A Hazard of Hearts

by Barbara Cartland

  “Thieving scoundrels,” she shrieked, “scum of the earth, miserable sapskulls, do my bidding this instant or ’twill be the worse for you,”

  “She’s crazed,” one man whispered to another, but the word, soft-whispered though it was, swept round the cavern so that the Marchioness heard it.

  “Crazed, am I?” she cried. “Yes, crazed to have ever trusted such riff-raff as you. Do as I order you or, by Heaven, you shall feel the bite of this.”

  She made a sudden lunge with her sword and the man nearest to her fell back a pace or two.

  “Touché,” she laughed, “shrink back, you cowards, I will teach you who is Master here. Obey me or I will call in the Dragoons and hand you over. I am not afraid of you, but you shall be afeared of me. You shall learn of my power and my strength and you shall do my bidding or pay for your disobedience and pay for it with your lives.”

  There was a sudden startled silence and then Padlett said hastily,

  “In God’s name, your Ladyship – ”

  But he said no more for a stone flew from the back of the cave. It hit the Marchioness on the shoulder.

  For a second she staggered and then she screamed,

  “Stone me, would you, thieves? For that you shall cry on your knees for mercy.”

  She made a swift movement forward, her sword caught a man unawares on his bare arm and ripped his flesh open.

  But she got no further. Another stone, a big one, caught her between the eyes and, as she staggered with the impact of the blow, there came another and yet another.

  There was a sudden cry of voices, harsh and inhuman, and for one moment Padlett’s voice was high above the rest.

  “Stop it – do you hear? Stop it – ”

  Then he was heard no more.

  Stones were flying through the air, one after another they crashed against her, beating the Marchioness to her knees and then to the ground.

  She gave one cry, but it was lost in the general melee of sound. There was a noise, guttural and thick, such as an animal makes when it pulls down its prey and then suddenly there was only the sound of footsteps running down the tunnel towards the open sea.

  There was a shout, an incoherent noise, a splashing of oars as if they hastily and without caution struck the water.

  Then there was silence.

  The torches lit the great cavern. At the far end a pile of stones partially covered the body of a woman. Her hand thrown on the damp earth was still clutching the great necklaces of rubies and diamonds, which glittered and sparkled in the leaping light.

  There was the lap of the waves and an occasional rumble of distant thunder.

  It was damp and cold and very quiet.

  *

  Justin, driving in at the gate of Mandrake, heard the thunder receding into the distance.

  He had still been some miles from Mandrake when the rain started, but catching only the edge of the storm he had been amply protected by his thick many-caped driving coat.

  As he drew nearer to the house, however, he could see great puddles of water and realised that the storm must have been particularly sharp over the house itself. He drew up in the courtyard, flung the reins to the groom and strode towards the house.

  The door was opened before he reached it and he saw the old butler standing there with a row of attendant footmen.

  He walked in and, as the butler began the speech he had been rehearsing the whole evening after the news had come of his Lordship’s marriage, he gave him such a look that the words died on the man’s lips.

  He could only stand staring after his Lordship, who passed from the outer lobby into the Great Hall. Here Justin dragged off his coat and gloves, still with that frowning darkness in his expression that seemed to freeze the very lips of those who would speak to him.

  His valet, however, who had been waiting in the far corner of the hall, came forward with a note on a silver salver.

  “What is it, Wilkins?” his Lordship enquired and his voice was harsh.

  “’Tis urgent, my Lord,” his valet replied.

  “Urgent?” Justin questioned in a tone of voice of one who finds such a suggestion intolerable.

  “From her Ladyship,” Wilkins said quietly. “She asked that it should be handed to your Lordship the very instant of your arrival.”

  “Her Ladyship?” Justin repeated and it was a question.

  “Yes, my Lord. Her Ladyship made a good journey and was not over-tired on arrival.”

  Justin put out his hand for the note and opened it swiftly. Then it seemed to those who watched as if the darkness disappeared from his face and he was suddenly immeasurably younger.

  Without a word he turned and ran up the wide staircase two steps at a time.

  It was only as he reached the landing that he hesitated for a moment, giving Mrs. Matthews the opportunity to advance towards him, a speech of welcome hovering on her lips.

  She dropped a deep curtsey.

  “Good evening, your Lordship. I have the honour to wish you – ”

  “In which room is her Ladyship?” Justin interrupted.

  The housekeeper drew a deep breath.

  “In the room where she has always been, my Lord. Your Lady mother gave instructions that no changes were to be made – ”

  “So this is the way you treat my wife, is it?” Justin said sharply. “How dare you not receive her correctly? Prepare the Queen’s bedroom immediately. You know as well as I do, Mrs. Matthews, that it is a tradition that the bride of every heir to Mandrake sleeps in the Queen’s bedroom.”

  Mrs. Matthews looked flustered.

  “Yes, my Lord. Of course, my Lord. I beg your pardon, my Lord, but your Lady mother said – ”

  “Do as I command you,” Justin said and then he was gone, leaving the housekeeper still murmuring her apologies and dropping one agitated curtsey after another.

