The Duke Comes Home Read online

  There was a large lump in the middle of it and she licked her finger to rub it, thinking that there would be wood underneath the plaster that had been added later.

  As she rubbed the white plaster, it crumbled away and then instead of the wood she had expected, there was something that sparkled in the sunshine.

  She stared at it for several seconds and then gave a cry that seemed to echo round the walls of the study.

  “What is it? What is the matter?” the Duke asked from behind her.

  In a voice that trembled and seemed curiously unlike her own, she stammered,

  “I think – but it seems incredible – I have found the Nizam’s – jewels!”

  *

  The ship was moving on a smooth sea and it was very early with only the quiet rhythm of the engines to wake Ilina.

  As she came back to consciousness, she realised that her head was on her husband’s shoulder and that he was fast asleep.

  The sunshine streaming through the curtains that covered the portholes was golden. She thought it symbolic of her happiness and the glory and wonder of her life ever since she had been married.

  Every day, although she thought it impossible, she loved the Duke even more than she had already.

  Every night he brought her a deeper realisation and understanding of love that made her realise that she still had so much to learn.

  ‘How can he be so wonderful?’ she asked herself now.

  She knew that the ecstasy that they had found together was so spiritual and so Divine that he lifted her into a special Heaven where there was nothing but love.

  ‘I am so lucky, so very, very lucky,’ she thought.

  Because of the intensity of her feelings she could not help turning her head to kiss the Duke’s shoulder.

  Without opening his eyes he moved his arm to hold her more closely to him and she kissed him again.

  “I love – you,” she whispered.

  The Duke opened his eyes to look at her and in the dimness of the cabin she looked very lovely and very ethereal.

  Her fair hair was falling over her shoulders, her blue eyes were gazing up to his and her lips were parted.

  “How can you be more beautiful every time I see you?” he asked.

  Ilina gave a little laugh.

  “I have just asked myself how it is possible that I love you more every – morning than I did the – previous day.”

  “Is that true?”

  “You know I would only tell you the truth.”

  He put out his other hand and touched the softness of her cheek and then ran his fingers along the line of her pointed chin.

  As always when he touched her, it gave her a strange feeling like little shafts of sunlight running through her and she felt her heart begin to beat quickly and knew that his was doing the same.

  “Today we reach Calcutta,” he said, “and I must warn you, my darling, that, as you insist on my being so important, we shall be guests of the Viceroy and I only hope you will enjoy all the pomp and circumstance.”

  “I want you to be aware of your own importance,” Ilina answered, “although at the same time I admit that I would rather be alone with you.”

  She thought as she spoke that nothing could have been more perfect than their honeymoon, which had been spent on the ship, where no one could disturb them unless they wished it.

  The Duke had, as he had promised, taught her about love.

  From the very moment he had kissed her, she had known that never again need she be afraid of the future and that the miseries of the past had disappeared like a mist vanishing before the sun.

  Even the finding of the Nizam’s jewels had not been as exciting as the Duke’s kisses.

  Yet it had been a thrilling moment when she realised that they were underneath the plaster that had been added to the original wood of the frame and then covered with gold leaf.

  The Nizam’s jewels had been indeed safe ever since the second Duke had hidden them there.

  ‘How could he have thought of anything quite so ingenious?’ Ilina asked.

  They had peeled away the plaster that had been shaken by the bullet and found beneath it diamonds, emeralds and rubies that were so large that the Duke thought it would be difficult to put a value on them.

  The beading round the frame, which was different from the frames of the other Dukes, concealed, of course, the Nizam’s pearls.

  The Duke and Ilina removed as many as they could until he said that it would be a great mistake to do it in a hurry and perhaps scratch the pearls and damage the other stones.

  Nevertheless there was quite a large pile of jewels on the desk which, because they were all caked with plaster, the Duke had laid on one of his fine linen handkerchiefs.

  Ilina’s eyes were shining like the diamonds as she said to him,

  “I cannot believe it! When I think how David and I searched attics, the cellars, the Chapel and every other place in the house only to be disappointed – ”

  She gave a laugh that was almost a sob as she added,

  “Once we took most of the books out of the shelves in the library, thinking that the Duke might have hidden them there.”

  “It was certainly a very clever idea of his,” the Duke agreed.

  Then, as if she was overcome with the excitement of her discovery, Ilina threw herself against him to hide her face against his shoulder to murmur in a voice that broke,

  “There are so – many things we can do now – for the people who have been – loyal to us all through the – bad days.”

  “I have already been thinking about that and I think you will find, my darling, that you can keep your jewels for yourself because I have quite a considerable fortune, which actually I have made by the sweat of my brow.”

  Ilina gave a little laugh and he continued,

  “It’s true. And I am still rather angry with you for being so sure that I was a pauper just because I was badly dressed.”

  “I am – sorry,” she whispered, “and you do look so – very different now.”

