A Flight To Heaven by Barbara Cartland Read Free Book Online

have the dress as a thank you for everything you have done whilst you stayed with us. You really are the kindest friend in the whole world .
    I just know that very soon you are going to meet someone absolutely perfect and fall in love – and when that does happen you will need to look your best, so you must promise me you will wear the dress and not just hang it up!
    And Chiara, you must let me know the minute your special beau comes along. Promise .
    All my best love ,
    Elizabeth .”
    Chiara could not help smiling. She was glad to be home, but it would have been wonderful to have Elizabeth with her to talk to and what would her friend have made of the two gentlemen she had encountered that morning?
    She went to her writing desk to pen a ‘thank you’ note and found herself describing them – Lord Darley with his wide smile and curly hair and the handsome Mervyn Hunter, who had gazed at her so intently.
    Elizabeth would enjoy reading about them, she was sure.
    *
    Over the coming days Chiara found that Mervyn. Hunter kept coming into her mind. Why had he stared at her in that way? Was it true that he was ‘smitten with her’, as her Mama seemed to think?
    A date had been fixed for Lord and Lady Duckett and their two gentlemen guests to come to luncheon and every time Chiara thought of seeing Mrervyn Hunter again, a little shiver of anticipation passed through her body.
    It was almost a pleasant sensation, but it made her feel uneasy too, as if she was just a little afraid.
    On the morning of the luncheon, a letter came for Chiara with an Ely postmark. It was from Elizabeth.
    Oh, Chiara – I think this might be it! Mr. Hunter might be the one. You say he is very handsome and that he gazed at you for a very long time. Have you been thinking about him? And does he make you feel slightly weak at the knees? If you do feel like that, Chiara, it could be love! Chiara did not know what to think. It was true that she could not get Mervyn Hunter out of her mind.
    She had not seen him for several days and perhaps she had been mistaken about him, maybe there was nothing odd at all about the way he had stared at her and he had just been admiring her.
    Arthur had certainly been unable to take his eyes off Elizabeth whenever she had seen them together.
    She took the white dress out of the wardrobe and held it against herself. Should she wear it? It would be lovely to feel the soft silk rustling around her ankles and the delicate lace caressing her neck and arms.
    But it was an evening gown and not really suitable for luncheon.
    As she sat in the drawing room later that afternoon, she was very glad indeed that she had not worn the white dress, but had stuck to one of her sensible long-sleeved, dark gowns.
    The luncheon party had gone very well. Lord and Lady Duckett were old family friends and Lord Duckett had attended the same school as Chiara’s Papa.
    They were both delighted to see that Lady Fairfax was recovering from her bereavement and Lord Duckett’s lined face was wreathed in smiles as he proposed a toast to ‘happier days at Rensham Hall’.
    Lady Duckett was fulsome in her praise of the food and wine.
    “How well you are managing, my dear, without your husband. What a resourceful woman you are,” she kept saying.
    She ate and drank a good deal and then, as the meal progressed, Lady Duckett became rather quiet and several times Chiara thought that she was about to doze off.
    It was young Lord Darley who had much to say, sat opposite Chiara’s Mama and made several toasts to her.
    He said he absolutely agreed with Lady Duckett. Lady Fairfax was a remarkable hostess to have produced such a delicious luncheon.
    And how flattering those dark clothes of mourning were to a woman of her striking complexion, he added.
    Mervyn Hunter, who sat opposite Chiara, said very little, but she knew that he was watching her, as every time she looked up from her plate, her eyes met his.
    ‘Elizabeth and Mama must indeed be right,’ she