  He hurried along the landing and went up the narrow staircase to the second floor. Only as he reached the passage that led to Serena’s bedroom did he pause for a moment and glance down at the note in his hand as if for reassurance.

  Then he went on again. He saw that her door was wide open and he slowed his pace a little as he drew nearer to it.

  He reached the bedroom and knocked at the door.

  There was no reply and after a moment he spoke,

  “Serena!”

  But there was no answer. He entered the room. It was empty. The fire was burning brightly in the grate, the candles were lit and then he saw, to his surprise, an overturned table, which, in falling had spilt a work-box so that the contents were scattered over the carpet.

  For a moment he stared around him and then looked down at the bolt of the door lying broken on the ground. He gave a gasp and as he did so was conscious of sounds from the room next door.

  He knocked impatiently, but without waiting for a reply, lifted the latch and entered.

  The candles were lit and he saw Eudora lying on the bed, deep snores coming torturously from her open mouth. He moved across to her.

  “Wake up,” Justin called out angrily. “Where is your Mistress?”

  He bent down and shook her by the shoulder. It made not the slightest impression and then, even as Serena had known, he realised that such sleep was unnatural. He turned and went from the room and back into Serena’s bedchamber.

  He stood looking about him and saw the door into the turret. An expression of relief came to his face. He hurried across to it, entered the turret room and saw that the smaller door was open too, revealing the twisting staircase. He hurried down, his feet clanking noisily on the stone steps.

  The door into the library was also open and he hurried in. When he reached the room, it was to see his father’s old valet, whom he had known ever since he was a child, kneeling at his father’s side.

  “Newman,” he exclaimed. “What is the matter?”

  The old man rose to his feet. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, the slow difficult tears of old age.

  “H
is Lordship’s dead, Master Justin,” he said. “He died at his work. It was as he would have wished to go – but – he has gone.”

  Justin crossed slowly to his father’s side. He put out his hand and gently touched his father’s cheek. It was already cold and then, as he felt the hand still holding the pen stretched over the white paper, he gave a sudden exclamation, for he saw that the last word his father had written was ‘finis’.

  “He finished his history,” he said quietly. “That was why he died, Newman, his work was completed.”

  “Oh, Master Justin – God rest his soul!” the old man sobbed.

  “Has anyone been here, Newman?” Justin asked quickly. “The young lady who came the other day? She must have passed through here.”

  “I did not see her,” Newman answered, “but I saw her Ladyship and oh, Master Justin, it was in a terrible way she was, with a naked sword in her hand.”

  “A naked sword? Are you sure?”

  “As sure as I am standing here, Master Justin, and she was seeking someone. She too asked me if I had seen a girl.”

  “Oh, my God!”

  Justin said the words beneath his breath as he pulled open the library door. He glanced down the passage and then he started. The door into the garden was open.

  He could feel the cool air and smell the damp fragrance of the earth, which had been recently drenched by heavy rain.

  He ran down the flight of steps. Yes, the door was open and now he went out into the gardens, standing there listening, his head turned first this way and then that.

  For a moment there was only the sound of the thunder away over the sea and then he heard something else, a dog barking, the deep baying note of a mastiff.

  He began to run towards the sound, running more swiftly than he had run since he left school.

  It was Torqo who led him to the very spot where Serena had fallen over the cliff, Torqo, rushing to the cliff’s edge and then back again, barking distractedly and trying his intelligent best to attract attention to his Mistress’s plight.

  Justin leaned over to see where Serena had fallen.

  The ledge was very narrow and it was a miracle that she had not fallen directly down onto the pointed treacherous rocks hundreds of feet below. Her dress had saved her, for it had caught on the roots of an old tree. It was obvious that she must be moved with the greatest care for there was only a breath between her and utter destruction.

  It took Justin but a few minutes to run back to the house, rouse the staff and return with several stalwart young footmen and a strong rope.

  Carefully they lowered him over the cliff. He would let no one but himself attempt it. It was dangerous both for him and for Serena, for the slightest miscalculation might send them both hurtling down onto the rocks below.

  Very cautiously they lowered him and when at last he held Serena in his arms and shouted to them to pull him up, the men dragged them both to safety.

  They reached the top of the cliff where hands were outstretched ready to take the precious burden from Justin’s arms, but curtly he refused them.

  Shaking himself free of the rope, he carried Serena across the garden into the house and up the stairs to the Queen’s bedroom.

  In the light of the candles in the Great Hall he thought for one frantic moment that she might be dead. She was so pale and her fair hair, soaked by the thunderstorm, streamed onto her shoulders, giving her an almost frightening appearance of frailty.

  “Serena!” he whispered urgently. “Serena!”

  But she could not hear him.

  Only as he reached the bedroom and was lowering her onto the bed did her eyelids flutter and one of her hands, blue with cold, made a feeble movement.

  Very gently Justin laid her down and took his arms from beneath her.

  “Gracious, but her Ladyship is soaked to the skin,” Mrs. Matthews exclaimed, peering anxiously from the opposite side of the bed.

  “Get blankets, hot bricks, brandy,” Justin said sharply.

  “They are coming, my Lord. Pray Heaven they will not be too late.”

  “Serena!”

  There was an agony of fear in his voice now.

