104. A Heart Finds Love (11 page)

‘He is wonderful,’ she thought, ‘so wonderful that I am half afraid he will suddenly disappear and I will never see him again.’

Then she laughed at herself.

She was making the Duke into a supernatural figure instead of what he was – just a man.

‘But a very exceptional one,’ she murmured as she turned over in bed.

Then she was too nervous of her own feelings to investigate them any further.

The yacht steamed down the Mediterranean.

As it did so, the Duke was thinking that he had never known anyone as excited and enthusiastic as Alnina.

She was so thrilled with everything she saw and everything that he and William told her.

She was so pleased by the monkeys at Gibraltar that the Duke quite expected to be asked to take some with him.

Then, when they reached Italy, she longed to go to Rome and the Duke told her that he was in too much of a hurry and she would have to be content with Naples where they refuelled.

Naples, of course, was near Pompeii and Alnina had marvellous stories to tell them of what she had read on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the terrible destruction it caused in AD 79.

In fact the Duke told her that she was a walking encyclopaedia.

“I think that sounds very depressing,” she replied. “Am I talking too much? Would you rather I was silent?”

“No of course not!” William piped up “we are enjoying every moment of it! I only wish I knew as many stories about all these places as you do.”

“I have read endlessly all about Europe,” Alnina replied, “and I will be even more enchanted when we see the Greek Islands.”

They teased her about the Greek Gods, saying they were who she really worshipped and she had to admit that she had a soft spot in her heart for Apollo.

“I so love everything about Greece,” she enthused, “and perhaps one day I will be able to go there.”

“Now you are making me feel guilty because we are not stopping at Athens,” the Duke muttered.

“Perhaps, just perhaps,” she sighed, “if we are not in a great hurry, we could stop there on our way back.”

“I am making no promises, Alnina. You know as well as I do that you will want to stop everywhere and that would make us take three years to reach England! And by that time your house may have fallen down and they might have put another Duke in my place!”

Alnina laughed.

“I think that is unlikely because you are exactly what a Duke should be and your family must be grateful.”

“I doubt if they are. To tell the truth I have paid them very little attention since I succeeded to the title.”

“But, of course, they feel secure and happy because you are at the Head of the Family and that is exactly what a Duke is meant to do.”

“Now I am interested, as you are talking about me. Now tell me if you think I am a perfect Duke or rather a disappointing one.”

“You know the answer to that one already,” Alnina said, “and you will become conceited if William and I keep paying you compliments.”

She smiled before she went on,

“But, of course, we want you to be perfect and we want people to say you behave exactly as a Duke should behave! And I am sure they will.”

“I often remember,” William came in, “how John and I used to criticise the previous Head of the Family! We deplored him for keeping so much money for himself, instead of distributing it among us all.”

“I expect that is what I will do too,” the Duke said. “But for the moment, because it is so unusual to have any money at all, I enjoy giving it away.”

“As you have given it to me,” Alnina said softly.

“You are doing me a great service and I can hardly say that about any of my relations. In fact some of them are rather like your brother and seem to look on me as an ever open bank!”

“Well, doubtless you will be firm with them sooner or later,” William said. “In the meantime I can assure you that they will criticise you heavily for wasting your money on buying a mountain.”

“Whatever they think or do not think, I have every intention of having my precious mountain that I have loved for years. In fact I want to kiss her as soon as I arrive.”

William held up his hand.

“Now the mountain has become a she!” he cried, “it’s the last thing I expected. I have always been brought up to believe that mountains are men, whereas flowers are women!”

The Duke was firm in saying that as far as he was concerned his mountain was a female, even though, if he was asked, he preferred the male sex.

“Why should you prefer them?” Alnina asked.

“Because they are straightforward and honest, like myself, and don’t cheat, as women invariably do sooner or later.”

This sparked a long argument with Alnina speaking up for her own sex, while William refused to take sides.

“I will judge the issue,” he volunteered, “and I will tell you at the end of the battle who is the winner.”

It all ended by William declaring that there was no winner, but a draw between John and Alnina.

“Now we will go back to what I originally said when I told you my feeling for my mountain is that for a beautiful woman,” the Duke said, having the last word.

“She is to me,” he went on, “like Aphrodite or any of the other Greek Goddesses, compelling my admiration yet being out of reach and untouchable.”

“You will have to touch the mountain whether you like it or not,” William chuckled, “if we are to find the gold we think is in it.”

“If she is as perfect as I imagine her to be and also as charming,” the Duke replied, “I am sure the gold will pour out for us and we will not have half as much trouble in finding it as we thought.”

William laughed and turned to Alnina,

“Let him dream his dreams. When he wakes up to reality, he will undoubtedly cry on our shoulders!”

“I think it is wonderful of him to have ideas which other people don’t have,” Alnina said, “and to have taken all this trouble to find his way back to his mountain.”

“Wait until you see it. Then you will realise why I am so much in love with it.”

The Duke then walked out of the Saloon and Alnina guessed that he was going up to the bridge.

“I think he believes that the ship goes faster when he is there,” she confided to William.

“Between ourselves,” William replied, “I am very worried in case when he gets there the mountain has blown up or, as I really suspect, the Prince will refuse to sell it.”

“It is quite extraordinary that anyone as clever and practical as John,” Alnina remarked, “should be such an idealist. In fact I am very impressed by him.”

“So am I, but he has always been the same ever since we were at school together.”

He paused as if he was looking back into the past.

“He used to make up his mind on something,” he went on, “and invariably, because he was so determined, it came true.”

“Then I hope he will not be disappointed now.”

“I feel the same,” William replied, “but between ourselves I think this time it’s a hundred to one chance of realising his dreams.”

