“To lie is not only cowardly,” her father had said when she was small, “it is also degrading. It humiliates you and makes you unclean in your own eyes. What is more, a lie is invariably found out.”
Now, as she lied, Mimosa hoped that the Duke would never know and would never find her out.
She thought he seemed a kind man and she was sure that he was always very direct and truthful himself.
She was not certain how she knew this. But she did know it, just as she had known that Monsieur Charlot was evil even before she learned it from his own lips.
In the same way she was aware that the Duke was a man one could trust.
‘I wonder – if he will – find me out,’ she reflected.
She felt it would be safer to draw the conversation away from herself and talk about something else.
*
After luncheon the Duke said that he thought he should make arrangements to reach Thuburbo Maius as soon as possible.
Mimosa told him where he could hire the best camel drivers and added as an afterthought,
“It is, of course, better, although much more expensive, to hire horses rather than camels. As you are alone, you will not want a large tent and they could manage a small one quite well on horseback.”
There was silence for a moment.
Then the Duke said,
“What I would really like, but I suppose I am asking for the moon, is that you should come with me. What you have said and what you have quoted from your uncle’s book tells me that I could not ask for a better guide. And, as you have said, you have been there already.”
Mimosa drew in her breath.
Then she knew that what the Duke had suggested was something that she would very much like to do.
It would give her a chance to see her father’s grave again and to pray at it.
She also wanted to see the Duke’s reaction to Thuburbo Maius.
Would it thrill him as it had thrilled her and her father?
But she told herself that, of course, such an idea was impossible.
Then she asked herself,
‘Why is it impossible?’
She was her own Mistress, beholden to no one.
Who would know or care whether she went to Thuburbo Maius or stayed in the Villa listening to Suzette?
The Duke was watching her until she said,
“If you – really think I w-would be of – help then, of course – I would – like to – go with you to Thuburbo Maius.”
He clapped his hands together.
“Wonderful!” he exclaimed. “Thank you, thank you! I know that you can help me, and I am more grateful than I can possibly say.”
“Of one thing I must warn you – you must be very careful of the snakes. My – my uncle – died from a – snakebite.”
“You were with him at the time?”
The question caught her off guard.
For a moment she could see her father’s face after the snake had bitten him.
She saw again the effort that he had made to walk back towards the tents before he had collapsed onto the ground.
“Y-yes – I was – there,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“It must have been very upsetting for you,” the Duke remarked, “and perhaps it is cruel of me to ask you to return.”
“No, no! I want to – go back,” Mimosa said firmly, as if she had suddenly made up her mind. “I want – to see – his grave.”
“You mean – he is buried there?” the Duke asked incredulously.
“The men who were with us were afraid to touch him. They are very superstitious and believe that the snakes are the protectors of the sacred Temples and that is why they bite intruders.”
“Then I must be careful not to violate their privacy,” the Duke said. “But I imagine it is something that does not happen very often.”
“It used to be scorpions, which we had to be careful of in other parts of the world,” Mimosa remarked.
The Duke said nothing.
He noticed that it was the first time she had spoken of having been to other Roman ruins.
He had thought she had only read about the sites in Libya and Algeria, which he had been talking about.
Then he told himself that it was impossible.
What he had heard of Tison had connected him not with the Cities of the past, but only the Cities of the present.
His journeys to and from America were frequently reported in the English newspapers and the Duke remembered reading that he had interests in practically every country in Europe.
Because he was so rich, there were innumerable articles written about him.
The Press followed and feted him as if he was Royalty.
But the Duke could never remember reading of his visiting the places that he had been discussing with Tison’s daughter.
On the other hand it was obvious from their conversation that she had as intimate a knowledge of some of the Roman Cities, as he had himself.
He remembered quite distinctly Comte André telling him that he himself had never visited Thuburbo Maius.
In that case, why, he wondered, was Tison’s daughter there with her uncle?
Surely Sir Richard could not have approved of her love affair with the Comte.
It all flashed through the Duke’s mind.
But he was careful to say nothing about it to Mimosa as he was afraid of upsetting her.
Taking her advice, he went to the place where he could obtain the best horses to take with him on his expedition.
Because of his title and his authoritative air, he was able to obtain the best service available. Also a promise that they would be ready to set out the following morning.
When he returned to the Villa, it was time to dress for dinner.
He appreciated the comfort of his bedroom where Jenkins was waiting for him.
“It be fine ’ere, Your Grace,” Jenkins said. “Good food and beds like you was sleepin’ on a cloud!”
The Duke smiled.
“Then I will leave you to enjoy it,” he said, “while I go off with a caravan tomorrow.”
“Suits me, Your Grace. I can do without lyin’ on the hard ground and all that rubble.”
