A Hundred Thousand Dragons Read Online Free Page A

her.’ She took his arm. ‘Have this next dance with me, Jack. Arthur says he won’t move another step.’
    â€˜Have you ever tried to dance wearing armour?’ demanded her glowing fiancé. ‘If I don’t get a drink soon I’ll boil.’
    â€˜Perhaps your next dance should be the Lobster Quadrille,’ said Jack with a grin.
    â€˜Ouch!’ said Arthur, smiling. ‘I’m going to find some fresh air.’
    Jack held out his arm to Isabelle. ‘I’m all yours, Belle.’
    They started round the room, expertly weaving in and out of the crush of dancers. Isabelle rested her head on his shoulder and looked at him with serious green eyes. ‘Jack,’ she said quietly. ‘You do know Mr Vaughan’s here, don’t you?’
    Unconsciously his arms tightened around her. ‘Yes. Why are you telling me, Isabelle?’
    â€˜Because of the other day at Claridge’s. I know what happened.’
    They danced a few more steps. ‘Arthur promised he wouldn’t say anything,’ he said quietly.
    She drew back slightly. ‘Don’t look so grim, Jack. I knew there was something wrong. You were far too bright and brittle.’ She looked at him thoughtfully. ‘You’re a bit like that now. You mustn’t blame Arthur. I asked him outright what the matter was.’
    They danced a few more steps in silence. ‘I thought I hid it rather well,’ said Jack eventually.
    â€˜Too well, Jack. I know you.’
    He sighed and kissed her forehead gently.
    â€˜So what was it about, Jack? Who was that horrible man?’
    It was some time before he spoke. To an outsider it would have looked as if they were concentrating on nothing more than the steps of the dance, but Isabelle could feel the tension flowing through him. ‘You know who it was, Belle,’ he said eventually. ‘If Arthur told you what happened, he must have told you who it was.’
    â€˜It was a man called Craig, wasn’t it?’ She felt his hands tighten.
    â€˜That’s right.’ He took a deep breath and repeated the name in a whisper. ‘Craig.’
    She looked at him blankly.
    â€˜For God’s sake, Belle, you can’t have forgotten,’ said Jack, suddenly impatient with her lack of understanding. ‘Durant Craig. Don’t you remember what I did?’
    â€˜Craig? I don’t . . .’ She stopped and held him closer. ‘Oh, Jack. I understand now.’
    A sudden, vivid picture formed in her mind of an autumn day at home, a cold clammy day with mist shrouding the trees in the park. She had forgotten it. It was in the war and seemed so long ago.
    She had been coming down to breakfast when the doorbell rang. Egerton, the butler, walked down the hall to answer it and she’d paused at the foot of the stairs to see who it was. In those days they were used to all sorts of men turning up. Hesperus, like many other big houses, had been turned into a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, but the house was full and they weren’t expecting any new arrivals.
    Outside stood a thin, nervous-looking man, hardly more than a boy, twisting his cap round and round in his hands. He wore a Flying Corps jacket over dirty khaki and he had a few days’ growth of stubble on his chin. In a barely audible voice he asked if Lady Rivers was at home. Egerton hesitated and the boy made a noise that was a cross between a laugh and a sob.
    â€˜Don’t you recognize me, Egerton?’
    And then she had flown across the hall to him. ‘Jack! Jack, what’s happened to you?’ She tried to kiss him but he fended her off.
    â€˜Don’t come too close. I was on a troop ship. I’m crawling.’ He spoke in little jerky sentences. ‘Vermin, you know.’
    She laughed, happy to see him again after his long and silent absence. ‘Is that all? Don’t worry, we’re used to it.’ She heard her