She smiled before she went on,
“But, of course, we want you to be perfect and we want people to say you behave exactly as a Duke should behave! And I am sure they will.”
“I often remember,” William came in, “how John and I used to criticise the previous Head of the Family! We deplored him for keeping so much money for himself, instead of distributing it among us all.”
“I expect that is what I will do too,” the Duke said. “But for the moment, because it is so unusual to have any money at all, I enjoy giving it away.”
“As you have given it to me,” Alnina said softly.
“You are doing me a great service and I can hardly say that about any of my relations. In fact some of them are rather like your brother and seem to look on me as an ever open bank!”
“Well, doubtless you will be firm with them sooner or later,” William said. “In the meantime I can assure you that they will criticise you heavily for wasting your money on buying a mountain.”
“Whatever they think or do not think, I have every intention of having my precious mountain that I have loved for years. In fact I want to kiss her as soon as I arrive.”
William held up his hand.
“Now the mountain has become a she!” he cried, “it’s the last thing I expected. I have always been brought up to believe that mountains are men, whereas flowers are women!”
The Duke was firm in saying that as far as he was concerned his mountain was a female, even though, if he was asked, he preferred the male sex.
“Why should you prefer them?” Alnina asked.
“Because they are straightforward and honest, like myself, and don’t cheat, as women invariably do sooner or later.”
This sparked a long argument with Alnina speaking up for her own sex, while William refused to take sides.
“I will judge the issue,” he volunteered, “and I will tell you at the end of the battle who is the winner.”
It all ended by William declaring that there was no winner, but a draw between John and Alnina.
“Now we will go back to what I originally said when I told you my feeling for my mountain is that for a beautiful woman,” the Duke said, having the last word.
“She is to me,” he went on, “like Aphrodite or any of the other Greek Goddesses, compelling my admiration yet being out of reach and untouchable.”
“You will have to touch the mountain whether you like it or not,” William chuckled, “if we are to find the gold we think is in it.”
“If she is as perfect as I imagine her to be and also as charming,” the Duke replied, “I am sure the gold will pour out for us and we will not have half as much trouble in finding it as we thought.”
William laughed and turned to Alnina,
“Let him dream his dreams. When he wakes up to reality, he will undoubtedly cry on our shoulders!”
“I think it is wonderful of him to have ideas which other people don’t have,” Alnina said, “and to have taken all this trouble to find his way back to his mountain.”
“Wait until you see it. Then you will realise why I am so much in love with it.”
The Duke then walked out of the Saloon and Alnina guessed that he was going up to the bridge.
“I think he believes that the ship goes faster when he is there,” she confided to William.
“Between ourselves,” William replied, “I am very worried in case when he gets there the mountain has blown up or, as I really suspect, the Prince will refuse to sell it.”
“It is quite extraordinary that anyone as clever and practical as John,” Alnina remarked, “should be such an idealist. In fact I am very impressed by him.”
“So am I, but he has always been the same ever since we were at school together.”
He paused as if he was looking back into the past.
“He used to make up his mind on something,” he went on, “and invariably, because he was so determined, it came true.”
“Then I hope he will not be disappointed now.”
“I feel the same,” William replied, “but between ourselves I think this time it’s a hundred to one chance of realising his dreams.”
“Oh, you must not say that! He will be terribly disappointed and we want him to be happy.”
William grinned.
“I have never seen him as happy as he is at this moment. So we must just pray that the whole plot will not be a complete delusion.”
“I already pray for that every night,” Alnina said. “And I am hoping that everything will work out right and the Prince will let him have the mountain at a good price.”
“Well, as far as I am concerned,” William said, “I have enjoyed this voyage more than anything I have ever enjoyed before – and it is entirely due to you.”
Alnina smiled at him.
“You are coming along really beautifully with your Russian,” she said, “but John is so impatient with himself, which is a mistake when it comes to learning languages.”
“Well, at least we can now thank people politely and if we are stranded on a remote island where everyone speaks Russian, we can at least ask for something to eat.”
“That is true and actually you have both been very quick in picking up what is a most difficult language.”
“I only hope I don’t have to converse with people at dinner or make a speech. Otherwise I think I will be able to cope with day to day affairs.”
“I deliberately taught you that part first,” Alnina said, “because it is essential to be able to get yourself from place to place or buy food. The more conversational words can wait, but the ones I have just mentioned cannot.”