The Duke laughed.
He was used to Jenkins expressing himself firmly on the subject of his excavations.
The Duke, however, much appreciated the delicious dinner he enjoyed with Mimosa.
She was looking exceedingly lovely in a gown that had belonged to her cousin and it had obviously been designed in Paris.
She was slimmer than Minerva, but she was aware that the servants and Suzette assumed that it was because she had been half-starved by her kidnappers.
She found it exciting to be going downstairs to dine alone with a man.
But she suspected that her mother would not have approved of her going alone with him to Thuburbo Maius.
However, she felt certain that her father would understand.
The least she could do would be to show the Duke the beauty of the Roman ruins and perhaps he would go back to England with a greater appreciation of them than he had had before.
‘If I question him,’ she said to herself, ‘without his being aware of what I am doing, perhaps he will help me to make up my mind as to what I should do and where I should now go.’
It was all rather vague.
Yet she felt that the mere fact that the Duke was there had helped her already and she was no longer as frightened as she had been.
After dinner they went into the sitting room where the windows were still open into the garden.
Mimosa walked out onto the green lawn followed by the Duke.
She looked up at the stars feeling that soon she would see them again over Thuburbo Maius.
She remembered that was how she had seen them with her father in an isolated spot where there was no human habitation.
Although she was unaware of it, the Duke was watching her.
After a moment he asked,
“Surely you are very lonely here now that Comte André has left? What do you intend to do with yourself?”
“I will go to England,” Mimosa replied.
“In the meantime you are alone and wasting your beauty,” the Duke persisted. “You are very lovely, Miss Tison, as a great number of people must have told you.”
Mimosa was looking at the stars and shook her head.
“Nobody has ever said that to me,” she replied, “but – I hope it is – true.”
The Duke did not speak as he wondered why she bothered to lie.
Did she really think that he was unaware that Comte André had been her lover?
And that they had been here alone together until he had had to return to Paris?
Jenkins had told him that Miss Tison had been broken-hearted when the Comte left her.
Also that she had been kidnapped by a gang of criminals and had returned only a few days ago having completely lost her memory.
The Duke was astounded and found it hard to believe.
Jenkins had questioned the chef who spoke English.
It was confirmed by the manservant who had actually been engaged by the Comte with all the other servants.
‘She is not only a liar,’ the Duke told himself. ‘She is also a very good actress!’
He thought that Mimosa’s impersonation of a young girl, who knew little of the Social world and, certainly nothing of men, was fantastic.
But how, he asked himself, could she make herself blush to order?
How could she manage to look so shy and appear so ingenuous when he paid her a compliment?
He chided himself.
He should be content with what the Gods had sent him, which was exactly what he wanted, a guide to Thuburbo Maius.
If Miss Tison wanted to pretend that she was pure and innocent, why should he challenge her?
She was giving him a comfortable bed in a very attractive and spectacular Villa.
She had also promised to be his guide to Thuburbo Maius.
It was ungrateful to ask for more.
But he knew as they turned back to go into the house that he was more than ordinarily curious, in fact, definitely intrigued.
On the table in the sitting room was Sir Richard’s manuscript and Mimosa said,
“I feel sure that you will want to read as much as you can tonight before you go to sleep, but I would rather you did not take it with you tomorrow.”
“If you are offering me an excuse to come back here after I have made my explorations,” the Duke asked, “then I accept most gratefully.”
“I could not – bear anything to – happen to it,” Mimosa said.
“I promise you that as far as I am concerned, I will be extremely careful. However, I agree with you that it would be unsafe to take it with us in case the ground is damp or it becomes covered in dust, as sometimes happens. At least in Africa, if nowhere else!”
“I know that,” Mimosa said. “Once we encountered a cloud of locusts, which was more frightening than any sandstorm.”
She was remembering how her father and she had been riding across some very barren land when the camel drivers had pointed ahead.
She had seen what had looked like a dark cloud low in the clear sky.
The men leapt from their camels and her father did the same from his horse and Mimosa followed their example.
The camel drivers ordered the camels to kneel down so that they could shelter behind them.
The locusts had flown over them and they had heard their wings beating overhead.
Only when there was no further sound had Mimosa opened her eyes.
Some of the locusts had attached themselves to her horse and there were one or two on her shoulders.
The camel drivers were killing them or brushing them away so that they flew off to catch up with the rest.
It had been an unnerving experience.
Mimosa had no idea that what she said made the Duke even more curious than he was already.
Then she looked at the clock.
“If we are to leave early,” she said, “I think it would be wise to go to bed.”
“I agree with you,” he answered.
She walked towards the door, which he opened for her, and they walked up the long staircase side by side.
