This was not surprising, because Alana, in one of Charlotte’s travelling gowns, looked very different from the way she had in Church, wearing a dress that she had made herself and a cheap little bonnet trimmed only with ribbons.
As Charlotte had said, Richard was a good organiser and had arranged everything they did down to the last detail.
“We must take no chances,” he had said over and over again to Shane and then to his sister.
Charlotte had been only too willing to agree, knowing that her whole future depended on what became a wilder and more fantastic scheme with every day that passed.
Now with Alana wearing a blue travelling gown that was matched by the feathers in her small bonnet and with a fur-lined cape falling from her shoulders, it was impossible to think that anyone would be suspicious that she was not who she appeared to be.
Alana herself had felt, after Charlotte had left her on the day that she came to the Vicarage, that she must have dreamt everything that had been suggested.
How could she, knowing nothing of the world and having lived for so many years in a small cottage in the village, possibly act the part of a Society debutante well enough to deceive not only the Prince but also Lady Odele?
When she had told Charlotte that she had heard of her aunt, she knew that she could never repeat the stories that were circulated about the professional beauty by the people in the village who had known her since she was a baby.
Naturally they were extremely interested in every Storr, feeling, because they lived on the Earl’s land and in the Earl’s cottages, that they too were part of the family and entitled to praise or criticise them as they wished.
Lady Odele’s birth, her Christening, her girlhood and her Wedding to wealthy racehorse owner, Sir Edward Ashford, were all talked about and reminisced over by those who could remember them happening and by those who wished that they were old enough to remember.
But whatever age the villagers were, they were all aware that Lady Odele was a member of the Prince of Wales’s smart and rather raffish set of friends.
Also, Alana found, that they knew the names of her admirers almost, she thought sometimes, before Lady Odele was aware of them herself.
This was not surprising, not only as the parents of Lady Odele’s lady’s maid lived in the village but a number of other servants in Sir Edward’s employment had been trained at Storrington Park.
That Lady Odele had now captivated Prince Ivan Katinouski had been talked about for several months.
Although Alana tried not to gossip, knowing that it would have shocked her father, it was impossible to be aloof or snooty in the small shops where she collected the food for the Vicarage or to the farmer’s wife they bought eggs from or to anyone else who popped into the Vicarage for a chat.
She was really not surprised when Charlotte told her that they would be travelling to Charl Castle in the Prince’s Private train.
“Aunt Odele has written to Richard,” she said, “to tell him that it will not only be more comfortable but will save the trouble of finding me a chaperone when we cross London.”
Alana waited wide-eyed as Charlotte went on,
“Of course it is a whole lot of nonsense and I asked Richard why I should have to be chaperoned when I am with him. But he says it is really because Aunt Odele is making very sure that there is no one in the party to distract the Prince’s attention from me!”
There was a little pause and then Charlotte said,
“Oh, Alana – Alana – you must somehow arouse his interest! Supposing, after all the trouble we have taken, I – have to – marry him?”
“You are making me very nervous,” Alana protested. “How can I possibly interest a man like the Prince?”
“Why should you not?” Charlotte asked. “You are a thousand times prettier than I am, you are much cleverer and you have your father’s magic, which I shall never have in a thousand years!”
Alana laughed.
“You make Papa’s magic sound as if it was something tangible we can hold in our hands and that will draw the Prince like a magnet.”
“That is exactly what it is,” Charlotte said, “and what you must believe so that you can help me escape him.”
When Charlotte had left the Vicarage, having brought a message to the Vicar to give her an excuse for seeing Alana, she had stood for a long time at the window gazing up at the sky.
Alana was asking, as she had done before, for guidance and it seemed to her almost as if her father heard the question she asked him and told her that she was doing what was right.
She knew that he, of all people, would have been shocked and horrified at Charlotte being forced into marriage with any man, but most of all with the Prince.
Alana had not been speaking lightly when she told Charlotte that she had heard and read about Charl Castle and its owner.
She had also been unable to avoid listening to a great deal of scandal that percolated into the village as soon as it was known that the Prince was Lady Odele’s latest admirer.
His extravagances, his numerous love affairs and his almost Royal way of living lost nothing in the telling.
Now as she thought of it, Alana was sure that the Viscount’s plan for her to divert His Highness’s attention from Charlotte to herself was as ridiculous as asking her to perform a miracle.
Nevertheless, because she loved Charlotte and for another reason that was hidden deep in the back of her mind, she had agreed to act in this charade and could only pray that she proved competent enough to deceive not only the Prince but also Lady Odele.
On Charlotte’s second visit to the Vicarage, Alana had expressed a very practical fear.
“If I am successful in diverting the Prince’s attention from you,” she asked, “what will happen to me when he discovers that I have deceived him?”
Her large eyes were dark and wide as she spoke, but she did not add that she had lain awake for several nights worrying about this very thing.
