She shook her head. ‘Nay, he still dallies at Karlskrona.’
Recalling that the King had been expected back in Stockholm for the party at the French Embassy four nights before, Roger inquired: ‘What is it that detains him there?’
‘I would that we knew for certain,’ she replied, thoughtfully. ‘He is said to be inspecting his fleet, but certain intelligence suggests that he may be supervising its preparations for putting to sea.’
Roger pricked up his ears. ‘Is Karlskrona his principal fleet base, then?’
‘Why, yes. ’Tis the largest harbour and naval arsenal in the world.’
‘Oh, come!’ he protested. ‘Surely ’tis not bigger than Toulon, or the great new base that King Louis is constructing at Cherbourg?’
‘Indeed it is,’ she assured him. ‘And virtually impregnable; for ’tis situated in the heart of a great island of rock that can only be reached from the mainland by way of two other islands. The Swedes have been working on it for many years, constructing the most ingenious hydraulic works, and hewing dry-docks, underground canals and storehouses out of the solid mountain side. The port itself is very deep and capable of holding a hundred ships of the line.’
‘King Gustavus can have nothing near that number.’
‘True, but for the past six years he has been building at the rate of four a year, and there are now thirty-seven ships of the line lying there, as well as numerous frigates. Then there must be others at Trollhátta and Sveaborg; so he now has a fleet quite formidable enough to cause Russia considerably anxiety in the Baltic.’
‘Do you fear then that he contemplates an attack against your country?’
Her tapering eyebrows drew together in a frown. ‘ ’Tis hard to say. We know that he has been receiving subsidies from the Turks, and it may be he feels that he should at least make some demonstration to justify them. Yet I cannot believe that he would be such a presumptious fool as to defy the Empress. ’Twould be suicidal to invite a revolution in his own country with Russia, Austria and France all leagued against him.’
The lights had been put out, and at that moment, the curtain went up. Roger drew his chair up beside Natalia’s and a little behind it, and took her hand; then, after they had watched the scene for a while he began to whisper in her ear. The Grand Opera season was over, so only a light musical with no great stars appearing in it was being played; and the plot was of such an airy nature that they could almost ignore the stage without losing its thread.
Knowing that much as most women enjoyed a meed of flattery, the majority greatly preferred a man who could make them laugh, to one who confined himself to solemnly praising their beauty, he ventured on a slight risquê joke. Natalia’s quiet chuckle showed him that he was on the right track, and soon they were swopping stories which, had the lights been up, should have made even a young widow blush.
During the long interval she received a little court of callers in the box, and most of them did not hide the fact that they envied Roger his good fortune in being her escort for the evening. When they had retired he drew his chair up to hers once more, but he bided his time until half-way through the second act before giving their conversation a serious turn and begging her to give him a proper assignation.
For a time she listened to his pleading in silence, then she said:
‘ ’Twould be idle for me to pretend a virtue in which, after our first meeting, you would not believe; and I’ll not deny that I have had a number of lovers; but I am mightily particular as to the men I choose for such a role. ’Tis, in fact my custom to test such gallants as attract me both for their courage and sensibility before granting them my favours.’
‘I pray you then, even if I only attract you a very little, allow me to essay these tests,’ said Roger, quickly.
She gave a low laugh. ‘I confess to just the suspicion of a hankering for you, so it shall be as you wish.’
The scent of Attar of Roses that she favoured was strong in Roger’s nostrils. Her head was now so close to his that he could feel her warm breath on his cheek. She was leaning very lightly against his shoulder, and she seemed to him now unutterably desirable. His heart began to hammer in his chest.
10
The Two Tests of Natalia Andreovna
The dim light in the box was just sufficient for Roger to catch the fleeting smile of promise that flickered over Natalia’s lovely face, then she went on. ‘But if you fail me in either test I’ll be adamant. Moreover I warn you now that should I take you for my lover I’ll expect complete faithfulness. On that I insist, and if I catch you deceiving me I’ll give you cause to rue it.’
