Love Became Theirs by Barbara Cartland

for the bridle, trying to turn her away from the water, but at the very last moment Castor swerved sharply to the left, crossing Peter's horse and causing it to rear violently.
    A woman screamed. Something struck Rona. The next moment she was flying over Castor's head into the water. It broke her fall slightly, but she still landed hard enough to be stunned.
    For a moment she flailed, gasping for breath, terrified of sinking and drowning. Then a pair of strong arms hauled her to the surface and up out of the water, lifting her high against a broad chest.
    Her head swam.
    Peter, she thought. Peter had saved her.
    Blindly she reached up one arm and put it about his neck.
    Then a loud but kindly voice said,
    "That's it. You are safe now. Hold on to me."
    It was Count Alexei.
    He was striding back through the water to where their party had gathered in a crowd on the bank. There were murmurs of concern and dismay.
    "We must take her home at once," said Henri. "Can she ride, or should I send home for a carriage?"
    "That would take too long," said the Count. "She will ride with me. See?"
    Before she knew it the Count had climbed back into this saddle and taken her up before him.
    "I – I'm all right," she said, dazed. "I can ride – "
    "I think not," he said. "You would fall if you tried to ride alone."
    If only, she thought, it had been Peter who held her in his arms on the journey home. As it was, she could have cried from mortification that such a thing should have happened.
    Images swirled about her. There was Peter's face, white and tense, but he was keeping back, beside the Countess. And there was Alice, tearful and distraught.
    "Miss Johnson," she cried. "Oh, please don't be dead."
    "Don't be a silly girl," Rona rallied her in as strong a voice as she could manage. "Of course I'm not dead. It was just a little tumble."
    The world seemed to swim as she spoke and she was forced to cling on to the Count. He urged his horse on and in a few moments they had left the park.
    How terribly her head ached where it had been struck. She had only a vague impression of the journey home and then there was Madame Thierre full of horror at her guest's plight.
    She was conveyed upstairs and a doctor hurriedly summoned. He declared that the blow on her head was not serious and a long sleep would see her well again. Madame Thierre brought up a cordial, and hovered anxiously by the bed.
    "I'm so sorry to be a nuisance," Rona said, feeling despondent.
    "But of course you are not," said her hostess. "It was an accident."
    "I should have been looking after Alice."
    "Alice is well, and asking to see you."
    Alice had brought a surprise with her.
    "My Lord," exclaimed Rona, struggling up in bed, aghast at the sight of the Earl. "Oh, they shouldn't have troubled you."
    "Of course they sent for me," said the Earl, very pale. "I would have been very annoyed not to have been informed."
    "I've let you down."
    "Nonsense," he said kindly, sitting on the bed and taking her hand between his. "You're not to worry about anything. Peter and I will look after Alice. Peter sent you his apologies, by the way. Apparently it was his horse that kicked you in the head."
    "So that was it," Rona murmured. "It was my fault really. I cut across him and the horse reared."
    "So I gathered from that Russian Countess, when she could make sense of anything. She became hysterical and had to be calmed with promises of an expensive gift. Peter has taken her off to a jeweller's shop."
    "I see," she said in a colourless voice.
    "Yes, nobody really likes her," said the Earl, misunderstanding her tone. "Everyone was grateful when he removed her, even if it is going to cost him more than he can afford."
    "Perhaps he can afford more than anybody knows," Rona said lightly.
    "I shouldn't think so, unless he's picked up a fortune on his numerous travels. And she won't bring him any money. He must be deeply in love to follow her as he does."
    "Really."
    "I'm tiring you. I'll go now. But be