Love and the Cheetah Read online

  The Duke passed his hand over his forehead.

  “Somehow,” he said confidently, “we will find a solution. I don’t yet know what it is, but I will find one.”

  He spoke with a determination and in a voice that she had not heard before.

  Then he said after a few moments,

  “You have to understand, my lovely Ilesa, that I will be suffering all the agonies of the damned if I have to think for one moment that I am going to lose you.”

  Ilesa made a helpless little gesture.

  “What – can I – do? Oh – what can I – do?”

  The Duke rose to his feet and, walking round Rajah, he pulled her to hers.

  “We are going to solve this problem together,” he promised, “but for the moment no one but Rajah shall know that I love you and that you love me although not as much as you will love me when I teach you about love. My darling, my precious, my glorious little wife-to-be, you are mine and nobody shall ever take you from me!”

  The words ended on a triumphant note.

  Then his arms closed round Ilesa and he began kissing her fiercely, possessively and passionately until they were both breathless.

  He raised his head and Ilesa hid her face against his shoulder as he breathed,

  “My darling, I will be very gentle with you. I have no wish to frighten you, but please be kind to me. I need not only your love but your kindness and understanding of how much I am suffering and how afraid I am that you will go away from me.”

  “I feel – already – as if I – belong to you,” Ilesa said in a whisper.

  “You do belong to me,” the Duke replied positively. “We are a part of each other and it is impossible for us now to be divided.”

  He turned her face up to his and kissed her again.

  Now his kisses were gentle, as if he was wooing her into giving him her heart and soul.

  Rajah clearly thought that he was being neglected and so drew attention to himself by rubbing himself against the Duke’s legs.

  Then he attempted to squeeze himself between Ilesa and the Duke.

  Ilesa gave a shaky little laugh.

  “Rajah is – jealous! He is – another one who is – trying to prevent us – from being together!”

  “We will share Rajah,” the Duke suggested, “and somehow, by some miracle, perhaps by prayer we will find a way out of this maze into the Heaven that you have now opened for me.”

  Ilesa looked up at him.

  “You are – so prestigious. Are you – certain that I am – really the right woman to be – your wife?”

  “You are the only person I have ever considered for that position,” the Duke replied. “Just as my animals love and trust you, as they have never trusted anyone else but me, so my people at Heron Court and on the other estates I own need you and want you.”

  His arms tightened around her again as he said,

  “Oh, my precious, don’t let us have to wait very long.”

  “I don’t – know what to – do,” Ilesa pleaded. “I love you – I know that – I love you, but Doreen will be so – angry and Papa will be – so miserable.”

  Her voice broke on the last word and the Duke suggested,

  “Now we will go and talk to Che Che and maybe he will tell us all that we want to know.”

  He was trying in his own way to speak lightly and stop her from being so unhappy.

  Because he understood and because her whole being seemed to respond to him, Ilesa allowed him to lead her out of Rajah’s enclosure.

  They walked hand-in-hand to Che Che’s.

  He was waiting for them!

  He sprang at the Duke in sheer delight as they entered his enclosure.

  They talked to him and Me Me came from her hiding place, moving out further than she had the day before.

  She even allowed both the Duke and Ilesa to pat her and peep at her cubs

  “I am sure that they understand what we are – feeling,” Ilesa said.

  “Of course they do! They know how lonely I have been at Heron Court without someone to share them with me.”

  Ilesa gave a little laugh.

  “Now you are inventing a sad story for yourself,” she teased. “You know perfectly well ‒ you have had party after party here, parties in London, parties at Newmarket and you have only to ask for something ‒ for it to be yours.”

  “I do not have to explain to you,” the Duke said, “that parties are one thing and being with you is something very different. We think the same, we feel the same and really, my great love, there is no need for words between us is there?”

  Ilesa knew that this was true.

  She was aware that she could share her thoughts with him as she had never shared them with anyone else.

  For a moment they just looked at each other.

  She felt as if his lips were on hers and that waves of ecstasy were passing between them.

  For a moment neither of them moved.

  And then the Duke said,

  “Exactly! How could anybody else ever understand except for you?”

  Ilesa turned away with a little sob.

  “If only – you were not – a Duke,” she murmured.

  She spoke tragically and the Duke gave a little laugh.

  “But I am! I am sorry, my darling Ilesa, but you will just have to put up with it, although I am quite prepared to admit that it is indeed rather tiresome!”

  Then suddenly they were both laughing.

  The Duke was thinking that he had found the one woman in the world who really wanted him for himself.

  For Ilesa his title was a sheer disadvantage together with all its pomp and circumstance.

  The Duke then looked at his watch.

  “It feels as if we have been here for only a few minutes and I have so much more to say to you. But unless we want people to be aware of what is happening between us, I think we should return now to the house for breakfast.”

  “Yes – of course,” Ilesa agreed.

  She kissed Che Che on top of his head.

  “You are a very clever cheetah,” she then whispered into his ear, “and I am sure you understand exactly what is happening.”

