The Healing Hand Read online

  French newspapers told him that the Czar had sent Prince Menschikov to Turkey as a special Envoy.

  Prince Menschikov had arrived with much pomp, accompanied by high-ranking Russian Officers, to demand that the Czar should form in effect a Protectorate over all Christian subjects of the Sultan.

  The English were at last aroused by this ambitious move and then hearing that the Turks had been overawed, it was suggested that the British Fleet at Malta should sail to the Dardanelles.

  It was obvious to Rupert that this should have been done long before – but better late than never.

  The English then persuaded the Sultan of Turkey to state that Russia’s proposals would infringe his Sovereign rights and immediately, as he thought otherwise he would look feeble, Prince Menschikov broke off negotiations.

  The English next called an international Conference of French, German and Austrian plenipotentiaries.

  Menschikov returned to St. Petersburg after telling the Turks to think it over and change their minds.

  Rupert supposed that at this moment there would be diplomatic approaches and the great Powers would reach a satisfactory compromise.

  To his astonishment the newspapers told him that nothing was done and yet he learned from friends in Paris that the Czar was boiling with indignation.

  The newspapers were almost silent for ten days and then they informed the world that Russia had delivered an ultimatum to the Turks – that they must agree to everything the Czar demanded or Russian troops would invade.

  It was at this moment that Rupert was recalled to his Regiment.

  The newspapers he had bought this morning on arrival at the Gare du Nord told him that Britain had sent a strong fleet to Besika Bay on the Dardanelles.

  ‘It is war! I am sure it is going to be war,’ he said to himself.

  Now he was sitting beside one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen.

  He hoped, although it was a very forlorn hope that he would not have to leave London too quickly.

  *

  It was now late in the afternoon as he and Tania, chattering away happily in the special conveyance they had been given, came into the Station that adjoined the harbour at Boulogne.

  The officials on the Station platform were astonished that a tall and handsome young man and a very lovely young woman were occupying their Chief’s conveyance.

  They hurried forward to ask what had occurred and Rupert told them in his excellent French that they had been victims of the collision.

  They had been sent ahead by the Chief, while the rest of the passengers and the luggage would be arriving in due course.

  “Was anyone injured or killed, monsieur?” one of the officials asked.

  “I don’t think anyone is injured,” he replied, “and we were most fortunate to get away so quickly, thanks to your Chief.”

  It was not too difficult for the officials to realise that Captain More and Tania would not have received such attention unless they were distinguished passengers.

  So they were taken straight on board the ferry waiting on the quay.

  The Purser, at Rupert’s request, gave them the two best cabins available.

  “I will see that your luggage is put carefully on one side as soon as it arrives,” the Purser offered, “but I would be grateful if you would write your names down clearly so that I cannot make a mistake.”

  Rupert obliged for both of them.

  Then he and Tania asked for something to eat to be brought as soon as possible to their cabins.

  It was almost dinnertime and Tania was only too glad to take off her hat and coat, tidy her hair and wash her face and hands.

  In the meantime Rupert went to find out what was available for dinner and to order a good bottle of wine.

  Tania kept thinking how lucky she had been to find someone to look after her after Sister Agnes collapsed.

  ‘There is no doubt,’ she thought, ‘that when one is travelling one needs a man – a woman alone is bound to be ignored or make a mess of anything if she tries to arrange it on her own.’

  She therefore waited happily for Rupert to return.

  When he did he could not help thinking that without her hat and with her long golden hair framing her lovely face, she was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

  “Everything is now arranged,” he smiled, “and we are going to have a most enjoyable dinner. Although I will not presume to say it aspires to be better than the French would give us.”

  Tania laughed.

  “Papa always said French cooking is unbeatable the world over. And as he travelled a great deal he knew what he was talking about.”

  Rupert thought about the exotic meals he had eaten with exotic women this past month and how very costly it had been.

  He decided on the whole he was quite content with good plain English fare, but then certainly not with a plain English girl!

  He thought Tania was so lovely it was impossible to think of her as being real.

  ‘How,’ he asked himself, afraid that he may speak out loud in his wonder at this turn of events, ‘could I possibly have been lucky enough to find anyone so exquisite – in the middle of a train crash?’

