“Have you any idea what you have just put me through?” he demanded, giving her a little shake. “I have been terrified out of my wits.”
“Then you should not have been. I am far more at ease here than you could ever be.”
“That is not the – Shona!”
He gave up the argument, tightening his arms around her so that she was crushed against him.
His lips found hers in a fierce, bruising kiss that took her breath away. Shona relaxed in his arms, happy in the one embrace she had longed for.
“Shona – Shona – ” he breathed huskily. “My darling, my beloved – ”
“My love,” she murmured, kissing him back with all her heart and soul.
“I was so afraid that I would never see you again. If anything had happened to you – what would I do?”
He drew back and looked down into her face.
“I love you,” he said. “Don’t you know that? Have I not made it obvious?”
“I have so wanted you to love me,” she sighed ecstatically. “For I love you too with all my heart. But I was afraid that the time would never come for us.”
“It will come – very shortly. We must be patient a little while. But oh, my love, kiss me again – tell me that you love me.”
She told him what he wanted to know with words and with silent kisses. When they had kissed fervently again and again, they stood contentedly holding each other.
At last Shona said,
“But you haven’t asked me what I discovered.”
“It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters as long as you are safe.”
But then he sighed and said,
“Yes, of course it does matter. I cannot neglect my duty, even for you, my darling.”
“I know. That was why I was determined to help you.”
“If you have discovered anything – ”
“I managed to start talking with a woman who delivers fruit to the Sultan’s castle.”
“Is George Acton there?” the Marquis asked sharply.
“Not actually in the castle. The Sultan has given him a house on the edge of town because Acton insisted on hiding away. But all the servants know about it. The Sultan sends him delicacies every day and his address is no secret.”
“Tell me where to find him.”
“I will tell you tonight, and I am coming with you.”
“It would be best if you did not.”
“I disagree. I am definitely coming with you, and without the address you cannot find him without me.”
“Shona!”
“I mean it.”
He could see by her expression that she really did mean it and a strange feeling came over him.
Sometimes he had confused her with Angela, as though they were the same woman.
But deep inside his consciousness, he had always realised that this was not so.
Angela had been frail, always ready to lean on him and relay on him to decide everything for her.
Shona was a strong, independent female. She could stand up to him and take care of herself.
Now he could see clearly how different they were and he was pervaded by a sensation of release. This woman was no ghost of the past, but a vibrant being who could take him into the future.
He kissed her tenderly.
“Very well,” he agreed. “We will go together.”
*
In the event all four of them left the ship quietly that evening, for Effie insisted on accompanying Shona, and Lionel was determined to accompany Effie.
The hired carriage was large enough for six, so that there would be room enough to return with their prisoner.
And there was someone else who joined them at the last minute, although none of them knew it.
At the last minute a figure slipped through the darkness and climbed into the trunk at the back of the carriage.
Shona had given the driver directions and they headed for the outskirts of Limassol.
Looking out of the carriage Shona thought how magical this island would have been at any other time.
The very air seemed heavy with the scent and spices of the East. Palm trees waved in the breeze and far off she could see the moonlight on the water.
It was the very essence of romance, just as she had always thought Cyprus would be.
But tonight she could not think of love and passion. Tonight there was serious business to be accomplished. And who knew how things would turn out?
At last they reached their destination. It was a discreet little villa, surrounded by high walls, with a firmly closed wrought iron gate at the front.
“This is where we leave you ladies,” the Marquis announced. “We are going to have to climb these walls.”
“No need for that,” Shona declared. “We can go in by the gate.”
“You think they are just going to let us in?” he asked doubtfully.
“I don’t see why not,” she replied calmly. “Stay in the carriage, all of you. Effie, look out of the window. The others, stay hidden.”
Nobody thought of disobeying her. It was obvious that, of them all, she had the clearest idea of what she was doing.
She descended from the carriage and rang the bell. The gatekeeper opened up and looked at her suspiciously.
“The Sultan has sent us,” she said in Greek, “for Sir Richard.”
“Us?”
“My friend and myself,” Shona said, indicating Effie’s face in the window of the carriage door. “We are a very special present from the Sultan for Sir Richard.”
The gatekeeper’s eyes boggled.
“Both of you?”
“The Sultan is a very generous man,” Shona replied gravely.
“But Sir Richard already has two women with him.”
“Can a man have too many?” Shona asked with a knowing smile. “The Sultan does not wish Sir Richard to feel – er – deprived in any way. And so he sends us to attend to his comfort.”
The man sniggered knowingly and opened the gate. Shona hopped quickly back into the carriage and they passed through.
“What exactly did you say to him?” the Marquis wanted to know.
Shona smiled. She was exhilarated with victory.
“I told him Effie and I were a gift from the Sultan.”
“Good grief!” he said faintly. “Of all the insane things to say – ”
“Well, you would not have got in if I hadn’t,” she responded, exasperated by the Marquis’s attitude.
