Love Drives In Read Online Free Page B

interested in what she had been reading that she had forgotten she had taken off her hat.
    She had patted her hair into the usual way it was arranged without even looking in a mirror.
    Only as the Earl stared at her, as she joined him at the desk was she aware he was looking at her hair.
    She remembered she had almost hidden it when they first met.
    He was however far too polite to make personal observations, although his eyes were on her hair.
    As she joined him at his desk, he said,
    "What have you found – anything of importance?"
    "I think these three letters seem very important," Dorina replied. "They refer to this new invention – the horseless carriage – which certainly sounds something new and unusual."
    The Earl smiled.
    "That's what I thought too," he retorted. "Surely if we can travel quicker on the roads, just as a train travels quicker on its rails, it is a step forward."
    "It's a fascinating idea," Dorina said. "I hope your Lordship will find time to tell me about it."
    "Are you really interested," the Earl asked, "or are you being polite?"
    "I'm really interested," Dorina told him. "Of course we all want to travel quickly."
    She laughed as she added,
    "What could be more exciting than being able to reach the country in perhaps half the time it takes now even with the swiftest horses?"
    "Of that I am quite certain," the Earl pointed out, "and it is where the money is."
    At that moment the door opened and the housekeeper entered. She gave Dorina a rather strange look, but bobbed politely and said,
    "Your room is ready, miss."
    "Has everything been done as I said?" the Earl asked.
    "Yes, my Lord," said the housekeeper, wooden-faced. "The room has bolts on the door."
    "Good. You take the point, Miss Martin? Even if I were to forget to behave like a gentleman, you have only to shoot the bolts across your door to be perfectly safe."
    "I never doubted your Lordship," Dorina said, smiling. "But thank you."
    As they went up the stairs the housekeeper said,
    "A maid has been assigned to you, miss, and she is doing your unpacking now. She will see to anything you want."
    They found the maid hard at work. She bobbed a curtsey to Dorina and introduced herself as Celia.
    It was a fine, well-furnished room, looking out onto the extensive gardens. There was a large, comfortable looking bed, and furniture of gleaming rosewood. Dorina was enchanted by her room.
    There were two doors leading off the main room. One led to a bathroom and the other to a small ante-room where Celia would sleep.
    Dorina reflected that the Earl had gone to a good deal of trouble to protect her reputation. It was just as well. Censorious tongues were always ready to wag where a young woman and a very handsome man were concerned.
    And he was exceedingly handsome, she had to admit. It would be easy to become distracted from her main purpose.
    But she would be strong, she resolved. She was here to work, not to indulge in daydreams about a young man's profile.
    The maid brought her some lunch to her room, and then Dorina wrote a hasty letter to Mr. Johnson.
    I have been taken on as secretary to Lord Kennington, Dorina wrote Already I have learned that the horseless carriage may have more of a future than I thought. Please write to me at No.12, Grosvenor Square, addressing the letter to 'Miss Martin', and letting me know how advanced our research project is.
    She sealed the letter and put it in her pocket. When she went downstairs the Earl was not there, so she slipped out of the house and posted her letter.
    She returned to the house and was back in her office before he appeared and they immediately got down to work.
    By the end of the day she was more than ever convinced that she had done the right thing in coming here. The Earl's correspondence was as wide-ranging as his interests, and she could tell that she had impressed him with her intelligence and quick understanding.
    "That will be all for today," he said at last. "I have worked you very hard,