171. The Marquis Wins (The Eternal Collection) Read online

  The Marquis smiled.

  “I think it would be a mistake on this voyage, but you will be able to come back another time.”

  “That – might be – impossible,” Daniela said almost beneath her breath.

  The Marquis could see by the expression on her face that she was thinking that her stepmother might then be in charge of her again.

  Esmé would certainly be more interested in casinos than Cathedrals.

  To change the subject he said,

  “What I must do is try to buy you a bottle of Eau de Cologne. It was invented in 1709 when it was discovered that pure spirit combined with orange blossom formed an excellent basis for an alluring scent.”

  He was speaking to divert Daniela’s mind from her stepmother and then he realised only when he had said the words ‘orange blossom’ that he had made a mistake.

  Daniela jumped to her feet and went to the open window to stare out into the darkness.

  There were little flickering lights on the shore, some of which appeared to be climbing up the cliffs by themselves until they finally reached the top.

  Then she could see the tips of the mountains silhouetted against the sky.

  For a moment she did not speak.

  “Suppose – when she comes to England –” she said, “my stepmother produces another man whom she – wishes me to marry? How can I – find you?”

  The Marquis knew that her question was very important to her and after a moment he replied,

  “I promise you that will always know where to get in touch with me. But I intend to be certain that you have one of your relatives to take care of you and prevent this sort of thing from happening again.”

  Daniela did not reply and after a moment he added,

  “You have been so busy admiring the Rhine that I have had no time to talk to you about which of your relatives we can go to for help.”

  “I cannot – think of – anyone,” Daniela replied.

  “But there must be someone,” the Marquis insisted. “Did your father have no brothers?”

  “One – but he is dead.”

  “And your mother?”

  “My grandfather – Mama’s father – is very old, in fact he is over eighty. His only son was killed in India five years ago.”

  The Marquis was silent as Daniela went on,

  “I think that the fact that I had almost no male relations is the reason why Papa made his Solicitors my Trustees.”

  She paused a moment and then continued,

  “He always said that he did not think women were good at business.”

  “There I agree with him,” the Marquis nodded.

  At the same time he was thinking that it would be very difficult for Daniela to oppose Esmé Blanc’s contention that she was her natural Guardian.

  However, he did not want Daniela to lie awake worrying over it, so he said lightly,

  “There is no hurry. We will talk about it later, perhaps when we are in the North Sea and have to divert our minds from feeling seasick.”

  “Are you afraid that is what I shall be?” Daniela asked him. “Bowles told me that you dislike having women on board because they are sick in a rough sea and do not really fit well into a yacht, even as luxurious as this one.”

  “Bowles talks too much,” the Marquis answered. “At the same time there is some truth in that.”

  “I promise you I will not be – seasick.”

  She stopped and then added,

  “I shall only be – frightened and upset that our – enchanted journey is coming – to an end and you will be – glad to be rid of me. ”

  “I have not said that,” the Marquis retorted.

  “But I am sure you are thinking it,” Daniela persisted, “and I am very conscious that I am an – encumbrance.”

  “Now you are fishing for compliments,” the Marquis remarked. “In fact I have enjoyed our conversations today.”

  “And I have loved every – moment of them,” Daniela said in a rapt little voice. “You have made everything seem so real and, as soon as I get back to England, I am going to read everything that Heine ever wrote about the Rhine and everything that Liszt and Beethoven composed about it.”

  She smiled and went on,

  “Of course I must find a book about all the legends you have told me and I expect there are a great many more.”

  “There are,” the Marquis agreed, “but now I am thinking up those I can tell you tomorrow, so you had better go to bed and wait until it is light enough for you to see what particular Castle is on either side of us.”

  “You are – so kind to – me,” Daniela murmured.

  She came back from the window and as she did so he rose from the chair where he had been sitting.

  “Goodnight, Daniela, and sleep well. The spirits of the Rhine will be watching over you.”

  “And – so will – you,” Daniela said softly, almost beneath her breath.

  The Marquis put out his hand meaning to touch her on the shoulder as she dropped him a little curtsey.

  Instead she took his hand in both of hers and kissed it.

  He felt the soft touch of her lips against his skin.

  Then, as if she was shy, she turned and disappeared from the Saloon as swiftly as if she had wings.

  The Marquis stood listening to her footsteps going down the companionway.

  Then with a frown between his eyes he walked out on deck.

  *

  The Marquis was fast asleep.

  He had not gone to bed for several hours after Daniela had left him.

  Now he heard Bowles saying in a low voice,

  “Wake up, my Lord!”

  The Marquis opened his eyes.

  His valet was standing just inside the door.

  He knew without looking at the clock that it was earlier than the time he had ordered Bowles to call him.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  The valet came nearer to the bed.

  “A member of the River Police, my Lord, has told the Captain we’re not to pass Cologne, but dock in the Harbour!”

  The Marquis sat up in bed.

  “For what reason?” he asked sharply.

