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  He tried to speak, to call Anoushka and then she was beside him.

  He stared at her, trying to focus her face and as he did so realised that he was lying on a bed beside the fire.

  It was a bed that was low on the ground and Anoushka seemed to tower above him until she knelt down at his side.

  “Can you speak?” she asked.

  “Where – am – I?”

  “You are all right, but I was afraid – so afraid. But you can speak.”

  “Yes – I can – speak,” the Duke replied in a louder tone. “You are not hurt!”

  She smiled at him and he saw that her hair was loose, which puzzled him.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “We ran into a rock,” she said, “but a kind and brave man saved us. He carried you from the boat. I was so – terrified you would – drown.”

  The Duke heard the pain in her voice and wanted to put out his hand towards her. As he tried to do so, he realised he was lying naked beneath some warm blankets.

  As if she knew what he was thinking, Anoushka said,

  “You were lucky, very very lucky! The man who saved you is a doctor. This is his holiday house, right on the edge of the sea.”

  “Where is he – now?” the Duke enquired.

  “He has left to go to the nearest fishing village to arrange as soon as it is daylight and the sea has subsided for somebody to row to the yacht and tell them to join me here. It is very kind of him to do this.”

  “Very kind!” the Duke agreed. “But – you are all right?”

  “I was not hurt. Fortunately we were very near the shore. I was only afraid for you.”

  “The boom hit my head.”

  “Yes, I know. It knocked you unconscious, but there is nothing broken. The doctor felt you over very carefully and said that although your head will ache for a day or so, you are very strong.”

  The Duke tried to sit up, but found it hurt him. “No, lie still,” Anoushka instructed, putting out her hand to prevent him from moving.

  As she did so, the Duke saw to his surprise that she was wearing a man’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She gave a little laugh.

  “Please – don’t look at me – but, as we were both soaked to the skin the doctor insisted that while he undressed you, I should undress too. Our clothes are drying and, although they will look a mess, we will be able to put them on in the morning.”

  “You are quite certain you are not hurt?” the Duke persisted.

  He spoke automatically, thinking as he did so how beautiful she looked with her hair falling over her shoulders and the cotton shirt she was wearing open almost to her waist.

  As she was kneeling, he could not see how long the shirt was, but he had the feeling when she did rise he would see her legs.

  Once again Anoushka read his thoughts.

  “I have only just changed after the doctor left,” she said. “I tried to find a robe or something to make me more respectable. I have been wringing out my gown and for the moment it is nothing but a wet rag.”

  “I am not complaining,” the Duke smiled, “and I gather your doctor friend has not provided me with anything.”

  “We were lucky he was there. I should never have been able to carry you from the water and certainly not undress you.”

  She spoke without any shyness and there was only laughter in her voice as she added,

  “My instructions are to keep the fire going all night and see that you rest. If you are hungry, there is some food and of course tea. What Russian would be without his tea?”

  “I should like some tea,” the Duke said.

  He realised that they were in a little wooden but and he knew it was just the type of place in which a professional man would wish to spend his holidays, presuming he had no wife or children.

  It consisted of one room with a large fireplace that burnt logs and a bed which was little more than several mattresses pulled close to the fire.

  It was quite a large bed with room for two people and the Duke thought that, if the doctor was unmarried, he doubtless, like all Russians, often had a companion to share his bed.

  There was a small table and two chairs against one wall and a dresser hung with cooking utensils as well as having shelves for plates and cups.

  On one wall there was a gun, several fishing rods and a telescope.

  Everything was scrupulously clean and tidy.

  Anoushka, who was watching the reaction in his eyes, gave a little laugh.

  “It is not as grand as your house in the Champs Élysées or your villa in Nice,” she said, “but I don’t think I have ever been so glad of a roof over our heads when the doctor fished us out of the water.”

  “I am indeed grateful,” the Duke sighed.

  He thought as he spoke that his luck had not betrayed him.

  He had been in some very tight corners in his life and on two occasions he had nearly died, but always he had been saved in the nick of time. Always it appeared that Providence or Fate was on his side or his proverbial good luck saw him through. He could imagine what would have happened if their rescuer had not been there. Even if they had not drowned, they might have had to spend a night cold and wet that might quite easily have resulted in their developing pneumonia.

  ‘Thank God for my luck!’ the Duke said to himself. It was very nearly a prayer because he was not thinking of himself but of Anoushka.

  “I will make you a cup of tea,” she suggested, “and now you will see for yourself that I have thin legs!”

  The Duke laughed.

  “It is an event I have been looking forward to.”

  She got up without any self-consciousness and he saw that the shirt she was wearing which obviously belonged to a tall man reached below her knees.

  She had it tied around her waist with what he thought was a man’s tie and, with her hair hanging a long way down her back and her very slim figure, the Duke thought she looked very beautiful, though not in the least like a Lady of Quality or even an alluring woman.

