“Of course not,” her brother smiled. “But you still see her?”
“Only in Church now. When her father died, the servants told me she had been left with no money. Then, while I was plucking up the courage to ask Mama if I could be kind to her, I heard that she had moved to the Vicarage to help Mrs. Bredon with all those children.”
“I should think that would be a dog’s life,” the Viscount remarked.
“Mrs. Bredon is kind, but there are five children.”
“I should think that in the circumstances,” Shane pointed out, “she would be delighted to get away from them for a bit and stay at somewhere like Charl Castle.”
“Do you really mean that?” Charlotte asked.
The Viscount was thinking.
“I cannot believe that we would find a prettier girl if we searched the whole County, and if, as Charlotte says, her father was a gentleman, she will know how to behave.”
Charlotte looked from one to the other.
“Oh, Richard, this is a wonderful idea! If I ask Alana to come for my sake, I am sure she would. I think she was really fond of me and actually I have missed seeing her since her father died.”
The Viscount looked at his friend.
“Shall we give it a try, Shane? It really would be a jest if we could pull the Prince’s leg and deceive him into being fooled by a girl who is nothing but a mother’s helper at the Vicarage.”
“I think it depends on whether she is as attractive as you say she is,” Shane said, “and also if she can act the part of a grand lady.”
“We also have to get her into Charl Castle somehow. We can hardly appear and tell the Prince that we have brought the Queen of Sheba with us because she thought that she would like to see his house.”
“I could say that she was staying with me,” Charlotte suggested. “As neither Mama nor Papa is coming with me, there is no reason for Aunt Odele to be suspicious. She does not know any of my friends anyway.”
“We might get away with it,” the Viscount ruminated doubtfully and then he gave a cry.
“I have it! I have a splendid idea!”
“What is it?” Charlotte asked breathlessly.
“If you can get this girl to agree to come with us, we will say that she is Shane’s sister, Lady Alana O’Derry!”
“My sister?” Shane exclaimed. “I have two of them, but the eldest is only fifteen.”
“How is the Prince to know that?”
“Aunt Odele might know,” Charlotte commented.
“As a matter of fact, there are lots of O’Derrys in Ireland,” Shane replied. “I think it would be better if she was my cousin, Papa’s brother, from whom he inherited the title, had several daughters.”
“Then she is your first cousin,” the Viscount agreed. “She has arrived unexpectedly from Ireland to stay with us and so we could do nothing but bring her with us to Charl Castle. Does that sound plausible?”
“It sounds perfect,” Charlotte cried. “But I have to get Alana to – agree.”
“We could pay her to come. I am sure she could do with twenty pounds or more if she insists.”
“I have a feeling,” Charlotte responded, “that to offer her money would be a mistake. Mr. Wickham was very proud and I am sure that Alana is too. I think it would be better if I told her the truth and asked her to help me.”
“Do you think she would?”
“I hope she would. She is very idealistic and I am sure that she would be shocked at my being pushed into marriage with a man I have never even seen – especially as I love Shane.”
“Well, you persuade her any way you like,” the Viscount said, “as long as she agrees.”
“I can only try my best.”
“We will tell Mama that we are going driving tomorrow morning. We will leave you at the Vicarage and pick you up again about an hour later.”
“That is a good idea,” Charlotte replied. “I might have seen Alana in that way before now if I had thought of it, but you know what Mama has always been like about our mixing with anyone in the village.”
They all knew that this was true.
The Earl and Countess of Storrington always kept themselves very much apart from what they called ‘the locals’.
Once a year the Vicar and Mrs. Bredon were invited to dinner with the doctor and his wife and one or two other people who lived on the Earl’s vast estates but were not considered important enough to be on intimate terms with those who lived in the Big House.
Their real friends included all the important County families who lived within driving distance and those who came from London for several weeks’ rest in the country during the summer or for shooting, hunting and grand balls in the winter.
Charlotte had not been allowed to take part in such activities, being still in the schoolroom, but it did not worry her because when Richard was at home, Shane was nearly always with him and she had no wish to see anyone else.
The Earl and Countess had three younger children, all boys, who were at the moment at boarding schools.
As if he felt now that they had made a decision and the tension of Charlotte’s news was for the moment somewhat relaxed, the Viscount picked up the letter from their aunt, which he had flung on the floor and handed it back to his sister.
“If you take my advice,” he said, “you will wash your face and try to look a bit more cheerful. It’s no use letting Mama have the idea that you intend to oppose this marriage. It might make her put Aunt Odele on her guard. We must all behave quite naturally until we find out if Alana What’s-her-name will help you.”
“That is very sensible,” Shane agreed.
He pulled Charlotte a little closer to him as he said,
“You had better do as Richard says and try not to be unhappy, my dearest. We will save you somehow, if not in this way, then we will find another.”
“Do you mean that – do you really – mean it?” Charlotte asked.
“Prince or no Prince, I am not going to let you marry him or any other man, that I swear!”
