She walked towards him, her eyes on his. As she sat down beside him, he took her hands and said in a serious tone she had not heard him use before,
“Do you trust me, my darling?”
“You know I do,” Tilda answered.
“Then I want you to agree to the plans I have made,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy for you, but I promise you I am doing what is best for both of us.”
“You are – going to – leave me?” Tilda asked perceptively.
“Only for two – perhaps three days,” he answered. “There are a great many things to arrange before we can be together, but I promise you that we will be with each other and nothing shall stop us.”
“That is – all I want to – hear,” Tilda whispered.
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it passionately.
“I love you!” he said, “I love you so overwhelmingly, so completely that it is difficult to find words to make you understand that nothing, and I mean this, Tilda, nothing, not even God, shall prevent you from being my wife!”
Chapter Seven
The carriage reached the outskirts of Munich and Tilda, peering from the window, said to Frau Sturdel,
“Everything seems quiet enough!”
“That’s what always happens,” Frau Sturdel commented in a tone of disgust. “The students upset everyone, make a thorough nuisance of themselves and then go back to the University as if nothing had happened!”
It seemed to Tilda as if it had all happened too quickly for her to have time to think or consider what they were doing.
Rudolph had told her that he had arranged with Frau Sturdel for the village carrier to take him to Obernia.
“She says she can trust the man and he will not ask too many questions,” he told Tilda.
“I cannot come – with you?” Tilda asked wistfully.
“No, darling,” he replied, “you must go to Munich to make your peace with your uncle and tell the man you are betrothed to that you cannot marry him.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” Tilda pleaded.
“It will not be for long,” Rudolph said reassuringly. “Once I have everything arranged for our marriage I will send for you and then nothing and nobody will ever separate us again.”
“You are sure of that?” Tilda asked.
He swept her into his arms and held her very closely against him.
“How can I convince you,” he said, “that the only thing I want is you?”
Tilda looked up at him, her blue eyes very bright and excited.
“Make me – believe you,” she whispered.
His mouth was on hers and he kissed her until once again she was a part of him and she could think of nothing but the wonder and rapture of his lips.
Then he said,
“I will send for you or come and fetch you and once we are married we can defy the world to separate us.”
“Will they – try?” Tilda asked with a little shiver.
“They would fail,” he asserted confidently.
He managed to dress himself, although Tilda knew it gave him quite a considerable amount of pain.
Then, as it drew near to two o’clock, he said,
“I am going to walk down the road to where Frau Sturdel has promised that the carrier will be waiting for me.”
“What about – me?” Tilda asked, “How shall I get back to Munich?”
“Once I have reached my own country,” he said, “I will arrange for a carriage and servants to take you and Frau Sturdel to Munich.”
“Frau Sturdel?” Tilda ejaculated in surprise.
“You cannot imagine I would risk your going alone without someone to look after you?” Rudolph said. “Frau Sturdel is a Bavarian and she will deal, I am certain, very competently with any impertinent or aggressive students.”
“She has agreed to this idea?” Tilda asked in surprise.
“I explained to her how essential it was to our future happiness.”
“You did not tell her we were not married?”
Rudolph smiled.
“No. I told her we were already married, but I had not broken the news to my parents. They would be very upset and that is why I must go alone to Obernia.”
Tilda laughed.
“I must commend you – on your imagination!”
Rudolph made a sound suspiciously like a groan.
“I hate lying.” he said, “especially where it concerns you. But for our future, I am prepared to do anything, however reprehensible, if it will result in our being married as soon as possible.”
Tilda felt distinctly uncomfortable as she thought of the amount of lies she had told him.
What would he say, site thought, when he knew her real name and that she was supposed to marry his Prince?
Then she told herself that whoever she was, Rudolph would still love her.
At the same time it would be wise not to tell him the truth until they were actually married or at least until the plans for her becoming his wife were too far advanced for him to back out.
Even the thought that he might sacrifice his love for his patriotism and his loyalty to his Ruler made her tremble with fear.
‘I must marry him! I must!’ she told herself.
She knew that now she had fallen in love it was impossible, completely and absolutely impossible, for her to make a mariage de convenance.
In England it had not seemed so repugnant to marry a man she had never seen or to accept the future that had been planned for her by Queen Victoria and her parents.
But now Rudolph had awakened in her something that she had not even realised existed.
The flame that he aroused when he kissed her, the rapture and ecstasy she felt at his touch made her know that even to contemplate a future without him was to walk into an impenetrable darkness.
Even so Tilda could not understand how love had come upon her so quickly, which permeated not only herself but her whole world.
There was only Rudolph, her love for him and his love for her. Nothing else mattered – nothing else counted.
Rank, wealth, respect or pride. She had swept them all away in her need for him! She felt that her very heart beat because she was near to him and he loved her.
Rudolph’s plans to travel to Obernia had gone so smoothly that she felt more confident that the future would sort itself out and she need not be afraid.
