“It will kill him anyway to lose you.”
Florencia did not answer and after a moment he said more quietly,
“I can see you are tired. Go to sleep, my dearest, and go on praying until the very last moment that a miracle will save us all. There is nobody else but God we can appeal to.”
“I have prayed – and prayed,” Florencia said with a little break in her voice, “but I don’t think – He hears me.”
Her brother bent down and kissed her cheek.
“At least we have the necklace,” he said, “which will lift one burden from Papa’s mind.”
“It was very brave of you to get it back,” Florencia said. “Goodnight, Antonio.”
“Goodnight, my dearest sister,” the Prince replied, “and God keep you.”
He walked across the room and Lord Mere thought that he then picked up one of the cases that the servant had put down.
Then he went from the room closing the door behind him and there was the sound of footsteps receding down the passage.
Lord Mere did not move, knowing that it would be a mistake in such circumstances to be too precipitate.
Then he heard Florencia say in a frightened little voice,
“Are you – still – there?”
He came from behind the curtains and saw her staring at him anxiously, her face very pale, and he realised that she was even more afraid and agitated than when he had left her.
He walked towards the bed and this time he sat down on the side of it, knowing that it was important that they should not be overheard and that voices, however soft, can sound quite loud in the stillness of the night.
For a moment they just looked at each other.
Then he said,
“Now there need be no pretence between us. Tell me why your brother had to steal the necklace from my sister for your father to give to the Gorizias.”
As if what he said was a shock, Florencia put her hand up to her mouth as if to prevent herself from giving a cry.
Then she said in a whisper,
“I had no idea it was your – sister who had the – necklace! I only knew it had been sold to a – very distinguished English Nobleman.”
“Who by an extraordinary coincidence is married to my sister,” Lord Mere said. “But how, Florencia, could your father sell anything so beautiful and so much a part of your history?”
She looked away from him and twisted her long fingers together before she asked,
“I can – trust – you?”
He knew how important the question was to her and he reached out to take her hand in his.
He could feel that she was trembling all over and her fingers seemed to flutter in his like a little bird caught in a net.
“I swear to you before God that you can not only trust me,” he said, “but that I will somehow save you from marrying Prince Vincente!”
As he spoke, she was very still, but there was a light on her face that seemed to come from deep within her.
“Could you – do that?”
“I can try and I have the feeling that I shall succeed.”
“If you do – then all my prayers will be – answered.”
“But first you have to help me because I need to know the truth – the whole truth!” Lord Mere said softly.
He did not take his hand away from hers knowing that she found it comforting and somehow because he was touching her she was able to begin hesitatingly,
“I-I expect you know that there has been a – vendetta between our family and the Gorizias for – centuries?”
“Yes, I had heard that.”
“It is something that Antonio and I used to laugh at because it was so old-fashioned and out of date in modern times.”
She gave what was almost a sob before she added,
“But we – laughed too soon – and perhaps it was our – laughter and the jokes we made about Vincente that made him – determined to have his revenge.”
“What did he do?” Lord Mere asked.
“He has blackmailed Papa!”
“How?”
There was a little pause and he knew that Florencia was feeling for words before she said,
“You know that since King Umberto came to the throne many people are dissatisfied with his Government and with him?”
“I have heard that,” Lord Mere admitted.
“It is rumoured that there have been more than a few conspiring against – him and one man – in particular whose name is Orsini.”
Lord Mere nodded.
“I have heard of him.”
“He is powerful, but has been forced into hiding because those who support the King are determined to bring him to – justice for a number of – different crimes.”
Lord Mere was listening intently, remembering that this was what the Earl of Roseberry had told him he suspected was happening.
“I know now,” Florencia went on, “that the Gorizias must have worked hand-in-glove with Orsini, but we can never – prove it.”
“Why not?”
“Because they have been far too clever – and have in fact incriminated Papa.”
Lord Mere moved a little nearer to her, still keeping his hand over hers.
“Go on,” he said softly.
“Papa received a letter from a man he used to know – telling him that he was in great trouble and asking Papa if he would meet him in a part of the grounds where they could not be seen by anybody in the Palazzo. Papa thought it strange – but he has never refused to help anybody in distress, especially an old friend.”
“So he went to the meeting place alone?” Lord Mere questioned.
“Yes, it said in the letter he must come alone, so he walked through the garden to a clearing in the woods that was very secluded and – where the man was waiting for him.”
“Did your father know him?”
“No, it was not the man he expected to see, but the man who was there said that his friend was too ill to come himself and – he had brought Papa a special letter from him.”
“Your father did not think that strange?”
“No, he said the man in the wood seemed honest and loyal and spoke with a certain amount of authority. He therefore promised that he would help an old friend in distress in any way that he could. He shook hands with the man and came back to the Palazzo with the letter.”
