Danger to the Duke Read online

  “I fell asleep. Oh, Michael, how could I have done anything so stupid?”

  “You were so very tired, my darling.”

  He became aware that the sun was shining through the sides of the curtains and it was morning.

  He realised that both Adela and he must have slept through the night without disturbing each other.

  “I was waiting for you to come upstairs,” Adela was saying, “and I had so much to say to you on our wedding night. How could I have fallen asleep?”

  Michael laughed.

  “That is what I thought when I saw you, but then I knew we would have our whole lives in front of us to tell each other about our love, so let us start now.”

  He turned round as he spoke and pressed her back against the pillow.

  He kissed her eyes, her nose, her lips and the softness of her neck and his kisses gave her feelings she had never known existed. Her whole body began to quiver against his.

  He knew that because she was so innocent he must be very gentle with her.

  At the same time there was a fire within him which he felt was consuming his whole body and it made it difficult for him to think clearly.

  “I love you, God, how I love you!” he whispered fervently. “You are everything I have ever dreamt of but thought I would never find.”

  “And I love you too, my husband. You are the kindest and most glorious man in the whole world.”

  It was impossible to say any more.

  Michael was now kissing her wildly, demandingly, passionately.

  He could feel rapture possessing Adela and seeping through her whole body. It was echoed exactly by his own feelings.

  Finally he made Adela his own.

  They touched the stars and he carried her into the burning heat of the sun.

  *

  A long time later they went down to breakfast before setting off for London.

  “When we arrive,” Adela enquired as they drove onto the main road, “where are we going to stay?”

  “At Grangemoore House.”

  She looked at Michael in surprise.

  “Is there a house in London of the same name? Would it really be wise to go there?”

  “I think it is the best place to go,” answered Michael slowly, “because it belongs to me.”

  Adela’s eyes widened.

  “I do not understand.”

  “Perhaps you did not notice it when you signed the Marriage Register yesterday,” replied Michael, “that Adela Crawley actually married a man called Michael Moore.”

  There was silence for a moment.

  “You told me your name was Michael. I cannot quite understand why – ”

  She stopped suddenly.

  “I know of course that the Moores own Grangemoore Hall and that is why Cyril Moore was there. But you – ”

  She drew in her breath.

  “You cannot be the new Duke they were all talking about!”

  “As it happens, I am.”

  “I just cannot believe it! Mrs. Smithson kept saying she did not know what the Duke would say when he arrived at Grangemoore and saw the terrible way Mr. Cyril was behaving.”

  “Now you understand why I had to see for myself what was happening and how wise it was to be disguised.”

  “Of course, it was,” agreed Adela. “Otherwise Cyril might have killed you.”

  “You are even more quick-witted than I could imagine.

  That is exactly what they intended. I was to have an accident and end up in the cascade and then my distant cousin Cyril would follow me as the Sixth Duke of Grangemoore.”

  Adela gave a little cry of horror. She moved even closer to him and put her hand on his knee.

  “It is all over now,” Michael told her tenderly, “and all we have to do, my darling, is to give the staff a chance to get the place straight before we return and take our rightful place as the Duke and Duchess of Grangemoore.”

  “I never thought, I never dreamt for a moment that you could be the new Duke!”

  “I was extremely surprised when I reached Alexandria on my way back from India, and read an English newspaper to learn that that is who I now am.”

  Michael took one of his hands from the reins and placed it over hers.

  “There is nothing to frighten you now, my dearest Adela, except that we both look somewhat bedraggled. So the first thing we are going to do before we make a public appearance is to buy you your trousseau.”

  “Oh, Michael, what a fabulous idea. I want so much to look pretty for you.”

  “You are lovely enough to entrance me whether you are dressed or undressed, my darling.”

  He saw his wife blush and thought it was the most enchanting sight he had ever seen.

  “What we are going to do,” he continued, “is to buy you all the most beautiful and expensive clothes we can find in Bond Street and I too will require new clothes from the best tailor in Saville Row.”

  “That will be such fun,” enthused Adela, “and are we doing it secretly?”

  “Of course. We will not announce that I have arrived from India to the Solicitors who are trying to find me until we look respectable.”

  He paused before he added,

  “I want to give them plenty of time at Grangemoore Hall to put the house in order before we make our grand appearance.”

  “You think of everything, Michael. It is so clever of you.”

  “That is what I want you to think.”

  They drove on and it was getting late when finally they reached London.

  Michael proceeded down Park Lane until they stopped outside Grangemoore House.

  He gave the reins to Adela, but there was really no need to hold them steady as the horses were very tired.

  He climbed out and raised the knocker on the front door, noticing with a faint smile that it had been cleaned since he had last done so.

  It took several knockings and several minutes wait before he heard Turner’s footsteps coming across the hall.

  When he opened the door and saw Michael he was considerably surprised.

  “Mr. Morris!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you and I’ve been wondering what had happened to you.”

  Michael walked a short way into the hall before stopping.

