The Island of Love Page 13

  She looked up at him and he took her hand in his and said,

  “I want you, darling, to come with me.”

  Lydia thought that he had an expression in his eyes that made her think of him, as she had before, as a buccaneer or a pirate.

  There was also something magnificent and vibrant about him and she thought that perhaps it was because he had been enjoying the Coronation besides the fact that he was seeing her again.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked.

  “There is no time for explanations,” he replied. “Fetch your bonnet and something to put over your shoulders. You look very lovely just as you are!”

  She thought then that he was taking her for a drive and that it was like him to be determined that she should not miss everything of the festivities and intended to show some of them to her himself.

  Without saying any more, she ran hastily up the stairs.

  As she reached her room, she wished that she had worn the grand gown she had intended to wear if she had gone to the ball.

  Then she knew that in fact the simple white one with its soft chiffon round the shoulders and the draped skirt made her look like a Grecian statue and was actually far more becoming.

  ‘Perhaps he will think as he did on the island that I look like a Saint,’ she thought.

  She took her bonnet from the cupboard and realised now that the maids must have unpacked while she was asleep.

  She also found a white silk shawl that she had owned for a long time, but which was very becoming.

  As it was still warm outside, she felt that she would not really need it.

  She tied the ribbons of her bonnet under her chin and thought that in the moonlight she looked more like a violet than the brilliant hibiscus flowers that were so symbolic of Hawaii.

  ‘I am just a little English flower,’ she told herself with a smile and wondered how the Earl had escaped from Heloise.

  She had taken it for granted that her sister would want to monopolise him at the ball, so she thought that it was more exciting than anything she could imagine that he had remembered her and come to her rather than stay in the Palace where he belonged.

  It was only a few minutes before she ran back down the stairs and, as she did so, she saw that, coming along the passage to her room, there were two men.

  She thought it was rather strange, especially as she recognised one of them as her father’s valet when she was quite certain that he should have been enjoying himself in the town.

  However, she did not stop, but merely hurried through the front door to find the Earl waiting for her inside the carriage.

  She stepped in beside him and, as a footman closed the door, her hands went out towards him.

  “My darling! My sweet!” he said. “I have missed you, I have missed you every moment that we have been away from each other!”

  “I have missed you too, except when I slept for a very long time.”

  “That is what I hoped you would do,” he said, “and you look rested and lovelier even than you did at dawn.”

  “I want to believe you think that,” Lydia said, “but how were you able to get away from the Palace?”

  The Earl smiled.

  “Everybody was concentrating on the King and I seized my opportunity to come to you.”

  “It was wonderful of you! I am so happy, so very very happy to be with you again!”

  “That is what I wanted you to say,” the Earl replied, “and, darling, your head is not still hurting after what happened this morning?”

  Because she felt so happy Lydia could not remember what it was. Then she recalled that the Earl had seen Heloise hit her.

  Because it made her feel ashamed, she said quickly,

  “I don’t want to – talk about it, but I am quite – all right. Tell me about yourself and what happened at the Coronation.”

  “I kept thinking how disappointing it was that you should miss it,” the Earl said. “That is why I have arranged a special Coronation of our own, just you and me.”

  “That sounds wonderful!” Lydia said a little breathlessly. “But what are we going to do?”

  “We are going to be married!” the Earl said very quietly.

  Chapter Seven

  For a moment Lydia felt that she could not have heard what he said correctly.

  Then she asked in a halting little voice,

  “D-did you say we – were to be – married?”

  “Yes, darling,” he answered. “We are going to be married tonight so that there can be no arguments afterwards that you do not belong to me.”

  “But – Heloise – ?”

  “Heloise broke our engagement in front of your father and the Wodehouses,” the Earl said. “I accepted it, and, as far as I am concerned, the whole episode is finished.”

  There was a hard note in his voice, which instinctively made Lydia move nearer to him.

  Then, as she stared up at him, her eyes wide and a little frightened, he said,

  “Leave it all to me. Everything is arranged and all you have to remember is that I love you!”

  As he spoke, she felt as though the whole world was lit with a glory that was indescribable.

  Then, as they drove along the road, there were people dancing and singing with happiness and Lydia knew that her heart was doing the same.

  The carriage came to a standstill.

  As the Earl climbed out and put up his hand to help her alight, she saw that they were outside the stately Kawaiahao Church that she had read about in Hawaiian history.

  The Earl took her by the hand and drew her up the long flight of stone steps through the Ionic columns and into the dim sanctity of the Church, which was lit only by candles.

  Waiting at the altar steps was a Minister.

  What the Earl had said had so surprised Lydia that she felt that what was now happening must be a dream and could not be true.

  And yet, as they stood before the Parson and he began to read the Marriage Service, she felt as if all the angels in Heaven were singing and the Church was filled with music.

  The Earl made his vows with deep sincerity, while Lydia’s voice was very soft. Yet she felt he knew how moved she was by what was happening.

