Follow Your Heart by Barbara Cartland

had a great experience of good wines, had always provided the best vintages at his table.
    However, it would be a mistake to say anything in front of Storton so she merely congratulated him once again on the table and left the dining room.
    Her uncle joined her for tea and deliberately talked about his book and the chapter he had just written.
    Della became aware when he left her that he was almost as nervous as she was at what was to transpire later.
    She went up to her bedroom to dress. She wanted to put on the plainest gown she possessed or wear something black.
    â€˜It will reflect the way I feel,’ she thought.
    Then she felt that she was being childish and stupid.
    It would be a bad mistake to antagonise the Duke before it was absolutely necessary.
    â€˜What I will have to do,’ Della told herself firmly, ‘is to play for time. The Duke is in a hurry because he is afraid Jason will revert back to his old ways and this sudden penitence would be lost overnight.’
    He would then very likely return to Paris and she was longing for him to do just that!
    At the same time she must not be disloyal, it would undoubtedly upset her uncle if the Duke should realise that she was deliberately trying to avoid Jason – or worse still make him unwilling to marry her.
    â€˜Time! Time! Time!’ she kept repeating in her mind. ‘Time is what I need, but I must not appear to be reaching out for it.’
    She forced herself to dress in one of her loveliest gowns. In fact it was the prettiest she had bought to wear in London before she was able to come and live in the country.
    She had not been invited to a ball or party important enough to wear it so it had languished in her wardrobe and never been seen.
    Now as she pulled it on she wished she were going to a glamorous ball in London where she might meet the Prince Charming of her dreams. A man who would love the same things she loved and understand what she felt about life.
    â€˜We would both know the moment we met,’ she pondered, ‘that we were meant for each other.’
    She looked at her reflection in the mirror as she dreamed on.
    â€˜There would be no need for words as my heart would reach out towards his heart. After that it would only be a question of how soon we told each other of our love.’
    But it was just a dream .
    It was still in her mind until she was finally dressed and her hair had been arranged by Emily.
    Her gown was white with just the slightest glimmer of diamante as if it was the dew on a flower. Emily pinned three pink roses at the back of her head, which was certainly very becoming and indeed no tiara could have been more attractive.
    Round her neck she wore a single row of pearls, which had been her mother’s and a bracelet to match them on her left wrist.
    â€œYoung girls should not wear jewellery,” her mother had always told her.
    Yet Della knew that tonight she needed the help only her mother could have given her if she was still alive.
    â€˜What would you have said, Mama?’ she asked silently. ‘Would you have told me that I must marry Jason or would you have come up with a brilliant and magical idea of how I could escape my fate?’
    She thought she must ask the question of the stars.
    Leaving the dressing table she walked towards the window to pull back the curtains.
    It was not yet completely dark.
    The first evening stars were shining over the trees and later there would be a young moon climbing up the sky.
    â€˜Help me – Mama, help me !’ Della prayed. ‘I am so frightened. The Duke is a very powerful enemy.’
    She felt that as she prayed that her mother had heard and understood. Della felt she could almost see her smiling at her and it was so comforting.
    She turned away from the window and descended the stairs.
    As she expected, her uncle had already changed into his white tie and tails and was waiting for her in the drawing room. The chandeliers had been lit by