by Anne Mather
Smiling to herself, she completed her unpacking by putting the photograph she had brought of Aunt Laurie on the dressing table and laying out the set of hairbrushes she had received on her twenty-first birthday three years ago. This done, she closed the trunk and pushed it laboriously into the corner of the room, under the window. It would provide an extra window seat should she require it and it was too big to stow away anywhere else. Then she picked up one of the newer novels and settled herself by the fire. It was very peaceful just sitting reading and after a while the heat of the fire made her drowsy, and she put her book aside and closed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep, because she was startled into consciousness by someone knocking at her door and now the room was quite dark.
However, it was just Gustav, come to attend to the fire, and when he asked her whether she would like to eat her evening meal up here in her room she shook her head quickly and said she would come down. Cosy as the room was, the isolation was easier to accept in small doses and she realised she would be glad to go downstairs and stretch her legs and speak to Maria.
After finishing her dinner, however, she was loath to return at once to her room and excusing herself from Gustav and Maria she walked along the passage which led to the great hall. She had no intention of seeking the Baron’s company, or that of his daughter, but the dogs were there and she was interested in the wall decorations. Fritz came to sniff her hand, wagging his tail in a friendly fashion, and Helga came too apparently accepting Fritz’s indication that this was someone they could trust.
Victoria was in the process of examining the sheath of a steel weapon when she heard the sound of a car being driven into the yard of the schloss. She thought it might be the Baron, back from some expedition, but when the heavy door creaked open, and a youthful voice called: ‘Horst! Wo sind Sie?’ she realised it was not. The young man who entered was dark-haired and did not look older than Victoria herself. However, his expression changed when he saw her, and an apologetic smile spread over his attractive features.
‘Verzeihen Sie, fräulein,’ he murmured, with a slight bow. ‘Ich suche der Baron.’
Victoria returned his smile. ‘I’m afraid I do not speak German, Herr …’ She spread her hands regretfully.
The young man frowned, ‘Ich verstehe, you are the English governess, ja?’
Victoria nodded. ‘That’s right. I’m Victoria Monroe. And you?’
The young man came towards her, taking off thick driving gloves. ‘Conrad Zimmerman, fräulein. I am, as you say, pleased to make your acquaintance.’ He shook her hand warmly. ‘I am the doctor, from the village, you understand. The Baron and I are friends. We play chess together.’
Victoria realised as he moved into the light that he was older than she had at first imagined, and she put his age around thirty. But he was slightly built and not much above average height and consequently he appeared younger.
‘How do you do!’ Victoria withdrew her hand from his quite firmly when he continued to regard her with interest. ‘You live in Reichstein, Herr Zimmerman?’
‘Yes, I do. I have a house on the outskirts of the village which I use as a surgery as well. It is not to everyone’s taste to live so far from the bright lights of Salzburg and Vienna, but me, I like it.’
Victoria twisted her hands together and moved away from his compelling gaze. ‘I should imagine you are kept quite busy in a place like this,’ she said, feeling obliged to make conversation as he made no further efforts to find his host.
The doctor agreed, and went on to describe how some of his patients lived in practically inaccessible areas, and that sometimes he was forced to visit them on foot when the passes were snowbound.
‘I ski, of course,’ he said, unbuttoning his overcoat. ‘It is not all hard work by any means, and I enjoy the exercise. Only sometimes, when I am picking myself out of a particularly wet drift, do I wonder whether I would not be more sensible to open a practice in some fashionable strasse.’ He removed his coat and draped it over one of the chairs by the fire. Neither of the dogs had stirred at his entrance after ascertaining his identity and deciding he was no enemy. He looked across at Victoria speculatively. ‘What do you think of Reichstein, fräulein? Do you think the situation is as isolated as your predecessors?’
Victoria shrugged and hesitated. ‘It is isolated,’ she agreed, ‘but I imagine it rather depends whether one relies on artificial means of entertainment.’
‘That is true.’ The doctor nodded. ‘Do you ski, fräulein?’
