The food, however, was delicious, so was the wine. It was a long time since Lavina had enjoyed a party so much.
Then James rose to his feet, raising his full wine glass into the air, and the toast of Slainte Mhath could be heard round the room.
It was all great fun and when the ladies left the dining room, Lavina found herself hoping the men would not stay long.
In fact, they joined them twenty minutes later to usher them into the ballroom, where a pipe band was waiting to play.
Soon it became clear that Lavina was the belle of the ball. All the men wanted to dance with her, and pay her extravagant compliments.
She passed from partner to partner, hearing the praise of all, until at last she found herself waltzing with the Marquis.
“Are you sure you can spare me a dance?” he asked ironically.
She had to admit to herself that she had avoided him, because she did not wish to feel his arms about her in the waltz, but she was too proud to let him suspect that.
“You’ve had no shortage of partners,” she told him coyly. “Don’t expect me to pity you as a wall-flower.”
“I do not, but, as I told you once before, I expect you to behave properly.”
“And I do not believe I have offended against propriety,” she teased. “This is a ball, sir, and even an engaged woman is permitted to flirt a little.”
“Not if she is engaged to me,” he said firmly.
“But I am not engaged to you,” she whispered so that only he could hear.
His face darkened, and she was suddenly aware that this man hated any woman who even hinted at putting him second.
“No, you are not,” he said bitingly. “Do you wish me to announce that fact in this company?”
“No,” she said swiftly.
“Are you certain? Surely Sir James McVein would be only too glad to have me out of the way.”
She could not believe that he was being so unreasonable as to indulge in this violent over-reaction.
Could he not see that she was only flirting with other men because her heart was sore that he had neglected her.
“I have no interest in Sir James,” she said, now growing angry in her turn.
“You amaze me, madam, after the way you have lived in his pocket this evening.”
“How dare you! I have not lived in his pocket.”
“I say you have. I say also that if you make a fool of me again I shall walk out of this house and leave you to your own devices.”
“You are behaving abominably.”
“Do I have your word that you will respect my wishes?”
“You are being a tyrant – ”
“Do I have your word, or do I walk off the floor?”
Lavina pulled herself free.
“Let me save you the trouble,” she snapped, and walked away from him.
Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – the dance ended at that moment, so few people noticed her gesture, and the effect was lost.
After that she stayed with her father, ready to repel the Marquis if he should approach her.
But he did not approach her, and when they were ready to depart, Lady McEwuan said that Lord Elswick had made his apologies and gone home early.
*
Lord Elswick went out early next morning, so Lavina had no chance to make up with him. Her morning was one of pure misery, until a servant brought her a letter.
Eagerly she opened it. In a large, strong hand, it read,
Forgive me, and come to me quickly. There is so much I want to say to you, that is only for your ears. Seek out the cottage by the stream that runs through the wood. I’m waiting for you there. Hurry, my beloved.
Ivan.
“Ivan!” She said his name to herself. The Marquis had never asked her to call him by his given name, despite the fact that they were supposed to be engaged.
Yet now he asked her forgiveness, and used his name as a sign of intimacy. He had called her beloved, and chosen a remote spot where nobody would disturb them, because he longed to be alone with her.
Her heart overflowed with joy.
She sped up to her room to change hurriedly into riding clothes, then down again as fast as she could, then to the stables.
In minutes she was on her way, alone. Ivan would not expect her to take a groom this time.
In half an hour she had reached the wood and began to move through it. There was the stream and the cottage, just ahead. And there, just outside the cottage, was a single horse, tied to a tree.
She tied her own horse beside it and pushed open the door.
“Here I am!” she cried. “Here I am, my darling!”
The door slammed behind her.
She whirled round, smiling with the force of her joy.
Then her smile faded, and a look of revulsion took its place.
Standing there, leering at her, was Prince Stanislaus.
CHAPTER NINE
“You!” she cried with loathing. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve hired this cottage. I thought it would make a good place for us to meet. So obliging of you to come in answer to my letter.”
“Your letter? But – ”
She stopped. The hideous truth was becoming clear to her.
“Of course, my letter. How else could I have got you here?”
“You can’t have written it,” she said, her breath coming in little gasps. “It started, ‘Forgive me.’ You could never have known that we’d quarrelled.”
Stanislaus gave his strange, silent laugh, and it chilled her blood.
“My dear lady, I had no idea that you and Elswick had quarrelled until you told me just now. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about women in many delightful years spent pursuing them, it is that every woman thinks her lover is in the wrong.
“He can be a saint, it makes no difference. She is always sulky and petulant about something. So a clever man asks her forgiveness as a matter of routine. He can rely on her to supply the details.
“And I was right, you see, because now you are here.”
“And I am leaving immediately.”
“I’m afraid you are not. Your presence is important to me.”
Grasping her riding whip tightly, Lavina took a step forward, facing him and saying firmly,
“Get out of my way.”
