104. A Heart Finds Love (16 page)

But it would never be the same as it had been when they travelled together, when he had taken her to see the monkeys at Gibraltar and they had talked of the Gods and Goddesses as they passed Greece.

But it was much more than that, more than listening to his deep voice, more than looking up into his eyes.

It was, she thought, in some strange way she could not explain even to herself, as if she belonged to him.

She had not realised it at first even though she had been excited at knowing him when he had called to see the wedding dress.

Every moment they had been together she had been more and more conscious of him so that he had filled her thoughts and her heart.

‘I love him, but I must be very sensible about this,’ she told herself as they reached the stable. ‘He must never know what I am thinking and then be sorry for me. That is something I could not bear.’

There was a man in charge of the stable and there were two horses already stabled there and they were lucky that there were no more.

It was obvious that people who wanted to travel by sea would ride out from Tiflis and leave their horses, while they went to visit friends who lived further down the coast, or perhaps venture as far as Constantinople.

The man then took the horses into the stalls without asking them any questions.

The Duke gave him some money to look after them until they were collected.

“They belong,” he said, “to His Royal Highness, Prince Vladimir, and you must take great care of them if he does not call for them immediately.”

The man was instantly alert at the Prince’s name and he promised to feed the horses and look after them well.

“I felt sure you would,” the Duke managed to say in Russian.

Then they walked away from the stable and back towards the quay.

The Duke had thought that there was no need to alert the Captain of the yacht until he was rid of the horses.

Now he suggested,

“We will leave at once, even though they will not realise we have left until we don’t come down for breakfast and they find our beds are empty.”

Alnina gave a little laugh.

“That gives us at least an hour,” she said, “before they even leave the Palace, so we need not hurry. Equally the sooner we are away the safer I will feel.”

They reached the yacht and, as the gangway was down, they walked aboard.

The first to see them was one of the sailors who was scrubbing the deck.

He stared at the Duke and then saluted.

“Good morning, Your Grace.”

“Good morning. Where is the Captain?”

“He be on the bridge, Your Grace,” he replied.

The Duke was just about to walk towards it when William held up his hand,

“Wait just a minute, John, I want to talk to you and Alnina. Let’s now go into the Saloon before you notify the Captain that we are on board.”

The Duke looked at him in surprise, but did not say anything.

He merely walked towards the Saloon and he then opened the door and held it for Alnina to go in first.

It was as they had left it and she was rather touched to see that there were fresh flowers arranged on the table.

It was when they were in Gibraltar she had said that she loved flowers and the Duke had bought her a bouquet to take back on board and at every Port of call he had bought her more.

Although all those, by this time, were dead, the Captain or perhaps the Stewards had placed a large vase of fresh flowers in the centre of the table.

William, who came in last, closed the door behind him.

Now the Duke said,

“What is it, William? I want to leave here as you can imagine, so tell us quickly what is wrong.”

“There is nothing particularly wrong,” he answered, “but I have decided that I would like to stay here.”

“
Stay here
!” the Duke exclaimed. “You cannot be serious.”

“I am serious,” William said, “because I have fallen in love with Natasha. I was going to tell you today that she loves me and we want your help in persuading the Prince I can marry her.”

For a moment the Duke was silent and then he said,

“It is certainly a great surprise and something that I never expected. But of course, William, if you love her, you will have to persuade her father that you are of enough stature for him to accept you as his son-in-law.”

“That is what I was going to talk to you about at breakfast and, by the way, before I ride back, I would like something to eat.”

“You have taken my breath away and so I am not thinking clearly, but I will see to that if nothing else.”

The Duke walked to the door, opened it and called for a Steward.

It was only a moment before one came running and looked at the Duke in surprise.

“We weren’t expecting Your Grace,” he said.

“I know that,” the Duke answered, “but I am here and so are my two guests and we would like breakfast as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, of course, Your Grace. I will tell the chef. I expect he’s awake by now.”

The Duke smiled.

“If he’s not, then wake him up.”

The Steward was already running to find the chef and the Duke went back into the Saloon.

“Now I think about it,” he said, “I am both hungry and thirsty myself.”

She shut the door and sat down opposite Alnina.

“The problem is,” he said, “how to make William important enough to be accepted by the Prince.”

He looked at his friend for a moment and then he asked,

“I suppose you are brave enough to live with a man who was prepared to kill me and I expect you as well, if necessary, by throwing us off the top of a mountain.”

“Only because he wanted Alnina as his wife and I cannot believe that he treats many of his guests in the same way or we would have heard about it.”

“I would not trust him further than I can see him,” the Duke said. “But then, if you are brave enough to marry Natasha, you will have to make yourself so important that he does not dispose of you as he intended to do with me.”

“I realise that, but I think if he has what he wants, an English son-in-law, he will behave reasonably.”

William looked towards Alnina and said,

“After all, you could hardly blame him for wanting Alnina when she is so beautiful and, of course, he believes that, as an English Duchess, she will be almost as good as a distinguished son-in-law.”

“I can understand,” Alnina said, “that I was only the second choice. I want to say before we go any further that I think Princess Natasha is a charming and attractive girl and William will, I am sure, be very happy with her.”

William smiled at her.

“Thank you so much, Alnina. I thought you would understand. As you have been clever enough to save the Duke, be clever now and tell me how I can make Prince Vladimir believe that I am of great stature in England.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” the Duke remarked.

“I realise that,” William said, “but Alnina has never failed us yet.”