  Instead she seemed like some sprite who might have come from the Russian woods or even from the sea.

  Only as she busied herself with the samovar did he catch a glance of her large eyes and was once again aware that she was more like a Goddess from mythology than anything else.

  The bed was warm and comfortable, the top mattress and the pillows being filled with goose feathers and the Duke, realising that the bruise on his head was not as painful as it had been, watched his wife brewing the tea.

  He knew that it was something she must have done in the past for the samovar presented no difficulties. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “Not at the moment,” the Duke replied, “only thirsty as I suspect you are.”

  “I am looking forward to drinking this tea.”

  “It is something that you have not done since you were ten,” he remarked.

  She did not reply, but she flashed him a glance that was somehow mischievous as if she deliberately wanted him to be curious.

  Then she brought two cups from the dresser, filled them and sat on the side of the bed.

  “How long will our host be away?” the Duke asked.

  “He said it was quite a long walk to the fishing village,” Anoushka replied, “and he will not attempt to return until tomorrow morning when he will bring us some more food.”

  “That is very obliging of him,” the Duke commented.

  “He is such a kind man. He told me he comes from Odessa and has such a big practice that he finds it difficult to get away from his work.”

  “It was fortunate that you could converse with him.”

  Anoushka looked at the Duke sharply. Then she laughed.

  “You heard me speaking Russian?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were you surprised?”

  “With a name like Anoushka it is a language you should be able to speak.”

  “Yes – of course.”

  She turned away to look at the fire and he did not press her.
He was just content to lie feeling the warm tea seep down through him and watch the flames flicker on the silver of her hair and the contours of her face. “I have seen you in many different guises,” he said at length. “As a novice, as a bride, as a lady of fashion in Paris and now as a peasant in Russia.”

  “If I am poorly dressed, what about yourself, Your Grace?”

  “What could I be but Adam in a Garden of Eden alone with Eve?” the Duke replied.

  Anoushka’s laughter rang out. Then she said,

  “You always have an answer. You are so clever, which makes it fascinating to be with you, because I can never guess what you are going to say next.”

  “That is exactly what I find about you and as you say it is very fascinating.”

  As he spoke, he gave a little yawn, knowing that while he wanted to talk to Anoushka, the tea and the warm fire made him feel very sleepy.

  Anoushka took his empty cup from him.

  “You must go to sleep,” she said, “the doctor said you must rest and it is important that you do so.”

  “I am very tired,” he admitted.

  “Then sleep.” She put down the cup and, as he closed his eyes, he felt her fingers soothing his forehead, moving over it in a manner that seemed mesmeric.

  He thought as she did so it was the first time she had touched him, and while he tried to think how significant this was and thrill to her touch, the world seemed to slip away from him and he was only conscious of the softness of her fingers before he fell asleep – *

  The Duke awoke and was aware that everything was very silent.

  He thought, although he was not sure, that before he went to sleep there had been a lighted candle on the table. Now there was only the light of the fire. There was no fear that it might go out, for there were huge logs on it which had not yet even begun to burn through.

  The Duke looked for Anoushka, but at first he could not see her. Then he realised she was beside him in the bed with her head on another pillow and was sound asleep.

  For the moment he was astonished. Then he recognised that it was the obvious and sensible thing to do and he was only surprised that she had accepted it as such.

  There was nowhere else she could have slept, except on a hard upright wooden chair and, because the bed was large and he was on the side of it nearest to the fire, there was quite a gap between them.

  The Duke turned over cautiously so that he could lie on his side and look at Anoushka.

  She looked very young when she was asleep, her eyelashes were dark against her cheeks and her hair was tumbled over the pillow and over her shoulders.

  She was still wearing the shirt that the doctor had provided for her.

  Her arms were bare and one of them with its long slim fingers lay outside the blankets.

  The Duke looked at her for a long time, then because he could not help himself, because everything seemed far away in another world and of no consequence, he raised himself towards her.

  Very gently, almost as if he was kissing a child, his lips touched Anoushka’s.

  Chapter 7

  Her lips were very soft, sweet and innocent and, while the Duke meant to be very gentle, he could not help increasing the pressure of his mouth until he felt Anoushka stir and she opened her eyes.

  “I was – dreaming about – you,” she murmured drowsily and he knew she did not realise what was happening.

  “I cannot help kissing you,” he said, “because it is something I have wanted to do for a long time.”

  Then he was kissing her again, kissing her insistently, demandingly and at the same time tenderly.

  He realised that she was still half asleep, but instinctively her body moved towards him, his arms went round her and he was holding her close against him as he kept her mouth captive.

  As he did so, he realised that never in his whole life had he felt such a strange ecstatic joy in kissing a woman.

  While physically he was aroused, he knew there was something spiritual in his love that he had never known before.

