“Now that you are talking about it, I can tell you something I discovered last year when you were not with me,” William said. “I went to Georgia and actually met the owner of the mountain you were so interested in.”
“You met him! You never told me.”
“What was the point?” William asked. “I recalled how disappointed you were when, after we were certain we had found gold, we were told its owner had no intention of selling.”
“I remember that.”
“Now I was told,” William went on, “that he might sell it, but wants a high price for it. I had no wish to upset you by saying that it was ‘hands off’ as far as we were concerned.”
“Of course it was then,” the Duke agreed. “But now I am a Duke, although Heaven knows I will make a very bad one, I am determined that whatever you may say or think, that particular mountain will be mine.”
William lay back in his chair and laughed.
“You are always the same, John,” he sighed. “You make up your mind about something and then nothing will make you change it. Who would believe for one second that, having become a Duke when you had least expected it, your only thoughts are of buying a mountain, which, if you obtain it, it may quite easily be a disappointment.”
“Nevertheless it will be a satisfaction to me,” John replied, “simply because I had thought it could never be mine. Therefore I will at least have achieved something in my life.”
“I think you have already achieved a great deal. Very few people know the world as well as you know it and we have had a great deal of fun, even though we had to travel on the cheap.”
“I want that mountain!” the Duke insisted firmly. “And now I can afford to buy it.”
There was a pause and then William remarked,
“I have just told you that I met Prince Vladimir Petrov late last year. He is a tough creature and has one ambition in his life, I was told.”
“What is that?” the Duke asked.
“He wants his daughter, and he has only one, to marry an English Nobleman.”
“Are you making this up, William?”
“No, I am telling the truth. It did not sound all that interesting, especially as I am never likely to have a title. Therefore I merely thought that perhaps sooner or later the Prince would achieve what he wanted.”
“Why on earth should he want an Englishman for his daughter?”
“I think because the Czar and Queen Victoria are at daggers drawn,” William answered, “the Prince wants to be different. Also, as Britain is very powerful, if there is a war, he wants to be on the winning side.”
“Well, all I can say is that I am sure, as his daughter is a Princess, that she will find some idiot who will marry her. But it will not be me.”
“Don’t you be too certain about that, John. These Russians, especially when they are Georgians, are not only determined when they have an aim in life, but are also extremely shrewd and even unscrupulous about it.”
“What are you trying to say to me?”
“I am trying to save you from yourself,” William replied. “I am quite certain, if we go back now and tell the Prince we want to buy his mountain, he will think, because you are a Duke that you are exactly what he wants for his daughter.”
There was silence for a moment.
Then William said,
“Don’t be stupid, John. You know as well as I do there are a dozen different ways a man can be forced to the altar even if he does not want it. Remember that Russians are extremely clever at achieving what they desire.”
“I want that mountain,” the Duke said stubbornly.
“At the expense of your freedom?” William asked.
“No certainly not! I have told you before and I will tell you again that, after the way I was treated, I have no intention of marrying any woman, however attractive she may be.”
“Very well then,” William said. “Unless you want to commit suicide or provide yourself willy-nilly with a Russian wife, you must not go to the Caucasus.”
The Duke knocked his knuckles together.
“I intend to go,” he asserted, “and no one, not even you, William, will be able to stop me.”
William made a helpless gesture with his hands, but the Duke went on,
“There must be ways and means of insuring myself against the bonds of matrimony. In fact I will bet you a thousand pounds to a threepenny bit that I purchase the mountain without being married to the Princess, whatever she may look like.”
“I will certainly take you up on that,” William said. “At the same time be sensible, John. I cannot allow you to walk straight into a fiery furnace.”
He paused for a moment before he continued,
“Everyone told me when I was there last year that Prince Vladimir is absolutely determined that his daughter should marry an English Nobleman. He was even writing to Queen Victoria about her.”
“I don’t suppose for one second that Her Majesty would even reply to that.”
“No, of course not!” William agreed. “Equally what is the point of getting your fingers burnt, perhaps even being bumped off, for not doing what the Prince wants you to do?”
“You seem to think that I am a silly fool,” the Duke answered, “and that is where you are mistaken.”
He picked up The Times, which was still spread out on its silver stand.
“I was just looking at this advertisement when you arrived and wondering who it could have been made for. After all no one would know better than you and I about exquisite Chinese embroidery and this wedding dress does certainly sound unusual.”
William caught the newspaper when it was thrown to him and now he was looking at it in a puzzled fashion until he saw the advertisement.
“I don’t understand,” he quizzed. “If you buy a wedding dress, who are you buying it for?”
“What I am going to do,” the Duke said slowly, as if he was thinking it out, “is to buy the wedding dress and have a photograph taken of my wife wearing it. She will, of course, not be travelling with me.”
