Love at the Tower by Barbara Cartland Read Free Book Online Page A

comforted, standing in Mrs. Bentall’s shop surrounded by beautiful blooms.
    â€œAnd will you be placing the order for your father while you are here, too?” asked Mrs. Bentall.
    â€œNo,” responded Robina, a little taken aback that he had not already made his own arrangements.
    â€œWill you tell him that he must get his order to me soon if I am to supply the flowers he prefers? He was so particular with the funeral tribute that I would not like to disappoint him.”
    â€œPapa has much on his mind at the moment. I will remind him to pay you a visit.”
    After she left the shop, Robina wandered along the High Street. The village was fairly large, almost a small town, and she knew every shopkeeper and tradesman in the place.
    They smiled as she passed, saying how happy they were to see her again and it made Robina feel wanted.
    â€˜It’s a fine thing when the village people make me feel more welcome than my own father,’ she ruminated, as she climbed back into her carriage.
    She asked the coachman to take her home.
    As they drove along the road, they passed the gates of Hampton Castle.
    â€˜I must pay the Earl a visit very soon,’ she decided, as they sped past.
    *
    Robina had not slept at all well in the blue room.
    She had felt so cramped, although she had to admit that it was much easier for Nanny as she no longer had to walk up and down stairs to look after her.
    â€˜Poor Nanny,’ she thought, as they arrived home at last, ‘she is not getting any younger.’
    She was so glad that Nanny had not been frightened off at the time when her father was at his most unpleasant.
    She did not know what she would have done if she had returned to the house to find that Nanny had left.
    Robina went straight to the library and saw that the door was shut fast.
    She turned away disheartened. She had wanted to tell her father what the florist had said about ordering flowers.
    Instead she went to the drawing room and rang for Newman. She did not wish to involve her stepmother in this affair as she considered it none of her business.
    After relaying the reminder for her father to order flowers to Newman, Robina went back upstairs.
    The house no longer felt as if it was her home.
    On the first floor, where her old bedroom had been, the builders were beginning their work. She had not asked her father to see the plans in case he thought that she wanted to interfere.
    â€˜I do wish that Papa would confide in me as he used to,’ she thought sadly, as she entered into her new room. ‘I would have liked the opportunity to show him how much I learned whilst I was in Paris.’
    She recalled how Madame Lamont had delighted in teaching her how to mix colours in decorating a room and how to create beautiful displays.
    â€˜The French have a way of putting things together that is effortlessly enchanting,’ she pondered. ‘If I cannot help Papa with his renovations and use my newly acquired talents, then perhaps the Earl will find them useful.’
    She walked to her small desk and began to write a letter to him.
    In it she said she intended to call on him the next morning and that she hoped it might be convenient.
    She felt rather excited as she sealed the letter and then rang for Molly.
    She was a new maid taken on to look after Robina, who only asked her to do things to save Nanny’s legs.
    Molly came in and bobbed a curtsy.
    â€œYes, miss?” she said, her sulky mouth pouting.
    Molly was round and moon-faced with the distinct air of someone who carried out her orders under extreme sufferance.
    Robina did not care for her, but, as she was never rude, she put up with her sullen attitude and slow ways.
    â€œWould you see that this letter is delivered at once, please?” she asked, handing over the letter to Molly.
    The girl bobbed another curtsy and took the letter without looking at it.
    Robina was convinced that the girl was spying on her and reporting everything