He kissed her hand, and his voice trembled with eagerness as he said: ‘Your conditions are mine, Madame. May I know the tests?’
‘Nay, that is my secret,’ she replied with a note of amusement in her voice. ‘But from tonight you may call me Natalia Andreovna, and, if you will tell it me, I will call you by your given name; for in Russia these formal “Messieurs” and “Mesdames” are never used between friends.’
‘My name is Rojé, and that of my father Christophe,’ he said, pronouncing both as was customary in France. ‘So I suppose that in Russia I should be called Rojé Christorovitch.’
‘Then, Rojé Christorovitch, you may take me riding tomorrow morning at ten o’clock. ’Tis unnecessary for you to hire a horse, as I can provide you with a good mount from the Embassy stables. The pine-woods outside the city now smell delicious, and as we ride through them we can talk and laugh to our hearts’ content.’
‘I’ll scarce sleep from savouring the pleasure of it in advance, dear Natalia Andreovna,’ he said gallantly. Then, seeing that the singers on the stage had massed for the final chorus, he drew her to her feet and to the back of the box, where they exchanged a few long kisses before the flambeauxmen ran in to light the theatre up.
On the way home she was very firm with him, and when they reached the Embassy she would not let him come in, but insisted on sending him home in her coach. Nevertheless he felt that he had made excellent progress. The thought of the tests she demanded did not worry him. They seemed to add to the romance of the affair, making her still more desirable; and he reasoned that no woman who wanted a man would make such tests unduly hard. Their long evening together had given him good grounds for believing that she wanted him, and he now felt that she was a much nicer person than he had at first supposed. In fact he was rapidly falling under the beautiful young widow’s spell.
When he awoke next morning he found to his delight that the day was fine; and well before ten o’clock he was striding up the steps of the Russian Embassy. A quarter of an hour later Natalia Andreovna came down to him, and the sight of her was enough to make any gallant’s heart beat faster. With that same disregard of convention which characterised her father, she was dressed as a man. Her outfit consisted of a dove-coloured beaver tricorne hat with a deep gold band and tassels; a long scarlet coat faced with gold brocade; a buff, gold-laced waistcoat, frilled shirt and man’s neckerchief; buckskin small-clothes, jack-boots, gold spurs and a diamond-studded riding-switch. This male attire suited her boyish figure to perfection, and chin in air, she walked with a swagger that made her quite irresistible.
Somewhat to Roger’s surprise no horses were being walked up and down in readiness for them outside, but she told him that she had thought that he might like to try one or two mounts and choose which he preferred before setting out; then she led him round to the stable yard.
A little group of grooms were waiting for them with a small white, long-tailed Arab, and a big black mare measuring a good sixteen hands. The men were Russians, with shaggy hair and flat, dark, peasant faces. One of them led the Arab to a mounting block for Natalia and another held the black for Roger. The moment he was in the saddle the moujik sprang away, gave a loud hiss and clapped his hands. Instantly the mare reared wildly and tried to throw her rider.
The next few minutes were hectic. Fortunately Roger was an excellent horseman, and hi
s long legs enabled him to keep a good grip of his mount, otherwise he might easily have had his brains dashed out on the cobbles of the yard. Round and round went the mare, bucking, prancing and kicking, while he hung grimly on and strove to quieten the half-crazy animal.
For a second he caught a glimpse of Natalia; she was smiling broadly and the squat, ugly peasants were grouped round her loudly guffawing at his discomfiture. He realised then that she must have deliberately mounted him on this vicious brute and instructed the moujik beforehand to frighten it. The thought filled him with rage but made him more determined than ever not to afford her the satisfaction of seeing him thrown off.
