Sally Wentworth - King of the Castle

by King of the Castle

  Richard. Not now, not when she was so catastrophically attracted to Max.

  It Was no good pretending to herself; she had been jealous as hell of Katrina, had wanted desperately to be the one Max had held in his arms, had looked at under half-closed lids as he flirted so charmingly. Never before had Lee's emotions so completely taken control of her. She ached to be near him, wanted nothing more than to be beside him, but at the same time she did want more, much more! Irritably she got to her feet and started pulling the weeds away from the trough, but this made her wrist ache and she had to give up. Damn Max! Why did he have to come into her life and upset everything when her life had already been mapped out before her—a life of peace and gentle progress in a suburban house in England with Richard.

  Lee sighed. Whatever came of this—this feeling for Max, one thing was abundantly plain; she would never now be able to marry Richard, never go back to take up her life in England as if nothing had happened. To try to do so would be hypocritical, not only to Richard but to herself as well. Life then would just be a sham, a facade behind which she would have to live a lie. And Max? He regarded her as a spoilt brat who had got in his way but because of her youth and sex couldn't be pushed aside as he had pushed her uncle. And was he in love with Katrina? There had been no ring on the other girl's finger, but Max had certainly showed the romantic side of his nature when in her company, Lee reflected ruefully. Perhaps in these old aristocratic continental families marriages were still arranged by the parents and there was already an agreement to unite the two families; Lee had gathered from Anna that Katrina was an orphan and lived permanently with her uncle and cousin.

  She looked across at the mellowed stone turrets of the castle set against its background of towering pinnacles. Was she falling in love with Max? She sincerely hoped not, for that way lay only bitter unhappiness. But how could she be in love with him? How could anyone fall in love with a man they hated and despised? But then why had she been so overwhelmingly jealous of Katrina?

  Rudi's shouts broke her reverie and she saw that he had got carried away by his game and was starting to frighten the cows, so she went over to stop him. The boy came running across to her, knowing full well that he had got away with being naughty because she hadn't been watching him properly.

  'All right, cowboy, I'm the sheriff and I'm out to get you!' Lee joined in the game.

  Rudi grinned delightedly, and Lee chased him all the way back to the Schloss as Rudi's 'bang-bangs!' and yells of enjoyment echoed through the mountains.

  As Lee dressed for dinner that evening she reluctantly decided that the wisest thing for her to do would be to leave the Schloss and get away from Max's disturbing presence as soon as she could, before she became even more attracted to him, like a piece of metal that is inexorably drawn towards a powerful magnet. But the only way she could leave at once was by agreeing to sell Max the Alpenrose estate! Could she do that? Wouldn't it be a betrayal of her great-uncle's wishes if she did so? Far better that than to have her making a fool of herself over his arch-enemy, Lee told herself firmly as she finished combing her hair. As soon as dinner was over she would ask to speak to Max privately and then tell him of her decision. And tomorrow she would leave the Schloss and go back to England. Once there she would have the hard, painful task of telling Richard that her feelings had changed, and after that…? After that she would have to find a new job and start a new life, pushing all memories of Austria behind her. Except—except that she knew she would never completely forget.

  There were just the three of them at dinner that night, but Lee was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to pay a great deal of attention to the conversation.

  'I've found you a German phrase book in the library, Lee,' Frau von Reistoven told her. 'It should be useful to you.'

  'That's very kind of you, thank you,' Lee murmured, trying to think of exactly what she was going to say to Max.

  'I'm sure you'll find all those phrases like "Where is my yellow suitcase?" and "A thief has stolen my umbrella" very useful when we get to Vienna,' Max said teasingly.

  'Vienna?' Lee said uncertainly. 'But I…'

  'Max! You horrid boy 1 It was going to be my surprise,' his mother broke in indignantly, Lee looked from mother to son in bewilderment. 'But I don't understand. You can't possibly mean…?'

  'But yes, Lee,' Frau von Reistoven broke in. 'Max has to go to Vienna for a week or so on business and I've persuaded him to take us with him. Vienna is such, a beautiful city, it would be a great shame if you didn't see it.'

