The Marquis had now heard everything he needed to know, so he took a guinea from his pocket and put it into Tommy’s hand.
Then without a word to the porter he turned round and ran down the steps.
His carriage had not yet moved from the front of the hotel and he called up hoarsely at his coachman,
“The Port of London Authority as quickly as you can. We have been there before – and for God’s sake hurry.”
He jumped into the carriage as the commissionaire closed the door and the horses started off at a fast pace.
The coachman would not have stayed long with the Marquis if he had not known how to hurry his horses when it was really necessary.
He drove at a speed that made passers-by on the pavement look up in surprise. Fortunately there was little traffic, even in Regent Street, now that the shops had closed.
The carriage drew nearer to the river.
The Marquis could only pray that he would be in time to prevent the Conté’s yacht, which he was certain was carrying Lanthia away, from travelling too far towards the sea.
He could hardly believe that the Conté would go to such extremes to abduct Lanthia.
Yet that was just what he had done and the Marquis knew how terrified she must be.
‘It is all my fault,’ he chided himself intensely.
He had been warned several times against having anything to do with the Contessa because of her husband’s jealousy.
Now he thought about it, he remembered one of his friends who had been talking about the Conté had said,
“I am told he behaves like a madman where she is concerned and the stories of his jealousy are the chief topic of conversation in Madrid!”
‘Why was I such a stupid fool?’ the Marquis asked himself.
Once again the Contessa had been a challenge and that was something he had never been able to resist.
Now he knew it was a vital challenge for him to save Lanthia.
He could imagine the terror she must have felt on being snatched away from the hotel and to know that he would not be able to even worry about her disappearance until he called on her before luncheon tomorrow.
It was by the grace of God that he had remembered somewhat belatedly that he wanted to send her flowers and that he had decided to leave them himself at The Langham, rather than have them sent round in the usual manner from the shop.
He could visualise her dismay and terror at what was happening to her, and it was with difficulty he did not order his coachman to go even faster than he was already.
He wished that he was driving himself and yet it would only delay them if he climbed up onto the box.
Every minute counted.
As they drove on he remembered the name of the Conté’s yacht and thought that at least was a blessing.
When he had been dancing with the Contessa for the first and only time, he had said to her as they moved over the polished floor,
“You dance like a siren moving over the waves!”
His remark was a compliment to her sinuous body and the way she did glide in a way that was particularly her own.
The Contessa had laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” enquired the Marquis.
“Because my husband’s yacht is called, La Sirena, and that is what he often calls me as well.”
‘La Sirena,’ the Marquis now muttered to himself. ‘It makes matters a little easier, if one can apply that word to anything that is happening at the moment!’
The coachman knew his way to the Port of London Authority.
The Marquis frequently wished to moor his yacht at places that were not allowed to other yacht owners. At the Port of London Authority he had no difficulty in obtaining the permission he needed because the officers in charge were considerably impressed by his luxurious yacht.
Because he knew it would please the officers, he had invited them aboard the Sea Horse, as his yacht was called, and they had eagerly accepted his invitation.
They had enjoyed seeing all the innovations he had made on the Sea Horse and they had ended up drinking his health in champagne.
They told him his yacht was undoubtedly the finest that had ever been seen on the Thames and he knew that now this relationship would stand him in good stead.
It was supremely important he should reach Lanthia as quickly as possible.
He had to save her from being even more terrified than she must be already.
He could imagine nothing more petrifying for any young girl than to be forcibly kidnapped by a fanatical Spaniard and whisked away in his yacht to an unknown destination.
‘It is something she will never be able to forget and may affect her whole future,’ thought the Marquis.
She had said that she would like to go exploring, but he could imagine that such a terrible experience as she was now suffering would only make her cling to everything familiar.
She might be afraid to venture out of her own front door again.
What was much worse the Conté might have hurt her physically in some horrible way.
‘If he has,’ the Marquis told himself grimly, ‘I will kill him with my own bare hands!’
There was a little way still to go.
At last they turned down a familiar street and the Marquis sat apprehensively on the edge of his seat ready to spring out as soon as they arrived.
Almost before the horses were at a standstill he flung open the door himself and alighted.
He now ran straight into the Offices of the Port of London Authority and charged straight into the room of the Duty Officer in charge.
He opened the door unannounced.
As the Duty Officer looked up from his desk, the Marquis saw with relief that he was one of the officers he had met on previous occasions.
“My Lord!” the startled man exclaimed.
“This is an emergency,” the Marquis began sharply.
“A young lady has been forcibly abducted against her will and is being carried down the river in a yacht.
“I carry with me now the personal authority of Lord Salisbury, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, for you to arrest this very yacht immediately and search it on suspicion of involvement in white slave traffic and taking stolen goods out of the country!”
