108. An Archangel Called Ivan Read Free Page A

bloods, who flutter round her and who she must realise would make, if they married her, very poor husbands.”
    “And you think you would be a good one?” Betty asked in a voice that Arliva could hardly hear.
    “I would behave to her like a gentleman and be a man of my word. At the same time to marry anyone but you, Betty, would be an agony beyond words. It has made me miserable for the past two weeks to even think about it.”
    “I wondered what was upsetting you. I thought it was just the death of the two old pensioners and the fact that they had died for want of food.”
    “I know, I know!” Charles exclaimed. “That is exactly what has brought home to me the horror of what is happening on my land and I feel that I am responsible.”
    “Of course not,” Betty said. “How could you help things going so wrong while you were away? I knew how bad it was before you returned, but what on earth was the point of saying so? There was nothing you could do.”
    “I know,” Charles sighed, “and you were wonderful to many of the people especially those who had babies and were not well enough to feed them.”
    “I would have done much more if I could,” Betty murmured, “but, as you know, my Papa is feeling the pinch just like everyone else and we have a struggle to keep our heads above water.”
    There was a silence and then Betty said,
    “I will pray for your happiness and you do know, Charles, that whatever happens, even if we never see each other again, I will never love anyone but you.”
    “I can say exactly the same,” Charles replied in a deep voice. “I love you, Betty, and you belong to me as no one else will ever be able to do. You are part of me, not only my body but my brain, my heart and my soul. They are all yours and no one else could ever take your place.”
    Again there was silence.
    Then Charles said,
    “I want to kiss you, darling. I want to kiss you and for a moment at least we can think of each other and no one else. Let’s go into the garden so that you can be in my arms and nobody will be able to see us.”
    He must have risen as he spoke.
    Listening, Arliva heard the chairs scrape as they moved away.
    As she gave out a deep sigh realising that she had been holding her breath listening to what the two people were saying, Arliva heard a voice outside the door.
    However, she did not wish to speak to anyone at the moment.
    There were tears in her eyes because what Charles had said had been so moving.
    Without really thinking but just because she wanted to be alone for a moment, she slipped down behind the sofa and was sure that if anyone came into the room they would not be able to see her.
    It was then she heard a woman’s voice say,
    “Now this room is empty and I want to speak to you, Simon. There is no point in you not listening to me.”
    “I think I know what you are going to say,” a man’s voice replied.
    Arliva recognised it as belonging to the young Earl of Sturton.
    He had asked her to dance with him several times this evening and she had managed to avoid him.
    She had thought him a rather dull young man and had been delighted to find that she was already promised to someone more interesting.
    “Shut the door, Simon,” his mother, the Countess of Sturton, was saying, “and listen to what I have to say to you.”
    “I know what you are going to say, Mama,” the Earl replied, “and I am quite certain that Miss Ashdown has no wish to marry me.”
    “Then you have to persuade her to accept you,” his mother replied sharply. “I have noticed that you have not danced with her and only asked to do so once or twice.”
    “She refused me,” the Earl said, “just as she would refuse me if I offered her marriage.”
    “How do you know that?” the Countess asked him. “After all you have an excellent title and I noticed there were not many amongst those men she was dancing with, as you failed to do.”
    There was silence as if the Earl could not think of anything to