  He wanted Anoushka as a woman, but at the same time he felt a reverence for her. He wanted to protect her, fight for her and prevent her from ever coming in contact with anything that was ugly or wicked, wrong or disturbing.

  It was difficult to put his feelings into words and yet he knew he held something in his arms so perfect, so unspoilt, that he would fight with every fibre of his being to prevent her from being changed or shocked by the world into which he had taken her.

  Even as he kissed her, he knew with some part of his mind that she had got into bed beside him quite naturally, since it was the only place to sleep.

  It had never struck her that, because she had no idea what a man could feel about a woman or indeed a woman for a man, there was anything embarrassing in being next to him.

  This was the real purity he had sought – the purity not only of the body but of the mind.

  Then, as he raised his head to look down at her, he saw that Anoushka’s eyes were wide open and she said in a whisper,

  “I-I did not – know that – being kissed was – like that.”

  “Like what?” the Duke asked and his voice was deep and a little unsteady.

  “Like the – feeling I have when I am – praying.”

  “I love you, Anoushka!” the Duke breathed. “I have tried to prevent myself from telling you so until you loved me, but now you are beside me I cannot help kissing you.”

  There was a note of anxiety in his voice as he added,

  “You told me you do not like being touched, but, my darling, you have made it impossible for me not to do so.”

  She smiled and he felt as if a ray of sunshine filled the small hut. “I like your touching me,” she said simply, “and I would like you to kiss me again.”

  The Duke’s arms tightened. Then, when his lips were very near to hers, he asked,

  “Tell me, my precious, what you feel about me. I have been patiently waiting and it has been more difficult than I can ever tell you, for you to love me as a man.”

  “I don’t – know what people feel when they are in – love,” Anoushka replied, “but every day being with you has been like being taken up to Heaven and every night – although I did not tell you so – you were in my dreams.”

  “Why did you not tell me?” “Because I did not know you loved me and I thought, because you had been hurt and wounded by some woman, it had made it difficult for you to love anybody again.”

  “I love you!” the Duke said. “I love you as I have never loved before, but I was stupid enough not to guess that you were somewhere in the world if only I could find you.”

  “Do you really – mean I am – different?”

  “Very very different. So different, my lovely one, that it is going to take me a lifetime to make you realise how happy we shall be or how different you are in every way from any woman I have ever known.”

  He smiled as he added,

  “Up until now I have been your teacher. Now I am ready to become your pupil and you can teach me about the love you feel for me, which you say is part of Heaven.”

  He did not wait for her answer, but his lips came down on hers and he kissed her until he felt her body quiver against his and knew that the fire that burned in him had ignited a little flame in her.

  But while his heart was beating frantically and his whole body throbbed with desire, the Duke remembered his promise to his sister and he knew that, because he had given her his word, he could not break it.

  He raised his head and as he did so one of the logs fell lower in the fire.

  The flames leapt higher and by the light of them he could see Anoushka’s face very clearly.

  He stared at her and he saw in the expression in her eyes the look he had longed to see and knew that at last after a wait of what seemed to him a century of time she was awaking to love.

  He realised too that her lips were parted and her breath was coming fitfully through them and her breasts were moving bene
ath the thin cotton shirt.

  Very gently, so as not to frighten her, he drew it away from one shoulder, then he was kissing her neck, the white skin of her chest and the softness of her breast.

  He knew as he did so that she was experiencing sensations she never knew existed and, when he looked down at her again, she sighed,

  “Love is – very exciting – Why did nobody tell me it was – like this?”

  “What do you feel?” the Duke asked her.

  “As if the stars are all glittering in my heart,” she said, “and little waves are running through my body which makes me feel restless and at the same time very – very excited.”

  “And what do you want when you are excited?” the Duke asked.

  “I want you to kiss me, and I want to be very – very close to you – closer and closer so that – as the Bishop said when we were married – we are really – one person.”

  He knew that she did not really understand what she was asking, but was only expressing desire in the most beautiful words he had ever heard said and in a way that made him feel that he too had the stars glittering in his heart.

  “I love you! I worship you!” he said. “At the same time, my darling, I cannot make you mine until you ask me to do so.”

  Anoushka looked puzzled.

  “What have I to ask you?”

  “When I took you from the Convent,” the Duke replied, “because my sister wanted us to find the love she had known before she took her vows, she made me promise that, while I made you my wife in name, I would not make love to you completely for three months or until you asked me to do so.”

  “I don’t understand,” she answered. “Do you mean that I can be nearer to you – than I am now – and there is more to – making love than just kissing?” “Much, much more,” the Duke said in a deep voice. “And I can ask you to do – that?”

  “If you want me to.”

  She gave a little laugh and he thought that only she could have laughed at this particular moment.

  “Of course I want you to love me,” she said. “Please – please – teach me about love – the love that will make me your real – wife and we shall be really one person.”