“Is that all?”
“No – no, there is much more – than that.”
“Tell me.”
“The man who met Papa in the wood was Orsini!”
Lord Mere looked puzzled.
“I don’t understand.”
“Why should you?” Florencia asked. “You could not guess any more than Papa could that while they were talking, Vincente, or one of his accomplices was taking photographs of Papa with the man all those guarding the King were searching for!”
Lord Mere sat upright and stared at Florencia. Now he began to understand what had seemed so incomprehensible.
He was aware, of course, that photography had suddenly been launched as an exciting new invention and in England Paul Martin had taken some fantastic publicity pictures.
He had bought for himself one of the Falcon cameras that had caused a revolution in the printing world, but this was the first time that he had realised how useful photography could be to blackmailers.
“When, a few days later, Vincente arranged to see Papa and showed him the photographs that had been taken, he could not believe – what had happened!” Florencia said in a broken little voice. “There was one of Papa shaking hands with Orsini, and another with Orsini handing him the letter from his supposed friend – that could look as if he was handing over money – and several others of them talking earnestly together.”
There was no need for Florencia to elaborate further.
Lord Mere was aware that if those photographs of the Prince were shown to the King and those responsible for his safety, there would be little or nothing the Prince could say in his own defence.
>
“And your father had no idea who it was he had met in the woods?” he asked.
“Not until Vincente told him.”
“Then what happened?”
“Vincente demanded an enormous sum of money from Papa as the price of silence and his promise not to show the photographs to the King!”
“So that was why your father had to sell the Ansidei Madonna!” Lord Mere said beneath his breath.
“You knew – it was a – fake?”
“I was sure of it.”
“How could – you know? It was copied by – one of the greatest artists alive, a man to be – trusted because Papa had helped him when he was poor and – struggling.”
“I agree it is a magnificent painting,” Lord Mere conceded, “but there is something lacking.”
“What is that?” Florencia asked curiously.
“I cannot explain exactly, but, because I especially love Raphael’s works. they vibrate to me in the same way that you and I vibrate to each other.”
He spoke quite quietly, but her eyes fell before his and the colour flooded into her pale face.
She looked so lovely that he had an irresistible desire to bend forward and kiss her.
He knew, however, that this was something he must not do and instead his fingers tightened over her hands as he said,
“Go on. I am sure that, having compelled your father to pay once, he made him pay again and again.”
“Vincente demanded more and more money – and while we feel sure that – some of it goes to – Orsini – ”
She stopped and added hesitatingly,
“ – the rest goes toward his pleasures – which I understand are – very expensive.”
There were tears in her eyes as she went on,
“Papa has not dared to sell another picture except for two smaller and less important ones – in case anybody should become – aware of what he has been doing. If people ask questions – the whole story will come out.”
“I can understand that,” Lord Mere said sympathetically.
“At last – when there seemed to be – nothing left, Vincente said that Papa must give him the necklace – having no idea that we had already sold it.”
Tears ran down her cheeks as she added bitterly,
“Selling it added – ten years to Papa’s age. The necklace has been in our family – ever since it was made more than a century and a half ago.”
“The money kept Vincente quiet?” Lord Mere asked.
“Only for a short while. Then, when Papa said that – there was nothing more he could give, he laughed and replied,
“Florencia is now eighteen. What could be more suitable than for her to marry me?”
Lord Mere saw the expression on Florencia’s face, which told him how deeply she had been shocked.
“I could not – believe Papa when he told me – what had been proposed,” she whispered after a moment. “I knew it was not because – Vincente wanted me as a – woman, but because it was his – ultimate revenge upon the Soginos.”
Lord Mere was silent simply because he did not know what he could say.
Yet he could understand the twisted way that Prince Vincente’s mind was working.
“On top of – that,” Florencia went on, “Vincente demanded that the necklace, which the Gorizias have always coveted, should be part of – the marriage dowry.”
“And your father could not admit that he had sold it.”
“Of course not. Nobody knew that – except for the jeweller, Giovanni, who is a personal friend and would never betray us.”
“So that is why your brother had to steal it back from my sister!”
“Exactly! But please – please understand that Antonio would never normally – stoop to anything so – dishonourable, but it was a case of – saving Papa.”
She looked up at Lord Mere piteously as if afraid that he was condemning her brother for what she knew he must think of as a serious crime.
“Of course I understand,” he replied. “Now that you have told me the whole story, Florencia, I must begin to think of what I can do to save you and, of course, your father as well.”
“Can you do – that? Can you – really do – it?” she asked.
There was an irrepressible and momentary joy in her voice.