“Oh, you must not say that! He will be terribly disappointed and we want him to be happy.”

William grinned.

“I have never seen him as happy as he is at this moment. So we must just pray that the whole plot will not be a complete delusion.”

“I already pray for that every night,” Alnina said. “And I am hoping that everything will work out right and the Prince will let him have the mountain at a good price.”

“Well, as far as I am concerned,” William said, “I have enjoyed this voyage more than anything I have ever enjoyed before – and it is entirely due to you.”

Alnina smiled at him.

“You are coming along really beautifully with your Russian,” she said, “but John is so impatient with himself, which is a mistake when it comes to learning languages.”

“Well, at least we can now thank people politely and if we are stranded on a remote island where everyone speaks Russian, we can at least ask for something to eat.”

“That is true and actually you have both been very quick in picking up what is a most difficult language.”

“I only hope I don’t have to converse with people at dinner or make a speech. Otherwise I think I will be able to cope with day to day affairs.”

“I deliberately taught you that part first,” Alnina said, “because it is essential to be able to get yourself from place to place or buy food. The more conversational words can wait, but the ones I have just mentioned cannot.”

“You have been wonderful, Alnina. I have never met a better teacher. If, as I said, we are stranded on a remote island, at least we will not starve.”

When they came within sight of the Greek Islands, Alnina was permanently on deck running from one side of the yacht to the other so that she should not miss anything.

They anchored at night in quiet bays and every day seemed to Alnina to be more and more electrifying.

When finally they were about to leave the Sea of Marmara, she held her breath in case something should go wrong and they would not reach their destination, which the Duke had told her was the far end of the Black Sea.

She could not help feeling a little wistful as they were passing Constantinople, as she had always wanted to see that City which she had read so much about.

She had always been interested in the Sultans who succeeded each other and their harems grew bigger and bigger as each new Sultan tried to outdo the last one.

But she knew that it was useless to ask the Duke if he would stop even for a short visit to the City.

She therefore contented herself with viewing what she could with a pair of the Captain’s binoculars.

Then at last they passed through the Bosporus and into the Black Sea.

Now the Duke was talking excitedly of what would happen when they arrived.

He had of course written to Prince Vladimir to say that he was coming and he also said that he was bringing with him his wife and a great friend, William Armstrong.

He wrote,

“I am greatly looking forward to seeing Your Royal Highness again and I remember so well how beautiful the mountains looked when I last saw them from the Palace.”

When he read the letter to William, he commented,

“You had better end up telling him he is wonderful or you will find that he will somehow manage to prevent you having what you are determined to acquire.”

“Don’t even think about it,” the Duke stipulated. “I must have my own way. Heaven knows how much we have exerted ourselves to get to Georgia and they should in fact greet us with fireworks!”

“Heaven forbid,” William had countered, “and just don’t forget that, as Alnina is your wife, then she must be treated like a Duchess.”

“You can be quite certain I will not forget that,” the Duke had replied.

*

Having crossed the Black Sea, they spent the night on board at Batum and then they set off early the next morning for Tiflis.

Now, Alnina thought, they were really in Georgia and it would be just as attractive as she had dreamed.

She had spent a lot of time during the last two days talking about the beauties they were going to behold.

“The two things” she said, “which really matter in Tiflis are, I am told, the excellent wines and the ancient Churches.”

“I am certainly interested in the first,” William said.

In the morning at the Port they found a carriage drawn by four strong horses waiting for them.

There was also another vehicle, not so impressive, to carry their luggage and Albert.

When Alnina saw the countryside for the first time, it was exactly as beautiful, at the same time as mysterious, as she had anticipated.

She was utterly enthralled by the distant hills and the first glimpse of the mountains and the fortified villages still seemed prepared for war at any time.

It was impossible, she thought, to see it now so peaceful and so quiet without thinking how it had been the scene of more bloodshed and more cruelty and hatred than any other country in that part of the world.

Everywhere in Georgia, she had learnt, there were extremes.

Tigers roamed the tropical Eastern lowlands, while eagles soared above the gaunt uplands.

Gigantic mountains straddled the land, the White Mountains, the Black Mountains, the many ravines. She had read about the mountains, where the bats fly both day and night, because some valleys never see the sun and are cloaked in gloom.

Now she could see it for herself she found that it was all fascinating.

So much so that she did not speak and the Duke turned to ask her why she was so quiet.

“There are no words to express what I am feeling,” she replied. “I only wish I could write a poem or a song to describe what we are seeing on either side of us.”

“I expect we will have plenty of songs when we reach Tiflis. As far as I remember, there was always noise in the streets and endless music in the Palace.”

It took them just seven hours, including a short stop for lunch, to reach Tiflis.

As Alnina had expected, it was a very attractive little City in what was described in books as the ‘glowing lowlands’.

Now at last she could have the first glimpse of the towering mountains.

She felt a thrill run through her and was almost sure that the Duke was feeling the same.

The Palace, when they drew up outside it, was not as large as she had expected, but at the same time it was extremely attractive with a mass of flowers and blossoming trees surrounding it and there were fountains playing on either side of the drive up to the front door.

“Now we must all be on our best behaviour,” the Duke said. “Don’t forget that he thinks himself extremely important, and you, Alnina, must curtsey low to him.”

“I would do so anyway because he is the Ruler over the most beautiful country I have ever seen,” she replied.

“Wait until you see the mountains. Then you will really draw in your breath.”

She knew by the note of excitement in the Duke’s voice that was how he was feeling and she thought it very touching that the mountains mattered so much to him.

They were greeted at the front door by a number of strangely dressed attendants as they entered the Palace.