He kissed her a passionate goodbye in the small kitchen.
“Be very careful of yourself, my beloved little angel,” he said.
“I shall count the minutes until I – see you again.”
“It is an agony beyond words to leave you.”
“Why could we have not stayed here a few days more – now we love each other?”
Rudolph smiled.
“Do you really think, my precious, I could go on sleeping with a bolster between us?”
“We could have – taken it– away!” Tilda whispered.
He pulled her closer to him.
“Tilda! Tilda! You have no idea what you ask of a man!”
“It is wrong – to suggest – that?”
“No, my sweet, but angels don’t understand the frailties of mere humans!”
“I don’t – understand.”
“I will explain when we are married,” Rudolph murmured.
“Then let’s get married – quickly,” Tilda begged him.
Rudolph kissed her forehead.
“As quickly as it is possible. That I swear.”
“You will be very careful? I am frightened you might be – captured by the Police or the Military.”
“I will take great care for your sake.”
He kissed her until she could not speak or breathe and then, looking incredibly handsome, he walked away down the side of the hill to where the carrier would be waiting for him.
He moved with a limp and it was obvious that he was bearing as lightly as possible upon his injured leg.
The bandage was hidden by his wooll
en stocking and Tilda thought that anyone looking at him would not suspect for a moment that he was a student wanted by the Police or a soldier sought by the Army.
She had an agonising fear that when he reached Obernia the Lieutenant and a platoon of soldiers would be waiting for him.
*
Now, as she approached Munich, she was beset by terrifying questions.
Supposing after all they had meant to each other she never heard from him again?
Supposing he was incarcerated in an Obernian prison or confined to Barracks so that he could not communicate with her?
Then she told herself that she was just being over-imaginative!
She must be cool and calm as Rudolph expected her to be because she was English.
It had been nearly five o’clock before a knock at the door had brought Frau Sturdel to her feet.
She had returned to the bungalow half an hour earlier to say that her patient was comfortable and was not expecting her to call again before the morning.
She then changed from her working dress into what Tilda guessed was her best gown.
They sat drinking tea until Frau Sturdel opened the door to see a man in private livery outside.
“The carriage is ready, gnädige frau,” he said, bowing.
“We will come at once,” Frau Sturdel replied.
She lent Tilda a woollen shawl to wrap around her shoulders against the faint chill that was already in the air now that the sun had lost its heat.
“Supposing anyone sees us coming down the hill?” Tilda asked apprehensively.
“If they do,” Frau Sturdel answered, “they will not be able to ask questions until I return.”
She was smiling and Tilda forced herself not to feel nervous but to hurry beside Frau Sturdel down the twisting path that led to the road that went through the village.
At the bottom of the hill there was a closed carriage of the type that the Earl of Forthampton found convenient tor travelling.
There were two men on the box and a footman up behind.
There was nothing gaudy or particularly noticeable about the vehicle nor the four horses drawing it, except that they were of good bloodstock.
But Tilda knew that to possess such equipage meant that Rudolph was well-to-do.
It did not matter to her whether he was rich or poor, she would love him just the same, she thought.
Yet she could not help hoping that he would be wealthy enough to assuage in some way her father’s anger when he learnt that she had refused the position of Her Royal Highness for that of an ordinary citizen of Obernia.
As they travelled at a fast pace towards Munich, Frau Sturdel piped up,
“I don’t mind telling you, Frau Weber, this is a treat for me. It’s not often I journey by carriage and it’s something I greatly enjoy.”
“I am glad,” Tilda smiled, “because it is very kind of you to come with me.”
“Your husband was worried about you,” Frau Sturdel said. “He is very much in love, as I am sure you know! Ah well, you are a lucky couple! There is so much unhappiness in the world today that it is a pleasure to see two people who were really meant for each other.”
“Do you really think – that?” Tilda asked gazing at her wide-eyed.
“I am sure of it,” Frau Sturdel said, “and it would be difficult to find a more handsome pair. Indeed your husband would have far too many women making eyes at him for your peace of mind, if it was not for the fact that you are so lovely that he has eyes only for you!”
“I hope that is true,” Tilda said in a low voice.
She could not help feeling a little jealous of Mitzi and the other women Rudolph had loved before he met her.
He was so overwhelmingly good-looking that she knew it would be impossible for there not to have been women – many, many women in his life.
Rut he loved her!
There was no doubt about his sincerity or indeed the fact that, while he had been prepared never to see her again, he had suddenly changed his mind.
She could only believe that it was because he said he found it impossible to live without her,
Tilda gave a little sigh.
It was going to be hard to wait for his message and, when the moment came, to tell Lady Crewkerne that she did not intend to marry the Prince.
She could only pray that when she arrived in Munich she would not find a message from His Royal Highness commanding them to leave immediately for Obernia.
She had not dared tell Rudolph that there might be difficulties about her staying on in Munich.
