Freddie drew in his breath – this was just the sort of company he wished to keep.
He was well aware that the Countess was doing her best to impress him.
He was in little doubt as to why she was doing so and finally with a sigh she said,
“I find I have so little time to enjoy the arts because I have two girls to chaperone. I only hope when they are both married that I will have more time for myself.”
“I am sure you will,” Freddie murmured because it was expected of him.
“My stepdaughter, Alissia, is not just beautiful but is also particularly interested in art. She draws and paints quite well and you will find she knows a good deal about the great Masters.”
There was silence for a minute and then she added,
“I am sure you already know that in marriage it is so important for the two people to have the same interests. It is something my father always said to me. When I first met my husband we were drawn to each other by the fact that we both loved the country and he was very keen on his horses.”
There was silence and Freddie was wondering what he should say now before her Ladyship cantered on,
“One day you will marry and I can only hope that you will find a woman who is as interested in art as you are. As I have already told you, it is a great interest of my stepdaughter’s.
“And as you must admit she looks herself as if she has just stepped off a canvas painted by one of the great Masters!”
Surely Alissia could be the foundation stone of the great family he was to build in the future – a Pronett family which would echo endlessly down the ages.
Not only for their blue blood but for their collection of art which if he was clever would draw him closer and ever closer into the Royal Family.
CHAPTER SIX
Alissia woke late the next morning because she had attended a party in the Royal Palace that had gone on until the early hours.
She had enjoyed every moment, especially dancing with Clive.
She had hoped every time she had seen him that he would dance with her as he had done with Nancy, and that was when he had not known she was in the Royal Palace.
But at last her dream had come true.
As she expected he was an excellent dancer and he looked overwhelmingly handsome in his evening attire.
Alissia was too modest to realise how beautiful she looked herself.
It was a large party arranged by the King and she had therefore chosen the prettiest gown from her wardrobe as it became her more than any of the others.
It was white, but there were many diamante sewn into the lace and satin of the dress which shimmered when she walked.
Her father was the first to compliment her,
“I am very proud of you tonight, my darling. You look so unbelievably lovely.”
“I hoped you would think so, Papa.”
She was aware that her stepmother had overheard her father’s words.
There was a distinctly unpleasant look in her eyes as she tossed her head and walked on without speaking.
Whatever her stepmother might feel, Alissia was determined to enjoy herself.
She realised that she had been deliberately kept away from such parties when they first came to the Royal Palace, but now she was determined to make up for it.
The music was perfect and no one could have been a better or more charming host than the King, who was insistent that everyone should enjoy themselves as much as he.
He walked round all the guests paying the women compliments and exchanging jokes with the men.
The food was the finest that the chefs could supply and the great ballroom with its innumerable candles made everything seem as if it was part of a glorious dream.
It was two o’clock in the morning before Alissia finally put her head down on her pillow, but before she fell asleep she felt that once again she was dancing round and round the great ballroom with Clive.
*
When she awoke she realised that it was well after six o’clock.
She had meant to watch the King and Clive playing tennis again.
They told her last night that was what they intended to do and the King had assured her,
“You are a very quiet and good audience, Alissia, therefore we are delighted to see you and as I asked you before please don’t tell anyone in the Palace. Otherwise we will have a permanent audience and it will distract us from our game.”
“I have been very careful already, Your Majesty,” Alissia replied.
He smiled at her and patted her shoulder.
“You look very beautiful tonight, Alissia, and I am not in the least surprised that all the gentlemen of the Court want to dance with you – ”
He laughed as he added,
“And all the women are jealous!”
He mouthed the last words in almost a whisper and Alissia blushed.
The King thought as he went away that he had been right in thinking that she was exceptionally lovely and that she was definitely an asset to the Royal Palace.
He had decided when he was in exile that he would make his Palace more glamorous and more attractive than any other Royal Palace on the Continent.
He knew that depended a great deal on the women and he was thus determined, now he was in power, that he would invite as his guests only the loveliest women in his Kingdom.
He would also encourage his Courtiers to marry ladies who would be an asset to the Royal parties.
Barbara Castlemaine played up to his wishes, not just because it was what he wanted but she inevitably made herself look her best on every possible occasion.
She had a definite flair for looking fantastic.
The King had been the first to declare that she was amazingly beautiful and it proved impossible for him to do the right thing and give up Barbara.
Especially as she had given birth to one child of his, and he suspected she was starting another.
It was extremely difficult for any man to keep two women contented under such circumstances and yet on the whole the King was amazingly successful.
His wife, the Queen, already adored him and she wanted to please him in every way she possibly could. She was clearly jealous of Barbara and who indeed could have expected her to be anything else.
At the same time she realised that because she was the Queen, she had the upper hand.