  'But—but I can't,' Lee protested. 'It's really most kind of you and I'm very grateful, but the chalet… I intend to…'

  'As a matter of fact I was going to talk to you about the chalet,' Max interrupted. 'One of my stonemasons has completely run out of work and I'd be grateful if you would let him mend the broken stack. It would be doing me a favour not to have to search for work for him.'

  Raising her eyes to his, Lee could read nothing there but polite enquiry, but she knew that he was lying through his teeth, that he could find plenty of work for any number of stonemasons. But suddenly she didn't care, didn't even stop to wonder why he was lying. She knew that now was the time to announce her decision, to tell him that he could have the Alpenrose and that she was going back to England, but all her good intentions fell tumbling around her. Instead she said calmly, 'Well, if you're quite sure he has nothing to do?'

  'Good, that's settled,' Frau von Reistoven said happily. 'I will show you all the sights, Lee, while Max is busy and he won't have to act as our escort on more than two evenings.'

  Max looked across at his mother sternly. 'I seem to remember that it was only once,' he reminded her drily.

  'Nonsense, we will be there for nearly two weeks. You can surely spare more than one evening for your poor mother,' she wheedled, but Max only grunted non-committally. 'Well, if not for me, for Lee, then?'

  'Ah, for Lee.' He turned his head to look at her, his eyes resting lazily on her face. 'Now that is different.'

  Lee knew that they were teasing her, but she was filled with something strangely like elation. 'Thank you,' she said, giving Frau von Reistoven a hug, then turning to Max she repeated, 'Thank you!'

  He looked at her under his lids, 'Oh, if I too am not to get a hug, the deal's off, as they say in your country.'

  Slowly Lee reached up until her lips just touched his cheek. 'Thank you, Max,' she whispered. He didn't look at her directly, but she saw that his mouth twisted into a crooked smile.

  Vienna was everything that Lee had imagined and much, much more. She fell in love with the picturesque old part of the town as soon as she saw it and had a wonderful time exploring the quaint cobbled streets where flowers blazed like a myriad fires against the sombre antiquity of ancient walls, where blue and white petunias cascaded over ledges, flame-red geraniums spilled out of window-boxes and rich green ivy and vines scaled the crumbling old walls.

  Frau von Reistoven showed her round most of the tourist spots and Lee's pile of souvenirs mounted daily. Knowing that she wasn't going to have any further work done on the chalet; she could afford to spend some money on herself.

  'But it's the height of summer!' Frau von Reistoven laughed as Lee tried on a poncho-like Loden cloak in a shop just off the Ringstrasse. This was traditional wear for Austrians in the winter, for it was made of sturdy woollen material that was impervious to rain, snow and sleet, and although most Loden cloaks were of grey or dark green material, the one Lee was trying was a rich, creamy white, trimmed with bands of red and green and fastened with large silver buttons.

  'Then I shall just have to keep it until the winter,' she answered as she pirouetted in front of the mirror.

  Once or twice, in between business commitments, Max came with them on their expeditions, but one morning at breakfast he surprised Lee by saying, 'I hope you haven't any plans for today, Mother, because I intend to steal Lee from you, if you will permit.'

  His mother smiled. 'Not at all. In
fact I shall be quite glad of a rest. Being a tourist can be fatiguing; I don't know how all these elderly American matrons that one sees everywhere can "do" so many countries in such a short time. I'm sure I would never be able to stand the pace.'

  'You have to have the pioneering spirit,' Max informed her.

  'Oh dear, I'm afraid that died out of our family several centuries ago, so I shall just have to spend the day resting quietly,' she said comfortably.

  'Where are you taking me?' Lee asked Max.

  'Wait and see. It's to be a surprise.'

  'But I might need to change,' she persisted.

  His eyes ran over her slim figure in a sleeveless, stone-coloured dress with a wide brown belt and matching buttons. 'You will do perfectly well. I see you've left the bandage off your wrist.'

  'Yes, it's fine now.'

