But a few moments later he came round to where Vanora could see him and helped his wife.
He put all the books back into the shelves.
Then they both stood for a moment looking at the picture over the mantelpiece.
“It might be years,” Alice Morgan said, “before anyone realises that is not the real McCoy.”
“The longer the better where we are concerned,” Major Morgan murmured.
He picked up the black bag in which he had put the stolen Holbein.
“Now come along,” he said. “We have earned our sleep and we will leave as soon as possible after breakfast.”
“Make sure of that,” Alice urged. “The sooner we get away from here the better.”
They walked towards the door, opened it and going out, closed it quietly behind them.
For a moment Vanora did not move as there was always a chance that the two thieves might turn back.
If they saw her, she had the feeling that she would not live long to talk about it.
At the same time every nerve in her body was crying out at what she had just witnessed.
She knew that there was only one thing she could do about it.
Slowly, because she was still frightened, she pulled open the curtains and stepped onto the floor.
The candle she had brought was still on the writing table and the moonlight showed her where it was and how she could light it.
Then silently she moved across the floor towards the door and, because she was still afraid, she listened for a moment before she opened it.
Again, after she had turned the handle, she listened.
Everything was quiet and the passage outside was in complete darkness.
It did not take her long to reach the staircase that led up to the first floor.
Here there was no longer any need for her candle as the corridor was dimly lit and she blew it out.
She reached her own room and then hesitated.
There was only one person who could cope with the situation and she had to tell him.
She put down her candle and started to run along the passage.
It led to the State room where the Earl slept.
She knew where it was.
She had had a quick peep in the rooms when she had been looking for the housekeeper and had found her in the Chieftain’s bedroom with two of the housemaids.
When she spoke to her, the housekeeper had come at once to the door and over her shoulder Vanora had seen the magnificent canopied Chieftain’s bed.
It was carved and painted in gold and other colours and the curtains were dark crimson. Behind the bedhead was a Coat of Arms exquisitely embroidered on velvet.
That was where the Earl would be sleeping now.
If she was to save his possessions, Vanora knew that she must tell him immediately what she had seen.
Only as she reached the door did she hesitate before she opened it.
Then resolutely, because nothing mattered but the theft of three irreplaceable treasures, she went in.
She expected the room to be in darkness, but the Earl had pulled back the curtains before he went to sleep and the moon was now pouring a silver light in through the windows.
It was easy to make out the outline of the bedposts and the bed itself.
Vanora reached it.
Then, silent though she had been, her very presence stirred the Earl.
He moved, opened his eyes and stared at her.
“Who is it?” he asked. “What do you want?”
Now the Earl could see the moon turning Vanora’s hair to silver and its light glowing behind her as if it was an aura.
For a moment it was impossible to speak.
Then he exclaimed incredulously,
“Miss Bruce! What is the matter? Why are you here?”
Vanora was sure that they were a long way away from where anyone could hear them and yet she did not want to take a chance.
So she went down on her knees beside the bed.
“A terrible thing has happened,” she began. “Your friends who arrived tonight – Major Morgan and his wife – have stolen the portrait by Holbein – from the library and also the Shakespeare First Folio – and a book by Chaucer.”
For a moment the Earl was speechless and then he demanded,
“However do you know this?”
Vanora drew in her breath.
“I went to the library because I forgot – when you asked me to dinner, to put away the catalogue I have been compiling of the books. I thought it would be a mistake for anyone to see it and – what I have already discovered.”
She stopped for a moment as she was breathless.
Then the Earl said quietly,
“Go on.”
“I had just reached the library,” Vanora continued, “when I heard someone coming. I blew out my candle and hid – behind the curtains in one of the windows.”
The Earl moved himself up a little higher on his pillows as if he was afraid of missing anything.
“Then I heard someone come into the library,” she went on, “and when I peeped through the curtains I saw – Major Morgan and his wife.”
“They were fully dressed?” the Earl enquired.
“Yes, but not in the same clothes they were wearing at dinner – just easy things to slip on.”
Vanora had not thought of this at the time, but now she continued,
“He was carrying a black bag with him and he took down the portrait by Holbein – from over the mantelpiece.”
“I cannot believe it,” the Earl murmured.
“Mrs. Morgan,” Vanora went on, “said that Harry had told her where – ‘the Folio’ was hidden.”
“Harry?” the Earl questioned.
“Yes – that was who she said.”
“Then I know who you mean. Harry Henderson. He was a friend of my father and took, I believe, quite a lot of money off him. But do go on.”
“Harry had apparently told them that he had hidden ‘the Folio’ at the far end of the highest shelf – above the balcony.”
“I am sure it’s the last place that you would have looked,” the Earl remarked.
