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.”She led the way with almost a bad grace to a door that lay on the other side of the study and which took them straight out into the courtyard.From this angle the barn seemed almost to dwarf the house.As the Marquis looked at it, he realised that it was very old, the bricks between the ships’ beams from which it was built were small and narrow and were he knew, either Elizabethan or earlier.He looked at it for some minutes and then glanced around the courtyard.He saw on the other side of it there were a number of the white stones like those which decorated the flowerbeds at the front, but which here were arranged in patterns of Naval symbols.There was an anchor, life-size, gleaming white against the ground on which it had been fashioned, there was a Union Jack, the stripes making it not so effective as the anchor and there was a more ambitious project in the shape of a sailing ship.“I see you have very nautical tastes, Mrs.Wadebridge,” the Marquis remarked.“Those were done a long time ago by my brother and his friends when they were at home on leave.”As Ivana spoke, she turned as if she would re-enter the house, but Anthony gave an exclamation.“Look!” he said.“What is that?”He pointed as he spoke to a large lime tree that stood in a corner of the courtyard.The Marquis followed the direction of his finger and saw to his surprise a flash of brilliant colour amongst the leaves.For a moment he could not think what it was.Then he quizzed,“Surely it is a parrot?”“A parakeet to be correct,” Ivana replied.“There is more than one,” Anthony said.“Are they tame?”As if she was amused by his astonishment, Ivana walked towards the tree, then made several low sounds that were the exact replica of a parakeet’s call.As she did so, she held out her arms and from the tree came fluttering down towards her a number of the small brilliant birds with their crimson and green plumage, which seemed strangely out of place in the English sunshine.Two settled on her hands, two more on each of her arms and another on her shoulder.With her green gown she made a strange but very lovely picture as she stood holding them with her head thrown back to look at several other parakeets that were now circling overhead.Both the Marquis and Anthony stared entranced until she shook herself free of them saying as she did so,“It’s too early for food.You will have to wait.”They flew away back into the tree they had come from and the Marquis said,“If I had not seen that with my own eyes, I would not have believed it!”“Nor would I,” Anthony agreed.“You must have had them for a long time for them to come when you call them.”“I think they know I love them,” Ivana said simply.Now she walked determinedly back into the house and, when they reached the hall, she waited for the Marquis to make his farewells.“I shall look forward to tomorrow evening,” he said politely, “and I am extremely relieved, Mrs.Wadebridge, to know that so far, you have not been troubled by highwaymen.At the same time I would advise you to keep your doors locked.”“I will do so,” Ivana replied.She walked to the door and waited politely as the Marquis and Sir Anthony mounted their horses.As they drove them towards the drive, the Marquis looked again at the neat flowerbeds.‘It must have taken a lot of work to keep them in such perfect condition,’ he thought.Then, lying beside the stones he saw a strange object.For a moment he wondered what it was.Then he realised it was a wooden leg, the type that was worn by a man who had had his own limb amputated.It was lying on the small grass path and it struck the Marquis that it had been thrown down hastily and forgotten.He did not speak and, when they were through the gates, Anthony exclaimed,“Good Heavens, Justin! Who would have thought that we would have found anything so lovely, so exquisite in the wilds of Sussex? I have never seen such eyes! I cannot imagine why you did not ask her to dinner this evening instead of our having to wait until tomorrow night!”“For God’s sake, Anthony, you know she is married,” the Marquis replied.“You have just tumbled out of one mess with Lucy Bicester.You cannot make a fool of yourself for a second time!”He spoke so aggressively that Anthony looked at him in surprise.“Really, Justin, I have never known you behave like a spoilsport before! Here are you and I with nothing to do except worry about some highwayman we are never likely to catch.We see the prettiest girl we have seen in a month of Sundays, and you say it is ‘hands off’ because she has a husband!”The Marquis did not reply and Anthony continued,“I cannot think what is the matter with you.Husbands have never worried you before, unless they were pointing a pistol at your heart.”The Marquis still made no answer, but merely spurred his horse forward and Anthony had some difficulty in keeping up with him.As they neared Heathcliffe, the Marquis asked,“Did you notice how neat and tidy the garden was?”“Of course I did!” Anthony replied [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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