“By the way,” she added, “he is already enjoying the company of two women, which is useful.”
“Is it?” he queried, startled.
“If it was male companions they might have fought for him. But I do not think harem ladies will fight.”
“That’s true.”
The carriage had stopped. They all slid quietly out and crept to the huge windows.
The room inside was luxuriously furnished with silks and brocades. Golden goblets stood on a nearby table. Cushions were scattered everywhere.
There was only one occupant, a tall man with a narrow face, wearing a richly decorated dressing gown. He was pouring a glass of wine from a jug that looked as though it was made of gold, studded with jewels.
As they watched he called something over his shoulder, apparently in answer to a sound from beyond an open door.
“Is it him?” Shona whispered. The Marquis became deadly pale. “Yes,” he growled. “It is him.”
With a swift movement, he pushed open the window and climbed into the room.
George Acton froze at the sight of him. From his ghastly expression Shona had no doubt that he recognised the Marquis, and knew that retribution had finally arrived.
“You,” he whispered.
“Yes, me,” the Marquis said in a voice of deathly quiet.
Swiftly the others followed him through the window and joined him in the room.
“You have been expecting me at any time these last twelve years,” the Marquis spat at him. “You were cle
ver, always evading me, but I was bound to catch you one day. And now that day is here.”
Acton had slightly recovered himself.
“You cannot do anything to me here,” he jeered. “It’s too late.”
There was a silence. Shona had a horrible feeling that it was true. What legal authority could touch him in Cyprus?
Then the Marquis drew aside his coat and pulled a pistol from his belt.
Shona gasped in disbelief.
“I am taking you back with me,” the Marquis snapped.
“Because one way or another, you are going to pay for the murder of my wife.”
Acton met his eyes defiantly.
“Go to the devil,” he said. “You cannot force me to leave. You have no power. No one in England will care about something that happened in France twelve years ago.”
“That may be true,” the Marquis replied quietly. “But I told you – one way or the other.”
He raised the pistol, aiming it straight at his enemy’s heart.
In that moment it all came back to Shona, Lionel’s mysterious words,
‘Perhaps he is going to do something terrible – I don’t know – I don’t think he knows either. He won’t know until the very last minute.’
This was what he had suspected. All along, Lionel had known that the Marquis might have murder in his heart.
Shona’s hands flew to her mouth. She wanted to cry out, to beg the Marquis not to pull the trigger. But she was frozen.
She could not speak.
She could not move.
At this moment she knew she did not exist for him.
His world consisted only of himself and his enemy and their moment of truth.
In the silence Shona was vividly aware of the others. Lionel and Effie too were held petrified. They knew, as she did, that they could not help. Any intervention from them would be calamity.
For a long moment the Marquis kept his pistol aimed straight at Acton’s heart.
At any second Shona expected to hear the shot that would part her from him for ever.
For, however she might sympathise, there could be nothing between them after he had shot down a man in cold blood.
‘For pity’s sake, stop while you can,’ she whispered in her heart. ‘Whatever you do, don’t make our love impossible.’
It seemed that time stood still.
Then something happened.
A violent shudder passed through the Marquis. His face, until then made of stone, seemed to soften and a despairing weariness came over him.
He lowered his pistol.
“I should shoot you down like a dog – it is what you deserve,” he growled. “But it would be too good for you. I am taking you back to England. You will answer to the law for murder.”
Shona came out of her trance to find that she was shaking with relief.
The moment was over.
The danger was past.
But Acton was smirking.
“I am going nowhere with you,” he sneered. “You are beaten. The law has no hold on me, either here or in England.”
Defiantly he raised the glass he had just filled and drained it.
The next moment he gave a yell of outrage at the handcuff that had appeared, as if by magic, on his wrist.
The other cuff was round the wrist of a powerfully built young man who had stepped out from the shadows.
“Now that is where you are wrong, Acton,” he said. “The law in England is very interested in you.”
Effie screamed.
“Jimmy!”
“Hallo, love,” he said, nodding to her briefly. “We’ll talk later. George Acton, I arrest you for the murder of Jonathan Acton, in London in the year 1863.”
“You can’t prove a thing,” Acton flashed.
“We’ll have a damned good try,” Jimmy informed him. “Come on with you now.”
Acton opened his mouth to yell for help, but Lionel had his hands round his throat.
“Not a sound,” he said. “Let’s all get going.”
But before they could move there was a noise from beyond the door and the next moment a man appeared. He was dressed only in a flimsy night shirt and seemed to be in a state of indignant tipsiness.
“Dammit, that little filly’s playing hard to get,” he shouted. “Tell her she – ”
He stopped and looked around the room in appalled silence.
“Good evening, Colonel,” Shona said.
“So this is where you are, my lady,” he said, in a slurred voice. “At last. Now you are coming with me – ”
He reached out to grasp her, staggered and had to catch hold of the furniture.
