The Prince and the Nun

by Jacqueline George

  “It was wonderful, Ma’am. I’d never imagined–I mean–I suppose you ladies and gentlemen know more. I never thought it could be like that!”

  She grinned to herself in the dark. If only you knew, Rado, if only you knew.

  Chapter 23

  In the morning Rado returned to his hideaway before she unlocked the door. She felt guilty as she smiled to the guard and went off to breakfast.

  She decided to bring a girl who knew nothing of what had happened the night before; her naturalness would be the best means of smothering any suspicions. She came back with Meike carrying the breakfast tray, and they climbed the stairs. The soldier filled in his log and was just starting to follow them when they came running down to give him the news. Therese had to repeat it twice before he turned white and ran upstairs.

  He ran back down again, completely unmanned. “What’ll I do, Your Honour? The Sergeant will kill me. I didn’t do nothing, Your Honour. God’s my witness that I didn’t even go up there! What’ll I do?”

  “Meike, run and get Timko. He’ll know what to do. Stand up, soldier. It’s not your fault.”

  “But the Sergeant…”

  “Shut up, soldier. Attention, and wait until Timko gets here.”

  Timko came running with Meike in his wake. He went to look at the empty room himself, unable to believe what he had heard. “Your Honour, I’ll run for the Sergeant and Captain Mefist. If you would be kind enough to wait here and make sure no one goes up?”

  Sergeant Grossner was not panicked by unpleasant events. He came heavily down the stairs and said, “Well, here’s a fine thing, Your Honour. Captain Mefist’s not going to like this. Nor the General, not to mention Drazevich. Never mind. Timko, you run along and turn Lukas out of bed. If he’s been sleeping on duty…. I want him up here at the double. Tell him the General’ll be here like as not, so he’d better look like a soldier when he gets here.”

  He stood calmly beside her for a while and then turned his attention to the soldier. “Semenov, did you relieve Lukas on time? What did you do?”

  “Sergeant, I came up just before seven. Lukas was here, ready to go, so I just sat down and he went.”

  “Did he say anything about last night?”

  “No, Sergeant. I asked what’s the news, and he just said it had been very quiet. The Mistress here had gone up around eleven thirty, and that was it.”

  “And he didn’t hear anything?”

  “He didn’t say nothing, Sergeant.”

  Grossner turned to Therese. “When do you think it happened, your Honour? Did you hear anything yourself?”

  She pretended to consider. “No, Sergeant. Not that I’d expect to. That’s a solid oak door to my room. Unless someone clumps past in heavy boots, I wouldn’t hear them.

  “I don’t know when it could have happened. I can hear if someone is walking around up in the storeroom, but the prisoner would have been trying to be as quiet as possible. I suppose he could have gone while I was in the club last night, but how did he get past the sentry? The sentry might have been asleep in the middle of the night, but I’m sure he was awake when I came back to bed.”

  “Oh, well. We’ll let the officers sort it out. That’s what they’re for.”

  Mefist was frustrated by the whole thing. “Damn! Now we’re going to be sending reports and answering queries forever. Sergeant, keep an eye on the guard. Have you sent for the night guard? Good. When he gets here, just keep the pair of them until we get a chance to question them. This is going to be a big waste of time. No one will admit to knowing anything, and I’m sure the man is long gone. Meike, my dear, would you please run up to the General’s office and say Captain Mefist sends his respect and could he please come because the prisoner has escaped. Don’t forget to say I’m sending my respect.”

  He started wearily up the stairs and then called her. “You’d better come along, Therese. Show me what’s what.”

  The door swung half-open, as they’d left it minutes ago. The breakfast tray with its sausage, bread and coffee was still on the step. They pushed the door open. The room looked small and dusty. Rado’s mattress lay below the arrow slit. Behind the door, the toolbox lay open on the floor with tools around it.

  Mefist tried to understand what had happened. “Where did he get the tools? There’s a whole box of them. Don’t tell me that Drazevich left the prisoner a whole box of sharp tools to amuse himself with. I can’t believe anyone brought them up here, so they must have been stored.” A thought struck him, and he went back to the door. “Sergeant, come up here and bring Semenov with you.”