Jerking round the mare’s head he gave her both his spurs and sent her careering through a gate at the back of the yard that led into the Embassy garden. In a flash, he had crossed the lawn with its neatly patterned flower-beds, and was heading down a path between some plots of early vegetables. Beyond them lay a wooden fence and a paddock. Another touch of the spurs and the mare sailed over the fence. She was a splendid animal, and once he had her in the field, he began to enjoy himself. For ten minutes he rode her round and round it, towards the end forcing her pace to teach her a lesson. Then he found a gap in the fence, put her through it and trotted her back across the garden to the stable-yard.
The wicked little Russian, now mounted astride the Arab was still there laughing among her varlets. Pulling up the foam-flecked and quivering black in front of her, Roger swept off his tricorne and said with a smile: ‘My apologies for having delayed your setting out, Natalia Andreovna; but having tested the mount you selected for me I find your choice admirable.’
Her green eyes danced with amusement and just a hint of admiration, as she cried: ‘Let us away, then, Rojé Christorovitch’; and turning her white steed she cantered out of the gate beside him.
They soon left houses and gardens behind, and were riding through woods of larch and pine. After an hour they came out of the forest on to a high promontory from which there was a magnificent view of the slate-blue fjord. Reining in her Arab, Natalia suggested that they should pause there for a while, so they both dismounted and Roger tied the reins of the horses to a tree stump.
Although he had not shown it he was still seething inwardly at the dangerous trick she had played him; and as he tied up the horses it occurred to him that it would serve her right if he took the Arab and left her to ride home on the temperamental black. But he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came to him, as, quite apart from the physical attraction she had for him, he knew that it was of the utmost importance for his work that he should keep on good terms with her.
She had seated herself on a fallen tree. As he sat down beside her she took his hand, and said seriously: ‘Rojé Christorovitch, I am pleased with you. Not many men could ride that black devil as you did, and I am well satisfied with your courage. You have passed the first test with honour.’
‘So it was a test, eh?’ he laughed. ‘I wondered if it could be. Yet, if you have a liking for a man, and you say you like me to put him in the way of breaking his neck is a strange way to show it.’
‘But it gives me pleasure to see a brave man face danger,’ she replied, quite unabashed. ‘I would that I had been born a Roman Empress; in all time there can have been no sport to compare with watching the gladiators contend in the circus.’
‘And what of the wretched Christians? Would you have enjoyed seeing them herded defenceless into the arena to be savaged by wild beasts?’
She shrugged. ‘The Christians of those days were like the Masons of our own time; a secret society, propagating among the slaves the criminal doctrine that they were the equals of their masters, and plotting against the safety of the state. For such reason they were with justice condemned to death; so what odds does it make if they were strangled in their dungeons or given to the lions?’
Her callousness repelled him, yet it in no way detracted from her striking good looks, and putting his arm round her waist he said: ‘What a bloodthirsty little person you are, Natalia Andreovna; but let us talk of pleasanter things. When may I undergo your second test and be proved as to my sensibility?’
‘There is ample time for that,’ she told him with a smile. ‘For a little you must be content to attend upon me, so that I can come to know you better.’ But for the next half-hour she allowed him to kiss and caress her; then they remounted their horses and rode back to the city.
When they rode into the yard the grooms were waiting to take their horses, but just as he was about to dismount she cried: ‘One moment, Rojé Christorovitch. Did you find the black, after all, a good ride?’
‘Why, yes,’ he replied. ‘She is a fine animal, powerful and with an easy pace. She needs but the firm hand of a practised rider.’
‘Take her then, as a gift from me. You have proved yourself worthy of her, and will need a mount during your stay in Stockholm. Ride her away and have her stabled at your inn.’
Roger knew that the mare was as fine a mount as he had ever ridden and a most valuable animal, so he thanked her effusively for her generosity and, as he rode away, found himself more puzzled than ever as to whether he liked or disliked her. Those green eyes and that slim figure were playing the very devil with his emotions and he decided that he must not let her cruel streak weigh too much against her; since it was no doubt largely due to her nationality and upbringing.
