The Castle

by Barbara Cartland

  Valeria sat huddled beside the flames and sipped the soup, trying to warm herself.

  When the doctor entered the room, she jumped up.

  “How is he?” she asked him urgently.

  The doctor made a vague movement with his hand. He looked tired and defeated.

  Her heart in her mouth, Valeria persuaded him to sit down in an armchair and helped him to soup and a glass of brandy.

  He thanked her with a sigh.

  “Miss Montford,” he began. “Lord Waterford has suffered concussion. I have shaved the area around the wound and stitched it up. He was lucky not to have had his skull cracked open. As it is, there is a minor fracture.”

  “Minor?” Valeria’s heart lifted a little. “Then he will recover?”

  “I cannot say, Miss Montford. An injury such as this could mean the patient remaining in a coma for some considerable time. He may regain consciousness or – ”

  His shoulders lifted in a small shrug.

  Valeria went icy cold.

  “What can be done for him?” she whispered.

  “Keep him warm, that is extremely important. Try to feed him a little broth from time to time. Talk to him.

  “We never know how much unconscious patients can hear and I have known of cases where family – and friends,” he added with a compassionate look at Valeria, “continually talk to their loved ones and they might very well have played a part in their recovery.”

  “I will do everything I can and I am sure that Lady Stratfield will do all in her power to help too.”

  “You seem a sensible young lady, Miss Montford, and Lord Waterford appears fortunate in his staff. I will arrange for nurses, but I do repeat that it is familiar voices around him that may prove the best cure.

  “It is essential that his Lordship is watched over at all times. I have left his valet sitting by his bed. The butler has assured me that all the staff are willing to take on this duty. He appears to have earned considerable loyalty.”

  He finished his soup noisily, downed the glass of brandy and then stood up, apparently refreshed.

  “I shall be back in the morning – ”

  The moment the doctor had left, Valeria went back upstairs to Lord Waterford’s bedroom.

  She gave a soft knock on the door.

  The valet opened it.

  “How is his Lordship, George?”

  “Struggling, Miss Montford, definitely struggling.”

  Valeria gently pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

  “I have come to sit with his Lordship. The doctor says it will help for friends and relations to talk to him.”

  The valet looked rather doubtful and Valeria sat on the chair beside the bed.

  “I will be here if anything should be needed, Miss Montford,” murmured George.

  Nothing seemed to have changed in the condition of Lord Waterford.

  Valeria’s heart contracted as she saw how bloodless his face seemed to be and heard once again the laboured manner of his breathing.

  Gently she took his hand in hers. It was cold and she started to rub it gently, looking at him closely to see if there was any indication that he felt her touch.

  There was nothing.

  Speaking calmly, she began,

  “Lord Waterford, it is Valeria. I saw you attacked. I am so sorry for your injury, but Doctor Marshall says that it is minor and that you will soon be well. I have come to tell you all about the textiles I selected yesterday.”

  As she said this, Valeria remembered her encounter with Sir Peter and she took a quick breath.

  Then she forced the memory away.

  She never wished to see Sir Peter again.

  She knew now that the only man who could ever mean anything to her was the one lying here on the bed in front of her.

  As she talked, she looked at the contours of the face she now knew so well.

  She allowed her eyes to gaze, almost greedily, on his beautifully rounded cheekbones, the well-shaped nose and the fine mouth, now slightly open.

  The eyes, that could crinkle so with laughter, that could be so kind and so searching, were closed and it was as though a door had been closed on Lord Waterford, the man Valeria so wanted to be able to call by his given name.

  ‘Charles’ was such a splendid name.

  Had she now lost all chance, all possibility of him looking at her again with the love that had been in his eyes at the beginning? Then she had scorned him, then she had fallen for the easy flashy charms of Sir Peter Cousins.

  Looking back at her past with the two men, Valeria mourned her stupidity.

  Lord Waterford had never humiliated her, she had humiliated herself.

  She had desired surface glitter, easy compliments and the sort of smart chat that meant nothing in the end.

  Now she felt older and wiser. Now she knew that true love was like a plant with roots deep in the earth that could not easily be damaged by wind or flood.

  Valeria paused in her account of matching braids and fringes for The Castle.

  More than anything in the world she wanted to tell Lord Waterford, Charles, that she loved him more than life itself.

  But the valet sitting at the back of the room stopped her. So instead she concentrated on telling him everything she had planned for The Castle. It would not matter that most of it he already knew.

  The thing was to keep talking.

  For Valeria it was as if her voice was providing a thread that could drag the man she loved back from some dark unknown fate.

  At some point the valet opened the curtains and the light gradually strengthened until the sun rose and another lovely day dawned.

  For her, however, the day could never be blessed with any sunshine until the man lying senseless on the bed managed to open his eyes and smile at her.

  Someone brought her coffee, placed it on a small table by her side and begged her to drink it.

  Her voice was hoarse with the hours of talking and she kept her hold of Lord Waterford’s hand, but managed to savour the coffee gratefully at the same time continuing talking between sips.

  Later Doctor Marshall arrived back, bringing with him a sensible-looking nurse.

