An Introduction To The Eternal Collection Jubilee Edition by Cartland Barbara Read Free Book Online

in Spain when he was a boy and was friendly with the Spanish Ambassador that is no reason to believe he is a traitor to his own country.”
    “Dr. Keen never seems like an Englishman to me, and as for Elita, with her dark eyes and jet-black hair, she is a Spaniard if ever there was one.”
    “Her grandmother was Spanish,” Francis said, “but that does not make her a Spaniard”
    “Did she tell you that?” Lizbeth said interestedly. “I thought they always denied having any Spanish blood.”
    “They are not so stupid as not to tell the truth when there is nothing to hide.” Francis said. “Elita’s grandmother was Spanish. That was why Dr. Keen went out to stay in Spain after he had married Elita’s mother. They came back about fifteen years ago and have lived in this country ever since. It is wicked the way people try to slander decent, patriotic citizens for no reason other than that their hair is dark.”
    “All the same, Father has forbidden you to see them,” Lizbeth said.
    “I am interested in Dr. Keen’s experiments. He lets me watch him in his laboratory. I am no good at that sort of thing, but it interests me enormously.”
    “Does Elita watch with you?” Lizbeth asked.
    “What if she does?” Francis said sullenly. “God’s pity, Lizbeth, but I thought you would understand and stand by me, if no one else would.”
    “I do understand, Francis. We cannot help where we love or whom, but be careful Father does not find you out. He is angry as it is, because you dislike all the things he cares for, and he is suspicious of Dr. Keen for all the Queen has been gracious enough to take an interest in his experiments. He is afraid you are falling in love with Elita and so am I.”
    “And if I am in love with her, what can you do about it?” Francis said angrily.
    “Nothing at all,” Lizbeth answered, “but oh ! Francis, take care of yourself.”
    “Pray do not be frightened for me,” Francis answered. “Father will not find me out. And I am going to visit Dr. Keen and nobody in this world can stop me.”
    He spoke so loudly and angrily that Lizbeth put her fingers to his lips.
    “Hush,” she said “your voice will carry and Father will be curious about what you are saying.”
    “I am incensed with it all. Help me, little sister. When I go back to Oxford in a month’s time, I shall not see Elita all the summer. Help me, there’s no one else I can trust.”
    His appeal melted away all Lizbeth’s opposition, as he had known it would. He was weak and spineless and all his life he had relied on other people to cosset him and fight his battles for him and make life comfortable with the least exertion on his part.
    His affection for the Keens was the most important thing that had ever happened in his life. For the first time he was making decisions for himself and even daring his father’s anger in continuing a friendship that had been forbidden. And yet even in his new strength he must ease the burden of it upon his sister.
    “Hasten your return, Francis,” Lizbeth said as they reached the gates. “Promise me you will not be away for long.
    “I will be back before Father misses me,” Francis promised, and she watched him stride down the road towards the Keens” house, which was about half a mile distant.
    She watched him go with a beating heart. She had no liking herself for the Keens, and yet she told herself it was not for her to thrust her opinions upon Francis – a new Francis, aggressive and defiant, whom she had never known before. Yet she was sure in her heart that her father was right. Dr. Keen, for all he was a brilliant chemist, was not the sort of man one would trust. He had been close friends with Don Bernardino de Mendoza, the Spanish Ambassador who had recently been drummed out of the country for complicity in the Throckmorton conspiracy.
    Lizbeth did not trust Dr. Keen nor his daughter. She had never liked Elita though she had known her for many years, in fact, ever since