Read Sword to the Heart (Bantam Series No. 13) for Free Online Page B

amongst women, and because God has blessed you, especially as regarding your talents, you must not hide them under a bushel.”
    “I will try not to do that, Papa.”
    “At the same time,” the Reverend Adolphus said quickly, “no man wants a woman to be assertive, dictatorial, or—shall we say?—bossy. You must be subservient to your husband in everything and do what he says.
    “But I would not wish you, Natalia, to waste your powers of intellectual perception, and I feel sure that in the life that lies ahead of you, such qualities can be utilised.”
    “If in no other way,” Natalia replied with a smile, “I should have to be intelligent before I could run a place as big as the Castle!”
    “I am sure His Lordship has a very adequate staff,” her father replied.
    Then he added:
    “But you are right, my dear. There will be many things you can do to help your husband to keep the background of his life running smoothly. At the same time, I am sure you can persuade him to use his influence to help those unfortunates about whom we have so often spoken.”
    “The children, the labourers, the chimney boys,” Natalia exclaimed. “There are so many of them!”
    She gave a little sigh.
    “You cannot expect to work miracles overnight,” her father warned. “But a man who loves his wife listens to her. I cannot help feeling that the more people speak out, especially in the House of Lords, against the many injustices and indeed the atrocities that are perpetrated in this country at the present moment, the sooner we can bring to those who suffer both mercy and justice.”
    “I will do my best, Papa,” Natalia murmured in a soft voice.
    “I know you will, dear Child,” her father answered.
    As if he knew Natalia was feeling nervous, he took her hand in his and held it.
    Now the horses had reached the valley behind the Malvern Hills and they were proceeding to climb again up the hill on which the Castle was situated.
    Because the leaves were still on some of the trees, they only had glimpses of its magnificence through the branches.
    They passed through the impressive wrought-iron gates with great heraldic stone lions on either side, and drove up a long avenue of ancient oak trees rising all the time until finally, when they reached the top, there stood the Castle in front of them, a truly awe-inspiring sight.
    Built originally on the site of an older Castle which had been erected soon after the Norman Conquest, it had been the focal point of defence for the West of England against the onslaughts of the Welsh.
    Its towers and thirty-foot-high Keep stood dramatically on a great conical mound of earth which had been part of the original plan, while other towers had been erected in the succeeding centuries.
    For a moment Natalia felt that it was too magnificent, too over - powering! Then she remembered it was in fact the perfect background for her Knight.
    ‘Where else should a Knight live except in a Castle?’ she asked herself. ‘How many deeds of chivalry, how many great battles against injustice have been planned within these walls?’
    It seemed to her that there was an army of servants waiting to assist her and her father from the carriage.
    A Major-Domo in resplendent livery stepped forward to say:
    “May I welcome you, Miss Graystoke, on behalf of His Lordship, to Colwall Castle, and you too, Sir.”
    “Thank you,” Natalia replied in a shy voice.
    She had expected Lord Colwall to be waiting for them in the Hall which, with its Grand Staircase and high Gothic ceiling, was extremely impressive.
    Slightly to her surprise, she was immediately escorted up the stairs past the coloured heraldic beasts on each turn of the marble stairway to a bed-chamber on the first floor.
    There an elderly woman whom Natalia felt sure was the Housekeeper, and two other maids were waiting for her. They curtsied and explained that they had prepared a bath and a change of clothing after her journey.
    “Thank you. That will be very