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 t
hat 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 marriage 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.
They were very large eyes and when she opened them wide they seemed to fill her whole face.
Sometimes when she was unhappy, they looked almost purple in colour, but always there was something mysterious about them with a depth that was not to be found in other people’s eyes.
‘Richard is right,’ Charlotte thought, ‘she is perfectly lovely and she does not look like anyone else. Surely – surely the Prince will find her more attractive than me?’
Alana looked out the window for a long time.
Then, as Charlotte held her breath, she turned to say,
“Do you really think I can help you in this, Lady Charlotte? Because I know it would be wicked for me to say ‘no’ even though I am – afraid of what you are – suggesting.”
“You will do it! Oh, Alana, you will do it!”
Alana nodded.
“Yes, if you are absolutely certain that what you are doing is right.”
“I am absolutely certain,” Charlotte replied in a voice that was very solemn. “It is right and good for me to marry Shane, who loves me and I love him and it would be wrong and wicked for me to marry Prince Ivan.”
Alana gave a little sigh.
“Then I will do what you want me to do, Lady Charlotte, but you will have to help me so that I will not make silly mistakes and spoil everything for you.”
“I know you would never do that,” Charlotte said quickly, “but, oh, Alana, how can I thank you?”
As she spoke, she moved towards her and kissed her cheek.
“I am so grateful – so very very grateful,” she sighed, “and I know that Shane will thank you from the bottom of his heart when he hears how kind you are.”
Alana gave a wry little smile.
“I have told you that I shall be frightened and that is an understatement, I should be frightened to stay at Storrington Park, let alone anywhere as famous as Charl Castle.”
“You have heard of it?” Charlotte asked in surprise.
“I have read about it in the newspapers,” Alana replied. “When Prince Ivan bought it, there was an article in the Illustrated London News and a fine sketch of The Castle.”
“Then you know more than I do,” Charlotte said. “I have only heard Richard and Shane talking about it and, of course, Papa and Mama.”
“Well, we shall both see it for the first time. I can only hope that I am not exposed as an imposter from the very moment I cross the threshold.”
“Richard will see that it does not happen.” Charlotte replied. “You know how clever he is at organising things. He has been the same since he was a little boy. It was always he who organised the paper chases and musical chairs that we played when we were children.”
She smiled and went on,
“Now he organises the point-to-point meetings and Steeplechases for his friends
and the shooting parties when Papa is too busy. Everyone says he is brilliant.”
“I very much hope he will organise me,” Alana said, “for I shall need to know what to say and what to do and, of course, Lady Charlotte, what to wear.”
“I have told you that you can wear my clothes,” Charlotte said, “and before we leave I will bring you a gown that you can arrive in and a warm travelling cloak. As you are supposed to have just arrived from Ireland, we could say that your own clothes have been lost on the journey and you are borrowing from me until yours turn up.”
Alana laughed.
“I can see that you are as good as your brother at make-believe.”
“That is the right word. We will make it into a story like those your father used to tell me when he first started to teach me. I had always thought that music was rather boring until he made it almost magic.”
“That is exactly the right word and now that I am without him, I miss his magic more every day.”
“I think you have the same magic,” Charlotte said impulsively. “That is why it was always so exciting for me to be with you both and to play in my very amateurish way with two such gifted musicians.”
For a moment Alana’s large eyes filled with tears.
“It makes me very happy to hear you say things like that. Only somebody who knew Papa as well as you did and for so many years could know how different he was from anybody else.”
“I shall never forget him,” Charlotte said, “and of one thing I am quite sure – if he knew what you are going to do, he would think it a huge joke!”
“I believe he would,” Alana replied slowly. “And now, Lady Charlotte, you are making me feel that I cannot fail either you or Papa.”
“That means,” Charlotte replied, “that you have to entice the Prince away from me and I am quite sure that it is something you will easily be able to do with your magic!”
CHAPTER THREE
“We have done it!” Charlotte cried as the Private train started off from a side platform at Brilling, which was the nearest Station to Storrington Castle.
“So far, so good,” her brother said quietly.
Princes and Princesses: Favourite Royal Romances Page 139
