“I never thought the day would come when I would see Pompeii,” she sighed. “I have read about it and have seen pictures of it, but nothing can be the same as seeing it for myself. I will treasure this memory forever.”
“There is a great deal more of the world to see! Why, I think it would be a good idea if at the end of your visit you wrote a guide book telling people like yourself, who have always stayed at home, the difference between what they read and what they would actually see.”
“There are never going to be enough words in the English dictionary to describe it properly!”
The Duke laughed.
“I cannot believe that would stop you. I have come to the inevitable conclusion that you are a most determined young lady, who will doubtless end up instructing a whole lot of people what they should do whether they want it or not!”
Valona knew he was teasing her and laughed too.
“I will try not to be a dictator, Cousin Arthur, but at the same time I do find myself seeing things, which could have been much better described in the books I have read about them.”
The Duke threw up his hands in mock horror.
“The one thing I am scared of is an overly clever woman who believes she is always right. Women should be soft, sweet, gentle and quiet.”
Naturally Valona argued strenuously with him on this statement.
Their arguments on any subject always ended in the same way with them both laughing rather helplessly.
The Duke was very aware that the party travelling to Larissa would have been unbelievably gloomy if it had not been for Valona.
She even made Lady Rose laugh and smile as well as the men, as she always had something unusual to say.
She had already made friends with the Captain and many of the ordinary seamen of the crew.
The Duke observed that when she talked to them and enquired about their wives and families, the men never became over-familiar. They treated Valona with as much respect as they gave him.
He thought it so extraordinary that she had these skills after living such a quiet life at Hampton Court.
Although she had received some instruction from various teachers, she had apparently learnt most about life from her books.
Yet she undoubtedly had the human touch.
‘It must surely come from her father and mother,’ the Duke mused. ‘Equally it is most unusual in someone so young.’
He thought that even the Queen might be impressed with Valona. It would be amusing when she returned home to take Valona to Windsor Castle and hear afterwards what she thought of the Queen and her Court.
It was after they had sailed away from Naples that Valona became particularly excited.
“I think,” she insisted, “from what I have read that Venice must be the most romantic City in the whole wide world.”
To be argumentative the Duke challenged her,
“You will have to wait until you have visited some parts of India, China and Japan before you can make such a sweeping statement – incidentally the Pyramids of Egypt are not far away.”
“Now you are being unkind to me, as you know I shall never have a chance of going to those places.”
She paused for a moment before saying,
“Of course, I may be disappointed in Venice, but I cannot believe that will happen.”
“The only answer is to see it, Valona, for yourself!”
*
They reached Venice the next morning and they all disembarked after breakfast.
They were carried by the battleship’s skiff into the Grand Canal itself and stopped whilst the Duke engaged a gondola.
Venice was even lovelier and much more beautiful than Valona could ever have anticipated.
She was thrilled by the Piazza San Marco with its fluttering pigeons and sincerely impressed by the Doge’s Palace with its carved heads of allegorical figures.
The Sansovino Library completed in 1591 made her want to spend a month in it.
Their gondola rowed them down the Grand Canal and Valona was strangely silent until the Duke asked,
“What has happened to you? After all that talk, are you disappointed at what you see before you?”
“I am just making sure that everything I am seeing is all true and will not disappear after a few seconds!”
They both laughed and she realised that they were managing to keep Lady Rose’s spirits considerably higher than they usually were.
There were no messages waiting for the Marquis at the Consulate, however, they had already learnt when they were at Naples that his horse had been second in the race.
“What are you expecting to hear about at this port of call?” asked the Duke.
“Oh, nothing of importance. There is another race in which I have entered two of my horses on Saturday, but I don’t expect either of them to win. It’s just good practice for them.”
“I would like you to have a look at my horses when I return to England,” suggested the Duke, “and I hope you will come down to Newmarket with me.”
He realised as he spoke that his sister gave a little quiver – she was very obviously thinking that while Gerald could do so, she would be far away.
He had not intended to be tactless and he quickly began to talk of something else.
At the same time he was very conscious that they were sailing nearer and nearer to Larissa and the dreadful moment would come when Rose and Gerald would have to say goodbye to each other for ever.
The Duke’s family had urged him to find himself a bride time after time.
He did know that at some point in the future he would have to provide an heir to his illustrious title.
But what he had seen of Gerald and Rose’s agony made him feel that marriage was almost too much of a risk to take.
Supposing he did fall in love with some girl in the future and his marriage to her turned out to be as appalling for him as it was for Gerald?
The woman he chose might not be mad, but she might be unfaithful.
Or after they had been married she might become in some way repulsive so that he could not bear to touch her.
There were so many things that might destroy a marriage.
It was, he determined, only love that could hold it together and make it the perfection that every man desired in his heart.