Victoria half smiled. ‘Well, let’s say I know how,’ she said doubtfully. ‘I once spent a holiday at St. Moritz, but I’m afraid I’m no expert.’
The doctor listened with interest. Then he nodded. ‘It is obvious we must make some arrangements to remedy that state of affairs, fräulein,’ he stated firmly. ‘To me the mountains are all things, and to glide like a bird across the frozen surface of the glaciers …’ He shook his head reminiscently. ‘It is a wonderful sensation!’
Victoria appreciated his obvious enthusiasm, but she was just about to explain that she was not at Reichstein to enjoy herself when Maria came into the hall, wiping her hands on her apron. She greeted the young doctor in their own language and even Victoria’s limited vocabulary was sufficient to apprehend that she was enquiring after his health and that of his parents. It seemed apparent that he was not married, and certainly he did not act like a man with many responsibilities. Victoria took this opportunity to say goodbye to him and she left them to go up to her room.
It was beautifully warm upstairs and as it was still early she read for a while before going to bed. But even after she was in bed with the lights extinguished and silence like a cloak about her she found it difficult to get to sleep. She was plagued with thoughts of how she might win Sophie’s confidence, and interspersed with these problems were disturbing images of Sophie’s father. How much easier it would have been if she had had a woman to deal with instead of a man, and especially a man like the Baron von Reichstein. It was possible, she supposed, that his wife might return to the schloss at any time, but it was impossible for her to depend on this. After all, what kind of a woman could she be to leave her husband and only child in the depths of winter, alone and barely cared for, in a castle in the mountains? Was that what was wrong with Sophie? Did she miss her mother? Did she resent being left alone with her father?
Victoria vetoed that idea almost immediately. Sophie was perfectly happy in her father’s company; obsessively so, in fact. She was not resentful, that was certain, but something had happened to make her behave as she did, and Victoria had to find out what.
The trouble was there was no one she could ask questions of. The Baron clearly did not intend to discuss his personal affairs with her, and Maria was too devoted to her employer and his daughter ever to think of gossiping about them. It seemed an impossible situation.
Then she suddenly remembered Dr. Conrad Zimmerman.
Of course! He was the ideal person to talk to. A friend of the family, living in Reichstein, he was bound to know the Baroness, and his connections were without sentimentality. Perhaps she ought to have taken him up on his suggestion of skiing lessons. When she knew him a little better he might prove an admirable confidant …
CHAPTER FOUR
THE following morning Victoria rose early, eager to start the day. She dressed, as the day before, in thick pants and a sweater, this time choosing a turtle-necked jersey with Fair Isle patterning round the welt. Brushing out her hair before securing it in its pleat, she recalled the Baron’s strange remarks of the day before and was tempted to leave it loose to see if it produced any further reaction, but common sense prevailed and she looked cool and businesslike when she entered the kitchen. As the bathroom was on the ground floor, Maria had provided her with a jug and a bowl of water for her room and consequently her first wash of the day was icy cold and invigorating. In England, such a practice would have horrified her, but here she accepted it as part of their way of life.
Maria provided her with breakfast, and when Victoria brought up the doctor’s visit of the previous evening, Maria became quite expansive, telling her how popular he was in the village, and how his parents had worked hard to save the money to send him through medical school.
‘Of course, the Herr Baron helped,’ she said, with obvious satisfaction, ‘and Herr Conrad does not forget.’
‘You mean Dr. Zimmerman has lived in Reichstein all his life?’ asked Victoria.
‘Ja, when he qualified he came back to take over from Dr. Klein who was already past retiring age.’
Victoria sipped her coffee. ‘He seems a nice young man,’ she ventured.
Maria nodded vigorously. ‘A real credit to his parents.’
A cold draught of air heralded the arrival of the Baron. As on the previous day he had already been about outside, and his hair was damp with droplets of water. He nodded politely to Victoria, and threw off his outer garments briskly.
‘Good morning, Miss Monroe,’ he said, coming to warm his hands at the blaze. ‘I see you are ready for work early this morning.’