  He looked startled to see Valeria by the bed, Lord Waterford’s hand firmly in her grasp and still dressed in the same simple gown she was wearing last night.

  Reluctantly she released his hand and rose.

  The valet came forward and looked at his Master.

  “He seems better. His breathing is easier.”

  It was true, Valeria realised. It still was not normal, but the awful snoring aspect had softened.

  “I will let you examine your patient, doctor,” said Valeria and left the room.

  Outside she leaned against the door for a moment.

  Exhaustion flooded over her and she had to sit on one of the chairs in the corridor.

  “Valeria, my dear, have you been here all night?”

  Susan laid a hand on her shoulder.

  “How is Charles?”

  Valeria closed her eyes for a moment.

  “Still unconscious. The doctor’s with him and he has brought a nurse.”

  “That’s splendid. I am sure that Charles will soon be back with us. Come with me, let’s go and have some breakfast, you look quite done in.”

  Gently she helped Valeria to her feet and took her downstairs to the morning room.

  Halfway through breakfast, the butler appeared.

  “My Lady, may I have a few words please?”

  “Of course, Hawkins. What is it? Oh, don’t worry about Miss Montford, you can speak in front of her.”

  “It is just that – it’s a question of contacting the police, my Lady.”

  “The police!” Susan sounded horrified.

  “Lord Waterford has been attacked, my Lady.”

  Susan sat still, drumming her fingers on the table.

  “Do we know why my brother was in the Park so late at night?”

  “No, my Lady.”r />
  “Thank you, Hawkins. We’ll speak about it again later. But for now, no police.”

  “No, my Lady.”

  Hawkins glided from the room.

  Susan looked at Valeria.

  “And how was it that you were there too, ready to scream for help?”

  Valeria blushed deep crimson and could not think of anything sensible to say.

  Susan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  “Last night an old friend of mine mentioned seeing you in the company of a certain Sir Peter Cousins in an unlikely area on the edge of City. I said he must have been mistaken. But was he?”

  Again Valeria could think of nothing to say.

  “Were you slipping out for a rendezvous with that devil in Green Park? God knows enough women imagine that he is attractive.”

  She looked flustered.

  “I suppose I had better confess that I was once one of them. But the man is a cad. I would not have dreamed you could be involved with him, but your silence has to be read as guilt.”

  “No! Sir Peter means nothing to me.”

  “And so you were not meeting him in the Park last night?”

  “Of course not.

  “But you were there – and so was my brother.”

  Valeria could not bring herself to say she believed that it was Lord Waterford who had the assignation.

  Susan put her hand to her forehead.

  “This is all too much for me. I cannot be expected to make sense of a situation that’s impossible to fathom. It will have to wait until Charles regains consciousness.

  “But,” her voice sharpened. “Till then, we shall not have the police interfering around here. Charles must have been attacked by a cowardly thief and there would be no witnesses and the police would be unlikely to find who it was, so it would be useless to involve them.”

  Then the doctor was shown into the room.

  Susan immediately rose and went to him.

  “How is my poor brother, doctor?”

  “Your Ladyship, Miss Montford, I am pleased to report that Lord Waterford does seem a little better today. He is still unconscious, however, and I would suggest that talking to him as I understand that Miss Montford has been doing, can do nothing but good.”

  After assuring them that he would return later that day, Doctor Marshall took his leave.

  Susan looked at Valeria.

  “You have been talking to Charles?”

  “Only of the most ordinary of matters such as the restoration work at The Castle. The doctor said it could be very beneficial for a familiar voice to talk to him, although whether he is capable of hearing is a question that cannot be answered.”

  “Then, I suppose – ” muttered Susan indecisively, “it is my duty to go and sit with him.”

  Valeria followed her upstairs. The little breakfast she had eaten had given her renewed energy.

  Susan approached the bed and looked down at her unconscious brother. The nurse sitting by the bed rose on her entrance and dipped a curtsy.

  “There is no change, my Lady.”

  Valeria saw Susan grip her hands together.

  “Oh, oh, Charles!” she moaned.

  She collapsed onto the chair, then placed her head in her hands and burst into a storm of weeping.

  Valeria placed an arm around her.

  “Come along, Susan, this will not do him any good. You must be strong, come with me and we will find your maid and a soothing draught.”

  Later Valeria left Susan lying on her bed, returned to Lord Waterford’s bedroom and once again sat by him, holding his hand and talking to him.

  This time she related the story of her stay in France, their meeting out on the hillside and the rescue of the little girl in the château moat.

  “You were so brave,” she reminisced, with a catch in her voice. “Without you I think both Marie and I would have drowned.”

  The nurse moved slightly and Valeria realised that she too, if not the unconscious man, had been enthralled by the story she had heard.

  Valeria’s voice was by now no more than a croak and not even a cup of tea could rescue it.

  Hawkins came to her side.

  “Miss Montford, you must have a rest. It will be of no use to his Lordship if you collapse. After a rest, you can return and take up your watch again.”

  His craggy face was kind and Valeria realised that he understood just how concerned she was for his Master.