Then in a very different tone she said,
“But I am asking – too much! How can – anybody save us from those fiends? They have the photographs – indisputable evidence that Papa talked to Orsini – clasped his hand and took – a package from him which could easily be misconstrued into something very – incriminating!”
“I have thought of all that,” Lord Mere said quietly. “Now tell me, Florencia, when did your father last see the photographs?”
“When Vincente showed the prints to him and he could hardly believe that he was not dreaming!”
“And, of course, the negatives will be in a safe place!”
“Very safe,” Florencia said, “as he assured me – only last week.”
“What exactly did he say?” Lord Mere asked sharply.
Florencia turned her face away from him as if she was embarrassed and her voice was very low as she replied,
“I – begged Vincente not to – force me into marriage – I told him I hated him – for what he had done to my father – and it would be –impossible for us ever to find any – h-happiness together.”
She gave a little sob as if the memory of how she had pleaded with the Prince was still vivid in her mind and Lord Mere saw the tears run down her cheeks.
“‘You will have – the necklace,’ I said. ‘You can also have the other things from Papa’s Palazzo, if you want them – but do not force me to – marry you.’”
Her voice broke on the last words and it was impossible for her to go on.
Then, as she knew that Lord Mere was waiting, with a superhuman effort she managed to say,
“He seemed to listen – seriously as I spoke, and I thought for – one moment he was going – to agree. Then he laughed! It was – horrible the way he – laughed!”
Lord Mere’s fingers tightened on her hands as if to comfort her.
“What did he say?” he asked.
“He said, ‘you will always do exactly what I want because in a safe in my bedroom there is – indisputable proof that your father is a traitor to his country – and his King!’”
As Florencia spoke the last word, she took her hands from Lord Mere’s and put them up over her face.
As if he could not help himself, he put his arms around her and drew her close to him so that she was crying against his shoulder.
“It’s all right,” he said gently. “Don’t cry. Now that I know what I am up against, nothing is impossible.”
She was still for a moment.
Then she raised her face to his to look up at him.
The tears were still wet on her cheeks and on her dark long eyelashes as she said,
“You are – not suggesting – that you climb into the Gorizia’s Palazzo as you did ours? No – no! You cannot do – such a thing!”
“Why not?”
“Because it would be dangerous – terribly dangerous! They have many more servants than we have – and if Vincente found you there – he would – k-kill you.”
“I am not afraid.”
“But – I am afraid! How can I let you – die for us?”
“For you,” Lord Mere said very softly.
He looked down at her, her eyes were held by his and very slowly and gently, as if it was something ordained since the beginning of time, his lips found hers.
He felt the little quiver that went through her and then the softness of her mouth still trembling from her tears brought him a rapture that he had never known before in his whole life.
It was far more than the joining of their lips. It was as if the vibrations from them both were linked together and his heart touched her heart, his soul hers.
For a long moment their kiss was sacred and
almost unhuman.
Then, as Lord Mere felt her surrender herself to him, his arms tightened around her and his lips became more demanding and more insistent.
A flame rose within them both that was so ecstatic, so perfect, that he knew it was something he had been seeking all his life and thought that he would never find.
Never in any one of his love affairs, when he had been deeply attracted, enthralled and enraptured by the woman he made love to, had he ever known the wonder and the glory of all that he experienced as he kissed Florencia.
He knew as he did so that for her it was the first time she had been kissed and, because he could read her thoughts, he knew that what she was feeling was part of her prayers and part too of the beauty she was surrounded with and which was intrinsically a part of herself.
Only when he took his mouth from hers and she hid her face against his neck did he say softly,
“Now you know, my darling, why I will save you and why nothing and nobody will stand in my way or prevent you from being free to marry me.”
She did not answer and he knew that she was crying, but her tears were now of happiness and hope.
*
Lord Mere did not underestimate the danger both to himself of being discovered and the threat to Florencia’s reputation, so, after he had kissed her again until he felt as though they both touched the stars and the sky and were enveloped by the light of the moon, he said,
“I must leave you, my darling, and you must go to sleep and believe in me. Remember that I need your prayers.”
“I shall pray for you – without ceasing,” Florencia answered. “At the same time, I want to thank God that He sent you to save us.”
“You must not speak about it to anybody,” Lord Mere said warningly, “not even to your father or your brother. Do you understand?”
“I – understand.”
“It must be a secret. Our secret!”
She turned her face up to his and he looked down at her for a long moment.
“You have been in my heart ever since I can remember,” he said, “but I never thought that I would ever find you outside a painting.”
“But I am here – and I am – real.”
“I know that,” he said, “and I swear to you, my precious darling, that I will die rather than allow you to marry any man, let alone that devil who is torturing your father!”
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