An Angel Runs Away by Barbara Cartland Read Free Book Online

contentment and that, at the moment, does certainly not include marriage.”
    As if he did not wish to say any more, he kissed his grandmother’s cheek and then her hand.
    “Goodnight, Grandmama!” he said. “I am exceedingly grateful to you for playing my game with such charm and grace and, whatever happens, you will delight in watching two people who are quite despicable getting their just deserts.”
    He smiled at her and went from the room.
    But there was a sad expression on the Duchess’s face as she remained looking at the door for some time after he had passed through it.
     

chapter three
    The Marquis drew his gold watch from his waistcoat pocket.
    “It’s time for dinner,” he said sharply. “You must each Ula to be on time.”
    “I think,” the Duchess replied, “she is delayed by the new gown I bought her in Bond Street this morning and is hoping you will admire it.”
    The Marquis did not answer and the Duchess continued,
    “She certainly ‘pays for dressing’, as the servants say. In fact I am sure you are right, Drogo, in your confidence that she will be a sensation when she appears at my reception tomorrow and at the ball you are giving on Friday.”
    The Marquis still said nothing, but the Duchess knew that he was listening and after a moment she asked,
    “You have heard nothing, I suppose, from Chessington Hall?”
    “Why should I?” the Marquis enquired. “After all, what can they say except that it was strange that I should call to see Lady Sarah and then disappear.”
    “They must have been disgruntled by your behaviour.”
    “That is what I hope!” the Marquis replied grimly.
    He glanced at his watch once again and then looked at the Sèvres clock on the mantelshelf, as if he thought he might be mistaken as to the time.
    As he did so, the door opened and Ula came in.
    The Duchess was expecting her to walk slowly and perhaps a little self-consciously in a new gown that was, she reckoned, one of the prettiest she had seen in a long time.
    It had been a very tiring day, searching for clothes that were ready for her to wear or required only a few alterations. In fact when they returned home at tea time, the Duchess had gone to her bedroom to lie down and it had been quite an effort to come down to dinner.
    She was, however, determined to see the expression on her grandson’s face when he realised that the little duckling he had brought her yesterday had undoubtedly turned into a swan.
    Experienced though she was in both beauty and the wearing of fashionable gowns, the Duchess could hardly believe it when she had seen Ula just before she came downstairs that she was the same pathetic and frightened girl, shabbily dressed and with untidy fair hair, who her grandson had brought to her.
    Now Ula was wearing a gown that fitted her to perfection and revealed the exquisite lines of her figure. The tight bodice was ornamented with the decorations that were the vogue after the long years of austerity during the war.
    The gown that the Duchess had taken so much care in choosing was of white gauze faintly sprinkled with a touch of silver, which made it shimmer.
    It was decorated with snowdrops that had diamante like dewdrops on their petals.
    They nestled in the chiffon that encircled the décolletage , and made Ula look more than ever like a small angel who had just peeped through the fleecy clouds in a summer sky.
    Her hair, instead of rioting over her forehead as it had when the Marquis had first seen her, had been dressed by the most experienced hairdresser who served the Beau Monde .
    He had, when he had finished, exclaimed with delight that his new client was as beautiful as Diana the Huntress.
    To the Duchess’s surprise, however, Ula did not attempt to show off her gown as she came into the drawing room.
    Instead, she ran with almost undignified haste towards the Marquis.
    “I am sorry – I am – sorry,” she said a little breathlessly. “I know I am late for dinner, but your knife