  “Sergeant, he didn’t get out through the window, and for the sake of Lukas’s hide, we’d better assume he didn’t just walk down the stairs, so it’s just possible he’s still hiding here. I’ll stand by the door and the two of you start searching the furniture. Just be careful; he might have a knife or something sharp.”

  Mefist retreated to the doorway with Therese. “Suppose he didn’t go down the stairs; could he have gone upstairs? There’s only the way to the gallery up there, isn’t there?”

  “There’s nothing up there, unless he can fly. But Mefist, he was chained to the radiator.”

  “What?”

  “That’s right. He was chained by one wrist to the radiator with handcuffs. How did he get them off? When I first got here Drazevich had his wrists and ankles pulled tight and chained behind his back. That man is worse than an animal.”

  “Semenov, was the prisoner properly handcuffed?”

  “Last time I saw him, Your Honour. We opened the cuffs to let him eat and did ’em up again afterwards. That was yesterday morning, but Lukas’ll know about last night, Your Honour.”

  “Are you finding anything, Sergeant?”

  “No, Your Honour, we’re about done and there’s nowhere big enough for a man.”

  “Mmh. Let’s carry on up, Therese.”

  She followed him up the spiral stairs until they reached the small door onto the roof. It was ajar, and snow had blown in onto the steps. “Oh, I’d forgotten about this,” she said, “It goes onto the roof. He must have gone out there…”

  The angry voice of the General came up the stairs, and Mefist turned and ran. Therese stayed where she was for the moment; she wanted to give the General time to blow off steam.

  He came up the stairs a few minutes later. Therese could see his anger. “Morning, Therese. Fine mess this is. Drazevich trying to start a private prison up here instead of using the perfectly good lock-up in the village. Serves him damn well right. So what we got here?”

  “The door was ajar, General. I haven’t touched anything.”

  “Well, open it then. Let’s have a look.”

  The snow had piled deep outside. Across the open roofs it lay thickly, and up against the battlements it was waist deep. A narrow furrow showed where someone had pushed through, walking along the gutter between the slope of the roof and the castellation of the battlement.

  “That’s where he’s gone, I suppose. Mefist, take that guard and find out where he went. Have the Sergeant bring the night guard to my office. I’ll get some patrols out, but I’ll be surprised if they catch the fellow now. The snow’s coming on again, so there’ll be no tracks. Therese, my dear, can you tell me anything? Anything you saw or heard?”

  “Nothing, I’m afraid, General. I know he was properly handcuffed when I left last night. I did it myself.”

  “Oh well. There’s no telling how clever a man can become when his life’s at stake. I’d better get back. Come and have tea with me this afternoon. I’ll need to see a sensible face by then, I’m sure. Oh, and bring Meike too, and whoever was with you last night. I’ll get someone to type out statements while we have tea, and you can sign them before you leave.”

  He turned and left. Suddenly Therese became conscious of Mefist looking at her very thoughtfully.

  Chapter 24

  Therese sat in her office, sick with worry. She wanted to get Rado out of the castle as soon as
possible and take advantage of the snow now falling. He could only leave when it was snowing, or his tracks would invite pursuit.

  There was a tap on the door, and Mikhail came in. “I’ve brought your shelf, Ma’am. Can I fit it now?”

  Mikhail was dusty and smelt of freshly sawn pine. As he measured and marked the wall, he spoke under his breath. “When do you want the things, Ma’am?”

  “I think it had better be tonight.”

  “Dear, oh dear. That’s not much time. How does he want to go out? Through the coal-hole like the trail you laid?”

  “I thought he’d go down the wall. Is that alright?”

  “That’s best. Tell him that if he looks in the bottom of the shrine by the wagon park, he’ll find a blanket and a bag of things. Now, how am I going to get the rope to you? Is this room safe?”

