104. A Heart Finds Love (17 page)

He kissed Alnina, then headed down the gangway, which was pulled in as soon as he was on the quay.

Alnina waved to him as he walked away towards the stable.

As she did so, she felt the engines turning below and the yacht began to move very slowly out of the Port.

She had the last glimpse of William as he reached the stable and then, as he waved and she waved back, the yacht was out to sea and moving more quickly.

It was then that she went to her cabin.

She was wondering as she did so what she had left to wear on the voyage, knowing that they had taken almost everything they possessed with them to the Palace.

She took off her riding clothes.

And then thinking that maybe Albert was right and she was in fact very tired, having had no sleep that night, she climbed into bed.

She had one last look out of the porthole before she did so and she realised that they were now a long way from the shore and Georgia was left behind.

She gave a deep sigh of relief.

Then, once she was in bed, she thought that nothing really mattered except that the Duke was now no longer in danger and that they were sailing back to England where he would be safe from the Prince.

‘I love him! I adore him!’ she whispered to herself as she fell asleep.

*

Because she had been very tired, for it had in fact been a ride in the dark that would have exhausted a man let alone a young woman, she slept all through the day until it was nearly time for dinner.

When she awoke with a start, it was to find that Albert had come into the cabin.

“What is it?” she asked sleepily.

Then she remembered where she was and sat up.

“I have been – asleep,” she mumbled.

“You have indeed, Miss Alnina,” Albert replied. “It be getting on for seven o’clock and His Grace, who’s had a sleep too, be hoping you’ll have dinner with him at seven-thirty. He’s too hungry to wait till later.”

Alnina laughed.

“It seems incredible that we slept so long,” she said, “and, of course, I will be delighted to have dinner with His Grace. I think I have some dresses left here to wear.”

“There be two or three I didn’t pack, miss. I thinks they weren’t quite grand enough for the Palace, but you’ll look like a Queen in ’em as you always do.”

“Thank you, Albert,” Alnina smiled. “And now I would love a bath.”

“That’s just what I’m going to get for you, miss.”

Albert went into the bathroom and Alnina lent back against the pillows.

Everything that had happened seemed to flash in front of her eyes, almost as if it was occurring on a stage.

And the most significant of all was that the Duke was safe on the yacht.

They were at sea and far far away from Prince Vladimir and his wicked plan and they were on their way back home, where everything would be as it was before.

As she was pondering, she remembered that there were still her brother’s debts to be paid off and more things to be sold.

Then she told herself that she still had the Duke for at least ten days, however fast they steamed and it would undoubtedly be a glorious time for her to remember and savour.

The dress that Albert had left out for her was a very pretty one of blue chiffon embroidered with flowers, which made her look very young and, although she did not realise it, very lovely as well.

She took a great deal of time arranging her hair and because she felt that the dress needed it, she put on a small diamond necklace, but it was not one of the larger and more valuable jewels the Duke had brought with them.

As she then went into the Saloon, she felt a little shimmer of excitement because she was seeing the Duke again.

He was sitting on one side of a comfortable sofa reading a newspaper.

As he rose to his feet when she came in through the door, she saw that he had changed into evening clothes.

They were what he usually wore when they were at sea and Albert had not thought they were stylish enough to be taken to the Palace.

“Have you had a nice sleep?” the Duke asked.

He was smiling at her as she walked towards him and she replied,

“I slept and slept and I woke up so very thankful because you are safe.”

“And you are safe too, Alnina. I don’t think you would have been at all happy even though you would have become a Princess!”

“Don’t let’s talk about it,” Alnina begged. “I have never been so frightened in my whole life as I was when I woke you up to tell you that the Prince intended to kill you.”

“He also stated that there was no gold left in the mountain,” the Duke answered. “I was therefore wasting my time and my energy in chasing what would turn out to be a ‘wild goose chase’.”

Alnina sat down beside him.

“But you loved your mountain,” she said, “and I am sorry that you have lost it.”

“I lost the unattainable,” the Duke sighed. “Now there is no reason for me to think of it again.”

He rose to his feet.

“I want you to come out on deck, Alnina, to see the sun set. It is much more beautiful than anything we have left behind us.”

Alnina had been afraid that he would be bitterly disappointed at losing his mountain, but she smiled happily as he pulled her to her feet.

Putting his arm round her protectively, he took her out on deck, where they walked until they were looking out over the bow of the ship and they were then out of sight of anyone who might be on the deck.

The yacht was steaming straight across the middle of the Black Sea towards the Bosporus and the sun was setting in the West throwing a golden glow over the sky.

It was very lovely and the only sound was of the engines turning and the slap and swish of the waves.

“It’s all beautiful, so beautiful,” Alnina gasped.

She felt that the Duke was waiting to hear what she thought.

“What makes it so perfect,” she carried on, “is that you are no longer in danger and you are safe, absolutely safe, because we are going back to England.”

“Does it matter so much to you?” the Duke asked.

“Of course it does!”

“You saved me again,” he said. “Now it would be impossible for me to be without you.”

Alnina looked up at him.

She did not understand what he meant.

But, when she met his eyes, she felt once again that strange, exciting feeling which she knew was love.

“You are sorry, because I have lost my mountain, which had meant so much to me?”

“Yes, of course, I am, John.”

“But I have found something else that matters so much more,” the Duke said. “Something which makes me feel I was very stupid to want a mountain when there is something else so different and very much more desirable.”

“What is – that,” Alnina asked him.

It was difficult to say the words.

It flashed through her mind that, if he was seeking something different, he might not now want her or her help as he had needed it before.