‘I will definitely not marry until I absolutely have to,’ the Duke resolved to himself firmly.
Turning his thoughts away from marriage, he thought with satisfaction of a certain charming and exceedingly attractive dancer, who would, he knew, be waiting eagerly for his return.
She was an amusing and delightful part of his life, and yet if he had to give her up tomorrow it would not break his heart, nor would it break hers.
There was too much at risk in marrying; Gerald had proved that – believing he was deeply in love and would live happily ever after with his beautiful bride before disaster struck. Now he was trapped forever in a marriage that was in name only, whilst his true love was forced to marry another.
‘If that happened to me,’ he pondered, ‘I would find it impossible to go on living.’
His thoughts were all gloomy that night.
*
The next day they were steaming towards Athens and Valona had them all laughing again.
“Now you will be seeing the Goddesses of Ancient Greece,” stated the Duke. “Both you and Rose will realise how inadequately you have managed to copy them!”
Before the two could protest, the Marquis added,
“On the contrary, Arthur, I think both the ladies we have with us are the personification of beauty. If there is any competition it is from Athene and Aphrodite who will have to look to their laurels and smarten themselves up!”
“Thank you! Thank you!” cried Lady Rose. “That was such a pretty speech and Valona and I want to believe you.”
“You know you can believe everything I say about you,” the Marquis murmured in a low voice.
She turned to smile at him
and the words she was about to say died on her lips.
Again they were looking into each other’s eyes.
The cabin seemed to vibrate with their love.
Valona was busy that evening looking amongst the books she had brought with her for the one on Greece, that she had borrowed from Sir Mortimer.
Naturally she had read it many times already.
She turned over the pages knowing that tomorrow she would be able to see some of the beauties of Greece.
She thought it must be the most exciting moment of her entire life.
Her mother had so often talked to her about Greece and her father’s country was a part of it.
However, Valona was more interested in Delphi and in the small Greek Islands, especially Delos where Apollo was born, besides all the other stories of Greece, which she had read about and loved ever since she could remember.
‘I shall see them! I shall really see them!’ she told herself.
She thought that tomorrow would never come and it was hard to go to sleep.
She felt excitement rising in her breast.
Annoyingly it took longer to reach Greece than she had expected and it was almost dark when they eventually moved into Piraeus, the Port of Athens.
“I suppose it’s too late to go ashore now,” she said wistfully to the Duke.
“Much too late,” he answered.
“And we will not leave too early tomorrow?”
She was worried as she spoke that the Duke might think they had lingered longer than he intended in Venice and therefore they must not stay for too long in Athens.
He shook his head.
“No,” he told her, “we will stay here and I will take you ashore tomorrow as soon as breakfast is over.”
“Thank you! Cousin Arthur. Thank you!”
At breakfast the next morning she jumped up and ran below even though she had not finished her coffee.
“I am going first to the Embassy,” announced the Marquis. “I don’t suppose there will be any message from Her Majesty, but the Captain is already a bit surprised that we are taking so long on what he was informed was to be a quick voyage to Larissa and back.”
The Duke smiled.
“I really think you have made the journey far more pleasant than it might have been.”
“It is still unmitigated hell,” the Marquis muttered and he walked out of the Saloon before the Duke could say anything more.
‘There is nothing I can do,’ the Duke mumbled to himself, ‘except to hope that Valona’s prophecy will come true.’
Rose and Gerald had told him all that Valona had said, but he did not believe a word of it.
He had heard so many predictions about horses as to which would quite certainly win the Grand National, or the Gold Cup at Ascot and the poor owner was often very disappointed when the day came.
He had also proved to himself that it was almost impossible to win at roulette – the lucky charms which so many punters carried with them at Monte Carlo were just a load of rubbish.
It was just a way, he thought, of extracting money from people who were stupid enough to believe what they were told – they just expected miracles when the dice were loaded against them.
And that, at this precise moment, included his sister and Gerald.
The Duke was quite certain that they had no chance of ever being happy together, but all the same, for their sakes, he felt that he must pretend to believe Valona’s prophesies.
She had certainly lifted the veil of darkness which would have prevailed over them all until the voyage ended.
Valona now came hurrying towards him.
She was wearing a voluminous sun hat over her fair hair and carrying a sunshade.
“I am ready, Cousin Arthur, please can we go ashore at once?”
The Duke smiled at her eagerness.
“Come along then, Valona” he urged. “If I have to wear out my feet and my brain in amusing you, I suppose it would be hopeless to complain.”
“Quite, quite hopeless. And if you desert me, I shall go on my own anyway and you know Her Majesty would not approve of that!”
The Duke chuckled.
“I think it is a very good thing that Her Majesty has no idea what we are doing – and I really hope she will never find out!”
Valona looked at him questioningly.