‘Yes, Herr Baron!’ Victoria felt obliged to answer him. Sitting on the settle by the fire, sipping her second cup of coffee, she couldn’t help but notice how brown and slender were the hands he held out to the flames, a gold signet ring, inset with a ruby, glittering on his third finger of his left hand. A wedding ring, perhaps? she wondered curiously.
Maria handed him a mug of coffee and received the usual warm attention. Then he turned once more to Victoria. ‘I am afraid I have some bad news for you, fräulein,’ he said, frowning, and while Victoria turned anxious eyes up to him he went on: ‘Sophie is unable to attend lessons this morning. You may recall that she was unwell yesterday. She is still not herself, and I am loath to force her to work when she looks so pale and wan.’
Victoria was relieved it was nothing more serious that he had to tell her, but even so she felt a rising sense of frustration that Sophie had again succeeded in avoiding her tuition. Unable to suppress her natural reaction to this news, she said: ‘How very fortunate for Sophie!’ in rather sarcastic tones.
The Baron looked down at her with narrowed eyes, and even Maria stopped what she was doing to turn and stare at them. ‘Exactly what do you mean by that remark, fräulein?’ the Baron queried icily.
Victoria returned his look fearlessly, anger strengthening her resolution. ‘I should have thought it was obvious, Herr Baron,’ she returned smoothly. ‘Sophie has again succeeded in ducking her lessons!’
‘What do you mean—again?’
Victoria’s cheeks burned. She had not meant to say that, but now she had the Baron looked absolutely furious. Bending her head, she sipped her coffee, trying desperately to find a way to retract that statement.
‘Well, fräulein? I am waiting!’
Victoria lifted her shoulders helplessly. ‘I meant yesterday afternoon, of course,’ she answered, rather lamely.
The Baron’s expression hardened. ‘You mean when she was suffering from a headache?’
‘I suppose so.’
He stood his mug of coffee on the mantelshelf with a distinctive thud. ‘You are perhaps insinuating that Sophie is not ill?’
Victoria had had enough of this. She looked up at him defiantly. ‘I am—perhaps—insinuating just that!’ she declared. ‘But of course I’m a stranger here, I don’t know Sophie as you do, and naturally if you say she is ill then I must accept it!’
The Baron’s eyes were black with anger. ‘You are a particularly offensive young woman, Miss Monroe!’ he snapped violently. Then he remembered the presence of Maria. ‘Maria! Leave us! What I have to say to Miss Monroe would be better said in private!’
‘Ja, Herr Baron!’
Maria scuttled from the room like a frightened rabbit, and even Victoria felt an alarming quake in her lower limbs. As usual her tongue had run away with her, but she was still convinced that she was right.
The Baron waited until Maria had closed the door, and then he turned back to Victoria. His face was like a thundercloud.
‘fräulein, I am not a difficult man, I am in many ways a patient man, but of one thing I am certain, I will not have a young woman like yourself call me a liar in front of my servants!’
Victoria coloured, getting to her feet to reduce the disadvantage of height, ‘I didn’t call you a liar, Herr Baron!’ she asserted bravely.
The Baron glared clown at her. ‘No? You think not? To tell me that you consider my daughter is making a fool of me!’
Victoria bent her head unhappily. ‘If you want me to apologise, I will. In front of Maria, if that will appease you!’
The Baron uttered an angry expletive. ‘Appease me!’ he exclaimed savagely, breathing heavily. ‘What am I? Some child who needs reassurance in front of my nurse? No, fräulein, I am not. I am a man who demands that while you are an employee of mine you will refrain from making insinuating comments about my judgement, and accept what I say as being the truth as I see it!’
Victoria bit hard on her lips to prevent herself from retaliating.
‘Well, fräulein? What have you to say?’
Victoria shrugged. ‘Nothing, Herr Baron.’
The Baron chewed on his lower lip for a minute and then turned away, snatching his coffee cup and swallowing a mouthful impatiently. ‘Tell me, fräulein,’ he said bitterly, ‘how soon may I expect your resignation?’
Victoria’s heart skipped a beat. ‘You want me to resign, Herr Baron?’