There was a possessive note in Shane’s voice that brought a light to Charlotte’s eyes and a smile to her lips as she murmured,
“Darling – I have been so – frightened.”
“Trust Richard and me.”
“I do.”
She kissed Shane’s cheek as she rose from the chair and then took the letter from her brother’s hand.
“Thank you, Richard – thank you – thank you!” she quavered. “You are the most wonderful brother in the world.”
Without waiting for him to reply, she went from the room.
Shane rose to his feet.
“Do you think we have a chance?” he asked in a low voice.
“We can only hope and pray,” the Viscount replied. “You know what the Prince is like. Charlotte could never cope with a man like him.”
“The whole idea makes me want to kill him,” Shane protested fiercely. “I swear to you, that is what I will do rather than let Charlotte marry him.”
“Hold on, old boy. I know what your Irish temper is like. I cannot have Charlotte a widow before she is even married.”
“I bet you that this is entirely your aunt’s idea.”
“Of course it is! She is madly in love with the man, just as all his other women are, and she thinks that if he has a nice innocent girl like Charlotte as his wife, she will not be aware of what is going on behind her back.”
“The whole thing makes me sick!” Shane said. “I promise you this, Richard, if we cannot save Charlotte by making a fool of the Prince, then I will either kill him or take her away to Ireland and hide her where nobody will ever find her.”
“You cannot marry her without Papa’s permission while she is under eighteen.”
“I will marry her somehow,” Shane countered confidently. “You know as well as I do, Richard, that I cannot lose her.”
“No, I know that,” the Viscount agreed, “but it’s not going to be easy.”
“That
is not important. What we are doing is morally right and I believe in all sincerity that we will defeat the evil plans of your aunt and the damned Prince.”
“I do hope so.”
But there was a note of doubt in the words as the Viscount said them.
*
Alana picked up the youngest Bredon child, who was only three and who was crying because his five-year-old sister had taken his ball away from him.
“Never mind,” she said to him in a soft musical voice. “I will find you something else to play with.”
“Ball! Ball!” he sobbed.
She sat him down on her knee, holding him closely and rocking him against her breast until his tears abated.
“That’s better,” she said with a smile, “and now I will find you another ball.”
She looked round as she spoke and saw a small skein of brightly coloured wool that she had been mending one of the other children’s socks with.
Carrying little Billy in her arms, she took the wool from the chest of drawers and, still holding him, wound it round her fingers into some semblance of a ball.
He watched her fascinated and then clenched it tightly in his small fat hands.
“Ball! Ball!” he cried and now he was laughing.
Alana wiped his cheeks with her handkerchief, kissed him and set him down on the floor.
“Go play with your ball,” she ordered, “while I tidy up the room.”
As she spoke, she went to the window to look out and see that the other four children, whom she had sent to play in the Vicarage garden, were all right.
She had wrapped them up warmly in their thick coats and woollen caps, but she saw that one of the girls had already lost her cap and the eldest boy, who was ten, was throwing his up into a tree, trying to get it caught on one of the branches.
She told herself that, although it might be difficult to get it down again, it would not be impossible and at least he was not throwing stones at the others, which yesterday had ended with two cracked windows.
“I have tidied the room,” she said to Billy, who was now sitting happily on the floor playing with his woollen ball. “Now I will put on your warm clothes and we will all go for a long walk.”
She knew of old that exercise was the best way of curbing the exuberance of the older children and she was thinking that, as Billy was becoming too heavy for her to carry very far, she would have to take him in his pushcart.
The door opened, but she did not glance round, thinking that it was either Mrs. Bredon or the daily woman who came in to do the rough work, but often left the place rougher than it was when she had started.
“Hello, Alana,” came a soft voice.
Alana started.
“Lady Charlotte!” she exclaimed. “I was not expecting to see you.”
“I saw a funny old woman on the doorstep who told me that you were in the nursery,”
“That is Mrs. Hicks,” Alana explained. “She is a bit mad and she might easily have sent you to the cellar or the attic!”
Charlotte laughed.
“Alana, you always say such amusing things. I have missed you so much.”
“As I have missed you.”
“You know I would have come to see you if I could.”
“Yes, I know that.”
Charlotte looked round the cluttered room.
“Are you all right here?” she asked.
“The Vicar and Mrs. Bredon have been very kind,” Alana replied. “After Papa died, I found I had no money – and quite a lot of – debts.”
“Oh, poor Alana! I feel terrible that I could not help you. You must forgive me.”
“There is nothing to forgive, Lady Charlotte. Why should you help me?”
“Because we were friends” Charlotte answered, “but I have proved a very bad one and I am ashamed of myself.”
Alana laughed and it was a very pretty sound.
“Now you are being ridiculous, but it is lovely to see you. Will you not sit down?”
As she spoke, she went to the window to see if the children were behaving and to her relief they had taken their rabbits out of the hutch and were playing with them on the grass.
