When told him he was working on behalf of Miss Vita Shetland, the granddaughter of Sir Edward Shetland, he was impressed and became more polite.
“I will be attending the funeral,” he asserted. “Sir Edward will be sadly missed in the County.”
“I am very anxious,” the Marquis told him, “that you should do so. Also bring with you several Policemen.”
The Chief Constable looked a bit surprised and the Marquis related to him all that had been happening in the village and the saga of the horse thieves.
“As far as I can make out there are quite a number of horses whose riders have been enticed into the old inn and left with a different horse to the one they arrived on.”
The Chief Constable looked astonished.
“It is a new way of horse thieving to me,” he said. “I cannot understand why I have not been informed of this situation before.”
“I think if you require a truthful answer to that, the Policeman in the village is far too scared to interfere with an inn where at least six men are working on this particular crime and being very successful at it.”
The Chief Constable promised to do everything in his power after the funeral and he would meet Tom Brown and any others who had suffered from the thieves.
When he left the Marquis felt he had impressed on the Chief Constable that something must be done.
He added as he was leaving,
“I know that Miss Vita’s father will be very grateful to you when he returns from the mission he has been sent on by the Prime Minister.”
When he told Vita about his conversation with the Chief Constable, she was delighted.
“It is ruining the village and frightening the people in it. Because they are so afraid of what might happen they will not talk about it to me except in whispers. It is wrong that they should be so afraid.”
“Of course it is,” the Marquis agreed, thinking to himself he would definitely make sure that things changed before he finally left.
*
On the morning of Sir Edward’s funeral he and Vita both went riding at seven o’clock.
As they rode over the fields in bright sunshine, the Marquis realised that Vita was undoubtedly one of the best riders he had ever seen.
She was so natural and unconcerned with herself that she seemed part of her horse and because she always talked to Silver Cloud, he felt that the animal understood every word she said to him.
They galloped across the fields and then came back slowly through a large wood. The squirrels were peeping out amongst the branches and the rabbits scurried ahead of them as they rode through the trees.
“It’s very beautiful here,” the Marquis remarked.
Vita smiled at him.
“I have often thought that fairies and goblins live in this wood, but I have only had Silver Cloud to talk to about them. That is why it is such fun having you here.”
The Marquis smiled at her.
She was looking very lovely this morning with her golden hair tied back as if she was still a schoolgirl and yet she looked as if she had just stepped out of a fairytale.
They rode until it was nine o’clock and then they returned to the house.
The grooms were waiting to rub down the horses and the Marquis put Firefly in the stall next Silver Cloud.
“Now before you come to the funeral,” he said to the Head Groom, “see that every door is locked and every window closed. It will be a little hot for the horses, but it is only for a short time and you can open up the doors and windows as soon as the Service is over.”
“We’ll see to it, sir, I don’t suppose the Service’ll take that long.”
When he reached the house, he found that the body of Sir Edward had already been laid in his coffin, which had been made with unusual speed in the village. He had not suggested that Vita accompany him when he visited the undertaker as he thought it would upset her.
And he told himself it did not matter what one was buried in – once it was down in the ground the coffin was never seen again.
However the Marquis chose the best for Sir Edward and he was certain that the new Baronet would approve.
Vita was, he considered, very brave and very unlike the average woman.
She did not talk about her grandfather’s death nor did she cry on his shoulder. He was so used to any woman who even heard of a bereavement making it an excuse for him to put his arms around her.
He admired the way Vita received the condolences of those on the estate, doing so calmly and politely without going into detail of how deeply bereft she was.
The nurses on his instructions made everything as easy as possible.
“I don’t want Miss Vita upset,” he said. “The less people talk to her about her grandfather’s death the better.”
“That is what I’ve always thought myself, sir,” one of the nurses piped up. “People get more said about them when they’re dead than kindness and consideration when they’re alive!”
“That is what I have found. In this case Miss Vita is very young and has already lost her mother. It would therefore be a mistake for her to be deeply distressed over her grandfather.”
“If you asks me,” the nurse then replied, “it were a merciful deliverance. His pain was gettin’ worse and there were nothin’ the doctors could do for him.”
“I am afraid it’s too often the case with old people. And what is more important than anything else is to leave behind a memory of happiness and light and not just pain and misery.”
He walked away as he finished speaking and was not aware that one of the nurses whispered to the other,
“Now there’s a real nice young gentleman and a real sensible one too, if you asks me.”
The other nurse added,
“I only hopes he looks after Miss Vita when we’ve gone. But you never knows with that type of gentleman. He might be after somethin’ more spicey than a girl who lives in the country!”
The night before the funeral Vita confided to the Marquis before they retired to bed,
“It’s so marvellous for me that you are here. You do see that as none of my relatives have turned up and I doubt if we will see any of them at the funeral, I would have been all alone and very miserable.”