  She realised that he was right. She was so tired she could hardly stand.

  “Thank you, Hawkins. You are most thoughtful.”

  “I will talk to his Lordship for a while. He knows my voice well.”

  Wearily she dragged herself to her room. Her maid helped her out of her dress and into bed.

  “Please wake me up in an hour,” asked Valeria as she sank into sleep.

  *

  It was, however, much, much later when she finally awoke. Donning a fresh gown, she went quickly to Lord Waterford’s bedroom.

  Little had changed in his condition and he seemed no nearer consciousness.

  The butler had given way to the valet, who was in the middle of a long description of a new fashion. When he saw Valeria, he jumped up so she could take his place.

  Once again Valeria took hold of Lord Waterford’s hand and talked to him about everything they had done since coming to London for the Queen’s Jubilee.

  As she talked him through all the Celebration balls, she suddenly thought of Lady Mere, of the assignations she was convinced were the reason for his nightly visits to the Park.

  The longer she remained at Lord Waterford’s side, talking to him, the more she thought about Lady Mere.

  Had she been frightened off by the attack on Lord Waterford? Was she awaiting news of him?

  Later that evening, Hawkins appeared and said he would relieve her for a while.

  “Hawkins, has anybody called at the house today enquiring after Lord Waterford?”

  Hawkins looked surprised.

  “Why, no, miss. No one.”

  How odd. But perhaps, decided Valeria’s exhausted mind, Lady Mere did not want to betray her involvement with Lord Waterford. Perhaps, even now, she was waiting in Green Park to see if he would come to her.

  Valeria knew how consumed with worry she would be in her place, so she decided she must go into Green Park and see if a woman was waiting there.

  She refused to listen to a small voice at the back of her mind that she herself might be attacked.

  She went into the drawing room and opened one of the French windows. It was another warm night. No need for any sort of wrap.

  Noiselessly she slipped out of the house.

  Then she was in Green Park itself, surrounded by the tall trees, the green grass stretching ahead of her.

  Lying on the ground like the previous night were any number of sleeping figures.

  She could not see anyone standing near the house, male or female, but the amount of greenery around the end of the garden made it difficult to see.

  Valeria stepped a little way into the Park.

  Almost immediately two shrouded figures began to move threateningly towards her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Valeria was too terrified to scream.

  She wanted to turn and run back to the house, but her tired body refused to obey.

  The two figures ambled up to her.

  They were tramps, their clothes ragged and dirty with broken boots tied onto their feet with string, but they no longer seemed quite so threatening.

  “’Ow’s the gent, then,” asked the first one.

  Valeria remained frozen to the spot.

  “It was you ’ere last night, wasn’t it, missus?”

  Valeria pulled herself together and thought that she knew what this was all about.

  “It was you who fought Lord Waterford’s attacker, wasn’t it?”

  The two men shuffled in an embarrassed manner.

  “’E’s a good sort, you see,” said the
first. “Wanted to give Alf and me a chance for a new life.”

  “Our mate, Percy, ’e’d already taken ’im up on it and Bob ’ere thought ’e’d ’ave a go,” the second explained.

  “A new life?” Valeria exclaimed, bewildered.

  “’Ere, let’s go nearer the ’ouse. Don’t want no one gangin’ up on you, miss.”

  They melted into the shade of a large shrub by the garden gate. Valeria, suspicious but feeling that so close to the house there was little to fear, moved nearer to them.

  “Now,” she began, “maybe you can tell me exactly what this is all about. “

  Gradually, as she questioned the two of them, it all became clear.

  Lord Waterford had offered to provide these down-and-outs jobs with on his country estate. He had told them he had a place where they could live, jobs for them, as long as they did not mind hard work.

  “We said we’d give it a go,” added Bob.

  Now that her eyes were accustomed to the dark, she could make out a lined face with beetle eyebrows.

  “Sleepin’ in the Park’s alright when the weather’s like this, but in winter with the rain and snow it ain’t no joke.”

  “At first we thought it were a scam of some sort,” Alf came in – taller than Bob, his face even more lined.

  “Didn’t seem to be any reason why a bang-up cove like ’im would take any notice of, well, chaps like us, so us says if he returned another night and made the same offer, then we’d prob’ly take it.”

  “So Lord Waterford hasn’t been meeting a woman in the Park?” Valeria enquired hopefully.

  “Lor’ luv a duck no! Is that what folks thought?”

  “Only me,” she assured them. “I don’t think anyone else was aware that he was meeting anyone in the Park.”

  “’Ow is he? ’Ell of a whack that blighter give ’im.”

  “He’s been unconscious ever since,” said Valeria, tears coming to her eyes as a vision of Lord Waterford’s inert body flashed before her eyes.

  “You were very good to go for that man, whoever he was. You didn’t see him properly, I suppose?”

  Bob shook his head gloomily.

  “’E ’ad an ’ood on. And he ’opped it pretty damn quick, pardon my language, miss, but if I comes across ’im any time during the next week or so, I’ll know ’im by the bloody great scars my nails made on ’is face. I got right under that Balaclava!”