“But I wanted to see you,” the Duke went on, “as there are a few things that perhaps you can clarify for me.”
“What are they?” Sir Iain enquired.
“First of all, who is this man, Kane Horn, whom the Dowager Countess brought to see me this morning?”
“Brought him here, did she?” Sir Iain asked. “Well, if you want to know any details about him, you will have to ask her!”
“I thought you would know.”
“I know nothing except that she says he is a cousin of hers and apparently knows a great deal about business. I hear he has been to see Jane’s Solicitors, so I suppose that he knows all about her fortune and he comes from America.”
“That is what I rather suspected and anything he does not know about her fortune he intends to learn!” the Duke pointed out.
Sir Iain looked at him apprehensively.
“Are you suggesting – ?” he began.
“I am suggesting nothing,” the Duke replied. “It is only that I would like to have clarified exactly what this gentleman’s standing is before he starts handling my future wife’s money or telling her how to invest it.”
“Is that what he is doing?” Sir Iain enquired. “Good God, you cannot allow that!”
“I have no intention of doing so,” the Duke replied, “but at the same time I think it would be a mistake to have an open breach between myself and Jane before we are even married.”
“Yes, yes, of course!” Sir Ian said apprehensively. “And it has always been my motto never to discuss money with a woman.”
“You are right,” the Duke agreed, “but it is rather difficult not to in this case.”
“If you are suspicious of him, I will try to find out something about the fellow.”
“I have not said I was suspicious of him,” the Duke said quickly, “but only interested and being a little cautious.”
“And quite rightly so. You don’t want to play ‘ducks and drakes’ with Jane’s fortune whatever else you do.”
“Indeed not!” the Duke concurred. “Now tell me about the Dowager. Who was she before she married Dalbeth?”
Sir Iain laughed.
“That is a question a great number of people have asked and nobody seems to have the answer.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody knows anything about her. She met Dalbeth in Edinburgh, I understand, and he brought her back to Dalbeth House to stay or else she invited herself, which is more likely, and before he realised what was happening she had married him!”
“Why so quickly?”
Sir Iain made an eloquent gesture with his hands.
“Dalbeth was extremely unhappy after his wife died, morbidly so, I thought, and he did what most men do in the circumstances and to excess!”
“You mean he drank?”
‘Took to the bottle, my boy, in a big way. Never been a drinking man before, but I suppose it was the only way he could forget.”
“Now I understand,” the Duke said quietly.
He was thinking how an attractive woman had seen her opportunity of becoming the Countess of Dalbeth and had taken it.
“Was the Earl happy after this second marriage?” he enquired.
“Not so I noticed it,” Sir Iain replied. “In fact I often thought that he regretted what he had done in such haste. Anyway Jane was miserable with her stepmother and he sent her off to Naples, where her maternal grandmother, Lady Sinclair, was living.”
“You knew her?”
“Yes, of course, charming woman! But very frail and continually in ill health after her husband died. So the doctors insisted that she go to a warmer climate.”
“You are quite certain that Jane did not get on with her stepmother?”
“From all I heard and, of course, gossip flies like wildfire, the girl was resentful of her father marrying again and the Dowager had no use for another woman in the house.”
It seemed incomprehensible, the Duke thought, that Jane now wished to give her stepmother an enormous fortune.
He decided that tomorrow he would talk to her about it. In the meantime he went on asking Sir Iain questions that were difficult for him to answer because, after the Earl had married again, he had seen very little of him nor had anybody else in the neighbourhood.
“But surely the Dowager wished to entertain?” the Duke asked.
“Of course she did! She is the sort of woman who always enjoys a party,” Sir Iain replied, “and she had them. But when I went there I usually gathered that the host was not in a fit state to come downstairs, and I was not asked often, as she filled the house with her own friends from the South.”
“Then she is English?” the Duke asked.
“I don’t know what she is,” Sir Iain replied. “It is true that she met Dalbeth in Edinburgh but, if you want the truth, I don’t believe that she has a drop of Scottish blood in her veins.”
This was all very unhelpful and after Sir Iain left the Duke went to see Giovanna, who he understood had been sleeping for most of the afternoon.
She greeted him with a smile.
“I am so happy you have come to see me,” she said. “I was feeling rather lonely when I woke up and longing for someone to talk to.”
The Duke sat down beside the bed.
“You can talk to me,” he said, “as there are a lot of things I want to hear.”
Giovanna shook her head.
“No, I am the one to listen.”
Because he knew that it would please her, he told her about the history of The Castle, the ghosts who were supposed to haunt it and the battles that had been fought against neighbouring Clans, including the Dalbeths.
Giovanna listened intently and the Duke found it rather flattering for a woman to be so attentive to what he was saying when he was not talking about her personally.
Then he said,
“Now you tell me the history of the cascade.”