Jimmy made a fist.
“Want me to sock him on the jaw for you?” he asked Shona cheerfully.
“No, that is my privilege,” the Marquis volunteered, stepping forward.
But Shona stopped him.
“No,” she said quietly. “He’s mine.”
She did not actually punch her step-father on the jaw. There was no need. She merely gave his swaying figure a push, toppling him so that he ended up sprawled on the floor.
“Why don’t we all just go now?” she suggested.
They began to move off. Acton tried to fight, but Lionel gagged him and helped Jimmy to hold him fast.
Shona cast a contemptuous look at Colonel Lockwood, trying to struggle to his feet and then took the hand the Marquis held out to her.
In a moment they were back in the carriage and heading for the gate.
“Will they let us out?” Effie asked worriedly.
“Leave that to me,” Shona said.
She glimpsed a look of admiration and confidence cross the Marquis’s face. It was as though he was saying that now he knew he could leave anything to her. His trust in her was total.
As they reached the gate the keeper stepped forward. She looked out, smiling.
“Sir Richard does not need us tonight,” she called. “We are to return tomorrow. In the meantime – ”
She opened her hand, revealing gold coins.
“His instructions are to give you these as soon as we are through the gate,” she said.
The gatekeeper moved as fast as he could, and in a moment they were through. Shona tossed him the coins, the carriage gathered speed and they were on their way.
“Wait – stop!”
The faint cry came from far back on the drive. Looking out of the windows, they all saw the ridiculous figure of Colonel Lockwood chasing after them, as well as he could manage in bare feet and night shirt.
He reached the gate just as the keeper had locked it again. And the last they saw of him was having a violent argument, trying to get through the gate.
“How does he come to be here?” Effie asked.
“We followed you on a ship from England,” Jimmy said.
“We?” she demanded.
“He was looking out of the window as you left the house in London. He saw you driving off in a cab.”
“Yes, I remember,” Effie agreed.
“A footman chased you. He lost the cab, but not before he wrote down the number, so the Colonel was able to trace it. That way, he pursued you to Lord Chilworth’s house, but it was too late. You had gone. But he was never far behind. He chartered a ship and followed you.”
“But how do you come to be here?” Shona wanted to know.
“I turned up at the Colonel’s house, looking for Effie. I wanted to sort out our little misunderstanding. Lockwood said he knew where to find you, so I travelled with him.
“But when I found out about the man you were chasing,” Jimmy added with a sulphurous glance at George Acton, “it all became different. My superiors in the force are very interested in him. I will probably get my promotion now, and with that I can afford to marry.”
He winked at Effie, who beamed back at him.
“Who was Jonathan Acton?” asked the Marquis. It was the first time he had spoken.
“His father. He was a very wealthy man.
All this creature here could do was spend money. In the end Jonathan refused to pay any more of his son’s debts, and soon after that he died, very mysteriously.
“There was a lot of suspicion, but nobody could prove anything and so George Acton inherited his father’s fortune.
“Later, certain facts came to light. A witness appeared. But by then he had vanished. I am obliged to you, my Lord, for tracking him down for us.”
“You’re bluffing,” Acton gasped. “You cannot prove anything.”
“Can’t I, sir? Well, we will let an English jury decide that. We’ve found the arsenic and we’ve found the witness who saw you put it in the old man’s tea.
“It’s a pity he didn’t come forward earlier, but he was afraid of you. But he won’t be afraid when he sees you locked up in a cell.”
Acton made a sound like a snake hissing.
“How did my step-father know where to go to after Marseilles?” Shona asked.
“Easy. He had someone watching the port, who discovered your route from the Harbour Master. He was never far behind you after that.
“When we landed in Limassol, he heard about Acton. They were old drinking cronies you know, years ago. So he went to find him.
“I went, too, but not with the Colonel. I was clinging to the back of your carriage. I thought it would better to take him by surprise.”
He turned his attention back to Acton.
“And I did, didn’t I, you horrible man. Now, stop struggling. You cannot get away, and we’re nearly at the port.”
Jimmy then addressed the Marquis.
“Is it all right with you, my Lord, if I return on your boat?”
“Nothing would please me more,” the Marquis replied fervently. “We will set sail for England straight away.”
A few minutes later they reached the quay and pulled up by their ship. The Captain was watching for them and immediately sent four sailors down to the carriage.
With their help the fiercely struggling George Acton was hauled aboard the ship, with Jimmy following, keeping a stern eye on his prisoner, who was hauled off to be locked into a cabin.
Lionel looked around for Effie, but she had already hurried aboard in Jimmy’s wake.
The Marquis paid the driver. He seemed to be moving almost in a trance, as though his mind was elsewhere.
When Shona laid her hand on his arm, he gave her a faint abstracted smile.
She felt a slight chill. Was this the end? After all the words of love he had spoken, might she still discover that he did not love her after all, now that she had served his purpose?
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