  “I understands my Lord, the Chief of Police wants The Sea Horse searched for a missin’ person.”

  The Marquis drew in his breath.

  Then he said,

  “Tell the Policeman who is aboard that I will be delighted to see him as soon as I am dressed. In the meantime order him a good breakfast in the Saloon and then come back to me.”

  “Very good, my Lord.”

  Bowles left the cabin and the Marquis, slipping on his dressing gown, went quickly to Daniela’s cabin, which was next to his.

  He opened the door without knocking and went in.

  Daniela was fast asleep.

  As he walked towards her, he saw that she had drawn back the curtains over the portholes.

  He knew it was because she wanted to look out at the stars before she fell asleep.

  And now a pale sun was gently sweeping away the mists over the river.

  The light seemed to linger on Daniela’s fair hair where it lay spread over her pillow and her eyelashes were dark against the clarity of her skin.

  Looking down at her the Marquis thought that it was impossible for any woman to look more beautiful.

  Because it had been so hot during the night she had thrown aside the linen sheet that was all that had covered her.

  He could see through the fine lawn of her nightgown, which was trimmed with lace, the perfect curves of her breasts and the outline of her hip.

  It flashed through his mind that it would be very exciting if he woke her with a kiss.

  He wanted to find out with his lips if hers were as soft as they had been when she kissed his hand.

  “Daniela, wake up!” he called out with an effort.

  There was a faint smile on her lips as if his voice were part of her dreams.

  “Wake up,” he repeated.

&nb
sp; Now her long eyelashes flickered and her eyes opened.

  There was an incredible gladness in them because he was there and he said quickly,

  “There is danger. A member of the River Police has come aboard and you have to hide!”

  “M-my – stepmother?”

  The words seemed to burst from her lips as Daniela sat up in bed.

  “I am afraid so. We have been ordered to dock at Cologne Harbour.”

  “She will be – waiting for – me!” Daniela cried. “She will – take me – away with her – save me, oh, please – save me!”

  “That is exactly what I am going to do,” the Marquis answered.

  He admired the effort she used to control the words that were trembling on her lips.

  Then she asked in a frightened little voice,

  “H-how can you – do that?”

  “Very easily, ” the Marquis replied. “I want you to get out of bed.”

  “Yes – of course,” Daniela agreed.

  As she began to do so, he went to the wardrobe and opened the door.

  Her gowns were hanging there as Bowles had arranged them.

  The Marquis looked at them for a moment and then he pressed something that Daniela could not see at the very top of the cupboard.

  There was a faint click and the back of the cupboard slid away showing a long narrow aperture.

  The Marquis pressed something else and the whole of the front of the wardrobe moved back until all the gowns had disappeared.

  Then the back of the cupboard slid into place.

  There was now an emptiness except for a belt that had fallen from one of the gowns and lay on the floor.

  Daniela was watching open-mouthed.

  “Bowles will see to everything else,” he said. “Now come with me.”

  He was smiling as he spoke, knowing that what had just happened had seemed magical.

  He mused that it was something she would have expected of him.

  Then he was aware that, as he had told her to get out of bed, she had obeyed him.

  She was standing in the cabin with the sunshine shining on her and wearing only her nightgown.

  He thought how very alluring it was and certainly proclaimed her innocence if he had ever doubted it.

  He picked up the pretty silk negligée that was lying on a chair and helped her into it.

  “Come,” he said, “and I will bring one of your pillows so that you will be more comfortable.”

  She looked at him wide-eyed.

  He was aware that she was very frightened, at the same time behaving exactly as he had expected her to do.

  He took her into his own cabin where he opened the wardrobe where his own clothes were hanging.

  Once again there was a click at the very top of it and the back of the wardrobe slid to one side.

  There was a dark aperture, which Daniela thought was much deeper than the one in her cabin.

  There was no need for the Marquis to tell her that it was where she had to hide.

  She slipped into it without his saying anything.

  As she did so, he said quietly,

  “It will be dark, but there is plenty of air and you will not suffocate. Keep very quiet and I will let you out as soon as it is possible to do so.”

  He handed her the pillow as he was speaking and she put it down on the floor and sat on it.

  Then for a moment she looked up into the Marquis’s eyes before he closed the back of the wardrobe.

  He had, and it was something few people knew about him, been instrumental on several occasions in helping the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

  At different times he had smuggled Englishmen who were in trouble out of countries where they had been unlawfully detained.

  There had never been a whisper of his exploits among the gossips in London.

  No one would have credited for a moment that the Marquis of Crowle could be involved in anything so dangerous or in some cases diplomatically reprehensible.

  It had been extremely difficult to smuggle people away without having a safe place for them to hide.

  Therefore when the Marquis had redecorated and added his new gadgets to The Sea Horse he had also contrived, under the greatest secrecy in the shipyard, these two hiding places.

  They would, he knew, hoodwink the Police of any country who were empowered to search the yacht.

  With Bowles’s help he dressed quickly.