When they reached the landing where both their bedrooms were situated, Mimosa held out her hand.
“Goodnight, Your Grace,” she said. “I have enjoyed our conversation more than I can possibly say. I only hope that what you see when you reach Thuburbo Maius will be included in your book.”
“I doubt if I can write as well as your uncle,” the Duke smiled, “but with your help I have a feeling that I shall miss nothing that is of real interest.”
“Now you are flattering me,” Mimosa said, “and I shall feel responsible if later archaeologists think you were very remiss for passing by something important.”
The Duke laughed.
“We must ask the Gods to protect us.”
“I hope you have everything you need,” Mimosa said politely.
She put out her hand and he took it, wondering if he should kiss it or perhaps kiss her.
As the Comte had been her lover, she must think him very slow for not making advances towards her.
Surely any woman living alone, as she was in this exquisitely beautiful Villa, would expect every man who visited her to beg for her favours?
It flashed through the Duke’s mind a thousand times..
Then Mimosa took her hand from his and walked towards her bedroom door.
“Goodnight, Your Grace, and God bless you,” she murmured.
It was something she had always said to her father and now it came automatically to her lips.
Having reached her bedroom, she went in and closed the door behind her.
It left the Duke staring at the closed door with a puzzled expression on his face.
Was it possible, he asked himself, that for the first time in his life a beautiful woman had left him without looking back with an unmistakable invitation in her eyes?
Certainly no woman, with the exception of his mother, had ever called down the Blessing of God as she left him.
The women he knew invariably suggested that they themselves might be the blessing he required!
The Duke went into his bedroom and shut the door.
He was quite certain that something very strange and unusual was happening.
Yet he could not imagine what it was.
Then his perception, or what he thought of as his instinct, told him that what had at first seemed straightforward was something very different.
The difference was, he had to admit, that Miss Tison was one of the most intelligent young women he had ever met.
As he climbed into bed, he thought about the conversation that they had had at dinner.
It astounded him.
CHAPTER SIX
Mimosa felt elated from the moment she awoke the next morning.
It was very early, but she jumped up out of bed and dressed.
She packed the few things she felt that she would need while she was away at Thuburbo Maius.
When she came downstairs, she was not surprised to find that the Duke was already having breakfast.
He rose as she entered the room and then, as she sat down and Jacques hurried to bring her dishes from the kitchen, he said,
“You are quite certain that this is not going to be too arduous for you?”
The way he spoke told Mimosa without words that he had learnt from somebody that she had been kidnapped.
This was not surprising, but at the same time she felt embarrassed because she was now acting yet another lie.
The Duke was clearly being very careful not to remind her of what had happened to her. He knew that when people lost their memory they should be left in peace until they could recall everything for themselves.
He therefore accepted Mimosa’s assurance that she would be all right and talked of other
things.
Later Jacques drove them into the City in a comfortable carriage and the Duke guessed that it had been bought by Comte André.
They went to the place where their caravan was waiting.
Mimosa saw at once that the horses were young and fresh and she knew that they would travel a great deal more swiftly than if they had hired camels.
Her suitcase was strapped on one side of the saddle of one horse and the Duke’s on the other side.
Before she left the Villa, Mimosa had asked after Madame Blanc, only to be told that she had not yet been called.
She could not help feeling a sense of relief as she had no wish to go into long explanations as to where she was going and why.
The servants knew, of course, and she thought that Suzette would be curious enough on her return.
Especially when she learnt that she was accompanied by a Duke.
It was not yet hot, although it was well after sunrise.
As they rode out of the City, Mimosa eagerly pointed out to the Duke what was left of Hadrian’s tremendous aqueduct.
It had been built by the Emperor to bring pure water from the mountains the eighty miles to Carthage and it was amazing that parts of it were still standing.
The Duke was as impressed as Mimosa had been when she had first seen it.
“The water passes through the hills by means of an underground canal,” Mimosa explained, “and the Roman canals are still used in some parts of the City.”
The Duke thought it extraordinary.
But what he found even more extraordinary was the light shining in Mimosa’s eyes.
He was also impressed by the way she rode her obstreperous horse.
He realised without asking questions that she must be used to riding and he wondered if it had been on her father’s ranch in America.
Alternatively, he mused, it might have been on the broad acres of the hunting fields in England.
As they rode on their way, Mimosa pointed out various Roman pillars and the Temple of the Nymphs built in the second century A.D.
The Duke became more and more intrigued.
It was certainly unusual that a young woman who ought to be listening to the compliments paid to her by men should be so thrilled by what had been built centuries in the past.
They stopped for luncheon under some shady trees with the view stretching away to the horizon.
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