The Tangled Skein

by Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy

  CHAPTER XV

  THE HAND OF FATE

  Ursula had had a good cry.

  She was a mere girl, only just out of her teens; she had been hideouslydisappointed and had given way to a paroxysm of tears, just like a childthat has been cheated of its toys.

  As far as her actual feelings for Wessex were concerned, she scarcelytroubled to analyse them. As a tiny child she had worshipped the gallantboy, who had always been pointed out to her as the pattern of what anEnglish nobleman should be, and moreover as the future husband who wasto rule over her destiny.

  No doubt that the Earl of Truro, lying on his deathbed, had but littlereal perception of what he was doing, when he forced his daughter toswear that she would marry Wessex or remain single to the end of herdays.

  But Ursula was thirteen years old then, and held an oath to her fatherto be the most sacred thing in the world. She had not seen Wessex forsome years, but her girlish imagination had always endowed him with allthose chivalrous attributes which her own father, whom she idolized, hadalready ascribed to him.

  Love? Well, it scarce could be called that as yet. In spite of her scoreof years, Ursula had remained a child in thought, in feelings, intemperament. She had spent the last six or seven years within theprecincts of old Truro Castle, watched over by her late father'sfaithful servants, who brought her up and worshipped her, taught herwhat they knew, and obeyed her implicitly.

  Her one idea, however, had remained, that of a marriage with Wessex. Byright and precedence she could claim a place in the Queen of England'simmediate entourage. As soon as she was old enough she asserted thisclaim, and journeyed to Esher in charge of an old aunt, who hadsupervised her education since her father's death.

  Since then her one desire had been to meet the man to whom she hadpledged her troth. She had seen him, oh! scores of times, since the dayon which he came back to the Court, but Mary Tudor, bent on winning hislove, had resolutely kept him away from the beautiful girl who, sheinstinctively felt, would prove a formidable rival.

  It had been easy enough up to now. His Grace, partly in order to pleasehis friends, even if only half believing that his influence wouldprevent Mary Tudor from contracting an alien marriage, had been inconstant attendance on the Queen.

  Ursula, on the other hand, had been relegated into the background. Sheknew this well and chafed at the restraint. Something seemed to tell herthat if she could but see the Duke he would easily realize that it wouldnot be very hard to fulfil the old earl's promise. She knew that she wasbeautiful, her own mirror and the admiration of the Court gallants hadalready told her that, and at the same time she felt within herself amagnetism which must inevitably draw him towards her.

  But time was speeding on. Ursula's quick intelligence had very soongrasped the threads of the present political situation, whilst MaryTudor, on the other hand, made no secret of her love for Wessex. Theyoung girl was well aware of the many intrigues which were being hatchedround the personality of the man whom she looked upon as her affiancedhusband, and guessed how much these were aided by the enamoured Queen.

  His Eminence the Cardinal, the Duc de Noailles, Scheyfne, Don Miguel deSuarez, all were seeking to obtain a definite promise from Mary. TheEnglish faction, on the other hand, hoped to force the Duke into amarriage which was obviously distasteful to him.

  Ursula, in the midst of these contending parties, was, nevertheless,determined to gain her end. Too unsophisticated to attempt a seriousintrigue, she relied on her woman's instinct to guide her to success.Her little plot to bring His Grace to her presence that afternoon hadfailed, probably owing to the Queen's keen acumen; and the young girl,for the first time since her arrival at Court, felt genuinely mortifiedand not a little despairing of ultimate triumph.

  The Duke, evidently, had no desire to meet her, or he would haveaccomplished that end somehow. There was not much that His Grace wishedthat did not sooner or later come to pass.

  Obviously, for the moment, he was glad enough to remain free of thosebonds which truly were none of his making. Chivalry alone might tempthim to fulfil Lord Truro's dying wishes, for the late Earl and theDuke's own father had been the closest of friends. Ursula's pride,however, would not allow her to appeal to that chivalry; what she wantedwas to gain his love.

  Out of her childish admiration for the boy had grown a kind of poeticinterest in the man, more than fostered by the great popularity enjoyedby Wessex, and the praises of his personality sung on every side. Ursulawas still too young to be in love with aught else save with love itself,with her own imaginative fancy, her own conception of what her futurehusband should be.

  He should be good to look at--like Wessex. High-born and gracious--likeWessex. A king among men, witty and accomplished--like Wessex.

  "Holy Virgin! let me have him for mine own!" was her constant, childishprayer.

  The girl was not yet a woman.

  Thus musing and meditating, she strolled out into the garden, singing asshe went. All the maids-of-honour had been bidden to wait on Her Majestyin the audience chamber, save Lady Ursula Glynde and Mistress MargaretCobham, whose services would not be required. The Duchess of Lincoln,shrewdly guessing from this summons that His Grace of Wessex was in theQueen's company, had given the two young maids leave to wander whitherthey pleased.