“It has been there since time immemorial,” she answered. “It is supposed to have appeared by magic because when the people were desperate for water one of their elders struck the ground and released a spring that flowed and flowed until it became a cascade.”
She had spoken without thinking. Then, as if she felt that she had given herself away by knowing something so local, she said quickly,
“That is what I heard!”
“From whom?”
“People in the past.”
She did not look at him as she spoke and then said as if she wanted to cover up a slip of the tongue,
“No one has – asked about me – have they?”
“If they have, I have not heard of it,” the Duke replied, “and the Dowager Countess was here today.”
He spoke deliberately, although he knew that it would strike the happiness from Giovanna’s eyes and bring back the fear.
“H-here?”
The word was hardly above a whisper.
“Yes, she came to see me this morning after I had seen you,” the Duke said, “and she brought with her a man called Kane Horn.”
He watched Giovanna’s face carefully as he spoke, but it was obvious that the name meant nothing to her, even though she was deeply perturbed by what he was saying.
“And Jane, my future wife, came too,” he went on. “But she did not stay long. She is very anxious, because she loves her stepmother so much, to give her a very large sum of money.”
Giovanna made a little sound and closed her eyes.
“I am – tired,” she said, “and I don’t think that I can talk to – you anymore.”
“But I want to talk to you,” the Duke insisted, “and I want you to tell me why you think that Jane was so unhappy, as I am told, after her father married again, that she was sent to Naples to stay with her grandmother rather than remain at home in Scotland.”
“I-I do not know what – you are – talking about.”
Giovanna’s voice sounded very weak and the Duke was sure that what she had just said was not true.
“You must have some idea,” he maintained, “since you know the Dalbeths and have been in their house, why Jane’s feelings towards her stepmother should suddenly change to a deep love and affection.”
There was silence and he thought that Giovanna was not going to answer him.
Then she opened her eyes and said,
“Give her the money – give it to her – then she might go away. If she stays she will – hurt you and make you – unhappy. Let her – go however much it – costs!”
The Duke sat down on the side of the bed where he had sat before and took Giovanna’s hand in his.
“Please help me,” he said coaxingly. “I am so bewildered. I am also afraid of doing the wrong thing. It is very difficult for me to sort out what is the truth if I do not know the facts and there is no one to tell me what I need to know.”
He thought that, despite herself, Giovanna’s thin fingers tightened on his.
Then she said,
“I-I am sure that there are – people who will – help you – if you ask them.”
“Who are they?”
He knew that she was thinking and he hoped perhaps she would mention someone.
Then she shook her head.
“I cannot – tell you,” she said in a whisper. “Please I cannot – help you.”
“I think you could if you really wanted to,” the Duke protested. “You are making things very difficult for me, Giovanna, not only to cope with the Dalbeths and their demands, but also to help you.”
She opened her eyes very wide to stare at him.
“Are you – saying that you are – tired of helping me and – want me to – go away?”
Now there was a different sort of fear in her voice, and he answered,
“No, of course not! You know I will help you. You know I will do everything in my power to see that you are never again treated as you have been. But you make it very hard because you will not help me.”
“I-I want to – you know I want to,” Giovanna said, “it’s just that – it is something I cannot do – without hurting – someone I l-love.”
The Duke stared at her.
Then he asked,
“Is it a man?”
“No – but you must not – ask questions.”
“Why not?”
“Because it might destroy – someone very precious – I cannot say any more, it is – too difficult – too frightening.”
Now Giovanna’s voice was like that of a child about to burst into tears.
“I will not press you anymore now,” the Duke said gently. “But, when we know each other better, I hope you will feel that you can trust me to help you, which I know I can, if only I am aware of the facts.”
Because he was kind, Giovanna’s eyes filled with tears and she said piteously,
“Forgive me – please – forgive me.”
“There is nothing to forgive, Giovanna, I just feel frustrated and powerless, which for me is a very uncomfortable feeling and something I most dislike.”
“B-but you will not stop – helping me?”
Now there was something frantic in the question and he replied.
“I think you know the answer to that. I promise you that I will do everything I can for you.”
As he spoke, he raised Giovanna’s hand and touched the soft white skin with his lips.
As he did so, he realised that she was holding her breath.
Chapter Four
The Duke woke early and decided that he could not go on playing the invalid any longer.
He longed to be out in the fresh air and to take some strenuous exercise.
He had also decided during the night that he must investigate further what position Kane Horn held in the Dalbeth household and if possible extricate the Dowager Countess and Jane from his hold over them.
He was absolutely convinced that the man was up to no good. He was an adventurer to say the least of it and he was certainly trying to exploit the young heiress for his own ends.
The Duke suspected, although, of course, it was something he could not prove, that a large amount of anything Jane gave her stepmother would go straight into Kane Horn’s pocket.