For a moment William did not comprehend exactly what he was saying and then he sat back in his chair and roared out with laughter.
“Really, John, you never cease to surprise me and only you could think of anything so clever.”
“I thought you would appreciate my little plan,” the Duke said. “Now William, how soon shall we leave to go and beg, borrow or steal this outstanding wedding dress in which my mythical wife will look so attractive?”
CHAPTER TWO
Alnina looked excitedly for the post the next day.
She was somewhat disappointed to find that there was only one letter from a shop. It advertised their own wedding dresses that were at reasonable prices.
However, there was still a great deal to be done in other parts of the house.
She went from room to room picking up the pieces that she thought would sell, even though the very best had already gone.
She then went to the stables to see the last two horses she had left.
Her brother had assembled quite a good collection because, like her, he loved riding. Unfortunately he also enjoyed betting and he had lost a considerable amount of money on the Racecourses.
He had, in fact, sold the best of his horses for a good sum of money before he died, but that had vanished too.
Now there were only two horses left and Alnina was determined to keep them if she possibly could.
‘I must have something to get about on,’ she told herself.
She was already planning at the back of her mind that, if she sold the house, she might well keep one of the cottages on the estate for herself. In which case she would take all the furniture she needed from the house.
It was just an idea and it would only be possible if she was left with enough money to live on.
At the moment there was still a pile of unpaid bills, even though it was not as large as it had been.
‘I must be absolutely clear of Charles’s
debts,’ she muttered to herself, ‘before I can even begin to think of my own comforts.’
She supposed that if the worst came to the worst she could teach languages, although it was something she had never anticipated she might have to do.
Yet sooner than starve she could at least qualify as a teacher, considering how well she spoke so many foreign languages.
At the same time she was sensible enough to know that her youth and her looks were against her. She was quite sure that she did not look her age.
Without being at all conceited, she knew that most people would not want a young and very pretty girl in their house who obviously did not belong to the schoolroom.
She remembered that her own Governesses were middle-aged cosy women and they never ate downstairs in the dining room if there was a party. They would take it for granted that, when there were guests, they would stay in the schoolroom.
‘It’s no use me thinking about the future,’ she told herself, ‘until I am clear of the past and that seems likely to take a long time.’
She then went into the kitchen garden to see if there were any vegetables for her luncheon. She found some potatoes, which were small, but if cooked well they could be delicious.
She was carrying them back for Mrs. Brooks, when, as she came round the outside of the house, she saw to her surprise that there was a very smart chaise outside the front door. It was drawn by four perfectly matched horses.
As she walked nearer, she saw that the chaise had a crest on the outside of the door and she did not know of anyone in the County who had such a smart chaise or such fine horses.
The groom, who was standing at their heads, wore a livery she did not recognise.
Hoping she looked tidy, she hurried into the house to find Brooks waiting for her in the hall.
“There be a gentleman to see you, Miss Alnina,” he said, “and he says he be the Duke of Burlingford.”
Alnina stared at him in surprise.
But Brooks, obviously thrilled at such an important visitor, was already walking ahead of her to open the door into the study.
Instinctively Alnina put her hand up to her hair to tidy it and then, putting down the potatoes on the nearest table, she followed Brooks towards the study.
She wondered why she had never heard of the Duke of Burlingford before.
‘It could well be an elderly friend of Papa’s,’ she reflected, ‘who has just heard of Charles’s death.’
Brooks opened the door and she walked in.
A tall young man was standing looking out of the window and, when he turned round, Alnina thought that he was very handsome and certainly not likely to be a friend of her father’s.
He walked towards her, holding out his hand.
“I have learnt that your name is Miss Lester,” he began, “and I think I knew your brother, Charles, who was at Eton with me. He was younger than me, but I remember he was selected for the cricket team at a very early age.”
Alnina smiled and then replied,
“I suppose you do not know that Charles is dead.”
“Dead!” the Duke exclaimed. “But why should he have died? He was a good deal younger than me.”
“He died after fighting a duel in France and you could not have seen it in the newspapers. It was reported, I think, as a warning to other young men who could get into trouble in Paris.”
“I am sorry, very sorry to hear of Charles’s death,” the Duke said, “but I really came to see you because of your advertisement in The Times. It did not give your name, only the address.”
“So that is why you have come here, Your Grace. I wondered, when I saw your horses outside and admired them very much, who you could possibly be.”
“I have only recently come into the Dukedom,” the Duke replied, “owing to a disaster that happened to my cousin and his son at sea.”
“Oh, I did read about that. I was wondering where I had heard your name before and now I remember.”
“Unfortunately I did not read about your brother,” the Duke added. “But I am really sorry to hear the news.”
“I am sorry too,” Alnina said. “But sadly Charles left a great number of debts and to pay them off I am trying to sell the house and more or less everything in it.”