Therefore she did not directly ask her husband to send his Mistress away and she had an uneasy feeling he would not do so even if she asked.
She barely bit back the words that came to her lips and in the end managed to persuade herself that Barbara was not present even when she was.
Fortunately Alissia was not in the least worried by such problems.
She just wanted to dance, to enjoy the music and the beauty of the Royal Palace ballroom.
She danced so gracefully that almost every man present watched her and it seemed as if her feet hardly touched the floor.
Her eyes were shining with enjoyment, appearing to reflect the candles themselves.
*
Once Alissia realised how late it was, she jumped up, washed herself and dressed hurriedly.
Because she was going to see the King and Clive she put on one of her prettiest day gowns and took a great deal of trouble over her hair.
Then she whistled for Jimbo who was asleep under her bed.
They ran down the stairs together and out through a side door into the yard. The gate to the tennis court was at the far end by the stairs.
She was hurrying on towards it when suddenly she saw Lord Pronett in front of her.
Standing beside him was a man who seemed to be dressed as a sailor.
Lord Pronett was directly in her way and she could not avoid him.
“Good morning, Alissia,” he trumpeted, sweeping off his hat. “I was wondering what had happened to you, as I understood from Nancy that you were always up very early.”
“I am so behindhand this morning,” smiled Alissia, “because we
were very late last night at the ball.”
She was anxious to move on as she did not like to say that she was going to the tennis court as it would reveal her secret to Lord Pronett that she was allowed to watch His Majesty play.
“I want you to come with me,” said Lord Pronett rather aggressively “to inspect a ship that is waiting just below us.”
“I would love to see it another time, my Lord, and thank you for the invitation. But I must now exercise my dog.”
She caught hold of Jimbo as she spoke in case he should run ahead of her into the tennis court and fixed the lead she was carrying in her hand on the collar round his neck.
“Jimbo must wait!” replied Lord Pronett. “I insist that you come and see the ship now as it is waiting for you on the Thames.”
Alissia was going to protest again.
Then to her astonishment, the sailor, who had been standing back as Lord Pronett was speaking to her, moved forward and stood closely on the other side of her.
As he did so Lord Pronett reached out his hand as if he intended to hold her arm so that she could not escape.
“Surely,” she suggested a little hesitantly, “I can see your ship a little later. I really want to go in the Park with Jimbo – straight away.”
“You are coming to see the ship now,” Lord Pronett persisted firmly. “What I have to show you cannot wait.”
There was something in the sharpness of his voice that intimidated Alissia.
Then even as she thought frantically what she could do, there was a sound of dogs barking and yelping.
The King’s dogs came out of the Palace escorted by their keeper.
“If I am coming with you,” Alissia said quickly to Lord Pronett, “then I must leave Jimbo with the other dogs. You will not want him on the ship.”
Before Lord Pronett could reply she slipped away from him, dragging Jimbo with her and this prevented the sailor from stopping her.
Then she ran as quickly as she could towards the King’s dogs and their keeper, Bill.
As she reached him she could see that the sailor and Lord Pronett were running behind her.
She slipped through the dogs and placing the end of Jimbo’s lead into Bill’s hand, she said in a whisper that only he could hear,
“I am being kidnapped by Lord Pronett. Please tell Lord Morelanton to come and save me.”
Bill stared at her in amazement.
She had only just uttered her appeal when the sailor reached her and grabbed her arm in his.
“His Lordship be waitin’ for you, lady,” he grunted in a hard uneducated voice.
Pulling her away from the dogs, he then dragged her towards Lord Pronett who had moved on.
They had nearly reached the steps that led down to the Thames, when Alissia demanded.
“What is happening? Where are you taking me?”
Neither of the men answered as Lord Pronett strode ahead and still holding on to her painfully, the sailor pulled Alissia behind him.
Then she saw the gangway of a ship waiting ahead of them. It was not a particularly large ship, but she knew from its three masts, which were unusually high, that it was a swift vessel.
There was no time for her to speak or protest or even pretend that she was interested in the ship.
Lord Pronett walked up the gangway and onto the deck and because the sailor still had a firm hold of her and he was undoubtedly a strong man, Alissia had no choice but to follow him.
As soon as they were aboard the ship, the gangway was pulled in and the oarsmen below began dipping their oars into the water.
Still pulling Alissia by the arm, the sailor followed Lord Pronett into a cabin just below the centre of the ship.
Even as she was pushed into the cabin and the door was closed, she felt the ship beginning to move.
Lord Pronett was standing at the porthole looking out.
As he turned round, Alissia screamed at him,
“What are you doing? Why have you brought me here in such an extraordinary manner and forced me onto this ship? And where are we going?”
“We are going to my estate in Norfolk, Alissia, my dear. When we arrive we will be married.”
Alissia stared at him in astonishment.