  She felt herself quiver when he put the ring on her finger.

  Then, as they knelt down for the Blessing, she thought that all her prayers had been answered.

  God had blessed her and the Earl in a way that was so wonderful, so perfect that she would never again, however long she lived, doubt the power of prayer, faith and hope that had brought her the man she loved.

  After they had signed the Register in the vestry and the Minister had congratulated them, they walked down the aisle and outside to where their carriage was waiting.

  Only then did Lydia look at the Earl a little apprehensively, wondering if the beauty and sanctity of their marriage was to be spoilt by the row that she knew must ensue when they returned and Heloise learned about what had happened.

  He knew what she was thinking and, as they drove away, he put his arms around her and said,

  “You are mine, my precious, as I always meant you to be!”

  “I-I told you that you – always win!” Lydia whispered. “But how can we tell Papa and – Heloise what has happened?”

  It was hard to say her sister’s name and yet she knew it must be said.

  The Earl smiled.

  “You don’t think that I would let anybody spoil our happiness at this sublime moment?” he asked. “I have a surprise for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “We are beginning our honeymoon in a very Royal manner.”

  Lydia lifted her face up to look at him curiously and it flashed through her mind that perhaps he was taking her to the Iolani Palace.

  It was a place she would like to see. At the same time she thought that anyone, even the King, would be an intruder at this moment, when she wanted to be alone with the Earl.

  “I waited until the King was free,”
the Earl said quietly, “and, although His Majesty was very preoccupied with his Coronation, I told him the whole story.”

  “You – told him?”

  “I had a feeling and I was right,” the Earl said, “that as a ‘Merry Monarch’ he would understand the complications women can make in a man’s life!”

  He spoke teasingly and Lydia gave a little laugh as she moved closer to him.

  His arms were like bands of steel as he held her against him and she knew that he was longing to kiss her but felt that she must first hear his explanations.

  “I told the King that I was going to marry you,” the Earl went on, “and he immediately suggested that we should use the Royal Barge and we could sail along the coast to a quiet bay where he has a beach house.”

  Lydia drew in her breath.

  “We shall be there alone, my precious, except for the servants who will look after us and my valet.”

  “It sounds very – wonderful!”

  “It will be,” the Earl promised.

  He did not kiss her because by now they were moving through the centre of the town towards the quay and the noise in the streets was almost deafening.

  The crowds were dancing and celebrating the Coronation in a way that only Hawaiians can, by dancing wildly but at the same time gracefully and exuberantly, while it sounded as if there were a dozen bands playing and everybody was singing.

  There were flags and bunting, balloons and flowers, all lit by flares and gas lamps, and Lydia felt that her own happiness was echoed by the excited Hawaiians.

  It took them a little time to reach the quay where the King’s Barge, painted red and ornamented with gold carving, was waiting.

  The oarsmen were grinning as they stepped out of the carriage and Lydia had the idea that they knew what had just taken place.

  She was certain of it when a very attractive Hawaiian girl ran forward to put Leis of scented flowers round their necks and there was also a bouquet of orchids for her to carry.

  They stepped into the barge and the oarsmen rowed them swiftly through the water along the coast.

  Now Lydia could see the whole of Honolulu lit up with lights and it was a very beautiful sight against the Koolau Mountains with the moon illuminating their peaks.

  They were sitting within the covered cabin in the centre of the barge.

  Lydia held tightly onto the Earl’s hand, but there seemed to be nothing to say except that she loved him and now they were actually married she felt as if the whole world was singing a paean of praise for them.

  It took only about a quarter-of-an-hour to reach the Waikiki beach, and, when the oarsmen stopped rowing, Lydia could see on the other side of the deserted beach the roof of what appeared to be a small house.

  She looked at the Earl and he said quietly,

  “I think we will find it quite comfortable, my precious, but what is more important than anything else is that we shall be together.”

  She wanted to tell him that if they had to stay on the island where they had been marooned without a roof over their heads and with only the palm trees, she would have been happy.

  There were palm trees now either side of the King’s beach house and a number of shrubs, which Lydia knew in the daytime she would find heavy with blossom.

  There was no quay, but the oarsmen, having brought the barge as near as possible to the shore, stepped out into the water and Lydia realised that they intended to carry her and the Earl to the shore.

  Two of them lifted her up onto their shoulders and carried her safely onto the sand, but they did not put her down.

  Instead they carried her right up to the beach house and set her down just outside it where the building bordered on the sand.

  Two other men carried the Earl and, when he had thanked them and rewarded them for their pains, they went back to the barge.

  Standing with their oars pointed towards the sky they cheered loudly before they rowed away.

  Only when they had done so and were disappearing back in the direction of the town, did the Earl put his arm around Lydia and take her up the steps that led onto the verandah, which ran the whole length of the house.

  A door was open and inside there were lights, but there was nobody about.