  Once outside the hotel, Max had the doorman summon a taxi and soon they were caught up in the snarl of traffic. As they passed by, Max pointed out the splendid old Imperial buildings that had once belonged to the mighty Austrian Emperors, and told Lee something of their histories. He was a far more interesting guide than his mother, for, although Frau von Reistoven knew the history quite well, she would recite it off parrot fashion, whereas Max could create a picture that made the people who had played out their lives in the buildings come alive.

  Eventually they drew up outside a large eighteenth- century building where queues of tourists were waiting to buy tickets at the entrance, but Max took Lee's elbow and steered her through a different doorway where a uniformed attendant saluted as Max produced two tickets. They went down a high, arched corridor and emerged into a huge, arena-like room with galleries resting on Corinthian pillars and white- painted walls decorated with the finest of sophisticated baroque ornamentation. Then Lee lowered her eyes from the boxes on the side of the arena and saw that the floor was of soft earth. It was this that gave her a clue, and she turned breathlessly to Max.

  'It's the Spanish Riding School, isn't it? Oh, Max, how marvellous!'

  He bought her a programme and when they found their seats she was able to read that the reason for there being a Spanish. Riding School in the capital of Austria was because the horses were first brought from Spain in the sixteenth century and that the methods used to teach them had been established for nearly three hundred years. Soon the performance began and Lee watched in utter fascination as the white Lippizaner stallions paraded to music, high stepping, high jumping and dancing slowly in unison. The red-coated riders had complete mastery of their mounts and every horse and rider performed as one. Several of the stallions did the famous 'airs above the ground' where they jumped high into the air with their legs tucked under them, then kicked them out before landing safely on the ground.

  All too soon the performance was over and Lee applauded enthusiastically. 'That was one of the most exciting things I've ever seen. Thank you so much for bringing me,' she said, turning to Max.

  'Would you like to visit the stables?'

  'You mean you can fix it?' Lee stared.

  Max grinned. 'I think it can be arranged.'

  And arrange it he certainly did, for they were greeted by the head of the school himself, and given a conducted tour of the huge stables where the horses were being groomed and watered by the men who had ridden them during the performance.

  'Always it is one man, one horse,' he explained. 'When the animals first are brought from Piber, near Graz, where they are bred, they always have the same rider who teaches them all their skills.'

  When Max eventually told her it was time to go, Lee turned reluctantly away from the horse she had been stroking and thanked their guide warmly. Smilingly he presented her with a small medallion depicting a stallion performing one of the famous jumps. From the school Max took her across a tree-lined square, down a side street and into the discreet entrance of a cafe. The decor inside reminded Lee of pictures she had seen of old English coffee houses, but the sound of a zither played in the background could have come from nowhere but Vienna.

  The head waiter bustled up to them. 'Guten Morgen, Herr Doktor,' he greeted Max.

  'Gutten Morgen, Herr Ober.'

  They were conducted to a small table and presented with menus.

  'Why did he call you Herr Doktor?' Lee whispered.

  'Everyone who has a doctorate degree in any field is always addressed as Herr Doktor,' Max told her in a normal voice. 'Now, what would you like to eat?'

  Lee looked at the menu; it was entirely in German. Heavens, she thought, I shall have to have wiener- schnitzel again, it's the only dish I recognise.

  Max saw the dismay on her face. 'Perhaps you would permit me to order for you?' he offered.

  Lee nodded and he reeled off a whole stream of German that turned out to be a cold soup followed by highly spiced mixed meats, grilled, and then served on long skewers, which Max said was a Balkan dish called Zigeunerplatte. For dessert they had the most delicious Apfelstrudel Lee had ever tasted.

  'What do you think of the wine?' Max asked.

  'I like it. It has a fresh taste.'

  'I'm flattered. This is the wine we produce from the vineyards near here that I shall be visiting next week.' He looked at her and said slowly, 'Perhaps you would care to come with me?'

  His expression was completely non-committal, but

  Lee gripped her glass tightly as she said, 'Thank you, I'd like that.'