  He was thinking that this was the first time that his ‘hidey-holes’, as he called them, had been used by a woman.

  When he was ready except for his tie and his yachting jacket, he told Bowles to dispose of the rest of Daniela’s clothes.

  He had deliberately shown her what was happening so that she would not be frightened when she had to hide in the dark in the larger of the two places.

  “Be careful you do not leave any trace of her to be seen, Bowles,” the Marquis warned.

  “Leave it to me, my Lord,” Bowles replied.

  The Marquis knew from the way the little man spoke that he was enjoying every moment of the excitement.

  Also he liked being what he thought of as ‘one up’ on the Police.

  As Bowles disappeared into Daniela’s cabin, the Marquis went slowly and with dignity up to the Saloon.

  The member of the River Police was just finishing a hearty breakfast and rose to his feet when the Marquis entered.

  They shook hands and then the Marquis asked,

  “Now, tell me what all this is about. I assure you that my papers are in order and my Captain had no trouble on his way to Baden-Baden.”

  “That is true, ” the Policeman replied, “but I understand that a charge has been brought against Your Excellency that you have kidnapped a minor.”

  The Marquis looked at him as if he did not understand what he was saying.

  Then he exclaimed,

  “I have never heard anything so ridiculous! This must be a joke, although I don’t find it very funny.”

  The Policeman looked uncomfortable.

  The Marquis realised that at that moment they were turning into the Harbour of Cologne.

  The Captain then brought The Sea Horse into the part of the dock they had been allotted.

  The Kommissar, a Senior Police Officer, very pompous and important in his elaborate uniform, came aboard with two other Policemen.

  He was, however, obviously very impressed by the Marquis and The Sea Horse.

  When he was brought into the Saloon by two Stewards in their spotless uniforms, he was, the Marquis was aware, more polite than he might otherwise have been in such circumstances.

  He repeated what the Marquis had already been told.

  And after they had shaken hands, the Marquis sat down very much at his ease to listen to what the Kommissar had to tell him.

  Then he said,

  “As I have already said to the Officer who came aboard, I can only imagine that this is some extraordinary joke. However if you are taking it seriously, mein herr, then, of course, I must send for the British Consul and ask him to protest at what is no less than an intrusion into my privacy.”

  He spoke in such an authoritative manner that the Kommissar was obviously somewhat taken aback.

  There was an uncomfortable pause until he said slowly,

  “I have no wish, Your Excellency, to make this a Diplomatic incident. ”

  “You are not going to suggest that it is a criminal one?”

  “No, no, certainly not!” the Kommissar replied. “Of course the lady who has brought the charge against you may have been mistaken. ”

  “It is not a question of ‘may’,” the Marquis said sharply, “she is mistaken and I can only hope that you will receive an apology for wasting your time, as I am certainly wasting mine!”

  He hesitated a moment before he added,

  “I don’t want this talked about, mein herr, but I have to return to England with the utmost speed as my presence is required by Her Majesty Queen Victoria at Win
dsor Castle. You will therefore understand that in the circumstances, I have no wish to remain in Cologne for longer than is absolutely necessary. ”

  The Kommissar was obviously deeply impressed.

  “I can understand your feelings, Your Excellency,” he said. “I suggest that if you would allow my men to search the yacht, I would then be in a position to report that the charge against you is unfounded.”

  The Marquis did not answer for a moment, as if he was thinking over what had just been said.

  Then he replied,

  “Of course you are at liberty to inspect my yacht and I can assure you, if you find what you are seeking, I shall be extremely surprised. On the other hand, if you do not, as I have already said, I think we are both within our rights to demand an apology.”

  “Then you agree, Your Excellency?” the Kommissar asked.

  “Go ahead!” the Marquis replied in a lofty way. “My personal valet will show your men every cabin and unlock the doors of those not in use.”

  The Kommissar gave an order.

  The two men who were with him followed Bowles as he took them down the companionway.

  “And now,” the Marquis said, “I think you and I, mein herr, should have a glass of wine. It may be early in the morning, but these ridiculous incidents which I appreciate arise continually in both our lives at least need not leave us thirsty!”

  The Kommissar laughed and had actually drunk several glasses of an excellent hock before Bowles and the two Policemen returned.

  The Marquis had taken only a small sip from his glass.

  As the two Policemen came into the Saloon, only those who knew him very well would have been aware that there was a slight tension in the way he turned his face towards them.

  There was no need for either of the Policemen to speak.

  They merely shook their heads and their Chief rose to his feet.

  “I can only deeply regret”. Your Excellency,” he said politely, “that you have been disturbed and delayed by a charge that had no substance in fact. I shall make out a report to Headquarters and I am sure that you will receive a communiqué from them in due course. ”

  The Marquis inclined his head.

  Then, as the Kommissar clicked his heels together and bowed politely, he rose slowly from his chair.

  “I am only glad, mein herr,” he said, “that I can talk to Her Majesty of the beauty of your country and the excellent attention I have received during the whole of my visit.”