104. A Heart Finds Love (12 page)

They were then taken immediately to where they were told that His Royal Highness was waiting for them.

The Duke remembered just in time to offer Alnina his arm and then they entered the Prince’s private room as if they were a married couple.

The Prince was very much as she expected.

A tall good-looking man with the strong features that all Georgians boasted. His eyes had a sharpness about them and it was as if he was searching inside the person he talked to, rather than listening to what they were saying.

The Prince rose as they entered the room and held out his hand to the Duke.

“My dear Duke,” he said in French. “I am very delighted to see you. I hope you had a good journey here.”

“We did it in almost record time,” the Duke replied. “It is a great pleasure and we are very honoured by Your Royal Highness’s kind invitation to stay with you.”

“I am so pleased that you are my guests,” the Prince replied graciously.

“Now I would like to present my wife,” the Duke asked, “whom you have not yet met and my friend William Armstrong whom you met on my last visit.”

“I remember Mr. Armstrong,” the Prince said, “and of course I am delighted to meet Madame la Duchesse.”

Alnina swept to the ground in a low curtsey and it was quite obvious that the Prince approved.

They sat down at the Prince’s invitation and were given tea in small cups without handles and there was also delicious French
pâté
that Alnina thought could only have been made by a French chef.

Then the Prince said,

“I am most anxious for you to meet my daughter, Natasha. She is now seventeen and I hope will soon be married.”

“Is she engaged?” the Duke enquired.

“No, no!” the Prince replied quickly, “but I am very anxious that she should marry an Englishman. I have in fact been in correspondence with the British Embassy.”

“I am sure they were most helpful,” the Duke said. “And I am certain that you will find a number of delightful Englishmen who will be only too pleased to marry Your Royal Highness’s daughter.”

There was silence for a moment and Alnina knew that the Prince was thinking that the Duke would have been an excellent choice.

Almost as if he read her thoughts, the Prince said,

“I am very surprised to learn that you have become the Duke of Burlingford. When you were last here, you did not tell me that the title was waiting for you.”

“It was not waiting for me when I was last here,” the Duke replied. “In fact it was a great surprise when both my relative and his unmarried son were drowned at sea.”

“So that was how you came into the title!”

“Exactly and, of course, it is a great responsibility I never expected to have. At the same time I am fortunate in having the help of my wife, who comes from an ancient and distinguished family.”

“And have you known her a long time?”

“Both William and I were at the same school as her brother, Lord Lester,” the Duke answered.

He was about to say that her brother was dead, then thought it would be a mistake. He therefore went on,

“If you want your daughter to marry an Englishman then I think you should take her to England. If you stay with friends, they will undoubtedly introduce you to all the most charming gentlemen who are, as you can imagine, pursued by
debutantes
and
jeunes filles
hoping for a title.”

Again he was thinking of his own engagement and there was a slightly sarcastic note in his voice.

They talked for a little while and then the Prince suggested,

“I must allow you to rest, as I am giving a special party for you tonight with dancing to a new band which has recently arrived from Paris.”

“It sounds delightful,” the Duke said. “I am sure my wife, who speaks French fluently, will enjoy meeting any of your French friends who may be among the guests and, of course, I am certain that most of your own people also speak French.”

“The French Ambassador will be present tonight,” he answered, “and a number of visitors who come here from Paris because they find Georgia so attractive.”

An equerry showed them up to their rooms, which were in another part of the Palace away from the Prince’s private rooms.

Alnina found that she and the Duke had been given a large bedroom overlooking the garden.

For a moment she thought with alarm that there was only one room and one bed.

Then the Duke found another door leading out to a dressing room for him and to Alnina’s relief she saw that it also contained a single but comfortable-looking bed.

“So far, so good,” the Duke said to her in English, but the equerry had already disappeared.

“I think the Prince is rather frightening,” Alnina said, “but I am looking forward to seeing his daughter.”

“It’s a pity William does not have a title,” the Duke murmured.

“I don’t think William would like to live here for ever and he told me he has only a small house in England which would not be very suitable for a Princess.”

“You are now saving me from being ambushed,” the Duke said, “and you know I am very grateful.”

She smiled at him and then went back to her room, where a maid was busy unpacking her clothes.

As there was to be a party that night, Alnina chose the most glamorous dress she had bought in Bond Street.

The Duke had also given her before they left a large jewel case filled with jewels that had been passed down century after century by his ancestors.

“The one thing that always impresses foreigners,” he said, “is jewellery. But for Heaven’s sake don’t lose them or the family will have hysterics.”

“I only hope we can lock them up in a safe.”

“It’s easier to lock the case and you can sleep on it at night and carry it with you all day!”

The Duke was teasing her, but for a moment she thought he was serious and then she laughed.

“If it is to be carried all day,” she said, “then any polite gentleman would, of course, carry it for his wife or any lady who was with him.”

“All right,” the Duke conceded, “you win, but as I just said, for Heaven’s sake don’t lose the family jewels.”

“I will do my best to preserve them, but I am sure that you are making the Prince most upset because you are not eligible as a potential son-in-law.”

“When I see his daughter,” the Duke replied, “I am sure that I will be glad I have had a lucky escape.”

Actually, when they went down to dinner and met with Princess Natasha, she was far more attractive than the Duke had anticipated.

In fact, Alnina thought, she was very pretty indeed.

She was dark and very Russian-looking and at the same time she had a sweet smile and was quite obviously thrilled to meet people from other countries.

“You must tell me about England,” she said to Alnina soon after they had been introduced. “My father is always talking about it, but I don’t see how I can get there unless I fly like a bird.”

Alnina laughed.

“You must make your father take you to England in a ship,” she said. “It has been a marvellous voyage for us in the Duke’s yacht and I have enjoyed every second of it.”