“It is you who is clever in saving me from the horse thieves, Vita. If, as you predicted, they had taken Firefly with them, I would only have had my flat feet to walk on and no idea where I could turn to for help.”
“It was just fate that I went out that morning early and rode Silver Cloud through the village instead of going straight into the fields.”
“It is obvious my Guardian Angel was looking after me, Vita, and he told you when you were asleep there was work for you to do at that particular spot.”
“I really believe you are right, because sometimes I feel something wrong is about to happen. That was why I went out very early and tied the rope on that gate.”
“I have done the same for tomorrow, Vita.”
“Done what?” enquired Vita.
“I have told the grooms to tie up every gate on this land so that if by any chance while the Service is taking place or tonight for that matter, those thieves try once again to steal the horses, they would have to stop at the end of each field and open the gate before going through.”
“That was very clever of you, Mr. Milton. I did not think of that. Most of the gates on Grandpapa’s land are big ones and I would doubt if even Firefly would be able to jump them.”
“I have no intention of trying as there is nothing more dangerous for a horse and its rider than a jump that is too high and will not fall if a horse catches his foot in it.”
“I have a feeling you are a very good jumper, Mr. Milton. I think we should erect some jumps in the paddock and see who is best, Firefly or Silver Cloud.”
“I will not let you jump anything that is too high for you,” the Marquis cautioned. “I would hate to see you with a broken leg or a fractured collarbone.”
“I would ha
te it myself, but I am quite certain you would sail over untouched and I would be annoyed if I was unable to beat you!”
“We will organise a race, perhaps for the day after tomorrow. Of course as you are a woman, Vita, I will give you a good start!”
“Now that insults Silver Cloud,” she protested. “I am certain as I ride lighter than you, if we start equally, I would have a chance of passing the winning post at least a nose ahead of you – or more!”
“It’s a challenge,” agreed the Marquis, “and I will take it up the day after tomorrow.”
Even as he spoke he wondered if he would be able to stay any longer.
After all now her grandfather was dead, Vita was unchaperoned and her relatives, if any of them appeared, would be very surprised if she was alone in this large house with only him to look after her.
However as Vita did not raise the subject he did not say any more, so when they went up the stairs to bed, he merely said,
“Don’t worry about tomorrow, Vita, remember you promised me to think happy thoughts – and Apollo.”
“I have not forgotten, but actually I will dream of a way I can beat you on Silver Cloud. Then neither you nor Firefly will be able to look at us in a superior way!”
The Marquis chuckled.
Vita waved her hand instead of saying anymore and closed her bedroom door.
As he walked to his own room, he thought she was extremely sensible as well as being enchantingly lovely.
Most girls, he had discovered, worried about their appearance and did not bother if they were sensible or not, all they were concerned with were the compliments they would recieve for their beauty.
‘She is very sweet and unspoilt,’ he told himself as he went to his room.
He was wondering if after tomorrow’s funeral he should mount Firefly and return to London. It was what he had intended to do before the lovely Vita had saved him from the horse thieves –
As he was tired he fell asleep quickly.
*
When the Marquis reached the Church, he thought it looked very different to most Churches holding a funeral.
The coffin had been placed in the centre of the nave and was completely covered with white and pink flowers. It was so pretty and there were copious arrangements on the altar and at every window and opening of every pew.
As he escorted Vita into the family pew, he knew she was delighted with everything he had arranged. She did not say a word, but the expression in her eyes told him how grateful she was.
The Marquis had not consulted her over the Service but had chosen two of his mother’s favourite hymns.
The choir from the village were mostly young and as the hymns were happy ones, he thought they sounded rather like young angels singing in the sky.
At his request the Vicar had made the Service very short and when they finished singing ‘Praise My Soul the King of Heaven’ the coffin was taken slowly towards the West door.
Vita, escorted by the Marquis, followed it and after them came the Lord Lieutenant who was followed in turn by the Chief Constable and the local Squires in their order of rank.
When the coffin reached the family tomb, the men were already there to lift it into the ground.
The Vicar began a short prayer.
As they started to lower the coffin there was a shrill shriek from Tom Brown, who was with the rest of the staff.
The sound he made caused everyone to look in his direction.
It was then the Marquis saw that two horses were galloping at great speed down the drive.
Even as he realised one of them was Firefly and the other Silver Cloud, Tom Brown ran out in front of them.
Without pausing the rider of Firefly galloped right at him and knocked him clean over.
The Marquis then drew his pistol from his pocket and fired it at him.
When he had been dressing for the funeral in his dark suit, he had, without thinking, slipped his pistol into his pocket.
He had thought it absolutely impossible during the short time they would be at the funeral for the thieves to enter the stables, but somehow they must have managed it.
