Love Drives In Read Online Free PDF Page A

and I'm sure you would like a meal and a rest. I will see you in the morning."
    He retired to his room with his valet, and an hour later he left the house wearing white tie and tails.
    Dorina dined in solitary state, trying to keep her mind on what she had learned that day, but it was hard when her thoughts kept dwelling on the Earl.
    Where had he gone, dressed for an evening's pleasure. And who had he gone to meet?
    She forced herself to concentrate on the matter in hand and took some reading matter up to her room. That was when she made a fascinating discovery.
    "Electricity!" she said awed. "The lights work by electricity."
    "Oh yes, miss," Celia said. "His Lordship must have all the latest inventions in his home. You should see the things we've got in the kitchen."
    "Electric? And they all work?"
    "We – 'ell – " Celia became cautious. "His Lordship invented a washing machine, with an electric motor to turn the drum. The trouble is, the water keeps dripping on the motor, and then it gives a little explosion and dies."
    "That must be very frightening," Dorina observed.
    "Oh no, miss," Celia said cheerfully. "You get used to things exploding. Even the cat."
    "The cat?" Dorina asked, beginning to laugh.
    "Yes, Tiggy used to dive for cover, especially after the first time when his whiskers got singed. But now he just sits there and watches. And his Lordship always says sorry ever so nicely."
    "Even to Tiggy?" Dorina asked, chuckling.
    But Celia replied seriously, "especially to Tiggy. He says humans can understand, but a poor dumb animal doesn't know what's happening, and it's very kind of him to go on living here in the circumstances. Tiggy always gets extra special fish after an explosion."
    As Celia helped her undress, Dorina considered what she had learned about the Earl. A picture was beginning to emerge of a loveable madman, for whose sake his servants would take explosions in their stride.
    Even his cat was philosophical.
    Her father too had always been wild for the latest inventions, but he had been profoundly serious about them. And while he had illuminated his factories by electricity, he had not bothered with his homes.
    Nor could she imagine him apologising to his cat for singed whiskers.
    At last Celia said goodnight and went to lie down in the ante-room.
    Dorina went quietly to the door to make certain it was bolted. And now she saw something she had not noticed before.
    The bolts were brand new.
    It was clear that they had been attached to the door only that day.
    Once again she was struck by the trouble the Earl had taken to observe the proprieties. By now the whole household must know that he could never burst into this room, even if he wanted to.
    But Dorina remembered that she had gone out of her way to look plain to him. Perhaps this was his way of telling her that he could never want to burst in. She was perfectly safe because she did not attract him.
    Then she recalled the expression on his face as he had glanced at her hair and suddenly she felt herself blushing from head to toe.
    'Stop that!' she told herself sternly. 'You are here to learn about business and engineering and the horseless carriage and – and that sort of thing.'
    She crept into bed and tried to read, but suddenly she could not concentrate. At last she put out the light and lay awake for a long time, her head whirling with thoughts.
    But none of them was about horseless carriages.
    *
    Next day they both worked tirelessly. Dorina found it fascinating, but the hardest thing was not to let the Earl suspect how much she already knew.
    When they had finished he went upstairs, and, as before, came downstairs dressed for an evening out.
    But then there came a knock at the front door, and a letter was delivered to the Earl by hand.
    "What a pity," he said. "My hosts have had to cancel the dinner at the last moment, owing to a family crisis. Here I am, dressed up with nowhere to go."
    There was a silence as he looked at her and Dorina was