  “Nevertheless,” he said, “I am mortified to think that, while the Prince in the Fairytale recognised Cinderella in her rags and tatters, you took me just at my clothes’ value.”

  She knew that he was teasing her because he did not want her to be emotionally upset by the jewels she had found, thinking that it might be too great a strain after her injury.

  With a lilt in her voice she said,

  “The last cloud has vanished over the horizon and now there is only – sunshine for us – both ahead.”

  “You can be quite certain of it,” the Duke agreed, “but at the same time sunshine, jewels or anything else, I am going to carry you upstairs and you are to rest.”

  He accentuated the last word and, as Ilina made a little grimace with her small nose, he said,

  “You want me to be authoritative and behave like a Duke, so I expect you to obey me.”

  She laughed.

  He picked her up in his arms and looked down at her with such tenderness in his eyes that she felt her heart turn over in her breast before he said,

  “I told you not to be too light in my arms. I also ordered you to eat much more than you are doing already and forget the days when you felt that you could not pay for it.”

  “It is difficult to – believe that they are – really over.”

  He turned her round so that she was looking at the picture of the second Duke.

  “We should thank him,” he sighed, “for having kept his treasure intact for so long. Now he knows that it will not be spent on gambling or riotous living.”

  He kissed her forehead and added,

  “As your husband I shall make quite sure that it is not invested in dud companies or thrown away on wild schemes that always fail at the last moment.”

  Ilina could not help thinking that he was right and that, if her grandfather had found the jewels, he would undoubtedly have spent the proceeds on wine, women and horses and her father, after her
mother died, would have done the same with anything that was left.

  As it was, she could already think of a million things that required doing on the estate and which would mean new lives for those who relied on it for a living.

  There would be plenty of work for young men and women who otherwise would drift into the industrial towns and of course, the house itself would become the focal point not only for this generation of Burys but for those to come.

  As if the Duke, following the expression in her eyes, knew exactly what she was thinking, he remarked quietly,

  “That is what I have begun to do, but, of course, my darling, I need your help and I cannot manage without it.”

  Because his need of her gave her such a warm feeling of happiness, she put her arm round his neck to draw his face down to hers.

  “You are just preventing me from taking you upstairs,” he said accusingly.

  He kissed her lightly on the lips and then walked across the room.

  As they proceeded down the passage into the hall, Ilina felt as if everything was shining with the light of happiness that seemed almost dazzling.

  ‘How is it possible?’ she wondered.

  As if with the wave of a magic wand, the Duke had changed from the man she had hated and who had decided to make The Abbey a tomb for the treasures it contained to the man who seemed to vibrate with love with every word he spoke.

  She put her head against his shoulder and thought that the miracle she had prayed for had happened and God had answered her prayers.

  Perhaps David had known all along that things would come right.

  When they reached the top of the staircase, the Duke turned her round so that once again she could see the hall bathed in sunshine and the footmen on duty in the front door.

  Then, as she tried to find words to tell him how wonderful it all was, he moved along the corridor that led to the West wing.

  As he walked slowly, carrying her as if she was infinitely precious, she asked,

  “How did you manage to prevent anyone from telling me of the surprises you were planning for me?”

  “It was not difficult,” he replied. “Everybody in the house loves you and, when I told them what I was doing, they understood that I wanted to make you happy – ”

  “How many people have you given Mrs. Bird in the kitchen?”

  “I have lost count,” the Duke smiled. “When she realised that she could have as many as she wanted, every day she has demanded extra women in the kitchen, the scullery, the stillroom and the dairy.”

  Ilina laughed.

  “You have to entertain lavishly to keep them all busy.”

  “That is what I intend we shall do when we come back from our honeymoon.”

  She looked at him enquiringly and he said,

  “I think you have had enough excitement for today. You must leave me some more fireworks for tomorrow, otherwise you might be disappointed.”

  “How could I ever be – disappointed in – you?”

  As if he could not help himself, the Duke stopped again and kissed her.

  Then, as if he forced himself to walk on, he carried her into the schoolroom and set her on her feet in the bedroom.

  She looked at him and, as she wanted to say once again how wonderful everything was, he pulled her almost roughly into his arms.

  He kissed her until it was impossible to think, only to feel that the miracle she had prayed for was love and it was love that had changed everything and especially the Duke.

  By the time the Duke had sent for Emily to help her into bed she was really very tired.

  When Emily answered, she brought with her a very nice looking younger woman whom she introduced as ‘Rose’.

  “Now you know His Grace’s secret, my Lady,” she said, “I want you to meet Rose, who’ll be takin’ my place with four housemaids under her.”

  “You are going to retire, Emily?” Ilina asked.

  “Just as soon as His Grace has a cottage ready for me,” Emily replied. “And it’s bein’ done up regardless of expense.”