“Richard has thought of that,” she replied almost triumphantly. “He is well aware that if it is discovered who you really are, Papa might force the Vicar to dismiss you. That is why he says that as soon as the party is over you must disappear.”
“Disappear?” Alana repeated faintly.
“We will have the laugh on the Prince, because he will no longer want to marry me, but we cannot do as we originally planned and tell him that you are not well-born and not Shane’s cousin. Instead we are just going to say that you have gone away and we have no idea where you have gone.”
“Supposing he – insists on trying to – find me?” Alana asked.
“I asked Richard that very question,” Charlotte answered, “and he said that, knowing the Prince, if he loses one woman there are hundreds of others only too willing to take her place.”
“Yes – yes, of course,” Alana said quickly.
She thought that perhaps she had been presumptuous in thinking that the Prince would have any interest in her except for the few days that they were at Charl Castle.
At the same time some practical part of her mind told her that once she had disappeared he might renew his pursuit of Charlotte.
Of course there was always the possibility that he would not find her attractive or interesting in the first place and then all their endeavours would have been for nothing.
It was all too complicated and there were so many possibilities that they were difficult to put into words until they had actually reached Charl Castle and seen the Prince for themselves.
“Leave everything to Richard,” Charlotte kept repeating, “and if all else fails, Shane and I will run away together.”
She gave a little sigh as she added,
“If only we had just a little money – but Shane is always broke and it would be difficult to hide even in the wilds of Ireland, although it is very cheap, unless we had enough to keep a roof over our heads and provide us with food.”
To Alana everything seemed more complicated at every
turn, but, because Charlotte was so insistent and because she could not bear to see her unhappy, she found herself meekly agreeing to everything that was asked of her.
She could only pray that somehow, in some magical way, everything would come right.
It was the Viscount who had thought out her excuse for leaving the Vicarage and arranged for her departure.
“You cannot say that you are going away with me,” Charlotte had said when she had brought Richard’s instructions, “because someone is certain to mention it to Mama and she would be astounded that you should be included in a house party at Charl Castle.”
“Yes, of course,” Alana nodded.
“What Richard wants you to say is that a relation you have not seen for years is passing through Brilling and will pick you up there and take you to stay with her and another relative for a few days.
“You can tell Mrs. Bredon what a nuisance it is, but that you feel you have to go.”
“I am sure she will agree,” Alana answered. “She is always very kind and understanding.”
“That is what I thought. And, as the Vicar will obviously not have time to drive you to Brilling, you must say that you mentioned it to me when I called today and I have said that as it happens I shall be going into the town that very day and will give you a lift.”
“I hope she will not think it strange.”
“Why should she,” Charlotte asked, “if you say that otherwise you will have to rely on the carrier?”
“He is very unreliable,” Alana ruminated, “so Mrs. Bredon will understand that I would rather accept your invitation.”
“I am afraid that the village will be aware that Richard and I are going to Charl Castle,” Charlotte said.
“They know it already!” Alana answered. “The footmen could not wait, they came and told their parents that you had been invited almost as soon as your aunt’s letter arrived.”
“It is frightening how everything is known.”
“Everything,” Alana agreed. “And therefore I am sure that it is better to be quite open with the fact that you are giving me a lift to Brilling. If you picked me up in the road, somebody would be sure to see us.”
“Richard always says that if one has to tell a lie, it must be a plausible one.”
“The Vicar would not approve of that sentiment,” Alana said with a smile, “but equally I am sure that his Lordship is right.”
“Just say to everybody how lucky you are to be driving into Brilling with me,” Charlotte then insisted, “and how much more comfortable it will be than going there any other way.”
When Charlotte had called at the Vicarage two days before they were to leave for Charl, Mrs. Bredon was in the hall when she came downstairs from the nursery.
“I hear that you are going to stay at Charl Castle, Lady Charlotte,” she said, making the introduction to the subject easier than Charlotte had anticipated.
“Yes, it is so exciting?” Charlotte replied. “I believe it is very magnificent and my aunt has described it in glowing terms.”
“One of the finest Castles in England, I have always heard,” Mrs. Bredon said.
“I shall be able to tell you if that is true when I come back,” Charlotte answered. “And I hear that Alana is going away on the same day.”
“To see an elderly relative.”
“I don’t know how you will manage without her.”
“We will manage,” Mrs, Bredon replied, “but I only hope that she will not be away for long.”
“I have told her that I can give her a lift as far as Brilling, which will save the Vicar having to take her there,” Charlotte said. “We actually pass the Vicarage door on the way to the Station.”
“That is indeed thoughtful of you, Lady Charlotte. In fact my husband was wondering only this morning how he would fit in such a long journey when there are so many other things to be done.”
“It will be no trouble,” Charlotte smiled. “But Alana must be ready at ten o’clock.”
“I will see that she is,” Mrs. Bredon promised, “and thank you very much, Lady Charlotte, for your thoughtfulness.”
“I am so glad that I can be of some help, but please don’t say anything about it to Mama, She does not like me to do things on my own initiative and she might think that I was interfering.”
