Hide and Seek for Love by Barbara Cartland Page B

the house.
    â€œI feel better after that, Benina, and if we can ride tomorrow, I shall feel better still.”
    â€œBen said it will not be too soon for the horses.  He has been so kind in looking after them.  If it had not been for him, they would have both died like the other two.”
    â€œOn my instructions he has been feeding them the finest oats and if we take them gently, I think it will be good for their legs.”
    â€œAnd good for us too!” exclaimed Benina.  “I used to sneak out and ride whenever I could.  But I was always afraid that the Marquis would think that the horses were an extravagance, even after they had been put out to grass, and have them destroyed.”
    â€œThe more I hear about my grandfather, the more I am convinced he was completely and absolutely crazy.  In any well conducted country he would have been certified and put into an asylum!”
    â€œEveryone was far too frightened to suggest that for anyone so grand!  I think you forget how important you are now and there is no one to tell you but Nanny and me.”
    David laughed loudly.
    â€œI don’t feel at all important at present, but I am perfectly prepared, once I find all those millions, to be very overbearing and autocratic!”
    Benina shook her head.
    â€œI don’t believe you could ever be like that.  Nanny says you are the kindest man she has ever met and what she calls ‘a real gentleman’.”
    â€œNow that is praise.  The whole trouble in the world today is that there are not enough nannies to teach all the men to be the gentlemen they should be.”
    He was pondering that no gentleman would have behaved like his grandfather unless he really was mad and did not know what he was doing.
    All through the history of the family there had been Inglestones who had become distinguished Generals and Statesmen.
    It was only his grandfather who in his dotage had behaved in such a lunatic fashion.
    If they were lucky enough to find what they were seeking, he would have to make the family name as famous and as respected as it had been in the past.
    Everyone was tired after a delicious dinner and, as they left the dining room where Newman had arranged dinner for the first time, David announced,
    â€œI am now retiring to bed.”
    â€œI have received strict instructions from Nanny that is what I am to do too.  I only wish before we go, we could celebrate having found the treasure.”
    â€œThere are still some rooms we have not looked at on the first floor, but I am not very optimistic.”
    Benina gave a deep sigh.
    â€œI feel the same, my Lord.”
    â€œIf we could only get some form of guidance to tell us where to look.  If some of the money was in notes, he would not have hidden it in the garden, so it must be in the house somewhere.”
    He was thinking as he spoke that the house was as large as an Army barracks and it could take months, if not years, to search it from top to bottom.
    â€œI will pray very hard before I go to sleep tonight,” suggested Benina, “but I do think we have done something wrong that we ought to put right first.”
    â€œWhat can that be?”
    â€œWe have not yet looked in the Chapel, my Lord.  When I first saw it, it looked very unused and empty.”
    She glanced round at David a little nervously as if she thought he might resent what she was saying.
    Then she continued,
    â€œI think because what we have to find will help not only ourselves but so many others, we should have prayed in the Chapel and perhaps made an offering, as people in ancient times used to do before they went into battle.”
    â€œI know what you are saying, Benina, and I am sure you are right.  I have never been particularly religious in the fullest sense of the word, but when I was in desperate danger in India and it seemed absolutely impossible for me to come out alive, I prayed to God.”
    â€œOf course you