  The pride in the old woman’s voice was very touching and Ilina said,

  “Whatever it is like, Emily, you deserve it for being so wonderful in the bad times. Of course I want you to share in the good ones.”

  “And real good they’ll be too, my Lady,” Emily said, “just like when His Grace your grandfather were alive.”

  Ilina could not help thinking that it was her grandfather’s extravagance that had left her father so impoverished.

  But she told herself that the past was the past and not only was the Duke rich enough to restore The Abbey to what it had been but now she had the Nizam’s jewels she herself was very wealthy.

  It seemed incredible after they had hardly enough to eat and had to rely on the rabbits that Jacobs caught in his snare.

  When Emily and Rose left her, she had lain back against the pillows saying a fervent prayer of thankfulness which was more a paean of praise for what had happened.

  Yet she knew that more important than the Duke’s fortune or the Nizam’s jewels was that she had found love.

  She tried to express her feelings to the Duke when he came to see her before dinner.

  He was looking so magnificent in his evening clothes that for a moment she could only stare at him. Then, as he put out his hands towards her, she lifted her lips to his.

  He sat down on the bed and kissed her until her eyes were shining, her cheeks were flushed and her breath was coming quickly between her lips.

  “Are you not tired, my darling?”

  “Only – excited.”

  “As I am.”

  “Do I really – excite – you?”

  “I will answer that question when we are married,” he replied. “Until we are, my precious love, don’t tempt me because I am afraid of frightening you and making you hate me again.”

  “That will – never happen.”

  “You are sure?”

  “Quite sure! I love you until you – fill the whole world – and nothing else is of any consequence.”

  “Not even the jewels,” he teased, “that you can festoon yourself in like the Queen of Sheba?”

  “It is very thrilling to have found them,” Ilina answered him.

  “I cannot think now why David and I did not think of such a clever hiding place. I long to be able to tell him – about it.”

  “I am sure he knows,” the Duke commented quietly.

  She looked at him in surprise, feeling that this was something that she would never have expected him to say.

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

  “I have lived so long in the East that I believe in the Wheel of Rebirth, which is why we found each other again and that there is no such thing as death.”

  Ilina made a little murmur of happiness and, as she hid her face against him, he said,

  “I have so much to teach you, my precious one, and we have so much to learn about each other that it will take a century to do so and the sooner we start, the better.”

  “I want it to start – now.”

  “Actually the real beginning will be the day after tomorrow,” the Duke said, “when we are being married.”

  She looked at him in astonishment and he went on,

  “I have already been to see the Vicar, who, as you know, is a very old man. He remembered your mother and spoke of her so warmly and with such affection that I know he will make our marriage a very real Ceremony to both of us.”

  Ilina put her arms around his neck.

  “How could you be so marvellous? How did you know that is what I should want? And I am sure we are being married here in the Chapel.”

  “Of course,” the Duke replied. “I have already put a dozen people to work on it and with masses of flowers it will be the perfect place where we will make our vows.”

  Because there were no words to express what she was feeling, Ilina kissed his cheek.

  Instantly the Duke’s arms tightened
round her and there was a fire in his eyes and on his lips that had not been there before.

  He kissed her until she was once again lifted into the sky and the world was left behind.

  Then he put her back against the pillows and said in a voice that was unsteady,

  “I told you not to tempt me. I want to stay here kissing you all night and making sure that you are mine, but I have a great deal to see to before the day after tomorrow.”

  He rose to his feet, but Ilina held on to his hand.

  “Promise you will not vanish when you leave me and I shall not wake tomorrow morning to – find you have gone.”

  “I promise you I shall be here and loving you,” he answered.

  *

  On the morning of the Wedding, Ilina found one of the things that had preoccupied the Duke’s attention had been to provide her with a Wedding gown.

  A number of other gowns had also been brought from London by train to the nearest Station and then carried in a brake drawn by four of his new horses to The Abbey.

  With very small alterations, which were made by Rose and the new housemaids, they fitted her.

  She could hardly believe when she put on her Wedding gown that she had a bustle as large as those she had seen illustrated in The Ladies Journal and never thought to own.

  There was a veil that might have been made by fairy fingers and a wreath that was not of orange blossom, as she expected, but of diamonds.

  It was only later she found that Singh, who knew exactly what the Duke wanted, had been sent to London to bring back a jeweller from Bond Street with a selection of tiaras from which the Duke could choose.

  She was surprised at the speed he had got all that he wanted.

  She was also astonished when she went downstairs on the day of her Wedding to see how much had been accomplished since he had begun to reorganise and redecorate The Abbey.

  There were painters, carpenters and upholsterers in every room and the Chapel was, as the Duke promised, filled with so many flowers that it was impossible to see the ravages of time and that there were still many months of work to be done just in the Chapel.

  As they knelt before the altar that had been consecrated when the Chapel was built over two centuries ago, Ilina felt that there were angels singing in the painted ceiling overhead.