  “Of course he does,” the Duke said, “and so does Rajah. I am certain that they knew while I was sad and lonely here that you were somewhere out there in the world and they arranged in their own crafty little minds how I should find you.”

  Ilesa laughed.

  “That would make a lovely story! One day you must write it down and I will illustrate it.”

  “That will certainly be something that our children will enjoy,” the Duke smiled.

  He waited to see the colour come into her cheeks and her eyes looking shy.

  Then he said,

  “Oh, God, how much I love you! I will go on fighting for you, Ilesa, even if it kills me!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Ilesa and the Duke patted Che Che again and then they walked towards the gate that led out of the enclosure.

  The cheetah followed them and Ilesa looked back at him.

  “I think he knows that we are worried,” she observed.

  “I am sure he does,” the Duke answered.

  They closed the gate behind them and started to walk quite quickly back through the orchard.

  When they reached the Herb Garden, the Duke stopped.

  “I think,” he suggested, “that we ought to go into the house separately.”

  “Of course, that is sensible,” Ilesa nodded.

  She thought how clever he was at thinking of everything and looked up at him with shining eyes.

  “I love you,” he said in a very deep voice, “and you know how much I am worrying at the moment in case you try to escape me.”

  “I will – not do – that,” she said, “but – ”

  “I know. I know!” the Duke interrupted. “There is always a ‘but’. But, my darling, don’t keep me waiting too long.”

  He did not kiss her although she was hoping that h
e would.

  Then, as he turned to stand looking down into the fountain, she hurried away.

  As she walked over the lawn, she was praying that somehow by some miracle everything would resolve itself for the best.

  ‘What can I do, Mama?’ she asked in her heart. ‘What can I do? I know you are thinking of me as you always do, but you will also be thinking of Papa and I cannot leave him alone in the Vicarage when he is so unhappy.”

  She felt as if her prayer winged its way up to Heaven and that her mother was listening.

  Then, when she reached the house, instead of going round to the front door, she slipped through the French window into the salon.

  When she walked into the breakfast room, she found that her father was there with Lady Mavis and Lord Randall.

  “Good morning, Papa,” she greeted him and then she kissed the Vicar.

  “I thought you would be out riding,” he commented.

  “I went into the garden,” Ilesa answered quickly, “and, Papa, you must look at the Herb Garden. I know just how thrilled Mama would have been if we could have had one like it at home.”

  The Vicar did not answer and Ilesa walked to the sideboard where there was a long array of silver dishes containing everything that she might like for breakfast.

  As she was lifting up the first cover, Doreen came into the dining room.

  “I got up early,” she announced before anybody could say anything, “because I think that we must do something very exciting this morning as you, Papa, will be leaving tomorrow.”

  There was a note in her voice that told Ilesa all too obviously that Doreen was anxious to be rid of her father and herself.

  She was making it quite clear that their invitation was not to be extended any longer.

  As she stood at the sideboard, Lord Randall was beside her.

  “Let me help you,” he offered.

  Then, in a voice that only Doreen should have heard, he said,

  “You are looking very beautiful. Even more beautiful than you did last night.”

  “That makes me think that I must persuade Drogo to give a proper ball here,” Doreen answered.

  Lord Randall did not speak.

  Ilesa, however, could see the pain in his eyes and thought that her sister again was being unnecessarily cruel.

  They were all sitting at the table when the Duke came in.

  “Good morning,” he said heartily. “I warn you all that it is going to be very hot today so we must choose our amusements where we will not sizzle in the heat.”

  “I thought,” Lord Randall suggested before anyone else could speak, “that we might, Drogo, organise a competition of jumping in the paddock. I have been inspecting those new fences you have put up and I think they are magnificent.”

  “I have taken a great deal of trouble over them,” the Duke answered, “and it is certainly an idea that we might put some of the new horses at them.”

  “I don’t like jumping,” Doreen objected petulantly.

  There was a short pause before the Duke said,

  “But, of course, Doreen, you must be the judge and you shall give away the prizes.”

  “What prizes?” Doreen enquired.

  “That will be a surprise,” the Duke replied, “and I will think of something really exciting for the participants and, of course, the Judge as well.”

  Ilesa realised by the way her sister preened herself at his words that she thought that the Duke had promised something more significant than just a prize.

  Then the butler came to the Duke’s side.

  “Good morning, Your Grace,” he began, “I thought you would like to know that Hilton has just carried in the white orchids that Your Grace brought back from Singapore. They have been arranged in a bowl and I have put them in the salon on the table by the window.”

  “My orchids from Singapore!” the Duke exclaimed. “I was hoping that they would come into bloom soon. Tell Hilton that I am delighted to have them.”

  “Very good, Your Grace.”

  The butler withdrew and Lady Mavis said,

  “They have come on quickly in the heat. I looked at them the day before yesterday and they were not yet in bloom.”

  “I did the same,” the Duke stated. “But I want you all to see them because they are a very rare and unusual orchid and pure white.”