“I was doing the lower shelves first.”
“And she found the First Folio there?”
“That and the Chaucer were there hidden behind the other books on the shelf.”
The Earl gave a sudden exclamation.
“I remember now,” he said, “I was here when Harry last came to stay with my father not very long before his death. In fact I was home from school.”
“Did you know he was a crook?” Vanora asked.
“No, but my father did. I do remember him saying when Harry left, ‘I hurried him off because I was quite certain that, if I left him alone for a minute, he would put something in his pocket and we would never see it again’.”
Vanora gave a little sigh.
“What he had intended to take with him was the Shakespeare First Folio and the Chaucer.”
“I know that now,” the Earl replied. “But Harry was never asked again to The Castle, so he had to employ the Morgans to steal the treasures he had left behind.”
“And now you must stop them taking them.”
“Of course,” the Earl agreed. “At the same time I do not want a scandal. If the house party talks, we shall have a whole spate of burglars breaking in here one way or another.”
Vanora was silent for a moment and then she said,
“I have an idea which I think will help if you would agree to it.”
CHAPTER SIX
“I am listening,” the Earl said, “but I think that you would be more comfortable if you sat on the bed.”
Vanora did as she was told and sat down a little way from him.
This meant that he could see her silhouetted against the moonlight and she looked even more ethereal than she usually did.
The Earl was now sitting up almost straight against his pillows.
Vanora began slowly,
“I was thinking that the Morgans said they were going to leave soon after breakfast. If it was possible for you to delay them by offering to take them somewhere for the morning, I could put the real Holbein back in its frame and the fake in their bag.”
The Earl made an exclamation, but did not interrupt her and Vanora went on,
“Also, if the books are wrapped up, I could change the two precious ones for something – you do not want.”
She spoke a little hesitatingly.
The Earl listened to the end and then cried,
“That is such a brilliant idea and only you could have thought of it!”
“I am sure, because they are so certain that no one would notice that the portrait has been changed,” Vanora said, “the real Holbein will still be in the black bag where Major Morgan put it, in his bedroom.”
“And the books will doubtless be in her luggage,” the Earl suggested.
There was silence and then he went on,
“You may have to take the housekeeper into your confidence, but it is essential that the young maidservants should not be told. They would undoubtedly gossip in the village.”
“If you take the Morgans away immediately after breakfast,” Vanora said, “it is most unlikely, since they are leaving for good that their rooms will be done very early. I know that housemaids in most houses attend to the more important guests first.”
“Then let’s hope they do so on this occasion,” the Earl said.
As he sat looking at Vanora, he thought again how exquisite she was and it was hard to realise how intelligent.
Then, as if she was still thinking it all out, Vanora said,
“There is another point. As I am not as strong as the Major, I may have difficulty in lifting the portrait down from the wall.”
“I had not thought of that,” the Earl said, “but, of course, you are right. What we had better do is to go to the library now and I will take the Holbein down. There will be no one about at this time of night.”
“Everything was quiet when I left the library.”
“Then I suggest,” the Earl said, “that to spare your blushes you go and look out of the window while I get out of bed.”
Without saying anything Vanora slipped off the bed and walked to the window.
She thought as she gazed out how peaceful it all seemed. It was hard to believe that human beings planned to commit horrible crimes when nature itself was just so glorious.
She heard the Earl moving about the room behind her and then he said,
“I am ready now.”
She turned round and saw that he had put on a long dark robe rather like the one her uncle had always worn. It was frogged with braid and gave the wearer a somewhat military appearance.
The Earl was lighting the candle beside his bed and then, as he walked towards the door, Vanora followed him.
Without speaking they went down the long passage.
As they neared the library, Vanora was suddenly afraid that the Morgans might have come back to find other spoils and perhaps when they reached their bedroom they had thought that they had been too hasty in not searching for more treasures.
But there was no sound as they neared the door and, when the Earl opened it, the great room was in darkness.
He walked to the fireplace and held up his candle.
He could now see the portrait of his ancestor quite clearly.
Vanora had not spent time looking at the original and yet she knew that the copy that Major Morgan had inserted into the frame would have deceived her.
As if the Earl knew what she was thinking, he said,
“I have to admit it is cleverly done.”
“That is what I was thinking,” Vanora said. “You might not have noticed the difference for a very long time.”
“And that is what they were hoping would happen,” the Earl said grimly.
He handed Vanora the candle.
Then he reached forward to lift down the portrait from over the mantelpiece.
It was, he realised, far too heavy for a woman, as he lowered it gently against one of the armchairs.
“I will undo the back for you,” he said, “if you can give me something to do it with.”