As the Officer stared in astonishment, the Marquis continued,
“I suspect it is only a matter of minutes before the yacht passes this point on the river. It is called La Sirena.”
Due to the urgency with which he had spoken and because the Duty Officer knew him, action was taken at once.
Two pilot vessels were given their orders and as the Marquis and the Duty Officer stepped on board one of them they moved out into the river.
It was with a feeling of relief that the Marquis had already been told that La Sirena had not yet sailed by.
Then as the pilot boat gathered speed, he could see the yacht speeding down the centre of the Thames moving swiftly with the tide.
It was with difficulty that the pilot boat brought the yacht to a standstill.
“What is wrong? Why are you stopping me?” the yacht’s Captain shouted from the bridge.
He was speaking in English but with a pronounced Spanish accent.
The Marquis followed by two Officers boarded the yacht and then began a wordy argument as to whether they had a right to search the yacht. As the debate became even more heated another two Officers came aboard from the second pilot vessel.
The Captain was finally convinced that there was nothing he could do to prevent the Officers’ boarding party from searching the boat to see if there was anything untoward that required their attention.
Because he was so reluctant, it was quite obvious to the Marquis that Lanthia was indeed aboard.
He went first into the Saloon with the Duty Officer, but there was nothing there to attract their attention.
At the same time the Marquis gave orders to two of the Officers to search in all the drawers and cupboards they could find
.
Then they went below down the companionway.
It was now that the Marquis walked ahead, opening every cabin door, calling to Lanthia as he went.
One glance told him that each cabin was empty until, as he opened the fourth door, he found what he was seeking.
Lanthia had heard a noise outside the cabin door, but she did not scream because she believed it would only have brought one or more of the Spanish crew in to silence her.
She had no wish for them to see her tied up and helpless. To have them staring and gloating at her would be very humiliating.
The door opened.
She thought it was one of the men coming to check that she had not escaped from her ropes.
Then she saw the Marquis looking in at her.
“Lanthia!” he exclaimed in excitement and relief. “Thank God I have found you.”
She gave a little cry that he thought was the most moving sound he had ever heard.
“Oh, you have come – you have come. I prayed and prayed that you would hear me – but I thought now we had put to sea it was all hopeless.”
“I am here,” said the Marquis, “and I want to find out what that devil has done to you.”
He walked towards her and as he did so he drew something from his pocket and slipped it into a drawer of what appeared to be a dressing table on the other side of the cabin.
He did it so quickly that Lanthia with her eyes on his face was not aware of what he had done.
When he reached her and saw how she was bound and tied, it made him tighten his lips with anger.
He managed to untie the ropes behind her, and then as she at last began to move her arms, he asked her,
“That swine has not hurt you?”
“I have been so – frightened. He told me I would be disposed of – and I thought they would – drown me!”
She was almost incoherent, but he understood.
“No one will drown you,” he told her tenderly, “I will not allow anything this to ever happen to you ever again!”
He was undoing the rope round her ankles when the Duty Officer and two others appeared at the door.
“You’ve found her!”
“I have found her, thank God,” replied the Marquis. “She has been tied up by those scoundrels and told she was to be jettisoned, presumably when they were out at sea.”
“How dreadful,” said the Duty Officer.
“Please now have a good look around this cabin,” suggested the Marquis without turning his head.
He was rubbing Lanthia’s ankles to bring back her circulation.
The Duty Officer walked to the dressing table at the other side of the cabin and pulled open one of the drawers.
There had been nothing of note in any of the other cabins they had examined, but now he gave an exclamation.
“There’s something here,” he called.
The Marquis did not appear to be listening.
“Is that any better?” he asked Lanthia.
“Much – better,” she replied. “I am all right – now you have come.”
She was rubbing her wrists as she was speaking and the Marquis could see that she was very pale.
“I will take you back as soon as possible,” he promised.
As he rose to his feet the Duty Officer said,
“Look what I’ve just found, my Lord.”
The Marquis looked into the Duty Officer’s hand at his very own diamond brooch that he had been carrying in his pocket.
He stared at it in mock amazement.
“Good Heavens! What is on the cover?”
The Duty Officer closed the box.
“That is my family crest!” exclaimed the Marquis. “I thought I recognised that brooch.”
“Is it yours?” the Duty Officer enquired.
“It is indeed. It is one of the most important pieces of the Rakecliffe jewellery collection. I expect you know it is famous and of such historic importance that it is second only to the Queen’s Crown Jewels.”
“I’ve heard that, my Lord, but I’m afraid that I must keep this brooch for the moment as evidence against the owner of this yacht.”
The Marquis looked across the room.
