understood what our men have suffered, while we have done so little – so very little in return.”
    “That is why I am asking you to help me now.”
    He realised he was being unfair to the girl, but he knew it was essential to get a foothold in Larkswell and where better, seeing what he had just overheard, than Larks Hall