The Importance of Love Read Free Page B

longer my son!”
    â€œFather, you are upset – you do not know what you are saying.”
    The Earl’s eyes glittered as he regarded the Viscount with a cold stare.
    â€œYou killed him. You and your selfishness,” he screamed. “Get away from me!”
    He pushed past his son and pulled open the front door with such force that it rebounded off the wall and almost hit him as he stood in the doorway.
    â€œYou have your grandfather’s death on your conscience. I will never forgive you! Never , do you hear?”
    With that he ran down the steps of the house and out on to the street.
    It had begun to rain and he pulled his hat down over his eyes as he rushed off, leaving the distraught Viscount feeling empty and numb as he stared after him.

CHAPTER TWO
    The passage from Calais to Dover was not a smooth one for Luella and her aunt. The sea pitched their ship mercilessly and as a result they were both seasick.
    By the time that they had docked at Dover, Luella was very worried about the Countess – she was almost delirious.
    â€œI think we had better stay in Dover tonight and forget about trying to make for Hastings,” she said, as two sailors helped her aunt down the gangplank.
    â€œNo, we must press on. I am well enough to withstand a carriage ride.”
    Luella regarded her ashen face with concern. Although her aunt was hardly in her dotage, she had never seen her look so frail. It was as if she had aged overnight.
    The sailors quickly found them a carriage that sported a team of fast horses and made certain that she was comfortable before they bade farewell.
    â€œWhat kind gentlemen,” murmured the Countess, as Luella tucked blankets around her knees. Outside it promised to be another fine July day, but the Countess was shivering and needed the extra warmth.
    Luella sipped at the cup of water the sailors had brought for her and clutched at her stomach. She was slowly feeling a little better, unlike her aunt who groaned as the carriage bumped its way along the road to Hastings.
    It was late afternoon by the time they arrived at their destination and the Countess had been asleep for much of the journey.
    Luella had tried to make her as comfortable as possible and the coachmen had been most considerate, bringing them a water bottle and some plain bread and butter. The Countess had not touched anything apart from a few sips of water. It was left to Luella to advise the coachmen of their final destination – the George Hotel in Battle, just outside Hastings.
    It was an old coaching inn and at first Luella was concerned that it would not be to their liking. However, once inside, they were shown to a comfortable suite of rooms that overlooked Battle Abbey.
    â€˜Surely Frank Connolly will not find us here?’ she said to herself, as she waited for the landlord to bring them something to eat. ‘He would not think of looking somewhere so modest.’
    The thought did occur to her that perhaps he may pass through, as most of the London-bound coaches stopped at the inn.
    â€˜But he would never dream of finding us here,’ she mumbled, gazing out of the window at the Abbey. ‘Even so, I feel in my bones that he has discovered we have left Paris and is even now in hot pursuit. I hope we can outwit him as I do not know what I would do if he was to find us.’
    *
    The days after the Marquis’s undignified death were highly fraught for the Viscount. He attempted to visit his father to clear the air, only to be told by his butler that he was not at home, when the Viscount knew quite clearly that he was.
    â€˜He will have to face me at the funeral,’ he told himself as he walked back to South Audley Street.
    Halfway there, he changed his mind and made for Belgrave Square instead. His grandmother had returned from her visit to Brighton to the terrible news and had been inconsolable ever since.
    It did not help that no one seemed to be able to tell her the precise