During the week that followed he called twice on Angélique de Pons, developed his friendship with Count Hans Axel af Fersan, and found himself well-established as a popular member of the younger set in Stockholm. But between dintiers, routs and other entertainments he danced constant attendance on Natalia. He became a familiar figure at the Russian Embassy, and the bull-necked Count Razumofsky now treated him as one of his immediate circle. He learned nothing of importance, but sensed that there was a definite tension in the air, and that the Ambassador regarded the doings of the still-absent King Gustavus with considerable suspicion.
In the course of the week Roger several times came into collision with Count Yagerhorn, as he too was a frequent visitor at the Embassy. Their mutual dislike increased upon a closer acquaintance, and Natalia Andreovna obviously derived considerable amusement from stimulating their rivalry; but as she maintained her prohibition on the tall, fair pink-faced Finn issuing a challenge, and Roger felt that in the circumstances it was unfair to provoke him, they continued to treat one another with frigid courtesy.
Whenever occasion offered Roger pressed Natalia to give him an assignation, or at least proceed with her second test; but she would not be hurried, and his affair with her progressed no further until an afternoon nine days after he had first taken her riding.
By that time they had got to know one another well, and quite apart from her beauty, he ranked her as the most interesting and amusing young woman in Stockholm; so he was more eager than ever to bring matters to a head.
They were walking in the garden, and in the hope of forcing a decision he told her that, so desperate had she made him, unless she was prepared to take pity on him soon he would be driven to the conclusion that she was only playing with him, and, in an endeavour to tear her image from his heart, he would seriously consider leaving Sweden.
She softened at once, telling him that she liked him greatly, and had come to count upon his society, so she would seek to prove him no further. Then she nodded towards a window on the first-floor at the back of the house, and said: That is my room; do you think you could climb up there?’
He gave one glance at the balcony below it, which was supported by the scrolled iron-work of the ground-floor verandah, and laughed. ‘Indeed I could. Let me do so this very night, my sweet, I beg.’
‘So be it,’ she smiled. ‘Come to me at midnight, but not a moment before. As to your entry to the grounds, you see that postern-door in the wall over there? I will give you the key of it before you leave.’
On that side of the house the garden-wall ran within twelve feet of the building,
and the door, although at right angles to her balcony, was almost beneath it. He saw that once through the door he would have only a dozen paces to take to reach the verandah. It was an admirable arrangement, as he could not possibly lose his way in the darkness, and the risk of running into anyone during so short a passage from the street to her room was infinitesimal. An hour later, on his way back to the inn with the key in his pocket, his senses almost reeled at the thought of the promised delights of the night to come.
It was not until he was considering what clothes he should wear for his expedition that it suddenly occurred to him that Natalia Andreovna had, after his long siege of her, surrendered at the last somewhat precipitously and only on his threatening to abandon his pursuit of her. Could it be that she did not really mean to receive him after all, but intended instead to play him some scurvy trick, like mounting him on the black horse? Perhaps she would rouse the house pretending to mistake him for a burglar, for the fun of seeing him chased and perhaps beaten by her servants.
On thinking matters over he decided that his suspicions of her were both unjust and unreasonable. She could be very sweet at times and recently had shown in a dozen small ways that she was fond of him. Moreover she had admitted to having had lovers and, just before he left her, had gone up to her room to fetch the key of the postern gate, suggesting pretty clearly that she had made use of it before for a similar purpose. If she had let others come to her that way in the night, why should she not let him?
Nevertheless his lingering distrust of her vicious sense of humour led him to take special precautions. He decided to wear loose, dark easy clothes, as they would not only render him as inconspicuous as possible and facilitate his climb up the verandah, but they would also give him a much better chance of getting away and disappearing in the darkness, if she was base enough to have him ambushed for her amusement. Moreover, a long sword being an awkward weapon to take to such a rendezvous, he would normally have gone unarmed; but on this occasion he decided to carry a hanger and, going out, bought himself a short, thick-bladed seaman’s cutlass, which would not get in his way but prove a good, handy weapon if he were attacked.
The Shadow of Tyburn Tree Page 24