An Angel Runs Away by Barbara Cartland Read Free Book Online Page A

boy had an accident and cut his hand very badly. No one knew what to do until I – bandaged it with honey.”
    The Marquis looked at her in astonishment.
    “My knife boy?”
    “Yes, he cut himself in the kitchen and was crying with the pain. When I was told what had happened, I knew what should be done, so I had to go to him.”
    “You have been in the kitchen!” the Marquis said slowly as if he could hardly believe it himself.
    “Willy – that is his name – is much better now,” Ula said, “but he is very frightened in case you should dismiss him for being so careless. But you will not do that – will you?”
    She looked up, her blue eyes pleading with him.
    There was a silence.
    The Marquis intended to say that his secretary dealt with all household affairs and, apart from giving exact orders as to what he required, he never interfered.
    Then, as he found it impossible not to respond to anyone so ingenuous, he answered,
    “No, of course not. He could not help having an accident.”
    Ula gave a cry of delight.
    “That is what I knew you would say and I must tell Willy not to worry anymore.”
    Without waiting, she turned and ran from the room, leaving the door open behind her.
    The Marquis turned to look at the Duchess and saw that she was laughing.
    “Society beauties,” he said severely, “should not go into kitchens or concern themselves with knife boys.”
    “I know,” the Duchess replied, “but Ula is different. Very different , I may add, from that beauty with whom you were so busy at one time, let me see, what was her name? Lady Salford.”
    She laughed before she continued,
    “If you remember, after she had given a footman notice and he cut his throat, she merely remarked, ‘I hope he has not spoilt the carpet’!”
    The corners of the Marquis’s mouth twitched as if he could not help it, but before he could reply to his grandmother, Ula came back into the room.
    She had run so quickly, knowing that she was keeping the Marquis from his dinner, that now her elegantly coiffured hair was slightly ruffled and little curls had reappeared on her forehead.
    “He is very – grateful,” she said breathlessly as she reached the Marquis. “In fact he said, ‘I always knows His Nibs were a real sport!’”
    The Duchess laughed.
    “You cannot expect a fairer compliment than that, Drogo!”
    “Dinner is served, my Lord!” the butler announced from the doorway.
    The Marquis helped the Duchess out of her chair and offered her his arm.
    Following behind them towards the dining room, Ula thought that everything was more exciting than she could possibly have imagined.
    Because there had been such a drama with the knife boy’s hand, she had forgotten her gown.
    Now they passed down the corridor and she saw herself reflected in a gilt-framed mirror.
    She saw that her hair was untidy and put her hand up to smooth the curls back into place.
    Then, when they were in the dining room, she again forgot her own appearance as she realised how impressive the Marquis looked sitting at the top of the table in a high-backed chair.
    She was also thrilled to see the polished table without a cloth, which she had heard was a fashion introduced by the Prince Regent.
    On it were some magnificent gold ornaments, candelabra each bearing six candles, and the table was also discreetly decorated with orchids.
    Everywhere she looked there was a beauty that appealed to her in a way the large but ugly rooms at Chessington Hall had never done.
    For the first time since her parents’ death she felt that she was not despised or ignored and that she was being treated as an ordinary guest by two very kind and distinguished people.
    As if the Marquis knew what she was thinking, he said,
    “I hope everything meets with your approval, Ula.”
    “It is just how your house ought to look,” she replied.
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “Grand, because that is what you are and at the same time beautiful. There is also something warm