“Married?” she exclaimed. “I have not the slightest intention whatever of marrying you!”
“It is what your stepmother desires and I am very eager, I can assure you, to be your husband – ”
Alissia tried her very best to keep calm, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.
“But I have no wish, my Lord, to be your wife. Nor would I marry a man I hardly know and do not love.”
“I will make you love me,” he insisted without too much conviction.
“That would be impossible. I have never liked you since I first saw you and, to be truthful, I would rather die than marry you!”
Lord Pronett looked at her as if he could hardly believe what she was saying.
“Is that clear?” continued Alissia. “Now take me back to the Royal Palace at once”
“I will do nothing of the sort. Your stepmother said you will make me a good wife and I intend to make you a very good husband. We will therefore be married as soon as we arrive and I think you will enjoy being the chatelaine of my large house.”
“I have told you already that I refuse to marry you,” Alissia shrieked angrily. “And if you persist in trying to make me, I will throw myself into the sea!”
“This is ridiculous,” Lord Pronett growled. “If you will listen to me, I will tell you how happy I will make you and how pleasant it will be for you to be my wife.”
“I hate you,” retorted Alissia. “It is shocking and wicked of you to carry me away in this appalling fashion. My father will be furious, not only with you but with my stepmother for thinking up such an absurd idea.”
She realised as she raged on that Lord Pronett was looking astonished – it was as if he had never anticipated for a single moment that this could possibly be her reaction to his proposal.
As he did not answer, Alissia ran to the porthole.
It was open and she looked out.
They were moving down the Thames quite swiftly and she guessed that when they reached the middle of the river, the current would carry them quicker still.
She could see a number of people walking on the embankment and she wondered if she screamed out loudly whether they would try to rescue her.
Then as the ship gathered speed she knew that they would only stare and anyway there would be no way for them to reach her.
She felt really terrified as well as angry by what was happening to her.
She thought that Lord Pronett was an evil monster waiting to destroy her.
*
Alissia had only just been dragged down the steps to the ship when, having finished their game, the King and Clive came out through the tennis court gate.
Clive had won the game handsomely this morning and the King was blaming the large amount of wine he had consumed last night.
“I beat you yesterday,” he asserted, “when I had had little or nothing to drink the night before. I am quite certain it was the heavy wine they were serving last night which enabled you to humiliate me this morning.”
“I had to fight hard for my victory,” smiled Clive. “Tomorrow Your Majesty will undoubtedly be the winner if you abstain at dinner time!”
“I will take great care that you are offered the finest and heaviest wine in my cellar!” replied the King.
They were both laughing as they reached the dogs who jumped up affectionately at Clive as well as the King.
As he bent down to pat one dog that was clawing at his knee, he exclaimed,
“Why, it’s Jimbo! What is he doing here?”
“His Mistress, my Lord, has only just ’anded ’im to me,” Bill then piped up, “and she asked me to tell your Lordship that she were bein’ kidnapped by Lord Pronett.”
Clive stared at him.
“What did you sa
y?” he asked the man.
“That be what she said, my Lord, and Lord Pronett and a man as looked as if ’e’d just come off a ship ’ave dragged ’er down the steps to the river.”
“Dragged her!”
“She says they were kidnappin’ ’er, my Lord, and that’s what I thinks meself they were a-doin’.”
Clive looked at the King who had heard what the dog keeper had just said.
“You had better see what this is all about, Clive,” he suggested. “It all sounds very odd to me.”
“And to me, Sire.”
Even as he spoke he saw that Nancy was standing on the top of the steps that led down to the river.
Clive then hurried towards her and saw that she was watching a ship moving speedily downstream.
“What is happening here?” he asked Nancy sharply. “Is it true that Alissia has been taken away on that ship you are watching?”
“Yes, that’s right,” replied Nancy sulkily.
“By Lord Pronett?”
Nancy nodded.
“It was my Mama’s idea. I heard her telling him to take her away and marry her.”
“I don’t believe it!” exclaimed Clive, “why should she do such a thing?”
“Because Mama wants you to marry me,” Nancy answered even more sulkily. “She reckoned Alissia was stopping you from doing so.”
“I have no intention of marrying anyone and I don’t want to marry you, so you need not even think about it.”
“And I do not want to marry you,” pouted Nancy.
And then she added surprisingly,
“I would love to marry Lord Pronett!”
Clive looked at her.
“Then what we have to do is to save your stepsister from what will undoubtedly be a very unhappy marriage if it is ever allowed to take place.”
“How can we do that?” Nancy asked petulantly.
As she spoke Clive had taken her by the hand and was pulling her down the steps leading to the river.
Just to the right of them was the Royal Barge that was always on guard at that particular point in the river whenever the King was in residence in the Royal Palace.
A Royal Love Match Page 10