Read Bewitched (Bantam Series No. 16) for Free Online Page B

Severn had not proposed as she had expected, and she was therefore willing to become the Marchioness of Ruckley.
    It had seemed, as he had told her, a practical and sensible idea and one that could be a surprise to neither of them.
    But when he thought of Eurydice being permanently at his side either in London or at Ruckley House, the Marquis knew that never had his freedom seemed more attractive.
    However what had been done could not be undone. He had offered Eurydice marriage, and if she accepted him he must put a good face on it.
    It was with a sense of depression and an ominous feeling of foreboding that the Marquis stepped down outside the pillared portico of Eurydice’s house and was ushered with due ceremony into the Drawing-Room where she was waiting for him.
    He could not help appreciating that she was looking exceedingly lovely. The sunshine haloed her fair hair as she turned from the window and as she moved towards him with a smile he thought he had never seen her face more radiant.
    “You have come, Fabius! I am so glad to see you!”
    The Marquis raised her hand to his lips.
    “I am honoured by such a warm welcome,” he said in his deep voice.
    “You must forgive me for dragging you away from London for the second time,” Eurydice said, “but what I have to say is of the utmost importance.”
    The Marquis drew in his breath and waited for the blow to fall. “Shall we sit down?” Eurydice suggested.
    She indicated a chair with her hand and as the Marquis settled himself she sat down on the sofa.
    “I have much to tell you, Fabius, but I will start with what is most important to you.”
    The Marquis nodded his head.
    His eyes were on her face and he thought that she was in fact in a completely different mood from the one in which he had last seen her.
    “I have first to ask you,” Eurydice said, “if you will take over this Estate and run it with your own?”
    “But of course. That is understood,” the Marquis replied. “It would be a waste of time and money for us both to employ separate Managers, Overseers and Agents. It will just be a question of which of our employees are the most dependable.”
    Eurydice smiled.
    “What I am really saying, perhaps not very clearly, is that later I may sell you the Estate, but at the moment I would rather that you ran it for me. You can rent it if you would prefer.”
    The Marquis looked at her in a puzzled way.
    “I do not understand.”
    “Why should you?” Eurydice asked and she gave a little sigh.
    It seemed to be an expression of almost rapturous satisfaction.
    “I am going away, Fabius, and I cannot just leave the Estate with no-one to look after it. It would seem a betrayal of my home.”
    “Going away?” the Marquis repeated. “Are you telling me that you have accepted Severn?”
    “No, I refused him.”
    The Marquis was very still.
    “Then...”
    “I am to be married,” Eurydice said quickly, “but not to the Duke, nor to you.”
    “There is someone else?” the Marquis asked incredulously, “but who?”
    “Someone of whom you have never heard,” Eurydice replied. “His name is Silas Wingdale.”
    The Marquis raised his eyebrows.
    “Silas Wingdale?” he repeated. “Who the devil is he?”
    Eurydice jumped to her feet and she was laughing.
    “I thought you would be astonished,” she said. “He is an American. He lives in Virginia and I love him! Yes, I love him! And so I am going to marry him, Fabius.”
    “Are you telling me the truth?” the Marquis asked in astonishment.
    “I do not care a fig for the Ducal strawberry leaves or the Ruckley diamonds or any of the things you thought were so important to me,” Eurydice said in an ecstatic voice. “I am in love as I have never been in love for years! Not since I first knew poor Beaugrave. But this is different! Silas is older and he loves me in a very different way. In fact being with him is like reaching Heaven itself!”
    The Marquis put his hand up to his forehead.
    “Are