“Because the Queen had forgotten about you and your mother, she never asked your age. I am quite certain, if she had known how young you are, she would have found, even at the last moment, some elderly widow or spinster to be Lady-in-Waiting to Rose.”
“And Rose would have been furious.”
“I know, but you have been so wonderful with her. You have surely made her so much happier than she would have been otherwise.”
“She will be happy one day,” said Valona simply. “And it is no use arguing about it just because you don’t believe me and anyway I don’t believe you!”
“That is certainly true, but come on, Valona, there is a carriage waiting for us and we have so much sightseeing to do.”
He was right.
They went first to the Parthenon, dedicated to the Virgin Goddess Athena, and on to the Erechtheum with its pillars of maidens.
Valona was entranced with everything she saw and everything she was told.
They were late going back to the ship, but the Duke had already decided that they would have luncheon on board and then go to somewhere amusing later for dinner.
Because Valona had enjoyed her morning so much she ran up the gangplank, hurried below and went into the Saloon.
Lady Rose was there alone.
When her brother came in, she asked him,
“What has happened to Gerald?”
“I have no idea. I thought he would be with you,” replied the Duke.
“No, he left pretty early – soon after you,” answered Rose. “He just said he must go to the Embassy and then off he went.”
The Duke looked at the clock.
It was nearly a quarter to two.
“Well, I suppose he must have been delayed, but I have no intention of waiting for my luncheon, because I am extremely hungry.”
“So am I,” added Valona.
She went to her cabin, took off her hat, washed her hands and came back.
The Duke and Lady Rose were sitting at the table and the Steward was bringing in their first course.
The food was delicious, but Rose kept getting up and going to one of the portholes to look out to see if there was any sign of Gerald.
“I cannot imagine what can be keeping him,” she sighed. “He only had to go to the Embassy.”
“If you ask me,” suggested the Duke, “the machine or whatever they use to receive their messages has broken down, or he has been told there is a fire on his Racecourse and all his horses have run away!”
Valona laughed, but Lady Rose still looked worried,
“There must be something very wrong. I hope his mother is not ill.”
“Is she likely to be?” asked the Duke.
“No, but he is very fond of her. In fact she is the only one of his endless relatives he really cares about and she always worries about him when he goes away.”
They finished luncheon and they were just drinking their coffee when Lady Rose gave a little cry.
“Here he is!”
The Marquis strode into the Saloon.
Rather strangely, Valona thought, he closed the door behind him.
“What has happened? Why have you been so long? I have been worrying about you,” cried Lady Rose.
She jumped up from the table and without thinking that it mattered, she ran towards him.
“I was so afraid that you had had an accident,” she muttered in a low voice.
The Marquis put his arm round her.
“I have just been informed,” he said quietly, “that my wife is dead!”
There was a gasp.
Then the Duke exclaimed,
“Dead, Gerald! But how
is that possible?”
“My secretary has sent me a long cable, explaining that Mavis had one of her bad turns last night and seemed to be unconscious. The nurse left her alone when she went to have a meal. Apparently she got out of bed and left the room to go downstairs. She tripped up over her nightgown, fell and crashed to the bottom. It killed her.”
There was silence for a moment and then the Duke mumbled,
“There is nothing we can say, except, as we all know, it is a merciful release.”
The Marquis was looking down at Rose and with a murmur she hid her face in his shoulder.
Valona did not move from the table as she had been right in thinking that they would want be together.
‘I was right,’ she thought. ‘When I tell Mama, she will understand. The others will think I was just guessing.’
It was unexpectedly soon, but there was no account of time where clairvoyance was concerned.
There was a silence until the door opened and the Steward who had waited on them at luncheon entered.
“Now you’re back on board, my Lord,” he said to the Marquis, “I’ll bring your luncheon.”
“It’s all right, thank you. I had something to eat at the Embassy.”
“Will you have a drink, my Lord?”
Because there seemed to be no point in refusing, the Marquis sat down at the table.
The Steward poured out some wine and withdrew.
As soon as they were alone, the Duke enquired,
“Do you have to go back home?”
The Marquis shook his head.
“No, I sent a cable saying it was impossible. My secretary and manager, who are in charge, will arrange the funeral.”
Lady Rose was sitting beside him and her hand was in his.
There was a light in her eyes that had not been there before.
Valona knew that the wonder of what she had just heard was beginning to sweep over her.
‘Now they can remain together,’ she reflected, ‘and everything will be perfect.’
The Marquis drank a little of his wine, then he said,
“I have been longer coming back than I meant to because I not only had to send many cables, but I was also making plans for Rose and myself.”
He turned to smile at Lady Rose as he spoke.
She made a little sound that was half a sob and half a cry of joy and then hid her face against his shoulder.
Love and Apollo Page 6