Alnina drew in her breath and then she asked,

“Surely there was someone in your family who was of consequence. A General or perhaps a Knight.”

William stared at her.

“As a matter of fact,” he said, “my grandfather was knighted when he became Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. I was very young when he died, so I cannot say that he made a great impression on me.”

“But you say he was knighted?”

“Yes, but, although he held that particular post, it was not, of course, inherited by my father.”

“Nevertheless your grandfather was a Sir,” and your great-grandfather was Lord Armstrong.”

William nodded and Alnina went on,

“I cannot think that Prince Vladimir will be aware of the difference between a Knighthood and a Baronetcy. If you say that your grandfather was a Baronet, your father would in turn have been a Sir, and you, when he died, would have become Sir William Armstrong.”

Then the Duke chipped in,

“William can say that he is not using his title when he is abroad because, as he is with me, one title in the party was quite enough for foreigners to remember!”

William looked at the Duke and asked,

“Do you think I could really get away with it?”

“Of course you can,” the Duke replied, “and, when I go back to London, I will ask the Queen, if necessary on my knees, to grant you the title of Baronet.”

“Even if she says ‘no’,” Alnina said, “no one out here would be able to find out if you are genuine or not. It would be too complicated.”

“I am sure you are right,” William said, “and I have never thought about it myself. But then, Alnina, you have always been our little angel from Heaven since you first advertised your mother’s wedding dress.”

Alnina laughed.

“It does sound rather ridiculous, but everything has happened because of that and the last disclosure has been very very frightening.”

“That is something you need not fear any longer,” the Duke said, “but to return to William, only you could be astute enough to make him sure of gaining the Prince’s approval.”

He rose as he spoke and went to the writing desk in the corner of the Saloon.

“I am going to give you a letter to take back to Prince Vladimir and in it I will mention who you are and tell him that you are an extremely respected and admired British subject when you are in your own country.”

William laughed and was about to say something jokingly about it when the Stewards came in to lay the breakfast.

By the time they had laid three places and brought in the coffee, the Duke had finished his letter.

However, he could not read it while the Stewards were serving them with eggs and bacon.

Only when they had withdrawn did he suggest,

“Would you like to hear what I have written?”

“Yes, of course,” Alnina said. “I was wondering how we could leave the Palace without there being any unpleasantness about it, because it might affect William.”

“I thought about that too,” he answered.

He held up the letter that was written on his crested writing paper and began,

“
To His Royal Highness, Prince Vladimir Petrov
.

Your Royal Highness
,

It is with deep regret that we had to rush away from your delightful party without saying goodbye
.

But a messenger arrived at midnight to inform me that I must, on the orders of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, return to England immediately
.

Her Majesty requires me to welcome some Rulers from other countries who are arriving in ten days’ time at Windsor Castle
.

You will, I know, understand that I can do nothing but obey Her Majesty’s command and I must arrive in England before or at least not later than Her Majesty’s guests
.

I just cannot thank you enough for the kind and generous manner you received me and my wife
.

We will always remember how much we enjoyed staying in your beautiful Palace and being with Your Royal Highness
.

My wife particularly wishes me to tell you that she will never forget how lovely your flowers are in the garden and the delightful parties Your Royal Highness was gracious enough to give for us
.

We are leaving behind us my dear friend, William Armstrong, who has, as Your Royal Highness will soon learn, fallen in love with the beautiful Princess Natasha
.

I cannot imagine anyone else who would make you a more delightful or intelligent son-in-law
.

A great number of our friends in England will be thrilled at the marriage
.

He has asked me to apologise for the fact that he did not tell you that he is now, on his father’s death, Sir William Armstrong
.

He did not use his title because he thought that one title in the party was quite enough and in most foreign countries they find it difficult to appreciate the variety and distinction of our heritage
.

The Armstrongs have been distinguished servants of Great Britain all down the ages. They have served in the Army and Navy and, of course, in the political world
.

In the last two hundred years we have not had a King or Queen who has not been grateful to them in one way or another
.

I can only hope that my dear friend, Sir William, will be able to assist you in your very beautiful country
.

My wife has asked me to say that she will never forget the beauty you have shown her of the Caucasus Mountains
.

Again a thousand thanks for our delightful visit and I hope Princess Natasha and Sir William will be as happy as my wife and I are at this moment
.

We both send you our good wishes and grateful thanks
.

Yours sincerely
,

John Burlingford
.”

As the Duke finished reading, Alnina clapped her hands.

But William laughed.

“If he believes all that, he believes anything,” he said. “Although there is, I would admit, a grain of truth in it. My great-grandfather was a General and my uncle was an Admiral.”

“They have certainly served our country nobly,” the Duke said. “If you had told me about your uncle being an Admiral, I would have said that he was the right-hand man to Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.”

“You are obviously an author of fiction and will have to write a novel, John, and, of course, nothing could be more dramatic or exciting than what we have endured in Georgia.”

“What I really hope,” Alnina said softly, “is that you will be very happy.”

“I know I will be. Now if you will give me the letter I will ride back and you had better move off. So if the Prince is as much in love with Alnina as I am with Natasha, he might turn up at any moment!”

“Don’t frighten us,” Alnina replied. “But you are very sensible and the sooner we are out of the Black Sea the happier I will be.”

“Very well” the Duke agreed, getting up from the table. “I will go and find the Captain and tell him to put to sea immediately.”

He held out his hand to William.

“Take care of yourself, William, and let us know if it all goes as well as we hope.”

“You know I will keep in touch with you, John, and thank you again for everything.”