Stanislaus merely laughed.
“How splendid you are! How magnificent! What a Princess you will make.”
“I will never be your Princess!”
“Oh but you will. You have no choice. I must have an English royal bride – ”
“I am not royal – ”
“The Queen has recognised you as part of her family. When we marry she will consider me a relative, and from that, many good things will flow.
“You see, it’s not just protection against the Russians that I need. It’s money. When I’m related to the British royal family, money will flow into my coffers.”
“For the benefit of your people.”
“But what benefits me, benefits my people. Naturally I am expected to maintain a splendid court. As my Princess you will be at the centre of luxury. You will enjoy it.”
“You are out of your mind. Even if I married you – which I won’t – how could I ever enjoy luxury paid for by stealing from your people? The idea is horrible?”
“Do you think so? I find it rather sensible? How else could I pay for my little pleasures. Your scruples won’t last. When I shower you with diamonds, you’ll forget to worry about who paid for them.”
Lavina shuddered. His leering smile, his soft, lisping voice, was beginning to make her feel sick.
“Get out of my way,” she repeated. “I want to leave.”
“But you cannot leave. Here you are, and here you will stay.”
“Until what? Are you planning to produce a parson to force me into marriage here and now? Because if you – ”
“Good heavens no!” he said, genuinely shocked. “No hole in the co
rner business for us. To be any use to me our wedding must take place in the sight of the world. I need a great occasion, in Westminster Abbey, in the presence of the Queen and the Russian ambassador, with the ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
“And just how do you think you’ll force me to go through with it?” she demanded.
“By keeping you here alone with me until you’re so compromised that no other man will have you.”
“So you plan to turn me into damaged goods,” she said scornfully. “And what use will I be then as Princess of Kadradtz?”
He shrugged.
“Don’t be so stupid! It doesn’t matter to me if you’re damaged goods, as long as you bring the money with you.”
A chill went through Lavina as she realised that this creature was right.
Nobody knew where she was.
He could keep her here for days without being discovered.
And who would want her then?
“Her Majesty will never allow you to do this,” she said desperately.
“Why not?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.
“When she knows how you kidnapped me – I shall beg her help.”
Stanislaus roared with laughter.
“You beg her help? After the way you spoke to her?”
He was right. She had thrown away all chance of the Queen’s friendship, and now her position was truly desperate.
Suddenly she turned and began to run, heading for the far door. But she found it locked, and when she turned she saw Stanislaus coming towards her. He did not move hurriedly, for he knew that she was trapped.
“Let me go,” she said breathlessly. “I will not marry you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, abandoning his smile and showing her a cold face. “Of course you will. I want you. You are necessary to my plans. Forget Elswick. He won’t want you when you’ve spent a few days in my company.”
“I am not going to spend any time in your company,” she said emphatically. “I am going to leave now.”
“How, I wonder?”
“I can’t believe that you’ll try to keep me here against my will.”
“My dear girl, I didn’t take all this trouble to get you here simply to let you leave. I need you, I want you, and I always get what I want.”
“You won’t get me.”
Lavina tried to sound firm, but her heart was beating with fear.
“Why, who do you think will help you?”
“My fiancé,” she said determinedly. “Lord Elswick, the man I am going to marry.”
Prince Stanislaus roared with laughter.
“Marry you? Have you deluded yourself with that idea? He has no intention of marrying you. Your engagement is false, a fantasy for my benefit.”
“That is not true,” she stammered.
“The Queen tells me that it is true. She never expected you to carry the charade this far. She thought, when her wishes had been made clear to you, you would obey them. But since you are stubborn, stern methods are needed.”
“Do you expect me to believe that the Queen actually supports you in abducting me? Never!”
“Well, I didn’t exactly describe what I meant to do, but in general she supports our coming marriage.”
“I will not marry you,” she screamed.
“When we’ve been here alone for a few days, you’ll be glad to marry me. Elswick won’t claim you. Oh, he wants revenge on me, but not at the price of tying himself to damaged goods.”
“What – do you mean – revenge?”
“You didn’t know? How charming. I shall have the pleasure of telling you. I was the man who enticed his bride away and left him looking foolish at the church, to the derision of his neighbours.”
Lavina stared at him, aghast.
“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
But she did. It made sense of everything, including the way the Marquis had behaved at their first meeting.
At first he had refused to help her, then her father had mentioned Kadradtz, and he had swung round from the window, alert at the name.
From that moment he had been determined to do everything in his power to make their betrothal convincing. The hastily arranged dinner party, the man from the newspaper, the family jewels, the kiss during the fireworks display – he had done much, much more than she had envisaged when she asked his help.
And this was his reason. It was all to thwart the man who had ruined his life.
She closed her eyes, trying not to follow this path of thought. It led to too much pain.