He turned towards her with obvious reluctance. ‘No,’ he said, in harsh tones. ‘That was not my intention. But your over-confidence leads me to believe that you will not succumb to censure willingly, and I am not so foolish as to imagine that the conditions here are so unparalleled that no amount of provocation would induce you to leave.’
‘You think I’m irresponsible, don’t you?’ Victoria held up her head tautly.
‘I think your present attitude is not conducive to peaceful relations,’ he observed bleakly. ‘And while I can sympathise with your position, which is obviously alien to your nature, I feel that perhaps you might have found a less demanding post more to your taste.’
Victoria shook her head helplessly. ‘Herr Baron! If, as your words suggest, you imagine that my circumstances forced me to take a position, any kind of position, you couldn’t be more wrong! I am very keen to begin teaching, and if my attitude is disrespectful, then I must change it.’
The Baron looked sceptical. ‘You are willing to remain here at Reichstein and subjugate yourself to my wishes?’ He shook his head and turned away. ‘Whatever drove you from London, fräulein, must be quite something.’
Victoria stiffened. ‘Nothing drove me from London, Herr Baron.’
The Baron shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Very well. It is obvious that for the present you are determined.’
Victoria replaced her coffee cup on the table. ‘Are you disappointed, Herr Baron?’ she murmured, almost inaudibly, and although he stiffened and she heard his swiftly indrawn breath, he did not reply.
He walked swiftly across to the door through which Maria had disappeared, and opening it, called: ‘Maria!’ sharply.
Victoria rubbed the palms of her hands against her elbows. Now that it was all settled another long day stretched ahead of her, and on impulse, she turned to the Baron and said: ‘Tell me, as Sophie is—indisposed—is there anything I can do around the schloss? I mean—are there any paths that want clearing, or perhaps you have some clerical work which I could help you with?’
The Baron frowned as Maria came into the room, and she quickly went to get on with her tasks, casting a curious glance in Victoria’s direction. Victoria smiled at her, and Maria looked positively astounded. Victoria was sure she had expected to find the new governess reduced to tears.
‘While I appreciate your offer, fräulein,’ the Baron said at last, ‘I do not even allow Maria to clear the paths. Gustav and I are perfectly capable of performin
g such menial duties. However, your abilities have been noted if ever I require any assistance.’
Victoria sighed. ‘Surely there’s something I can do.’
The Baron considered her carefully, then he smiled, transforming his features completely and causing Victoria no small surprise. ‘I am driving into Reichstein, this morning, fräulein. Would you care to come along? It is a small village, as you know, but there are a few stores and you might enjoy the drive.’
Victoria’s eyes widened. ‘I’d love to come,’ she agreed enthusiastically, aware that Maria had stopped what she was doing to stare round at them. Then, muttering to herself, she went on with her work and Victoria wondered whether she was just not the slightest bit disappointed that their confrontation had ended so amicably.
‘Would you like to see Sophie before we leave?’ suggested the Baron suddenly. ‘She is feeling rather sorry for herself at the moment.’
Victoria hesitated. ‘If you think it’s a good idea,’ she consented carefully.
He gave a faint inclination of his head, and after giving Maria instructions to pass on to Gustav he walked across to the passage door indicating that Victoria should accompany him.
As they walked along to the hall, he said: ‘You have shown little curiosity about the schloss, fräulein, or do old buildings have no fascination for you beyond a cursory exclamation at their outward charm?’
Victoria looked up at him rather indignantly. ‘I was under the impression that most of the schloss was unused,’ she stated firmly. ‘I noticed on my walk yesterday that part of it seemed entirely deserted.’
The Baron nodded. ‘Yes, that is true. Apart from the kitchen quarters, which incidentally provide adequate quarters for Maria and Gustav, the tower where you are accommodated, this hall,’ he opened the heavy door into that apartment as he spoke, ‘and Sophie’s and my quarters beyond, we have little use for the other rooms. Unfortunately, because they are unused, they are naturally unheated, and I am afraid nature is beginning to take its toll.’