There was only one other Officer present who was looking at Lanthia with curiosity.
“Close the door for a moment,” asked the Marquis.
The Officer obeyed him.
Then in a low voice he said to the Duty Officer,
“Lord Salisbury himself would wish you to handle this criminal affair very discreetly and diplomatically. You can easily understand that Her Majesty has, at the moment, no wish to quarrel with Spain and in my opinion the Conté de Vallecas, who owns this yacht, is a lunatic.”
He paused to ensure that the Duty Officer was listening before he went on,
“What I believe would be for the best is for you to instruct your staff to say nothing to anyone, especially the press, until you have received further directions from Lord Salisbury.”
“Of course I fully understand, my Lord,” agreed the Duty Officer, “and that is just what I will do.”
“I will inform Lord Salisbury immediately what has occurred and I know he will be as grateful as I am that you have taken such swift action and have been so successful.”
“That is what matters,” he replied proudly.
He looked at Lanthia.
“Are you now all right, miss?” he asked.
“I am very, very thankful – that you have rescued me,” sighed Lanthia.
She sounded rather weak and the Marquis said,
“Now I can leave everything in your capable hands and thank you again more than I can possibly say for your quickness and skill and finally your success.”
“It’s been a pleasure, my Lord.”
The Marquis turned to Lanthia.
“Can you walk? Or shall I carry you?”
“I shall be all right – if I can hold on to you.”
The Marquis gave her his arm and when they came to the companionway he carried her up it.
At the top he put her down on the deck and then he realised that only the Duty Officer was behind them.
“I think,” he suggested, “that this warrants a case of champagne to celebrate and I promise that you shall have it tomorrow morning.”
The Duty Officer smiled.
“That will be a great treat, my Lord, and thank you for your generosity.”
“The gratitude is all for you,” replied the Marquis.
Then he was helping Lanthia off the yacht and onto the pilot boat.
It was a very short distance back to the Offices of the Port of London Authority.
Only when they left the boat did Lanthia hold out her hand to the Duty Officer.
“Thank you again very much indeed. I am so very grateful to you for saving me.”
“You must thank his Lordship for that.”
Lanthia did not answer.
She clung to the Marquis as he guided her to where his carriage was waiting.
He helped her into it and then he gave his orders to the coachman.
“Take me first to Lord Salisbury’s house.”
“I remember it well, my Lord.”
“If his Lordship is not at home we shall have to go to the Foreign Office, but I imagine most people will have gone home at this hour.”
The Marquis was speaking more to himself than the coachman and he stepped into the carriage.
As the horses moved off, he put out his arms and pulled Lanthia close to him.
“You are all right now, Lanthia, you are safe and I swear to you that this can never happen to you again.”
Even as he spoke, she burst into tears and hid her face against his chest.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lanthia cried torrentially like a child.
The Marquis pulled her legs onto the seat and held her across him as if she was a baby.
“It’s all right,” he kept saying gently, “it is all over, it is finished and you are
not to upset yourself any more.”
It was impossible for her to stop crying.
He continued whispering to her as the carriage gathered speed.
“You were safe, Lanthia, from the moment I knew where you were and I did hear you calling for me.”
She was so surprised that she raised her head from his shoulder.
“You heard me – calling to you?” she asked a little incoherently.
They passed by a streetlight and the Marquis could see her face.
Her eyes were wide and tears were running down her cheeks.
He pulled her back against him and his lips came down on hers.
He kissed her very gently because he had no wish to upset her more than she had been already.
Then when he felt the softness and innocence of her lips, his kisses became more possessive and demanding.
He felt her quiver against him and he knew that she was no longer crying.
Without speaking he continued to kiss her until the horses came to a standstill.
He realised that they were now drawn up outside Lord Salisbury’s house.
Very gently he lifted Lanthia into the corner of the carriage.
“I will not be longer than I can help,” he told her in a voice that was deep and a little unsteady.
He opened the carriage door whilst the coachman was ringing the bell.
As the front door opened, the Marquis walked in, saying to the butler,
“Is his Lordship in? I must speak to him urgently.”
The butler, who had seen the Marquis many times and was used to emergencies, replied quietly,
“Will your Lordship please go into the study?”
The Marquis did not have to be shown the way and without waiting for the butler, he strode towards the study, where Lord Salisbury always sat when he was at home.
He did not have to wait more than a few minutes before Lord Salisbury, who must have been in the middle of his dinner, came hurrying in.
“What is it, Rake? What has happened?”
“I am sorry to disturb your Lordship,” the Marquis answered, “but this is very important.”
Lord Salisbury, a distinguished Minister and one of the most respected Statesmen in the country, indicated a seat to the Marquis and sat down himself.
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