“It is a very beautiful house, Miss Lester. In fact, as I came up the drive, I thought it was one of the most attractive houses I have seen for a long time.”
“I love it because it is my home,” Alnina admitted, “but it has to go, like almost everything else in it.”
She glanced up as she was speaking at the empty space over the mantelpiece where a picture had hung and she had been lucky to receive three hundred pounds for it.
As if he was reading her thoughts, the Duke said,
“I know what you must be feeling.”
“Now we should talk business, Your Grace. You came to see the wedding dress and it would be helpful if you would not mind coming up to the bedroom to view it.”
“Of course I will do so.”
The Duke thought as he spoke that Charles’s sister was certainly very attractive and he recalled that Charles had been a very good-looking boy.
It seemed sad that she should have to sell the family house and its contents.
‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘there must be a successor who would carry on the Lester family.’
Alnina, however, was walking towards the door and he followed her.
The Duke was well aware, as they walked up the stairs, that there were gaps where furniture had once stood and a great number of empty spaces on the walls. It was easy to see where the pictures had hung as the wallpaper was fresh, whilst the walls themselves were obviously in need of decorating.
Alnina, without speaking, led the Duke along the passage where the best bedrooms were situated.
She opened the door into her mother’s room and the sunshine streaming in through the windows made it seem, with its elegant gilt bed and cupid-decorated mirror, very charming.
The wedding dress was hanging on the outside of the wardrobe where Alnina had left it and the rays of the sun were shimmering brightly on the diamante and making the whole gown sparkle.
The Duke stared at it and then he said,
“It is magnificent, the finest wedding dress I have ever seen.”
“I thought you would think so,” Alnina answered. “My father bought it in China and my mother wore it at their wedding. Otherwise it has never been used.”
“I suppose really you were keeping it for yourself,” the Duke enquired.
Alnina laughed and shook her head.
“I think it would now appear very peculiar in any English Church and, if indeed I did marry, I would want something less spectacular.”
“Well, it’s exactly what I want,” the Duke said.
“I suppose you have asked your wife if she will wear anything so unusual, Your Grace?” Alnina asked.
The Duke smiled.
“Now I must explain that there is no wife, but I want, if you would like the truth, to pretend that there is one.”
Alnina looked puzzled.
“I don’t understand,” she murmured.
“Are you really interested in selling it?”
“Of course I am. You said you liked the wedding dress and I admit that it is very beautiful. Yet, although I should not say so, since I am anxious to sell it, I think that most young women would feel rather embarrassed to wear anything so fancy at an ordinary wedding.”
Then she suddenly put up both her hands as if to apologise and added quickly,
“I should not have said that! Because you are a Duke, your wedding will not be ordinary.”
“As I have already told you, although you have not understood, there is no bride.”
He saw the baffled expression on Alnina’s pretty face and went on,
“I am pretending to be a married man because I fervently wish to buy something very special from a certain foreigner and he is determined, because he is a Prince, that
his daughter will marry an English aristocrat.”
Alnina laughed.
“I have heard of that happening in a number of families abroad and naturally an English Duke would make a very special and distinguished bridegroom.”
“Which I have no intention of being – ”
“Then why do you want a wedding dress?”
“Because I am going to pretend, as I said, that I am married, so that there will be no question of being hurried up the aisle in some obscure Church – perhaps at pistol-point – to marry a girl who cannot even speak English.”
Alnina laughed again.
“That certainly would be an unpleasant situation,” she said, “to say the least of it.”
“I will buy your wedding dress, Miss Lester, but I think I must make it a condition that you find me someone who will be photographed in it as my wife.”
“Are you really serious?” Alnina questioned him. “It does seem such an extraordinary thing to do, but I can understand you not wishing to have a Prince, whoever he may be, pushing his daughter into your arms.”
“I can see you are as quick-witted as your brother used to be at school,” the Duke replied. “I remember he found a special way of getting someone else to do his out-of-school work when he wanted to be on the cricket field!”
“That sounds very like Charles,” Alnina said. But go on telling me about this Prince you have to deceive.”
“It’s quite simple, I want to buy something from him that he will not part with very easily. And he has a daughter and he is completely determined that she will marry an English Nobleman.”
He gave a sigh as he continued,
“It does not require a very clever brain to realise that he will only give me what I want if I give him what he wants.”
“So you are going to be very astute,” she replied, “and tell the Prince that you are already married.”
“Exactly! Now you have the whole story. All I need now is a photograph of my bride. Then there will be no question of having to look twice at the Princess who I expect is rather plain anyway!”
Alnina chuckled, as she could not help it, thinking that it was the most extraordinary story she had ever heard.
At the same time the wedding dress, which had so delighted her father would fit in very well with his plan.
104. A Heart Finds Love Page 3