  “I am afraid, Turner, that when I came to see you earlier and you were so helpful to me, for which I am very grateful, I deceived you and your wife. I told you that I was Martin Morris, but actually my name is Major Michael Moore.”

  Turner gasped.

  “You meant – ” he stammered, “ – you mean you’re the Duke they’ve been a-looking for?”

  “Yes, I am indeed the Duke, but just as I wanted it to be a secret when I came to you first for your help, I want it to go on being a secret until I am ready to claim my rightful place.”

  He saw that Turner was about to ask him questions so he continued quickly,

  “I have my wife here with me and no one yet knows we are married. I am asking you and Mrs. Turner to look after us for a few days while we prepare ourselves to see the Solicitors who are looking for me and then proceed to Grangemoore Hall when they are ready to receive us.”

  Turner rose to the occasion.

  “Of course, Your Grace,” he said, “my wife and I’ll do anything you requires of us.”

  “That is very good of you. Now will you help me take the luggage off the back of the chaise and I suppose there is a place for the horses in the Mews?”

  “It be waiting for them, Your Grace, and I have a friend in the next stable called Tomkins, who’ll give you a hand until we can engage a groom.”

  “That is just what I wanted to hear, Turner.”

  He stepped outside and helped Adela out of the chaise.

  “Mrs. Turner will look after you while I take the horses round to the Mews.”

  “You will not be too long?” asked Adela.

  Michael knew she was afraid of being parted from him.

  “If you will go with Turner and open
the door into the garden, I can come back that way.”

  Turner gave him the key and he drove the horses round to the Mews.

  He was lucky enough to find Tomkins, Turner’s friend, standing outside the next stable smoking his pipe.

  When Michael told him who he was, he was only too willing to ‘give a hand,’ as he put it.

  “You leave it to me, Your Grace,” he said. “I’ll see to the ’orses and I knows me friend Bill Turner’ll be real glad to have you back. Things ’ave been difficult for ’em two for a long time.”

  “There will be very few difficulties in the future,” replied Michael.

  As Tomkins took over the horses, the door into the garden of Grangemoore House opened and Adela came running towards him.

  Michael took her hand and she told him excitedly,

  “The house is very pretty and Mrs. Turner says she has everything ready for us.”

  “We has been expecting the new Duke ever since you comes to visit us,” said Turner. “Of course we never suspected for a moment it was you, Your Grace.”

  “Remember we still do not want the Solicitors to know that we are here. Now Turner, you must engage the staff you will need at once and for the future. I should think two footmen, two housemaids and some women for Mrs. Turner in the kitchen would suffice.”

  He saw Turner gulp.

  He thought it amusing that he could give such orders without having to wonder how he would be able to pay for them.

  When they had eaten a somewhat scrappy, but quite edible dinner they retired to bed in the comfortable State room that had been used by all the previous Dukes and Duchesses of Grangemoore.

  When Michael kissed Adela yet again, he thought that this was a perfect honeymoon and it was exactly what he would have chosen anyway even without the necessity for them to be in hiding.

  The next morning he wanted to give the horses a rest so he ordered Turner to fetch a smart carriage from the Livery Stable with a driver.

  They were driven to Bond Street where Adela assured Michael that she knew which was the smartest and most expensive gown-shop in the whole of London.

  “My stepmother, when she thought Papa was rich, used to talk about it,” she giggled. “She said it was so expensive she only dared to ask Papa to pay for one gown at a time.”

  “Then that is where we shall go,” agreed Michael.

  “You are quite certain we can afford it?” Adela wanted to know.

  “I have always understood that the Dukes of Grangemoore were extremely rich and I shall act on that assumption. But rich or poor, my darling, you are going to have the most glamorous trousseau any woman, whether a Duchess or not, has ever had.”

  Adela laughed.

  At the same time Michael knew she was excited.

  When they arrived at the shop, Michael asked to see the proprietress.

  He explained to her that he and his wife had just arrived from abroad and unfortunately their luggage had been lost on the journey.

  “My wife therefore requires an entirely new trousseau,” he told her, “and I would be grateful if you would dress her from top to toe as quickly as possible.”

  It was the sort of order that the proprietress of a shop receives once in a lifetime, especially when it consisted of dressing anyone as lovely as Adela.

  Michael had already told her that it would be a mistake for them to give their real names.

  “Not,” he insisted, “until we are ready to face the music of being feted in London and acclaimed at the Hall.”

  He also thought that there had been too much mention in the newspapers about Major Michael Moore becoming the new Duke and so he therefore said that he was the Marquis of Grange and his wife was the Marchioness.

  This piece of information enhanced his order quite considerably.

  Michael added that he did not want either of them to be talked about until their clothes were ready.

  “It would be very embarrassing,” he said to the proprietress, “if my wife was asked to smart dinner-parties and balls and had to say she could not come because she had nothing to wear.”

  The proprietress laughed.