They were very large, fat, lazy rabbits that had no wish to run away and Alana thought that she need not trouble about the children at least for a short time.
“I have come to see you, Alana,” Charlotte was now saying, “because I – need your help. It may sound a very – selfish reason, but I am desperate – ”
“Desperate?” Alana questioned.
She sat down opposite Charlotte, who bent forward to say in a low voice,
“You know, because I told you, that I love Shane O’Derry – and that I have always intended to marry him?”
“Yes, you told me that a long time ago,” Alana replied. “What has happened? He has not –?”
“No, no! It is nothing Shane has done,” Charlotte said hastily. “It is just that today I have had – a terrible shock!”
Quickly she told Alana exactly what had happened, but she could not help her voice breaking on the words and the tears coming into her eyes.
“Oh, Lady Charlotte, I am so sorry for you,” Alana cried. “I do understand what you are going through. Of course your father and mother have no idea that you are in love with somebody else. Could you not tell them?”
“They would not listen if I did,” Charlotte replied. “They would merely send Shane away – and I would never see him again.”
“They should be thinking of your happiness.”
“You say that because your father was so different from mine,” Charlotte said. “I think he was the kindest man I have met in my life.”
“He was kind,” Alana agreed. “He often said to me, ‘I hope, my darling, that one day you will fall deeply in love in the same way as I loved your mother more and more every day until she died’.”
“I hope you will too.”
“It’s unlikely,” Alana replied, “because I shall never marry.”
“Never marry!” Charlotte exclaimed. “Why ever not?”
“We were talking about you,” Alana said quickly, “What do you intend to do about Prince Ivan?”
“That is what I have come to tell you.”
Alana looked puzzled, but she did not interrupt as Charlotte went on,
“Richard and Shane were talking about some friend of theirs who took a ballet dancer to a party in London and passed her off as a Grand Duchess. They wanted to teach their hostess a lesson because they believed her to be a snob.”
Alana did not speak, but her large eyes were fixed on Charlotte’s face as she continued,
“Nobody guessed that the girl was a fake and when Richard said that he had seen you in Church and how beautiful you were – ”
Charlotte’s voice faltered and then she resumed,
“This seems a – preposterous thing to ask you – but, Alana, if you – say ‘no’ I will be – forced to marry this – horrible beastly man who is – in love with – my aunt.”
“In love with your aunt!” Alana exclaimed.
“Yes – she is a great beauty. Lady Odele Ashford. You may have heard people talk about her.”
“But of course.”
She smiled before she added,
“You know, people in the village talk of very little except the Storrs and what goes on at The Castle.”
“I am sure they find plenty to say,” Charlotte commented and then went on,
“What Richard and Shane have suggested is that if you would come with us to – Charl Castle to stay with the Prince – pretending to be Shane’s cousin – then, because you are so pretty, he might take no notice of me – and in fact not ask me to be – his wife.”
Alana did not move. She merely sat staring at Charlotte, who said with a little cry,
“Oh, Alana – I know it is an – impossible thing to ask of you – but what else can I do? I must marry Shane – I must! I know if Mama, Papa and Aunt Odele all combine to force me into marri
age with the Prince – they will not listen to anything I have to say – or allow me to refuse.”
There was a short silence and then Alana asked,
“Do you really think I could – deceive the – Prince?”
“You simply have to look as lovely as you do now,” Charlotte said, “and pretend that you are Shane’s cousin. You will be – Lady Alana O’Derry – and when we arrive at The Castle – why should anybody think for a moment that you are not who we say you are?”
“I am sure that the Prince, and certainly your aunt, will know at – once that I am not – at all grand,” Alana murmured.
“You are supposed to be Irish,” Charlotte said. “I have seen some of Shane’s relatives who look like old washerwomen and their clothes are terrible. But you need not worry about that – you can wear some of mine.”
Alana’s eyes seemed to widen, but she did not speak.
“Please – please – say you will help me,” Charlotte pleaded. “You are my only – chance of escape and I swear I am not – exaggerating when I say I would rather – die than marry anyone but Shane!”
Alana rose to her feet to walk to the window.
Now she did not look to see what the Vicar’s children were doing. Instead she stared over the trees that were losing their leaves towards the sky as if she searched in some far-off horizon for her answer.
Behind her, Charlotte, with her fingers linked together, stared at her back apprehensively.
She had a feeling that her hope for the future rested on Alana’s reply.
Although she wanted to go on pleading and although she felt that there was so much more she could say, she was somehow aware that it was not words that counted at this moment but Alana’s own personal feelings.
As she stood there, the pale autumn sun seemed to bring out strange almost silver lights in her dark hair.
It was a different colour from any other hair Charlotte had ever seen before, not really dark but more the colour of a shadow and yet there could be strange lights in it, just as there were always, Charlotte thought, strange lights in Alana’s eyes.
The Power and the Prince Page 4