  Lazy Margaret had pleaded a headache and curled herself up in awindow-embrasure with the express intention of doing nothing at all; butUrsula, with a burning desire for freedom and a longing for flowers,birds, and sunshine, had wandered out into the open.

  A parterre of marguerites was laid out close to the terrace. Mooning,dreaming, singing, she had picked a bunch of these and was mechanicallyplucking their snow-white petals one by one.

  Did she guess what a dainty picture she made, as she stood for onemoment beside the pond, her shimmering gown of delicate white glisteningagainst a background of dark green yews, her fair hair shining like goldbeneath the soft rays of the October sun? Her sweet face was bent down,earnestly intent upon consulting the flowery oracle: a delicate shadow,that soft pearly grey tone beloved of Rubens, fell upon her girlishbreast, her soft round arms, the dainty hands which held the marguerite.

  "He loves me," she said, half audibly, "a little . . . passionately. . . not at all. He loves me . . . a little. . . ."

  So wrapped up was she in these important rites, that she did not hear amuffled footstep upon the gravel. The next moment she felt two firmhands upon her waist, whilst a laughing voice completed the daisy'sprophecy,--

  "Passionately!"

  She gave a little gasp, but did not immediately turn to look who theintruder was. Her woman's instinct had told her that, and then sheknew--or guessed--the sound of his voice. The moment had come at last.It had been none of her seeking; she did not pause to think how it hadall happened, she only felt that he was near her and that her life'shappiness depended on whether he thought her fair.

  The pleasant little demon of girlish coquetry whispered to her that, inthe midst of this poetic setting of an old-world garden, he would behard to please indeed if he did not fall a victim to her smile.

  She turned and faced him.

  "Ah!" she said, with a little cry of feigned surprise, "His Grace ofWessex! . . . I . . . I vow you frightened me, my lord . . . I thoughtthis part of the garden quite deserted, and . . . and the Duke of Wessexat the feet of the Queen."

  She looked divinely pretty as she stood there before him, a delicate,nervous little blush suffusing her young cheeks, her eyes veiled by afringe of lashes slightly darker than her golden hair. As dainty apicture as this fastidious man had ever gazed upon.

  "At your feet, fair one," he replied, with undisguised admirationexpressed in his every look, "and burning with jealousy at thought ofhim, for whose sake your sweet fingers plucked the petal of thatmarguerite."

  She still held the flower, half stripped of its petals; he put out hishand in order to take it from her, or perhaps merely for the sake oftouching for one second the soft velvet of her own.
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  Harry Plantagenet, close by, had stretched himself out lazily in thesun.

  "Oh!" said Ursula, a little confused, still a little shy and nervous,"that . . . that was for a favourite brother who is absent . . . and Iwished to know if he had not forgotten me."

  "Impossible," he replied with deep conviction, "even for a brother."

  "Your Grace is pleased to flatter."

  "The truth spoken to one so fair must ever seem a flattery."

  "Your Grace. . . ."

  He loved to watch the colour come and go in her face, the dainty,girlish movements, simple and unaffected, that little curl which lookedlike living gold beside the small, shell-like ear. His passionate lovefor the beautiful was more than satiated at the exquisite picture beforehim, and then she had such a musical and tender voice; he had heard hersinging just now.

  "But you seem to know me, fair one," he said after a while.

  "Who does not know His Grace of Wessex?" she responded, making a prettycurtsy.

  "Then let me be even with you, sweet singer, and tell me your name."

  Ursula darted a sudden shy look at him. Obviously he was conveying thetruth; he did not know who she was.

  A quick thought crossed her mind; she looked demurely down her nose andsaid placidly,--

  "My name is Fanny."

  "Fanny?"

  "Yes . . . you do not like it?"

  "I didn't before," he said with a smile, "but now I adore it."

  "I am getting to like it better too," she added thoughtfully.

  "But, sweet Fanny, tell me how is it I never have seen you before."

  "Your Grace does not know all the ladies of the Court."

  "No! but I thought I knew all the pretty ones. Yet meseems that beautywas but an empty word now that I have seen its queen."

  "Ah, my lord! I fear me your reputation doth not wrong you after all!"she added with a quaint little sigh.

  "Why? What is my reputation?"

  "They call you fickle, and say the Duke of Wessex loves many women alittle . . . but constantly, not at all."

  He came a step closer to her, and tried to meet her eyes.

  "Then will you let me prove them wrong?" he said with suddenseriousness, which perhaps then he could not himself have accounted for.

  "I? . . ." she said artlessly, "what must I do for that?"

  "Anything you like," he replied.

  "Nay, I have no power; for I fear me nothing short of putting Your Graceunder lock and key would cure you of that fickleness."

  "Then put me under lock and key," he suggested gaily.

  "In an inaccessible tower?"

  "Wherever you please."