  He glanced at Ilesa as he spoke.

  She knew, because she could read his thoughts that he was thinking that it was what she was to him, pure and white.

  She looked down at her plate just in case she should blush and someone round the table might notice it.

  She was not aware that the Duke looked away from her with difficulty.

  When he had finished breakfast, he realised that, because he had come in late, everyone else had finished too.

  “Now,” he said, “let’s go to look at the orchids. I am sure you will think, as I did when I first saw them, that they are exceptional and quite the most beautiful flower imaginable that could come from anywhere in the world.”

  He then opened the door.

  Doreen and Ilesa walked through it and he and Lord Randall followed them.

  The Vicar and Lady Mavis were a little longer rising from the breakfast table and they all walked across the hall and into the salon.

  The sun was streaming into the salon and at the far end of the room Ilesa could see the flowers on a table in front of the window.

  Then, as she and her sister walked towards it, Doreen suddenly gave a shriek.

  It was so penetrating and so shrill that Ilesa stared at her in astonishment.

  She shrieked again,

  Then Ilesa was aware that Che Che had just come in through the French window and was standing staring at them.

  Doreen turned round and ran towards the two men who were standing behind her.

  She flung herself against Lord Randall shouting,

  “Hugo! Hugo! Save me – save me!”

  His arms went round her and, as she trembled against him, he said,

  “I will take care of you, my darling.”

  Ilesa ran towards Che Che, but the Duke was looking at Doreen in the arms of Lord Randall.

  Her face was hidden in his neck and his arms held her very close against his chest.

  “It looks, Hugo,” the Duke said quietly, “as if I should congratulate you.”

  “I hope so, Drogo,” Lord Randall replied.

  Then he picked Doreen up in his arms and carried her across the room to where an open door led into an antechamber.

  Ilesa was crouching down beside Che Che with her arms around him.

  As the Duke joined her, she said,

  “I knew that Che Che was worried about us and that is why he has escaped from his enclosure.”

  The Duke drew a deep breath of relief.

  “That has solved one problem for us at any rate,” he said, “and Hugo will now be very happy.”

  Ilesa looked at him in surprise.

  “You knew that he was in love ‒ with Doreen?”

  “It was only very recently that I suspected it and that he was serious about it.”

  “I think,” Ilesa said in a low tone, “Doreen was really in love with him all the time, but she was hypnotised by the glamour of the strawberry leaves on your Coronet.”

  The Duke’s eyes twinkled.

  “I promise you, my precious,” he said, “I will wear it only on very formal occasions.”

  Ilesa smiled, but she did not answer him,

  He sensed that she was thinking about her father.

  Even if Doreen no longer stood in the way of their being together, there was still the Vicar to be considered.

  The Duke turned towards her and then said softly,

  “I love you.”

  *

  The Vicar and Lady Mavis had been following the rest of the party into the salon when the butler stopped them.

  “Excuse me, sir,” he said to the Vicar, “but I do think you should look at the morning
papers, which have just arrived. And they are in his Grace’s study.”

  The way he spoke in a deep serious tone made the Vicar look at him in surprise. At the same time he did not ask him any questions.

  Lady Mavis had heard what the butler had said.

  As the Vicar turned and started to walk down the corridor towards the study, she went with him.

  They neither of them spoke.

  The Vicar opened the door and they went into the study.

  He then walked straight to the velvet stool in front of the fireplace where the day’s daily newspapers were always laid out neatly.

  He picked up The Morning Post hurriedly.

  As he looked first at the front page, he gave a gasp.

  The headlines seemed to spring out at him forcefully,

  “BRITISH SOLDIERS AMBUSHED BY TRIBESMEN.

  A MASSACRE ON THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER.

  The Governor of the North-West Frontier Province, the Earl of Harlestone, and his only son shot dead.

  The Vicar read the headlines and Lady Mavis standing behind him read them as well.

  She put her hand on his arm as she said gently,

  “I am so sorry.”

  “And I am sorry for my sister-in-law,” the Vicar pointed out quietly. “I must, of course, get in touch with our other relations as soon as possible.”

  He was talking as if to himself.

  Then Lady Mavis said,

  “Of course you must. It will be up to you to make all the arrangements for the bodies to be brought back and buried in the family vault.”

  The Vicar looked at her and she said,

  “You must realise that you are now the Head of the Family and The Earl of Harlestone.”

  She knew as she spoke that it had not struck the Vicar that this was now his position until she had pointed it out to him.

  Then, looking at her closely, he drew in his breath before he said very quietly,

  “Now I can beg you to do me the very great honour of being my wife.”

  Their eyes met and Lady Mavis gave a little cry.

  “I was so afraid,” she exclaimed, “that you would not ‒ ask me.”

  The Vicar put out his arms and she moved closer to him.

  *

  In the salon one of the Indians who looked after the Duke’s menagerie appeared at the window.

  He was obviously out of breath having been running as fast as he could.