She realised after she had spoken that she should have referred to him as her husband and not as the Duke and she hoped it was a slip the Princess did not notice.

William was now making himself charming to her.

Dinner was a delicious meal, cooked clearly by a French chef.

The guests were nearly all French and even if they were Georgian they spoke French with the Prince.

When the music started for them to dance after dinner, the Prince asked Alnina for the first dance.

She found to her surprise he danced extremely well.

“I hope you are enjoying yourself,
madame
,” he said.

“I am enjoying every moment,” Alnina replied. “I am thrilled to find that Georgia is just as beautiful as it was described in the books I have read about it.”

“I love my country, therefore I am so pleased when beautiful women, like yourself, praise it.”

“I will praise it even more when I have seen the Caucasus Mountains,” Alnina said, “and at even a brief glimpse I found them enthralling.”

“I hope you will find them as beautiful as I find you,” the Prince replied.

She smiled at the Prince. It was just the sort of compliment she felt a Frenchman would pay her and it was hard to think that he had not stepped out directly from the
Rue de la Paix
.

“Now tell me,” he was saying, “how I can find an English husband for my little daughter, Natasha.”

“She is so pretty that I don’t think there will be any difficulties about it.”

“And you will help me to find the right man?” the Prince asked.

Alnina, of course, said she would be delighted to do so, but at the same time she thought that they were skating on rather thin ice.

If the Prince bought her to England, he would learn that the Duke was not married.

It would be revealed that he was a liar and she was an imposter.

“I wonder,” she said rather tentatively, “why you don’t choose a French husband for your daughter. After all, you all speak perfect French here and I think on the whole a Frenchman is more adapted to other countries than an Englishman is.”

“France is not as important in the world as England is,” he replied. “Thus I am determined that my daughter will have an English husband.”

As he spoke, he glanced towards the Duke, who was dancing with Princess Natasha.

Alnina thought that there was almost an unpleasant look in his eyes.

It was as if he blamed the Duke for not telling him on his first visit that he was likely to come into a title.

So in order to change the subject, she talked again about Georgia and the Caucasus Mountains.

They were still talking when they left the ballroom to sit outside in the garden.

Nothing, Alnina thought, could be more beautiful.

The moon was creeping slowly up the sky to join the stars and, with the scent of flowers all round them and music coming through the open windows, it all seemed too exquisite to be real.

“And I am enchanted, absolutely enchanted by your country and your Palace,” Alnina told him.

“I hope perhaps you will add its owner to your list.”

Alnina smiled.

“My husband told me how charming you are and I have been looking forward to meeting you.”

“And now we have met, are you disappointed?”

“No, of course not. You fit so perfectly with this beautiful background and undoubtedly play the lead in this delightful drama.”

Alnina was choosing her words carefully. But she thought as she spoke that they sounded too romantic.

To her surprise the Prince took her hand and raised it to his lips and for a moment she thought it a strange thing for a Georgian to do.

Then she remembered that everything they did, like the way they spoke, was French and it was just how a Frenchman would have behaved.

She and the Prince went back to the ballroom to find that Princess Natasha was now dancing with William.

The Duke was looking for her and, as he walked towards her, she felt the Prince straighten himself.

Once again she was aware that he was looking at the Duke in a somewhat unpleasant manner. It was not only what she could see, but what she could feel.

She felt certain, although he had never said a word against the Duke, that he actually disliked him.

Later that night when they went up to bed, the Duke walked with Alnina into her bedroom in case anyone was watching them.

“Have you enjoyed yourself tonight?” he asked.

“I have enjoyed it all immensely,” Alnina replied. “but I do think we have to be rather careful of the Prince.”

“Why?” the Duke questioned.

“I don’t know why,” Alnina replied, “but I feel he dislikes you.”

“Nonsense! He was always most friendly when I was here before. I am sure now he is doing his very best to welcome us.”

“I may be imagining things, but although he danced with me several times and did not seem to be interested in dancing with anyone else, I had the distinct feeling that he was watching you.”

“I think you are exaggerating, Alnina. Of course he may be somewhat annoyed that I have come into a title when he might have pushed his daughter off onto me when I was here before and unmarried.”

“I am sure that he would have done that if he had known you were to become a Duke,” Alnina said. “He kept talking about how he wanted her to have an English husband and I replied that he must bring her to England. Then I realised that, if he did, he would learn that we are not married.”

“Well, all I can say is that I am extremely grateful to you. If I had come here unmarried, I am sure I would have been forced somehow into marriage and, as you well know, it is what I intend absolutely to avoid.”

“I have certainly received that message loud and clear, John, and I consider it an insult to my sex that you prefer a mountain to any of us.”

“Wait until you see it, Alnina, and then you will understand.”

“Have you arranged to go there?” she asked.

“I certainly have and William and I will be leaving as soon as we have finished breakfast. I thought you could spend the morning exploring the little shops and the many bazaars in Tiflis. It’s not very far to walk.”

“Of course the mountain comes first – ”

“You are laughing at me. Therefore the sooner I go to bed the better. Goodnight, Alnina, and may I say that you have played your part brilliantly tonight. No Duchess could have been more dignified or, may I say it, more attractive.”

Alnina curtseyed to the Duke.

“Thank you, kind sir,” she murmured.

He opened the communicating door, then paused.

“Goodnight again, Alnina. If you are disturbed or frightened in the night, you know I am next door.”

“I hope, like the Georgians, you will have your revolver with you,” Alnina replied.

“I think to be correct, it ought to be a dagger,” the Duke said. “Actually the answer to that question is ‘yes’.”

“Then I really feel protected.”

“I have locked your door for you and unless an intruder climbs through the window it is unlikely you will be disturbed.”