  “Serena!”

  Serena gave a convulsive movement and her lips moved.

  “Justin,” she cried. “Justin, oh, save me, save me!”

  Her voice was very low and hardly audible, but even so there was such sheer terror in the cry that those around the bed felt the tears start to their eyes.

  “You are safe – quite safe,” Justin answered. “I have saved you, do you hear me?”

  He took one of her hands in his and started to rub it gently. With a sudden surprising strength she wrenched it from him.

  “Justin,” she called. “Justin, save me!”

  Then in a voice of almost pathetic pleading, she added.

  “Oh, Sir Joker, show me the way. I must get to him. ’Tis urgent, he has fallen! – Justin! Justin! Yes – yes – he is my – my heart’s desire.”

  “Poor Lady, she is delirious,” Mrs. Matthews exclaimed and then, as she said afterwards, her breath was taken from her by the expression on his Lordship’s face.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Serena pushed open the casement window and stood gazing out at the garden.

  The sunshine was warm and golden and the sea reflected the deep blue of the sky. A flight of white pigeons passed over the green lawn.

  Serena turned her head as Eudora entered the room carrying a bouquet of flowers. She brought them to Serena and placed them in her hands.

  “From his Lordship,” she said.

  Serena took them eagerly.

  “They are even lovelier than usual.”

  Eudora nodded.

  “It’s true,” she said. “Never have I beheld such exquisite bouquets as his Lordship has sent you day after day.”

  Serena thought of the deep red roses that Eudora had brought her yesterday, of the purple orchids the day before and the coral pink carnations the day before that.

  Then she saw that today’s flowers were white roses, white orchids and lilies-of-the-valley.

  She looked at them and then down at her dress. She had not realised when she put it on that it was the one she had worn at her Wedding.

  She glanced at Eudora and saw that she too had noticed the coincidence.

  “I am dressed like a bride,” she said, her voice a little shy.

  “’Tis about time you began to behave like one,” Eudora retorted.

  Serena felt the colour rising in her cheeks, but before she could speak, Eudora went on,

  “His Lordship sends his compliments and if you are in good enough health he would be mightily pleased to speak with you at your Ladyship’s convenience in the library.”

  “Oh!”

  Serena scarcely breathed the word, and then, as she did not reply, Eudora declared,

  “Methinks you are in good enough health.”

  Serena laughed.

  “But of course I am! I have been well enough these past two or three days, but you and the doctor have bullied me into staying in bed.”

  “We wisely wanted you to recover,” Eudora said, “and recover you have. Besides ’twas better that you should stay in your room while there were funerals and such like takin’ place.”

  Serena’s eyes darkened for a moment and she looked out of the window.

  “You went?” she asked.

  “We all went, his Lordship’s orders, but none were invited save the staff and tenants of the estate. I have not spoken of it afore, dearie, for fear it would distress you, but ’twas a simple quiet service and somehow I felt that the poor Lady had found peace at last.”

  “That is what I hope she has found,” Serena nodded, “peace!”

  She was silent for a moment as deep in her heart she prayed that the Marchioness’s restless turbulent soul might indeed be at rest.

  Then a thought struck her.

  “You spoke of funerals, Eudora?”

  Eudora nodd
ed.

  “There was someone else buried at the same time. I know not who it was, but ’twas some relation who was entitled to a place in the family vault.”

  “So they were buried together,” Serena said softly.

  “Yes, together,” Eudora answered. “But let’s talk of something more cheerful. It is over and forgotten, dearie, all that you have suffered, all that you have been through. There is the future ahead of you.”

  Serena put her hand up to her cheek.

  “Yes, I know, but oh, Eudora, I am afraid.”

  “Afraid of his Lordship?” Eudora asked. “Why should you be now that you know there is no reason for you not to be kind to him.”

  “ – Kind to him!” Serena repeated the words with a little sob and then quickly, as if she would hide her emotions even from Eudora, she asked, “He has enquired for me since I have been – indisposed?”

  “Every day,” Eudora answered. “You know that.”

  Serena looked round the room. How lovely it was!

  The Queen’s room, the room where all the brides of the Vulcans slept when they first came to Mandrake. It was a room that seemed as if it was made for love, its white satin curtains were embroidered with cupids, posies of flowers and true lovers’ knots of blue ribbon. The great four-poster bed too was hung with embroideries made by loving hands hundreds of years ago, and the brocaded walls were covered with silver-framed mirrors reflecting and re-reflecting the windows that opened onto the terrace.

  It was a room of sunshine, a room made for happiness, and Serena thought how, when she had lain in the secret vastness of the great bed, she had hidden her face in the pillow because of the thoughts that it had brought her – thoughts of Justin.

  And now the moment had come when she must go downstairs to meet him.

  It was strange to think that she had not spoken to him since her Wedding Day, since that moment when she had left Grosvenor Square because she thought that he loved La Flamme.

  How crazy it seemed to her now! How foolishly impetuous she had been not to have made certain before she turned away from her heart’s desire and subjected herself to all the dangers that were waiting for her at Mandrake.

  Yes, she had been foolish and now the moment of reparation was upon her and she was afraid.