Vanora put the candle down and ran to her desk.
She knew that she did not have any special tool, but there was a pair of scissors and a silver letter opener.
She carried them to the Earl, who had turned the picture round and was examining the back.
“It is really quite simple,” he said. “I suppose to save himself trouble he has fastened it in only two places.”
“That will make it easier for me to do the same,” Vanora said and the Earl smiled.
“I cannot imagine you being defeated by anything, least of all a thief.”
She gave a little cry.
“Touch wood! They may cheat you in some other way and we must be very much on our guard.”
“I am going to risk,” the Earl said, “anyone coming into the library before you do in the morning.”
For a moment Vanora did not know what he meant and then she saw him take the fake out of its frame. He placed it on the seat of the chair propping it against the back.
“All you have to do,” the Earl said, “is to put the real Holbein back into the frame and then, if it’s possible, attend to the books.”
“Everything depends on your keeping them away from The Castle while I do it,” Vanora answered. “If I must not fail, neither must you.”
“I think Fate and the angels who look after you,” he said, “are working overtime. It was just by chance that you should have been in the library when those devils came in to despoil me.”
He paused before he went on,
“Do you realise that if they had not been so greedy as to take the Holbein as well as the books, I should never have been aware of what I had lost.”
“I had not thought of that, my Lord, but then it does seem rather stupid of them.”
“What I would like to see,” the Earl said, “is the expression on their faces when they reach their destination and become aware of what has happened.”
“They deserve everything that happens to them and in fact they will have been let off very lightly.”
“That is true,” the Earl answered. “But it would be a great mistake for anyone to learn of what has occurred.”
Vanora agreed with him and then the Earl picked up the candle.
He took a last look at the fake Holbein and walked to the door.
As she followed him, Vanora was wondering if she should tell him of the book by John Dryden she had found.
Then she thought it would be a mistake when his mind was on the two volumes that had been stolen.
When they were outside the library, the Earl locked the door and handed her the key.
She did not say anything, but she knew that it was the sensible thing to do, as no one could enter now until she had opened the door in the morning.
They walked up the stairs in silence and only when they reached Vanora’s bedroom did the Earl speak.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” he said in a low voice, “for being brave enough to come and tell me what has happened and to help me, as you are doing, to get back my treasures.”
“I am praying that everything will go smoothly,” Vanora whispered. “Please try to keep them away as long as you can, in case I have any difficulties in getting into their rooms.”
“I will carry out your orders to the letter,” the Earl said with a faint smile. “In fact what I intend to do is to take them out in my yacht, telling them it is important they should see The Castle from the sea or something like that.”
“Supposing they refuse,” Vanora murmured.
“If they do so, I will make it almost impossible for them without being exceedingly rude,” the Earl replied.
He thought for a moment and then went on,
“I will also, now I think of it, send for one of the men who are mending the wheel
of their chaise and tell him to try it out first to make sure that it will not collapse again on the journey.”
Vanora clapped her hands together.
“That is brilliant of you, my Lord, and now I don’t feel so afraid.”
“That is something I have no wish for you to feel and thank you again for being so wonderful.”
He bent forward and to her astonishment kissed her cheek.
It was only a light kiss, but, as his lips touched her skin, she felt a little quiver go through her.
The Earl walked away without looking back and she stood watching him until he was out of sight.
Only as she went into her bedroom did she put her hand to her cheek.
How amazing it was.
He had kissed her!
She had come to The Castle to carry out Ewen’s orders and never had she dreamt for a single moment that she would be in any way intimate with the Earl.
Or that he would treat her as he would treat a woman in the same Social world as himself.
She was just an employee.
Now incredibly she was saving the Earl’s treasures!
But she still had no idea at all where the Stone was hidden or even perhaps that it still existed.
That thought had not occurred to her before.
Now she was wondering to herself if perhaps the Earl’s father, disliking the McKyle Clan as much as they disliked him, had thrown it into the sea or maybe he had buried it in the garden.
Whatever the answer might be, it was the Stone that had brought her here, the Stone that had made it possible for her not only to handle the books that were a thrill in themselves but to meet their owner.
‘He has kissed my cheek,’ she told herself as she stood in the moonlight.
It was the way that he would have expressed his gratitude to any woman who had helped him.
Yet it was something she would always remember.
She climbed into bed by the light from the window, knowing it was vital that she should wake early.
She must know immediately when the Earl took the Morgans away from the Castle.
She had closed her eyes and said a prayer when she had first got into bed.
Now she found it impossible to sleep.
*
In another part of The Castle, the Earl was awake as well.
He had gone into his room thinking it extraordinary for any man to be involved in such a drama.
A Heart of Stone Page 10