  They finished their meal with Einspanner; large glasses of black coffee surmounted by a layer of whipped cream, then Max called, 'Zahlen, bitte,' and the head waiter hurried over with his bill-pad and bag of change tied round his middle. The zither player was given a tip and they were bowed out of the friendly cafe.

  'I'm afraid I'll have to leave you after I've dropped you at the hotel. I have something very important to do this afternoon.'

  But even this couldn't cloud Lee's day, and she hastened to Frau von Reistoven's sitting-room to tell her of the visit to the Riding School as soon as she got back to the hotel.

  'But I knew already,' Frau von Reistoven told her laughingly. 'Max told me this morning before you came down.'

  'It was a lovely surprise,' Lee said gratefully. 'I'm sure I shan't enjoy anything in Vienna as much as that.'

  'Don't be too sure. I've arranged for us to go to the ball at the Opera House to celebrate the opening of the Vienna Festival.'

  'A ball! That sounds great.' Lee had a sudden vision of herself dancing in Max's arms and immediately began to plan what she would wear.

  'And another nice thing is that we are to have some company for the rest of our stay. Herr Nimsgern and Hendrik are already in Vienna and Katrina is arriving today,' Frau von Reistoven said with the air of One conveying happy news.

  'Today?' Lee faltered, her smile suddenly becoming wooden.

  'Yes, Max has gone to meet her this afternoon.'

  So that was his 'something important' that he had had to hurry away for! Somehow Lee managed to keep up her usual lively manner in front of Frau von Reistoven, but once back in her room she sank down on to the bed and took out the medallion she had been given at the Riding School. They had had such a happy morning together without even a hint of the usual sparks they struck off one another. But Max's attitude towards her had been rather avuncular, now that Lee came to think about it. In fact he had behaved rather as though he was taking a young relative out for a treat!

  Lee got up and began to pace up and down the room in frustrated annoyance. Why hadn't she realised that he was treating her like a child again? But she was forced to admit that her own reactions hadn't helped any; staring in awe and wonder and getting as excited as any schoolgirl, she chided herself. And now, after doing his duty by his guest, he had gone rushing off to meet the sophisticated Katrina, who was allowed to flirt and hold hands and be taken for moonlit walks! Lee came to an abrupt halt in front of the long dressing- table mirror and found that she was trembling with emotion. She stared at herself with wide, almost frightened eyes. What was sh
e doing? Working herself up into a state, behaving just as she had vowed not to do. Numbly she sank down on to the edge of the bed, gripping her hands tightly together to stop them from shaking. She had to be sensible about this, she had to! To Max she was nothing but a little English girl who had got in the way, and would never be anything more than that if his treatment of her this afternoon was anything to go by.

  But did she want anything more than that? And Lee realised that she did, that—just once—she would like Max to look at her and know that she was a woman.

  Impulsively she turned, picked up her handbag and made for the door. She would need a new dress to go to the ball and she was going to make sure it was a stunner!

  Two nights later, however, when she again stood before the mirror after dressing to go to the hall, much of her earlier frustration had evaporated and she looked at her reflection with some misgivings. The dress was certainly stunning all right; it was of soft, silver boucle wool, the skirt hanging in shimmering folds that outlined her slim hips and long legs, but the top…! Not that there was much of the top. Just a halter that opened into two pleated strips of material just wide enough to cover her breasts—well, nearly wide enough if she didn't move too quickly—and which didn't meet until almost at her waist. And the back was cut similarly low.

  'Wow!' For once Lee was lost for words. She had wanted to stun Max, but this… One thing was for sure, she wouldn't be able to do anything more lively than a waltz all evening for fear of losing all the covering she had. But it was guaranteed to make any man open his eyes, even Max, that blindest of all men. Still, it might not be a bad idea to wear something over it until they actually got to the ball. Carefully she draped a black stole around her shoulders so that it covered most of the bare patches and held it tightly in place at the front before picking up her little clutch bag and going through the communicating door into Frau von Reistoven's sitting-room.

  Only Max, though, was waiting for her.