  The Earl looked at Lydia for a moment and then lifted her up in his arms.

  “Our first home together!” he said quietly. “For luck I must carry you over the threshold.”

  She felt her heart beating excitedly because she was so close to him.

  When they were inside the hut, he put her down and she saw that it was not primitive as she had expected, but very comfortably furnished.

  There were deep heavily padded armchairs in what was the sitting room and also surprisingly a fireplace that could burn logs.

  There was a desk and a bookcase and the floor was covered with a thick carpet.

  Lydia looked round with delight as the Earl undid the ribbons of her bonnet and threw it onto a table.

  Then he put his arms around her and very gently his lips found hers.

  He kissed her with a tenderness and what she felt was almost a reverence, as if the sanctity of the Marriage Service was still in his mind.

  Then his lips became more demanding and more insistent.

  As if she was afraid of her own response, she moved a little in his arms and said,

  “Is it – true? Is it really true – that I am your – wife?”

  “You are my wife,” the Earl confirmed, “and I shall love and adore you for the rest of our lives together!”

  “I can hardly believe it! It is so wonderful to be able to come here and be alone – but you do realise that I have nothing to wear but what I have on and also perhaps I ought to let – Papa know what has h-happened.”

  There was a tremor in her voice as she spoke her father’s name and the Earl knew that she was still afraid that there might be a row and was apprehensive of what her sister might do and say.

  “I have thought of all that, my precious,” he replied. “First of all, let me tell you that you will find in your bedroom your own clothes and an extra trunk as well.”

  “My – own clothes?” Lydia exclaimed.

  She then remembered how she had seen her father’s valet together with another man going towards her bedroom when she was leaving the British Consulate.

  “I had your own clothes brought here,” the Earl said, “and, as I felt that your sister would not be requiring all the gowns she had bought for her trousseau, I have stolen one of her trunks.”

  “I-I cannot believe what you are – saying!”

  The Earl took her by the hand and drew her outside onto the verandah.

  There was a seat running along it on which had been placed a number of soft cushions.

  They sat down and he put his arm around her and said,

  “Why must we waste our time on such boring matters when all I want to do is to kiss you? But, as they have to be said, let’s get them over, and then, my darling, I can tell you how much I love you.”

  There was a note in his voice that made her quiver and she forced herself to say,

  “I must know – because I am – worried in case we have done – something wrong.”

  “We have done nothing wrong,” the Earl said firmly. “Your sister told me in front of witnesses that she would not marry me if I was the last man in the world. I accepted her decision and said that as far as I was concerned our engagement was over.”

  Lydia wanted to say that she was certain Heloise did not mean it. But there was no point in doing so and she merely sighed as the Earl went on,

  “I therefore, as I told you, spoke to the King who has lent us this house and I left a letter for your father saying that we were to be married and I have arranged that, as soon as the main part of the ceremony of the Coronation is over, they will travel back to San Francisco on the Steamship City of Sydney in which the King started his voyage round the world. They will be quite comfortable and the Duchess will be waiting in S
an Francisco to convey them to New York.”

  As the Earl finished speaking, Lydia gave a gasp of relief and he went on,

  “After our honeymoon, although we will stay in Hawaii until we feel that we can face the world again, I am taking you home by a different route. We will go by train from San Francisco to New Orleans and take a ship from there, which will carry us back to England.”

  “It sounds – very exciting!” Lydia said in a small voice. “Before we do that, however, we have one obligation to fulfil.”

  She looked up at him a little apprehensively and he said,

  “The King very flatteringly did not want me to miss all the other excitements of his Coronation and, as I thought you might enjoy them too, I have promised that in a week’s time I will take you to stay in the Palace and we will attend the horse races in Kapiolani Park.”

  Lydia laughed.

  “I thought we would get back to the horses sooner or later!”

  “Exactly!” the Earl agreed. “And the King is also anxious for me to see the Hula dancers, which I think you will enjoy too.”

  “It sounds very exciting,” Lydia murmured.

  “I have also promised,” the Earl added, “that we will attend another ball, which is one of the reasons why, my lovely wife, I stole one of your sister’s trunks, knowing that you would want to dazzle everybody and I shall not have time to buy you all the clothes and jewels I intend to give you later.”

  “Are you – really saying – all this to me? I-I cannot believe what – I am hearing!”

  As she spoke, she felt the tears come into her eyes and begin to run down her cheeks.

  After years of being pushed on one side first by her father because she was not a boy and then by Heloise, who wanted everything for herself, it seemed impossible that it was now all changed as if a fairy had waved a magical wand to make all her dreams come true.

  The Earl knew what she was thinking and gently held her close to him as she hid her face against his shoulder.

  “I will not allow you to cry, my precious love,” he said. “You are going to be happy, as we were happy last night, or rather this morning, on our Island of Love.”

  “How can you be so wonderful – so understanding and do – so much for me?” Lydia asked incoherently.