  “It hasn’t been searched, but God knows what they’ll do when Lieutenant Drazevich comes back. After all, the trail goes down the steps on the other side of that door.”

  “When will you be in your bedroom? I can bring it there.”

  “I suppose I could go there at dinner time.”

  “That’s right, Ma’am. You go down to the refectory when you’re ready and ask them to bring your dinner to your room. Will you be able to carry it to him tonight?”

  “Don’t worry about that, Mikhail. Just get me the rope.”

  She went to the refectory after they had finished with the General. It had embarrassed her to sit and maintain the lie for so long, although it did not seem to trouble Maria and Dorota. Meike was still ignorant of what had happened.

  She waited alone in her room until a girl came to the door. “Your dinner, Ma’am,” she called out.

  A plump serving girl pushed in with a tray and laid it on the bed. Therese recognized her face; her name was–yes, that was it, her name was Tanya. “Help me please, Ma’am,” and she started to undo her apron and pull off her dress. A long rope wound tightly around her body like a severe corset.

  Therese undid the end of the rope and started to pull it from her. Tanya spun like a top as they hurried to get it off. The rope piled up on the floor until she was free to collapse onto the bed. “Beg pardon, Ma’am. My head’s going round; I got dizzy enough putting it on, and that was a lot slower.”

  “Take your time, Tanya. You’re a very brave girl.”

  “Oh no, Ma’am! It’s just that Mikhail asked. He’s my grandfather, you know. He said I wasn’t to tell no one. Not even my mother.”

  “That’s right. Not a word because if the police take you off, they’ll get the truth out of you one way or another, believe me, and then we’ll all be in deep trouble.”

  “I won’t say nothing, Ma’am, you can trust me.”

  “I’m sure I can, Tanya. Now, let’s get you dressed again.”

  She passed the rope up to Rado along with the sandwiches and sat down to wait until the club opened.

  They did not move until midnight. With Rado carrying his boots, they crept silently up the stairs and opened the door to the roof. He still limped, but he could move much more freely than the night before. The snow outside lay soft and deep, and it was still falling. The marks of this morning’s activity had gone.

  Thankful that she did not have to push through it as Maria had done the night before, she stood holding the rope while Rado put his boots on. He tucked in his scarf and fastened his jacket. Securing the rope around the battlement took moments, and then he was ready to go.

  He took her by the shoulders. “Thank you from my heart, Ma’am. You and the girls have saved my life. Now you’ve given me a chance, I’ll survive.” He pulled her roughly to him and kissed her firmly on her lips. “And thank you for last night. It was heavenly. If I thought it would happen again, I think I’d stay.”

  “Get on with you, Rado, and if you ever breathe a word of what happened last night… If Jana ever found out, I don’t think she’d ever talk to me again.”

  “Oh, she and father will love you. If you ever need anything, just ask them. If it’s possible, they’ll do it without question.”

  He pushed the snow off the battlement and swung out into the darkness. The rope moved rhythmically as he worked his way down and slackened when he reached the bottom. Therese leant out and looked down. She could make out the white of his face looking up. Quickly she lifted the rope off the battlement and dropped it after him. He coiled the rope and, keeping to shadows at the foot of the wall, he left. She waved but thought he did not see her.

  Her bed welcomed her. At last she felt safe again. A big laugh was welling up inside her, and she felt happy. She had really helped someone, and it felt very good. She had even made love to him–well, sort of made love to him. That had felt good too, although she would not have done it if she had not been sorry for him. Still, she had to admit to herself, it had felt very good anyway.

  The snow was still falling next morning, and the village was out of reach at the foot of the hill. Therese wondered how Rado would fare in weather like this, and whether he had managed to get the supplies Mikhail had prepared. The Tergov road would be deep in snow, and Lieutenant Drazevich would not return today. She shrugged her shoulders at the thought.

  Mefist came to her office in the morning. The isolation brought by the snow was a pleasant feeling, and he had less work to do. Over a coffee, they chatted until he looked her in the eye and asked, “So tell me. Is he still hiding in your room?”