Then she told herself that she would contrive it somehow, even if she had to take to her bed and say that she was ill.
It had been difficult to decide how he should get in touch with her when he believed her name to be ‘Hyde’.
But rather than tell him a lot of lies that might make him suspicious, Tilda decided that the only thing to do was to inform the desk at the hotel that any messages for ‘Miss Tilda Hyde’ were to be given to her immediately.
‘They may think it strange,’ she told herself, ‘but what does it matter?’
Philosophically she shrugged her shoulders. The curiosity of the hotel concierge was of no consequence. What was of great importance at the moment was not to arouse Rudolph’s suspicions in any way.
The carriage was now driving through the main streets of Munich.
It was getting dusk and the gaslights were glowing golden in the twilight.
There were many citizens in the streets, but they all appeared to be moving peacefully about their business or taking a stroll towards the cafés where there were crowds sitting at tables on the pavement and drinking beer.
“We shall be at the hotel in a moment,” Frau Sturdel remarked.
“I can only thank you again,” Tilda said, “I don’t believe that anyone in the world could be as kind as you have been to me and to my husband.”
“It’s been a real pleasure,” Frau Sturdel declared, “and to tell the truth it has brought a bit of excitement into my life. I shall often laugh to think how my grandmother’s quilt hid you from Herr Oberpolizei-Inspektor! I shall also remember this carriage ride. It has been such a treat, it has really!”
“It seems a long way for you to come just to turn about and go back again,” Tilda said.
“Don’t worry about me,” Frau Sturdel insisted. “I’ll sit back and pretend I’m a Lady of Quality driving in my own carriage to a Reception with the Mayor!”
Tilda laughed and, as the horses came to a standstill, she bent to kiss Frau Sturdel’s cheek.
“As soon as we are settled,” she said, “I will write to you and perhaps one day you will come and see us.”
“I shall enjoy that more than I can say. Please don’t forget to ask me.”
“I shall not do that,” Tilda said, “and we shall always be grateful, my husband and I.”
She kissed the elderly woman again.
But, as she stepped out of the carriage, she suddenly felt very small and afraid of what lay ahead.
Then instinctively her chin went up.
What did it matter what anybody said?
Rudolph was waiting for her! Rudolph was going to many her!
Rudolph loved her!
She passed through the vestibule and went up to the first floor in a slow creaky lift.
She thought that the liftman looked at her curiously, but he did not speak and, reaching the first floor, she walked to the sitting room that was part of their suite.
Taking a deep breath she opened the door.
There were three people sitting on the heavy brocade furniture.
They all turned their heads to stare at her with something like stupefaction.
The Professor spoke first,
“Lady Victoria!”
“I am sorry if you have been waiting for me – ” Tilda began.
Then she recognised the third person present.
He was a young man who had changed very little even though it
was seven years since she last saw him.
*
Francis Tetherton was her cousin and was an attaché in the British Embassy in Obernia.
“You will see Francis when you reach Obernia,” her mother had said to her. “I know you always found him a bore, Tilda, but you must be nice to him and ask him to the Palace from time to time.”
But now Tilda had a very different idea about Francis.
She walked across the room with her hands outstretched.
“Oh, Cousin Francis, I am so pleased to see you!” she exclaimed.
Effete, pompous and rather stupid, Francis Tetherton replied,
“Cousin Victoria, we have been so worried about you!”
“Very worried indeed,” Lady Crewkerne said sharply. “Where have you been, Lady Victoria, and why did you not communicate with us? After the disgraceful and reprehensible manner in which you and the Professor behaved, as you might have imagined, I have been extremely anxious.”
Tilda glanced at the Professor.
She could see that he had been browbeaten by Lady Crewkerne and had a ‘hangdog’ apologetic look about him, which made her feel sorry for him.
“I expect the Professor has told you,” she replied, “that everything was my fault.”
“There are two opinions on that!” Lady Crewkerne said acidly. “How any man could dare to take you in your position to such a – ”
“Wait a minute!” Tilda said. “Let’s get this straight. The Professor did not take me – he accompanied me when he knew that I was determined to go to the Beer Hall alone – yes alone – by myself!”
She saw that her words and the manner in which she spoke surprised Lady Crewkerne and she went on,
“What is more, I do not suppose the Professor has told you how it was entirely due to his bravery that I was saved from being trampled underfoot by students or, worse still, shot by them! He saved my life and I shall always be grateful to him.”
“The Professor did not tell us that,” Lady Crewkerne said in a somewhat mollified tone of voice.
“It sounds as if the Professor acted bravely in very difficult circumstances,” Francis Tetherton said with a slow pomposity that had always irritated Tilda.
However she had a good reason for being pleasant to him and she flattered him with her attention while raising his and Lady Crewkerne’s estimation of the Professor until he no longer appeared so hangdog.
Love Conquers War Page 13