A Flight To Heaven by Barbara Cartland

hopes there, I may say, but, as you well know, his Lordship is a younger son. He might well be a Lord, but he’s hardly got two farthings to rub together.”
    “Oh, what a shame. He really is such an amiable young man and so handsome. I was hoping he might be here today.”
    Mervyn Hunter gave a little smile.
    “His Lordship has realised the folly of trying to win wagers on the racetrack and I think he has fallen in love.”
    “Oh, no!” Mrs. Fulwell laughed. “My girls will be upset. They both adore him, though, of course, I have told them that without a substantial fortune to offer them, he is quite out of bounds. Who is she?”
    “A wealthy widow. Older than he is, but not bad-looking.”
    “Mervyn!” Mrs. Fulwell shook her brother’s arm. “You have missed an opportunity there, letting him get to her first!”
    “She has eyes only for him. From the first moment they met. But I would not have let him get away with it so easily, if the lady did not have a very pretty daughter.”
    “ Oh, Mervyn !” Mrs. Fulwell gave a little squeal.
    He grinned at her.
    “Now, sister, you are letting your imagination run ahead of you,” he said. “Though I must say, I find myself doing the same!”
    He shut his eyes for a moment, picturing the wide sweep of the Park at Rensham Hall and a string of elegant racehorses galloping over it.
    “Has she fallen for you?” Mrs. Fulwell asked, her blue eyes bulging with excitement.
    “Oh, I rather think she hates me at present. She is young and naïve and has been very much left to have her own way. But I will bring her to her senses soon enough.”
    “Of course you will, dear Mervyn. There isn’t a girl alive who can hold out against your charms for long. And, if Lord Darley marries her mother – ”
    “Exactly. It will be easier to make the daughter mine. To say nothing of the stables and the best expanse of old turf in East Anglia! I shall hold back for a bit, until Darley has his feet under the table and then I will make my move.”
    “You may not have won this race, but I think we should celebrate,” Mrs. Fulwell crowed. “I can see a bright future ahead for you, dear brother.”
    And the two of them were smiling broadly as they set off in search of a bottle of champagne.
    *
    “My dear Tom!” Lady Fairfax said to Lord Darley, as they sat in her drawing room a few days later. “I am all of a dither!”
    “But why, my pet?”
    “The King is inviting all the local Society families to Sandringham. He is holding a ball. But I really don’t think that I should go.”
    “Nonsense! Of course you should.”
    “But Tom, without you, I shall be completely and utterly miserable.”
    Lord Darley threw back his head and laughed.
    “My dear old Papa was a very good friend of the King. He used to stay at our house in Pembrokeshire when I was a child. I am sure he would not mind if I turn up with Lord and Lady Duckett. After all, I am their guest and I have been staying there for so long I am practically one of their family.”
    “That would be divine!” Lady Fairfax sighed. “We shall be able to dance together.”
    Lord Darley took her hand.
    “I cannot wait. You were a dancer in Italy before you married Lord Fairfax, weren’t you? I hope I shall be able to keep up with you.”
    “Of course you will!”
    They gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment.
    “And Chiara must come as well, of course,” Lord Darley suddenly said.
    “Yes! She has the loveliest dress she brought back from Ely. It will be an opportunity for her to shine.”
    Lady Fairfax’s eyes lit up.
    “What a shame Mervyn is so busy with his horses at the moment,” Lord Darley added. “He should so much like to partner her.”
    “Yes. We have seen so little of him recently. But – Tom, I think perhaps it is just as well. For he adores her and I think she does not quite appreciate him.”
    “You are so wise, my pet. Let’s hope that absence makes her heart grow fonder, as they say it