  “I can quite understand, my Lord. I promise I’ll keep the fact that you have arrived in London a secret until her Ladyship can dazzle everyone with her beauty as she will undoubtedly do!”

  Adela blushed and Michael realised that the woman was speaking sincerely.

  He left Adela with her and went to a tailor in Saville Row, one he knew was patronised by the Marquis of Dufferin.

  He related the same story about their luggage having been lost and told the manager that it was the Viceroy who had recommended him as undoubtedly the best tailor in London. The whole shop was turned inside out for him and material of every sort was brought in rolls for him to approve or refuse.

  Fortunately Michael could be dressed immediately in a ready-made frock coat which fitted him almost perfectly.

  A new shirt and hat was provided from the shop next door and when Michael returned to Adela he looked very different from when he had left her.

  He could say the same of her.

  She was dressed in a gown which was the height of fashion and extremely becoming with a hat to match trimmed with feathers.

  Michael knew by the excitement in her eyes how thrilled she was that he could see her looking as she wished to be.

  The proprietress promised that a few more gowns would be ready for her tomorrow and the rest would follow as quickly as possible.

  When they drove away, Adela said,

  “Now I know that we are both living in a dream. You look so smart and so handsome that I am afraid that some woman will snatch you away from me!”

  “That is exactly what I was going to say to you,” replied Michael. “And although you look very lovely in your new dress, my darling, I find you even more beautiful in nothing.”

  Adela hid her face for a moment against his shoulder.

  “You make me feel shy when you talk like that,” she whispered.

  “I love you when you look shy. Now we are going back to the house to enjoy one of Mrs. Turner’s better meals and then I have a plan for what we will do this afternoon.”

  “It all sounds so exciting.”

  When they arrived back at Grangemoore House, Turner exclaimed at their appearance.

  “Be honest, Turner,” Michael asked him, “and tell us if this is the way we ought to look.”

  “Of course it is, Your Grace,” replied Turner, “and Her Grace will have every man in London at her feet.”

  “In which case I must take her to the country as quickly as possible!”

  He knew that it would not be long before they returned to Grangemoore Hall.

  He had in fact, before they had gone out that morning, written a letter to Mr. Barrett and without making any explanations, he had merely penned,

  “Dear Barrett,

  I understand that you are in charge at Grangemoore Hall. I have now returned from India and I have a great number of matters to see to in London on behalf of the Viceroy as well as for myself.

  I hope, however, that I shall be able to visit Grangemoore within a week or so.

  I shall expect to find the house in complete running order with, if possible, the older servants who have been there for years still in charge.

  I have no desire to make changes as soon as I arrive and would like everything to be as efficient and comfortable as I believe it was in my grandfather’s time.

  I am confident you can arrange all this for me and I will let you know nearer the time exactly when I will be arriving.

  Yours truly,

  Grangemoore.”

  It was the first time Michael had signed his name as the Fifth Duke.

  He appreciated that what he written to Barrett would mean that the elderly servants who had left would be asked to come back.

  The house would be put in order, so that by the time he arrived there would be little or no trace of Cyril and his debauched friend
s.

  ‘The sooner that horrible episode is forgotten the better,’ Michael said to himself.

  He recognised, however, that it would take time to erase completely the damage that Cyril had done.

  When they had finished luncheon, Adela enquired,

  “You told me you had something planned for this afternoon, what is it?”

  “Come upstairs and I will show you.”

  They walked up hand in hand and along the passage which led to Adela’s bedroom.

  It was lovely light room with silk and muslin curtains over the bed hanging from a golden corolla of cupids.

  They entered and Michael closed the door.

  “Why have we come here?” asked Adela innocently.

  Michael smiled.

  “I would have thought, my darling, that it was obvious.”

  “You mean – ”

  Then when she saw the expression in her husband’s eyes, she understood and exclaimed,

  “Oh, Michael, I never thought – but surely it is very strange for people to go to bed so early in the afternoon.”

  “Not if they are on their honeymoon. We have now completed, my precious one, all the spadework we have to do for the next few days and all I want is to have you alone to myself and to tell you how much I love you.”

  He moved towards her.

  “Tomorrow we will tell Mrs. Turner, who has quite enough to do in the kitchen, to engage you a lady’s maid.

  But for today I will take the place of one.”

  As he spoke he started to undo the buttons at the back of Adela’s gown.

  Then as it fell to the ground he took the hair pins from her hair so that it cascaded over her shoulders.

  “That is how I like to see you, my darling. No one could be more beautiful and no one could look more like a Goddess who has just descended from Mount Olympus especially to look after me.”

  “I love you, Michael, and I adore you with all my heart and soul,” she whispered.

  He kissed her and then he went to his own room.

  When he returned she had slipped into bed as he had expected.

  The sun blinds were drawn down over the windows and the effect made the room seem very mysterious and intimate.

  As Michael approached the bed, Adela held out her arms and for a moment he just stood looking at her and then he murmured,