And then they had found they could not ride them as they had intended over the fields without opening the gates, so they had taken the chance of riding straight down the drive.
If the congregation had been in the Church, no one inside would have noticed the horses galloping by.
Now as the rider on Firefly aimed again at Tom Brown and missed him, the Marquis shot him in the arm.
With a scream he fell off Firefly.
The other man riding Silver Cloud was a little way behind him and the Marquis shot him in the shoulder and as Silver Cloud reared he fell backwards onto the ground.
It was then that Vita and the Marquis both ran onto the drive towards their horses and the Head Groom and his boys followed them.
Vita grabbed Silver Cloud’s bridle and although the horse was shaking she talked to him gently and by the time the grooms reached him he was still.
The Marquis encountered a little more trouble with Firefly. He was rearing and bucking obviously upset by the noise and commotion.
His rider had pulled him over backwards because he was holding tightly on to his bridle and it was only as the Marquis managed to bring Firefly to a standstill and stroked him that he became calmer.
As the Marquis looked round he saw that the Chief Constable and several Policemen were looking down at the two men he had shot with his pistol and they were both lying on the ground writhing in pain.
“Take them to the Police Station at once,” the Chief Constable ordered, “then our own men and as many others as possible will arrest the whole gang at the inn. Put these two into locked cells,” he added, “and then send for the doctor to attend to them.”
The Policemen hurried off to obey his orders.
The Marquis then turned to one of the grooms and instructed him to walk Firefly slowly back to the stables.
“Talk to him and make a big fuss of him,” he said. “He will soon recover from the shock of what happened.”
The Head Groom was holding Silver Cloud and the Marquis saw the two nurses were attending to Tom Brown.
One of them looked up,
“He’s just bruised, sir, and when he fell down his nose started to bleed, but I don’t think he’s too bad.”
“Get him into bed as soon as you can and let the doctor have a look at him before he bothers about the two men I shot.”
“It was very good shooting, Mr. Milton,” a voice beside the Marquis asserted.
He turned round to see the Lord Lieutenant.
“They must have thought they could get away with it because we were too busy with the funeral to guard the horses,” he explained.
“I now realise that and I will see that all the men involved in this horse thieving are imprisoned for years or else transported.”
“I have already arranged, my Lord,” said the Chief Constable who had come up at that moment, “that they will be charged with horse thieving and attempted murder. It is only by a miracle they didn’t kill the poor man over there.”
It was then the Marquis added quietly,
“I think we should finish the funeral of Sir Edward. Then if you will all come back to the house there are some refreshments waiting there for you.”
“Which we will need,” the Lord Lieutenant smiled.
He turned and walked back into the churchyard and the Marquis and Vita followed him.
She was very pale but quiet and composed and the Marquis admired her resilience even more.
Most women of his acquaintance would be either crying or clinging to him because they were so upset by all that had happened – instead Vita held her head high.
They walked back side by side to where the Vicar was waiting for them and the Service was then concluded.
Vita threw a small bunch of roses onto the coffin as it was lowered slowly into the ground.
Only when the final prayer had been r
ead did the Marquis move her away and they walked back onto the drive before any of the people crowding round the coffin were able to speak to her.
They walked quickly and in silence.
Only as they had nearly reached the house did they turn to see the Chief Constable’s carriage following them and two or three other carriages were behind him together with several people on foot.
“If you don’t want to talk to them all,” the Marquis whispered, “I suggest you go up to your own room.”
“Will they think it very rude?” Vita queried.
“You have been so brave and behaved beautifully as I indeed expected you to do. There is no need for you to entertain these people, so I will do it for you.”
He was certain they would only want to talk about the drama on the drive.
Vita gave him a little smile.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Milton. It was all very terrifying but now Silver Cloud and Firefly are safe, thank God.”
“We will go and cheer them up afterwards. Now slip upstairs now and I will join you as soon as I can.”
She gave another little smile and ran upstairs.
Evans had all the refreshments ready in the dining room. There was champagne for the men while there was coffee and non-alcoholic drinks for the women.
The Lord Lieutenant had a great deal to say about the events of the day.
“It is a disgrace to the village that this sort of thing should occur,” he chuntered. “I cannot understand why the Police did not act sooner.”
The Marquis could now hear the Chief Constable making eloquent excuses for the shortcomings of his men.
Upsetting and dramatic as it had been that day, it had brought home to the Lord Lieutenant and the Chief Constable that more Police were needed in small villages.
‘We live and learn,’ he told himself as he spoke to several of the women present.
When they all eventually left, it was with a sense of relief he could go upstairs to see Vita.
He knew he would find her in what had been her mother’s boudoir that opened out of her bedroom.
The room was full of flowers and Vita was standing at the window with the sunshine turning her hair to gold.
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