“You have been wonderful, Alnina. I have never met a better teacher. If, as I said, we are stranded on a remote island, at least we will not starve.”
When they came within sight of the Greek Islands, Alnina was permanently on deck running from one side of the yacht to the other so that she should not miss anything.
They anchored at night in quiet bays and every day seemed to Alnina to be more and more electrifying.
When finally they were about to leave the Sea of Marmara, she held her breath in case something should go wrong and they would not reach their destination, which the Duke had told her was the far end of the Black Sea.
She could not help feeling a little wistful as they were passing Constantinople, as she had always wanted to see that City which she had read so much about.
She had always been interested in the Sultans who succeeded each other and their harems grew bigger and bigger as each new Sultan tried to outdo the last one.
But she knew that it was useless to ask the Duke if he would stop even for a short visit to the City.
She therefore contented herself with viewing what she could with a pair of the Captain’s binoculars.
Then at last they passed through the Bosporus and into the Black Sea.
Now the Duke was talking excitedly of what would happen when they arrived.
He had of course written to Prince Vladimir to say that he was coming and he also said that he was bringing with him his wife and a great friend, William Armstrong.
He wrote,
“I am greatly looking forward to seeing Your Royal Highness again and I remember so well how beautiful the mountains looked when I last saw them from the Palace.”
When he read the letter to William, he commented,
“You had better end up telling him he is wonderful or you will find that he will somehow manage to prevent you having what you are determined to acquire.”
“Don’t even think about it,” the Duke stipulated. “I must have my own way. Heaven knows how much we have exerted ourselves to get to Georgia and they should in fact greet us with fireworks!”
“Heaven forbid,” William had countered, “and just don’t forget that, as Alnina is your wife, then she must be treated like a Duchess.”
“You can be quite certain I will not forget that,” the Duke had replied.
*
Now, Alnina thought, they were really in Georgia and it would be just as attractive as she had dreamed.
She had spent a lot of time during the last two days talking about the beauties they were going to behold.
“The two things” she said, “which really matter in Tiflis are, I am told, the excellent wines and the ancient Churches.”
“I am certainly interested in the first,” William said.
In the morning at the Port they found a carriage drawn by four strong horses waiting for them.
There was also another vehicle, not so impressive, to carry their luggage and Albert.
When Alnina saw the countryside for the first time, it was exactly as beautiful, at the same time as mysterious, as she had anticipated.
She was utterly enthralled by the distant hills and the first glimpse of the mountains and the fortified villages still seemed prepared for war at any time.
It was impossible, she thought, to see it now so peaceful and so quiet without thinking how it had been the scene of more bloodshed and more cruelty and hatred than any other country in that part of the world.
Everywhere in Georgia, she had learnt, there were extremes.
Tigers roamed the tropical Eastern lowlands, while eagles soared above the gaunt uplands.
Gigantic mountains straddled the land, the White Mountains, the Black Mountains, the many ravines. She had read about the mountains, where the bats fly both day and night, because some valleys never see the sun and are cloaked in gloom.
Now she could see it for herself she found that it was all fascinating.
So much so that she did not speak and the Duke turned to ask her why she was so quiet.
“There are no words to express what I am feeling,” she replied. “I only wish I could write a poem or a song to describe what we are seeing on either side of us.”
“I expect we will have plenty of songs when we reach Tiflis. As far as I remember, there was always noise in the streets and endless music in the Palace.”
It took them just seven hours, including a short stop for lunch, to reach Tiflis.
As Alnina had expected, it was a very attractive little City in what was described in books as the ‘glowing lowlands’.
Now at last she could have the first glimpse of the towering mountains.
She felt a thrill run through her and was almost sure that the Duke was feeling the same.
The Palace, when they drew up outside it, was not as large as she had expected, but at the same time it was extremely attractive with a mass of flowers and blossoming trees surrounding it and there were fountains playing on either side of the drive up to the front door.
“Now we must all be on our best behaviour,” the Duke said. “Don’t forget that he thinks himself extremely important, and you, Alnina, must curtsey low to him.”
“I would do so anyway because he is the Ruler over the most beautiful country I have ever seen,” she replied.
“Wait until you see the mountains. Then you will really draw in your breath.”
She knew by the note of excitement in the Duke’s voice that was how he was feeling and she thought it very touching that the mountains mattered so much to him.
They were greeted at the front door by a number of strangely dressed attendants as they entered the Palace.
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.
104. A Heart Finds Love Page 9