“I suppose we all,” the Duke said quietly, “follow our heart and it tells us what will make us happy.”

He paused as if he was thinking it out and then continued,

“What the heart tells us in its own way is utterly and completely desirable.”

“And you have found something like that?” Alnina asked, “even though you have lost your mountain.”

“I have found something which is a thousand times more important to me than the mountain could ever be. I exaggerated the importance of it in my life because it was different from what other men were seeking – which, of course – is the love of a woman.”

There was silence.

Alnina felt as if a cold hand gripped her heart.

It told her that the Duke was looking elsewhere.

She had lost him for ever.

“What I am trying to say,” the Duke went on very quietly, “is that, while I have lost the mountain, I have found something so wonderful that I cannot believe that I would ever be lucky enough to obtain it.”

“And what – is it,” Alnina managed to say.

The Duke smiled.

“Surely, my darling Alnina, you must have realised by this time that it is –
you
.”

She looked up at him in sheer astonishment.

Then, as she saw the vivid expression in his eyes, she knew that was what she had wanted all along and what she had sought.

“I love you, Alnina,” the Duke said slowly. “I love you and I know there is nothing else in my world of any consequence except you!”

“Is – that really – true?” Alnina whispered.

He did not answer, but merely drew her closer to him.

Then his lips were on hers.

As he kissed her, she knew that this was what she had longed for and prayed for.

But she had no idea that it could ever be hers.

The Duke kissed her and went on kissing her for a long time.

Then he raised his head.

He asked in a voice which sounded strange, even to himself.

“How can you do this to me? How can you make me feel as I have never felt before? It is, I know, the love that has always eluded me.”

“I love you,” Alnina whispered. “I have loved you for a long time, but I did not know at first it was love.”

“I will teach you about love, my darling. Now I know that, while you can teach me many things, I too can teach you things that are so wonderful we cannot put them into words.”

Then he was kissing her again.

Kissing her until she felt as if the whole world was turning round and round and they were alone on some enchanted mountain.

It was where there was no danger, only love and more love.

*

A long time later the Duke drew Alnina back into the Saloon.

Dinner was waiting for them.

And afterwards Alnina could never remember what she had eaten and drunk.

She had only known that her heart was singing.

She felt as if they were both flying in the sky, high above the earth and that nothing could touch them.

Only when the meal was over and the servants had withdrawn did the Duke say,

“Now, my precious, I am going to tell you what my plans are and then you must tell me if they will make you happy.”

“As long as I am with you, John, I am so happy I feel it cannot be true,” Alnina replied.

The Duke took her hand in his.

“Tomorrow,” he said, “we are going to stop over at Constantinople and be married.”

“
Married
,” Alnina whispered.

“I have no intention of waiting until I return home. In fact I cannot wait any longer than tomorrow.”

He paused for a moment before he went on,

“There is a little Church just outside Constantinople that I visited many years ago, because it was so old and had a long and fascinating history.”

Alnina was listening intently.

“It is a Christian Church,” he continued, “and we can be married there. Then, my precious, my darling, I can teach you all about love.”

He pulled Alnina close to him and kissed her.

She knew that this was what she had hoped for and wanted, although she had been unable to put it into words.

*

They were married the next afternoon at one of the most attractive little Churches Alnina had ever seen.

When the Priest saw the Duke, he remembered him and greeted him with enthusiasm.

“I remember you well, Mr. Ford,” he said, “and the nice gentleman you had with you when you came here five years ago.”

“I am so glad that you remember me, Father,” the Duke replied. “I have always thought when you blessed me before I left that I would come back. And that is what I have done!”

The old Priest smiled at Alnina as he went on,

“I have come back with someone I want to marry and we are asking you if you would be kind enough to join us together for the rest of our lives.”

The Priest beamed.

“That is what people always say when I marry them and you two will be blissfully happy together until you reach Heaven.”

They then went into the small Church which, as the Duke had said, was very old. It had been restored to its original state only half a century ago.

They waited while the Priest changed into some very beautiful vestments and lit the candles on the altar.

Then, with only one young Server present besides themselves, they stood together in front of the altar.

The Priest read the Marriage Service with a deep sincerity which was very moving.

When the Duke and Alnina knelt to be blessed, she knew that his blessing would make sure that they never lost each other or their love.

*

Later that evening the yacht anchored in a quiet bay.

The Captain and all the crew drank the bride and groom’s health and gave them their good wishes.

While they were on land, Albert had moved the Duke out of the Master cabin. It was where he had slept alone on their voyage out from England.

Now Alnina was in possession of it.

She was very touched to find that, before they had left the yacht to be married, the Duke had sent one of the Stewards ashore.

He was told to buy every flower that was available and they now decorated the cabin.

Alnina took off the pretty gown she had worn for dinner and then put on the nightgown that Albert had left out for her and slipped into bed.

The scent of all the flowers made the cabin more attractive than anywhere she had ever slept before.

She felt, in fact, as if she was a Fairy Queen in a Fairy world, where there was nothing dangerous or cruel – only love.

Then, as the door opened and the Duke entered, she knew that this was part of their Fairy tale.

Nothing could be more wonderful or more ecstatic.

He walked towards her.

Then he stood looking down at her.

She thought there was a softness in his eyes that she had never seen before.

“Just how can I be so lucky,” he asked, “as to have found you?”

“I have been asking myself the same question,” Alnina replied. “I think it was Fate that we should come together and Fate that it all started so incredibly with a wedding dress.”

“And today you have been married without one, but now you are my wife, my darling, and I will never, never lose you.”

He climbed into bed and took her into his arms.