  She opened her mouth to deny it but could not. “He’s gone; how did you know?” she asked sheepishly.

  “You can’t keep secrets from me, my dear. I just watched you lying to the General and realized you’d been up to something. It took a little while, but I worked it out in the end.”

  “Who else knows?”

  “Why no one, of course. Who else is there to tell? But explain to me; why didn’t you send him out straight away?”

  “He couldn’t go. Drazevich had kicked him so much and beaten his feet so that he couldn’t walk properly. Even last night was difficult. And anyway, it took time to get supplies together for him, and I wanted him out of that storeroom before Drazevich came back.”

  “You’ve been a very naughty girl. Playing with things like that could get you and your friends into very serious trouble, and neither the General nor I would be able to help you.” Therese felt herself turning red and said nothing.

  “Very well–this time. Now, the General is hosting an evening of cards in the club tonight. Bridge and canasta. I think it’s probably better if the girls don’t play, but they’d better all be there to serve drinks, and console us if we lose. Can I invite you?”

  “Invite me to my own club? Of course. I know the Count has some card tables somewhere. I’ll see if I can get them. Anything else you need?”

  “No. Just your lovely self. I’ll see you tonight.”

  The General’s evening started early. He commanded that all drinks should be put on his bill, and play commenced. The players drawn to bridge concentrated fiercely on their play and rarely looked at the girls. Elsewhere things were more relaxed, and as the noise and frivolity increased, the girls became busier running to and fro to the bar. They also started to disappear off to their rooms.

  Therese rested her chin on her hand and was watching the fun from the other side of the bar when a shout of female rage echoed down the corridor. The noise in the club stopped instantly, and they heard the sound of a door being flung open. Footsteps ran down the corridor. Lieutenant Nielsen burst into the room. He was completely naked, and his erect pole lashed from side to side as he ran. Behind him came his nemesis. Maria, equally naked, was running behind him and beating him with the heel of her shoe. Her breasts swung wildly as she struck him about the shoulders, and her face was contorted in fury.

  Nielsen looked quickly around him and disappeared down the stairs. Maria stood in confusion in the middle of the room.

  “Maria!” shouted Therese. “Go to your room this instant!”

  She looke
d at Therese, and then turned to run away. The silence in the club carried on for a beat, and then disappeared in a wave of laughter. Therese could not comprehend what she had seen or the mayhem she saw now. People were rocking in laughter and holding their stomachs in pain. Even the General was roaring.

  Mefist staggered up to her. “Therese, you have to tell us what happened. Please…”

  Therese knocked on Maria’s door and went in. She was sitting on the bed crying. Lieutenant Nielsen’s clothes were draped over the chair, and his boots stood neatly below them. Therese sat beside Maria and put her arm around her.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “He tried to put it in the wrong place,” she sobbed. “He was a bit drunk. We were just doing it normally, and he took it out and tried to put it in the wrong hole. He hurt me!”

  “What? Oh, poor Maria. Why did he do that? Was it an accident?”

  “No,” she said, still crying. “I tried to stop him, but he just kept pushing. I feel so ashamed…” and she dissolved in more sobbing.

  Therese’s temper rose. Maria was one of her girls; how dare Nielsen do such a thing to her? What was wrong with him anyway, wanting to do such a filthy thing? She patted Maria on the shoulder and went back to the club. Everyone waited expectantly, but Therese spoke only to Mefist, and in a low voice.

  To her surprise, her story only broadened his smile. “That Nielsen!” he said. “His father was a diplomat and sent him to one of those terrible English schools. That’s where he got a taste for bottoms. I’m glad to say he’s discovered women now and given up boys, but it looks as if he still likes a bit of variety. How’s Maria?”

  “Alright, I think. More surprised than hurt, but she feels terribly ashamed.”

  “I should imagine she is surprised if she’s never done it before. Never mind; come and tell the General.”

  The General laughed at the story, confusing Therese even more, and then he asked for Maria to be brought to him. Therese went to lead her out.