“I don’t believe you,” she said again. It was untrue but she wanted to keep him talking. Dreadful as it was, she had to hear everything.
He shrugged.
“Why not? I don’t live in Kadradtz all the time. It’s a dreadful, primitive place, as you’ll discover when we’re married. I travelled extensively, and at that time I was in England. I happened to meet Anjelica.
“She took my fancy. She was a pretty little thing, delightful enough to turn any man’s head. When I met her she’d already got to work on young Elswick, thinking she’d struck gold.
“He was insane about her, wildly, desperately infatuated. I think he would have sacrificed the world, and counted it well lost if only he could have her.
“It was the kind of love a man feels only once in a lifetime – or so they tell me. I’ve never wasted time like that, myself. But people who understand these things say that, afterwards, a man protects himself from ever loving like that again.”
“Yes,” Lavina whispered. “Oh yes.”
“Personally,” continued Stanislaus with ineffable smugness, “I think that to be making such a fuss over a woman is absurd. One woman is just like another in the end.
“Some are a little more fun, some a little less, but none of them really matter. However, Elswick would have died for Anjelica.”
Lavina looked away, refusing to let him see how these remarks tortured her. They conjured up thoughts she could not bear, thoughts of the man she loved as he had once been, young, generous, with a heart to give; not wary and defensive as he was now, but loving, passionate and giving.
“Anjelica knew how wildly in love he was,” Stanislaus went on. “She thought she was winning. She hadn’t reckoned on his family cutting him off.
“Of course they couldn’t deprive him of the title, and if she’d been patient, she would eventually have been a Marchioness, and everything would have been hers.
“But Anjelica didn’t understand the words ‘patience’ and ‘eventually’. She wanted everything now, and I was able to offer ‘now’. Not marriage, of course, but money, jewels, life in glittering surroundings.
“She made me wait right up until the wedding day. She was sure his family would relent when the moment came, and turn up at the wedding.
“She even went to the church, all dressed in bridal white. I went with her, riding beside her carriage. When she realised that the old Marquis wasn’t there, I took her hand and we ran away together.”
Stanislaus gave his eerie, almost silent laugh.
“At the last minute I looked back and saw the jilted bridegroom standing there. For a moment I’ll swear he didn’t even realise what was happening. Then he began to run after us, calling her name.
“But we ran and I took her up on my horse in front of me, and off we galloped. He chased us out of the church, still calling her name.
“I heard afterwards that he lay in a fever for weeks, and nearly lost his reason.”
“Sweet heaven!” Lavina whispered.
“Oh she was a prime article, I grant you. Everyone envied me for having such a creature on my arm.
“In Kadradtz we understand this kind of relationship better than the prudish English. I was able to take her with me everywhere.”
“And you expect me to marry you, knowing that this woman is your mistress?” Lavina demanded scathingly.
“Good heavens, no! I haven’t seen her for years. I became b
ored with her very quickly. Her conversation was extremely limited and her charms soon faded. Besides, another comet streaked across my horizon, far more beautiful and equally avaricious.”
“I can see why you would need money,” Lavina said bitingly, “with all these jewels to buy.”
“Oh please! Credit me with some understanding of economy. Naturally I retrieved the jewels from Anjelica to pass on to her successor. Not that they suited her very well. She was a brunette, and pearls looked insipid on her. Still, one can’t have everything.”
Lavina stared at him, speechless with disgust.
“So you threw her out without a penny when she’d outlived her usefulness?”
“Not exactly without a penny. I did give her a sum of money. It was the only way to stop her caterwauling, and be rid of her. But I doubt it lasted long.
“My, how that woman could spend! Elswick could never have afforded her. Mind you, if she’d known how soon he would inherit the title, she might have decided to marry him and bide her time.”
Now Lavina understood the jagged hatred that had rent the air when Lord Elswick met the Prince at Balmoral. It had not been her imagination. It had been real.
“Still, I think she was very satisfied with me,” Stanislaus said smugly, “for a while.”
Suddenly Lavina recalled something Lord Elswick had said at Balmoral. It had puzzled her, but it made perfect sense now.
“But he pursued you,” she said in a voice of wondering discovery. “He found you and knocked you senseless, just as he threatened to do again that night at Balmoral.”
There was a note in her voice that was almost triumph.
“You’ve felt his fist before, haven’t you? That was what he meant when he said you knew he’d do it.”
A pained looked passed over Stanislaus’ face.
“There was an undignified brawl, I admit. In Heidelberg, not Kadradtz, which was a pity. In my own country I could have locked him up for ever, but in Heidelberg it had to be left to the officers of the law.
“One of them turned out to be an old drinking companion of his father, and got him out of the country, fast. I was very annoyed about that.”
Lavina managed a brave laugh.
“I wish I could have seen you when he’d thrashed you. You must have been a sight.”
An Introduction to the Pink Collection Page 25