The Devil on Horseback

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Book: Read The Devil on Horseback for Free Online
Authors: Victoria Holt
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, History, France, Europe, Great Britain
but I liked him for his response to it.
    The conversation centred on trivialities, and I could see that Joel, who was clearly a serious-minded young man, would have preferred to go on with our discussion.
    Sybil said: “Mama says that when you leave, Minella, she will send someone to escort you to the schoolhouse. You must not go back alone.”
    “That is kind of her,” I said.
    “I will take Miss Maddox back to the house,” said Joel quickly.
    “I think you will be needed here, Joel,” Maria pointed out.
    “You overrate my importance, sister. Everything will run just as smoothly whether I am here or not.”
    “I think Mama expects …”
    Joel said: “Tom, do try the marchpane. Our cook is proud of it.”
    Since Maria had put the idea into my head, I now began to wonder whether it was time for me to leave. It was half past ten and I must certainly not be the last to go.
    I turned to Joel.
    “It is good of you to offer to take me. Thank you.”
    “It is I who should thank you for allowing me to do so,” he replied gallantly.
    “Perhaps I should find Lady Derringham and thank her now.”
    D.
    O.
    H.
    33 B
     
    i “I’ll take you to her,” said Joel.
    Lady Derringham received my thanks graciously, and Sir, John said he thought it was extremely good of me to come at such short notice. :
    I could not see the Comte anywhere and I wondered whether he had not returned after leaving with Sir John. I did see Margot, though. She was clearly enjoying herself in the company of a young man who seemed to be enchanted with her and she with him. I Joel and I walked the half a mile or so from the Manor to the schoolhouse.
    There was a half moon in the sky which shed a pale and;
    eerie light on the bushes. I felt as though I were in a dreams Here I was out late at night with Joel Derringham who showed me clearly that he enjoyed my company. It must have been obvious, otherwise Maria would not have been so put out. I wondered what my mother would say for she would be sitting up waiting for me. She would be expecting one of the servants from the Manor to escort me and when she realized it was the son and heir I could imagine her excitement.
    It meant nothing . simply nothing. It was like the Comte’s kisses.
    I must remember that, and make her realize it too.
    Joel said what a pleasant evening it had been. His parents gave these musical soirees fairly frequently, but this was one he would always remember.
    “I shall certainly remember it,” I replied lightly.
    “For me it is the first and only one.”
    The first perhaps he suggested.
    “You do enjoy music, I know. What a sky! It’s rarely so clear. The moon dims the stars somewhat, though.
    Look at the Pleiades over there to the north-east. Did you know that when they appear it’s a sign of the end of summer? They are not welcome for that reason. I have always been interested in the stars.
    Stand still a moment. Look up. Here are we two little people looking into eternity. It’s rather overwhelming. Do you find it so? “
    As I stood there, looking up with him, I felt quite emotional. It had been such a strange evening quite different from anything I had known before and something told me that big events were closing in on me, that I had reached the end of a road, the passing of a phase, and that Joel Derringham and perhaps even the Comte Fontaine Delibes were not merely passing acquaintances but that my future was caught up with theirs in some strange way and it was a beginning.
    Joel went on: “They are supposed to be the seven daughters who were pursued by the hunter Orion. When they appealed to the gods to save them from Orion’s lustful embraces, they were changed into doves and placed in the sky.”
    “A fate presumably preferable to that which is said to be worse than death,” I commented.
    Joel laughed.
    “It has been good to meet you,” he said.
    “You are so different from other girls I normally meet.” He continued to look up at the sky.
    “All the

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