Read The Island of Love (Camfield Series No. 15) for Free Online

by the same standards as one would judge other men.” Because she was fascinated and had never before been with somebody who knew the Earl and would talk to her about him, Lydia said very ingenuously: “Another old friend of the Earl’s was dining at my father’s house the other night, the Duchess of Dorchester.”
    She saw by the expression in the Countess’s eyes that the name was very familiar and almost as if the words came to her lips before she considered them she said:
    “Of course—Daisy! That might well be the reason—I would not be at all surprised! I heard the Duke was furious and swearing revenge!”
    She talked as if she was speaking to herself. Then as she realized to whom she was talking, she said quickly:
    “Oh, dear, I am talking nonsense! Yes, dear Daisy Dorchester is a friend of mine and of the Earl’s. We all love her!”
    She then began to talk of other things deliberately avoiding, Lydia was sure, any further mention of the Earl.
    But Lydia had learned what she had wanted to find out, that it might be something to do with the Duchess of Dorchester which had made the Earl propose to Heloise so precipitately and without any warning.
    She had thought it strange from the very beginning.
    Heloise, while she had been a fellow-guest at parties with him and had of course been introduced, had never spoken about him as having danced with her, or as having sat next to her at dinner.
    Had he done so, Lydia was quite certain she would have talked about him and boasted of her success.
    When Heloise was in London during the Season every morning she had reiterated over and over again what a success she had been the night before, and had told Lydia of the compliments she had received and the names of the men who had paid them.
    There had never been a mention of the Earl of Royston until suddenly out of the blue he was there, asking her to marry him.
    ‘I wonder what really happened?’ Lydia thought now and felt a little dismally that she would never know.
    At the same time, ever since she had learned that she was to go to Honolulu with Heloise she had felt as though she was in a dream.
    How could it be possible that she would at least be in the same party as the Earl, and even if he never spoke to her she could look at him and perhaps listen to him.
    She had no idea, because her father did not know either, if they were to be just a party of four or if there would be a number of others with them travelling on the Queen’s instructions.
    ‘Perhaps Papa will know more now,’ Lydia thought.
    After she had said goodbye to the Countess and was driving home from the station in the carriage that was waiting for her, she found herself putting what she had heard about the Earl together.
    Recalling what she had overheard at the dinner party, she realised now that it all fitted together like a jig-saw puzzle, and almost made a pattern.
    She walked into the house to be told that her father wished to see her in the Study immediately upon her arrival.
    Without even taking off her travelling-cape she hurried down the passage, wondering what could have happened.
    She opened the door and her father looked up from the desk where he was writing to say sharply:
    “You are back, and about time too!”
    “What is the matter? What is wrong, Papa?”
    Lydia pulled off her gloves as she spoke, then unclasped her fur-lined cape and put it down on one of the chairs.
    “I did not say that anything was wrong!” Sir Robert replied. “It is just that your sister is impossible to manage when you are not here.”
    “I am sorry about that, Papa. What is the difficulty?”
    “She keeps asking me to send for Royston as if he was a servant who must obey my command! The man is busy—of course he is busy at this time of the year! He is taking her to Honolulu with him. What more can she expect?”
    “She came back from London because she wanted to see him.”
    “Well, I told her he is busy,” Sir Robert said, “and Heloise’s having