  She gave a merry, happy little laugh, for he was standing quite close toher now, his proud head slightly bent so that the quick, whispered wordsmight easily reach her ears; and there was an unmistakable look ofardent admiration in his eyes. A demon of mischief suddenly seized her.She wondered whether he had guessed who she was and tried to nettle himinto betraying himself.

  "And to whom shall I give the key of that tower?" she said demurely. "Tothe Lady Ursula Glynde?"

  "No," he replied. "Come inside and throw the key out of the window."

  "But the Lady Ursula?" she persisted.

  He made a quick gesture of mock impatience.

  "What wanton cruelty to mention that name now," he said, "when mine earsare tuned to 'Fanny.'"

  "Tis wrong they should be so tuned--Lady Ursula, they say, is yourpromised wife."

  "But I do not love her . . . never could love her whilst----

  "They say she is not ill-favoured."

  "Ill-favoured to me, like the bitter pills the medicine man gives us,whilst you----"

  Once more she interrupted him quickly.

  "You have never seen her," she protested, "you do not even know what sheis like."

  "Nay, I can guess. The Glyndes are all alike--sandy, angular,large-footed. . . ."

  She laughed, a long, merry, rippling laugh which set his ears tinglingwith the desire to hear it once again. Ursula was indeed enjoyingherself thoroughly.

  "They all have brown eyes," he continued gaily, "and just now I feel asif I could not endure brown eyes."

  She cast down her own, veiling them with her long lashes.

  "What eyes could Your Grace best endure for the moment?" she said, withthe same tantalizing demureness.

  But something magnetic must have passed at that moment between these twoyoung people, some subtle current from him to her, which forced theinnocent young girl to raise her eyes almost against her will. He lookedstraight into their wonderful depths, and murmured softly,--

  "The very bluest of the blue, and yet so grey, that I should feel theymust somehow be green. . . ."

  A little shudder had gone through her when first she met his ardentgaze; she tried to free herself from a sudden strange and deliciousfeeling of obsession, and said with somewhat forced merriment now:

  "The Queen has greenish eyes, and Lady Ursula's are grey."

  Then she held out the marguerite to him.

  "Would you like to know which you love best?" she added. "Consult themarguerite, and take one petal at a time."

  But he took the hand which held the flower.

  "One petal at a time," he whispered. He took the slender fingers andkissed each in its turn: "This the softest . . . that the whitest . . .all rose-tipped . . . and a feast for the gods. . . ."

  "My lord! . . ."

  "Now you are frowning--you are not angry?"

  "Very angry!"

  "I'll make amends," he said humbly.

  "How?"

  "Give me the other hand, and I'll show you."

  "Nay! I cannot do that, for we are told that the left hand must neverknow what the right hand doeth."

  "It shall not," he rejoined earnestly, "for I'll tell it a differenttale."

  "What is it?"

  "Give me the hand and you shall know."

  Overhead in the green bosquets of yew a group of starlings began totwitter. The sun was just beginning to sink down in the west, throwinground the head of the fair young girl an aureole of gold. He stoodwatching her, happy in this the supreme moment of his life. A magic veilseemed to envelop him and her, shutting out all that portion of theworld which was not poetic and beautiful; and she, the priestess of thisexquisite new universe in which he had just entered, was smilinglyholding out her dainty hand to him.

  He seized it, and a sudden wave of passion caused him to bend over itand to kiss its soft rosy palm.

  "Nay, my lord," she murmured, confused, "that Your Grace should think ofsuch follies!"

  "Yet, when you look at me," he said, "I think of worse follies still."

  "Women say that there is no worse folly than to listen to His Grace ofWessex."

  "Do you think they are right?"

  "How can I tell?"

  "By listening to me for half an hour."

  "Here, in this garden?"

  "No! . . . there! . . . by the river. . . ."

  And he pointed beyond the enclosure of the garden, there where the softevening breeze gently stirred the rushes in the stream.

  "Oh! . . . what would everybody say?" she exclaimed in mock alarm.

  "Nothing! envy of my good fortune would make them dumb."

  "But the Queen will be asking for you, and the Duchess of Lincolnwondering where I am."

  "They shall not find us . . . for we'll pull the boat beyond the reeds. . . just you and I alone . . . with the gloaming all round us . . .and the twitter of the birds when they go to rest. Shall we go? . . ."

  Her heart had already consented. His voice was low and persuasive, astrange earnestness seemed to vibrate through it, as he begged her tocome with him.

  Slowly she began to walk by his side towards the stream. She seemedscarcely alive now, a being from another world wandering in the land ofdreams. He said nothing more, for the world was too beautiful forspeech. Youth, love, delight were coursing through his veins, and as heled the yo
ung girl towards the bank it seemed to him as if he weretaking her away from this dull world of prose and humanity, far, faraway through mysterious golden gates beyond the sunset, to a land whereshe would reign as queen.

  The river beckoned to them, and the soft, misty horizon seemed to call.The intoxicating odour of summer's dying roses filled the air, whilst inthe distance across the stream a nightingale began to sing.