‘It’s no use my sitting here isolated in The Castle,’ he said to himself almost angrily. ‘I will go to Dalbeth House.’
He rang the bell for Ross and, when his valet came, told him to send a groom over with a note to the Dowager Countess.
He scribbled one hastily at his desk before he dressed, saying that, as he felt so much better, his one thought was to be with her and Jane and he hoped that she would be kind enough to give him luncheon.
As soon as the note had been despatched, he dressed, ate a large breakfast downstairs in the dining room and ordered a horse to come to the front door.
He had learnt from Mrs. Sutherland that Giovanna had had a good night’s sleep and, having said that he would see her later in the morning, he rode round the grounds that adjoined The Castle.
First, however, he galloped his horse strenuously to their mutual satisfaction.
It was inevitable that he should see with an even keener eye than he had before the amount of repairs, renovations and rebuilding that had to be done in the immediate future.
He was also quite certain that further up the river, where there were a number of scattered small crofts, he would find the same need for expenditure as he found near The Castle.
It was gratifying as he rode over the moorlands to see several coveys of grouse and he thought that, as soon as it was the twelfth of August, he would be able to organise a shoot.
He had known from what Sir Iain and other members of the Clan had said to him that it was something they were looking forward to and which they had missed during his uncle’s illness last year.
He returned to The Castle delighted to find himself feeling very different from what he had felt the last few days.
It seemed ridiculous that because he was so used to thinking himself into any part he played, he had in fact felt almost as unwell as he pretended to be.
His work in India in The Great Game had made him, he knew, peculiarly sensitive to his own thoughts.
When he played the part of a high caste Brahmin or a low caste sweeper, he had learnt from the lessons his Master had taught him to think himself so thoroughly into the person he pretended to be that often it took time to return to being himself.
Now, as he ran up the stairs two at a time as he was eager to see Giovanna, he knew that he was full of vitality and ready to do anything however strenuous it might be.
He tapped on her bedroom door and, when there was no answer, he opened the door next to it, which led into a small boudoir that was connected to the Tower room.
It was also a pretty room, furnished by his aunt, who loved everything that was beautiful. Although she had very little money to spend on furnishings, she always contrived to make the most of it.
The room was a background for Giovanna, who was sitting in an armchair, sunshine streaming in through the window and her feet up on a stool.
As the Duke walked towards her, he realised that she was partially dressed and for the first time since they had met, her hair was not hanging over her shoulders but was arranged in a chignon at the back of her head.
It made her neck look very long and swanlike and it seemed also to take some of the peakiness from her heart-shaped face.
She gave him a radiant smile as she said,
“I am up. Do you see? I have been allowed to get dressed. Now I don’t feel that I am – such a nuisance to you.”
The Duke laughed.
“You are not at all a nuisance,” he said, “merely a worry and I am very glad you are better.”
He sat down beside her and she said,
“I see you have been riding. I wish I could have come with you.”
“I wish you could,” the Duke replied. “But I think that would definitely be dangerous.”
He saw a shadow pass over her face as she replied,
He knew that this must have been something she had been thinking of incessantly since she had woken up and he said quietly,
“It’s something we must talk about at length, but, as I am going over to Dalbeth House for luncheon, shall we leave it until I return?”
“You are going to Dalbeth House!” she exclaimed. “Why, why do you want to go – there?”
“I think it only polite for one thing to pay my respects to the hostess I left so precipitately,” he answered her, “and actually I learnt yesterday that my engagement to Jane was announced at the family gathering that took place after I had left the house to bring you back here.”
He saw Giovanna draw in her breath before she said,
“I am sorry, but I did – beg you to – leave me – alone.”
“We are not going to speak of that again,” the Duke said. “It is over, it is done with and instead I want you to tell me that you are glad to be alive and glad to be here with me.”
The way he spoke made her first look at him in surprise and then a faint flush spread over the whiteness of her skin.
“I am very – glad,” she said very softly, “but I know what a – trouble I have been to – you and it would be best if you sent me away – as soon as possible.”
“That is what we are going to talk about when I return,” the Duke said. “Now I want you to rest, to eat everything that Mrs. Sutherland brings you and to enjoy the hospitality and security of my Castle.”
Giovanna gave a little laugh and it was very attractive.
“You are making it sound almost Mediaeval,” she said. “I feel I am an importunate traveller knocking on the door and asking for sanctuary.”
“That is exactly what I am going to give you,” the Duke replied, “so take care of yourself while I am gone. I shall be back in time to have tea with you.”
He smiled as he rose to his feet, saying,
“You know a Scottish tea means baps, scones and girdle cakes and I will expect you to eat every one of them!”
Giovanna gave a little cry in pretended horror.
The Duke smiled at her and went from the room, closing the door behind him.
The Devilish Deception Page 7