The way Charlotte spoke made it easy for the Vicar’s wife, who disliked the Countess, to understand why Lady Charlotte had not visited Alana immediately after her father’s death.
In fact the whole village had considered it rather heartless, considering how many years Mr. Wickham had journeyed up to the Big House three times a week for Lady Charlotte’s music lessons.
Now Mrs. Bredon understood that Lady Charlotte, who she had always thought a sweet young lady, was making up for her previous neglect.
“I understand, Lady Charlotte,” she said soothingly, “and I shall say nothing. There is far too much chitchat in Brilling as it is.”
Alana had been picked up by the carriage and they had all four travelled to Brilling Station. There Charlotte and Alana rushed into the ladies’ waiting room with Richard’s instructions that they must take no more than ten minutes.
In exactly ten minutes Alana Wickham in her cheap wool travelling cloak and unfashionable bonnet had vanished.
In her place was the extremely elegant Lady Alana O’Derry, dressed in the very height of fashion and looking as smart as her friend, Lady Charlotte Storr.
With his usual foresight, the Viscount had sent away the Storr footman who should have waited to see them off on the train and made sure that their luggage was safely aboard.
“There is no need for you to wait, James,” the Viscount had said in a lofty fashion. “As we are going in a Private train, it may be delayed and you know that his Lordship does not like the horses to be kept standing about.”
“You’re quite sure you can manage, my Lord?” James had asked.
“You have found us a porter,” the Viscount replied, “and there is really nothing else to do, so goodbye, James.”
“Goodbye, my Lord, and I hopes you have a pleasant journey,” James answered.
As soon as Charlotte and Alana appeared, the Viscount hurried them quickly to the side platform where the Prince’s train was waiting.
Shane was already there, having seen to the disposal of the enormous amount of trunks that Charlotte had with her.
“I have brought with me almost everything I possess,” she told Alana, “so you will have a large choice for what will suit you best. Fortunately, I had a number of gowns made for the summer when I should have been presented, which Mama had forgotten about, so she has been buying me new ones ever since Aunt Odele’s first letter arrived.”
Alana had only a quick glimpse of her reflection in the small mirror in the cloakroom of the ladies’ waiting room, but she knew that she looked very unlike her usual self.
Now in the private train she felt that it really must all be a dream and she would wake up to hear one of the Bredon children crying.
She had, of course, seen the Viscount in Church when he had first noticed her and, riding in the Park and many times in the past when he had driven through the village or she had seen him in the distance.
But she had never spoken to him and now she thought that he was an extremely good-looking well-dressed young man and just the sort of brother Charlotte that should have.
“It is very kind of you to do this for us,” he said in a low voice.
“I am only afraid that I may – fail you,” Alana answered.
On the other side of the carriage, Charlotte and Shane were looking into each other’s eyes and talking in a low intimate manner that displayed all too clearly their absorption in each other.
The Viscount gave them a quick glance and said,
“Be careful how you behave. You know as well as I do that servants have ears.”
“We will be very very careful,” Charlotte promised.
“You must look after Charlot
te,” the Viscount said to Alana. “If my aunt gets any idea that she is in love with my friend Shane, she will tell my mother and father and I shall never be able to bring him to The Castle again.”
Alana gave a little sigh.
“It all seems a terrible tangle, but I do want Lady Charlotte to be happy.”
“That is what I want too and somehow you and I must manage to see that she is.”
The Viscount dropped his voice lower than before and went on,
“I am quite certain of one thing, if she was forced to marry the Prince, she would be miserably unhappy.”
“I am sure that is true,” Alana agreed, “and that is why I am here. But please, my Lord, you must tell me exactly what to do and help me not to make too many mistakes.”
“I will help you all I can, but as far as the Prince is concerned, you will just have to use your instinct.”
He paused for a moment and then continued,
“But if he is not bowled over by you, and I am sure he will be, then he certainly cannot have two eyes in his head.”
Alana gave a little laugh.
“Thank you, my Lord. That certainly makes me feel more confident.”
“I think,” the Viscount said after a moment, “you must now call me by my Christian name and I will call you ‘Alana’. If you are really Shane’s cousin, I would have met you a dozen times when I stayed with him in Ireland. And remember you became friends with Charlotte when we both went there three years ago.”
“Very well,” Alana agreed, “but it seems somewhat – familiar.”
“We have known each other since we were children,” Richard said firmly, “and you must remember that too, Charlotte.”
“I have known Alana since I was a child,” Charlotte retorted, “so it’s not difficult for me.”
It was impossible for them to speak intimately after that because the servants on the train offered them first coffee or a drink and then later provided them with a large and delicious luncheon.
To Alana every minute was an excitement.
Only when finally, late in the afternoon, the train stopped at the Halt for Charl Castle did she suddenly feel cold and the fear rising in her throat made it impossible to talk or laugh as she had done all the hours that they had been travelling.
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