Love Drives In by Barbara Cartland Read Free Book Online

following morning, the Earl had left the house.
    She wished she could have gone with him to the races.
    'He is so different from the other men I have met,' she told herself.
    But she did not want to explain the difference even to herself.
    It was late in the afternoon and she was beginning to think she had finished all the work she had to do, when to her surprise, one of the footmen announced,
    "A gentleman to see you, Miss Martin."
    She looked up and saw it was Mr. Johnson.
    She gave a cry of surprise and exclaimed,
    "I was not expecting you. How wonderful to see you. Do tell me what you are doing here."
    "I have come," Mr. Johnson began, "with extremely good news. In fact you will be astonished at what I have to tell you."
    Dorina looked surprised and quickly sat down beside him.
    "Tell me," she said eagerly.
    "We've done it!" Mr. Johnson said.
    "Done what?" Dorina asked.
    "The horseless carriage," was his astounding reply. "We've created one and it works."
    Dorina drew in her breath.
    Then as Mr. Johnson finished speaking, she clasped her hands together and bent towards him.
    "I cannot believe what I am hearing!" she exclaimed.
    "It's been a very hard job, to make a four-wheeled vehicle which will run on the roads and be propelled by gasoline. But we've done it.
    "I received your letter on the very same day that we knew we had a success. It was like an omen. I knew I had to come and see you at once.
    "Now that you know, I beg you to be careful. You have a rival here in this house. He must not guess how far advanced we are, in case it inspires him to complete his own work."
    "I don't think there's much danger of that," Dorina said. "His project isn't very far advanced."
    To her surprise, his face changed.
    "On the contrary, he – "
    "He what?" Dorina asked, beginning to feel uneasy.
    "I suppose he has kept it from you, as he's kept it from most of the country. But the Earl's project is almost at the point of success."
    Dorina stared.
    "Surely not?"
    "I learnt about it because a man who had worked for the Earl came to work for us because he was dismissed, he thought unfairly, and therefore came and told us everything."
    Dorina drew in her breath.
    "Tell me more," she said. "I want to know every detail."
    "The Earl has been very clever. He has his private factory in a part of London which you would never visit. Certainly none of his smart friends would go there. He's nearly at the point of success, but he's managed to keep it a secret from everyone."
    "Yes," Dorina said quietly. "He has."
    He had refused even to confide in her, she realised.
    She had thought they were drawing close, but all the time she had been nothing but an employee, to be told exactly what suited him and no more.
    It hurt more than she would have believed possible.

 CHAPTER FOUR
    For a moment Dorina wondered sadly how he could have deceived her.
    But then she remembered that she was here under false pretences. How could she blame him for keeping his secrets when she herself was keeping so many?
    "What I came to tell you," Mr. Johnson said, "is that we're planning a big meeting in Birmingham, to which we will invite buyers from all over the world. There we will put our horseless carriage on display and gather orders ahead of our competitors. I'll write to you soon when I know more. But be prepared to come to Birmingham quickly."
    "I will," she said.
    "I know your father, if he were alive, would be thrilled and delighted that we have been so successful. I think it only right, if you agree, that if our great new invention is praised, as it will be, you take the credit of owning it and make everyone aware that your father unfortunately is no longer with us."
    Dorina drew in her breath.
    For a moment she almost felt as if the room was swinging round her.
    She found it difficult to believe what she had heard and to realise the importance of it.
    Then she told herself that she must not behave like a frightened woman.
    As her father's daughter, she must bravely