  It did seem rather funny and because he laughed out loud, Tania asked him,

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “Myself,” was the reply.

  “Really? Well done – that is what we should all do. I have often thought if we were on a stage how funny we would appear and how people would pay to hear us talking and making absurd remarks.”

  “I never thought of that before, but I am sure you are right. When I think about all those ponderous men in Downing Street and the War Office letting us in for a war, I really think they should have their heads examined.”

  “Will it be a serious war?” Tania enquired anxiously.

  “Very serious indeed, though frankly I have no wish to kill anyone, not even the Russians.”

  “Is that what you will have to do?”

  “I am a soldier, and soldiers are engaged to fight off anyone who might harm their country.”

  “And where do you think you will have to fight?”

  “I suspect it might be somewhere in South Russia. As you doubtless know, we have to stop the Russians from taking over Turkey which would give them an opening into Asia and eventually carry them as far as India.”

  “It all seems so far away, Rupert, so it is difficult to realise how important it is and how much it matters to us.”

  “We may be a small island, but, as you know, our Empire extends over a quarter of the world and we have to protect it and all the people in it, like yourself.”

  “I am so glad that you are protecting me – I very much need protection at the moment!”

  “Why?” Rupert asked her sharply.

  For a moment she wondered if she should tell him the truth and that she was afraid of her stepmother.

  Then she decided to be so serious would spoil the evening as they had both been laughing and talking light-heartedly ever since the train crash.

  And she was quite certain that this stranger was not really interested in her private affairs.

  “What I would really like, Rupert, is for you to tell me about your time in Paris and if you found it as enjoyable as everyone always says it is.”

  “Who have you been listening to, Tania?”

  “The girls at school told me what fun their brothers had going to places of entertainment in Montmartre and to parts of Paris where they would not take their sisters, and where I, as an English girl, would never be allowed to go.”

  Rupert knew this was true and a good thing too.

  It would spoil anything so lovely, so untouched and so innocent as the glorious girl facing him.

  He had thought when he first saw her that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever set eyes on.

  Now he realised he had known instinctively that she was so very different from the women he had spent his holid
ay with.

  He was sure that she was intelligent and yet there was an innocence about her that told him she had no idea of how some other women behaved.

  Or the entertainments that men found so amusing but would never allow in their own home, nor permit their daughters to take part in.

  ‘What this girl is surely looking for,’ he mused, ‘is someone who will love her completely and absolutely, and never find anything more exciting than the softness of her lips and the exquisite smoothness of her skin.’

  Then as Tania looked at him enquiringly, he told himself,

  ‘I said I will look after her and protect her and that I must do, even though it might mean protecting her against myself!’

  CHAPTER TWO

  When they had finished dinner, they went on deck to see if there was any sign of the others arriving from the damaged train.

  There was a train coming in, but, as soon as he saw it, Rupert remarked,

  “That train is not the one we are expecting.”

  “How do you know?” asked Tania.

  “Because I can see it has come from Germany.”

  Tania thought him very astute to recognise it so quickly. To be honest all the trains looked the same to her.

  When the train drew up above them in the Station, she could see that it was not very long. Worried, she thought that, unless it was totally packed in every carriage, it could not possible contain all the passengers from their Paris.

  “We will be very late leaving,” Tania whispered.

  “I am quite content to be here talking to you,” he replied.

  The train came to a standstill and then a number of the ferry Stewards went up to the Station.

  “They must have been delayed as well. Surely we should have left by now?” Tania asked.

  “You can never be sure with Continental trains and I am sure the ferries will not wish to waste their coal and energy taking only a few passengers across to England.

  “This boat will, I am certain, be packed solid before it finally sails. We are so fortunate to have secured the best available cabins before anyone else could.”

  “Yes, and I believe there are only a few private cabins on these ferries,” Tania added.

  She thought that she was lucky to have someone so interesting and so handsome to talk to.

  At her school Tania had naturally met her friend’s brothers as she had been invited frequently to their homes for the holidays.

  She had stayed in French, Spanish and Italian houses, but because she was only a schoolgirl, the brothers of the other girls paid little attention to her.

  She formed the distinct impression that they spent their free time heavily engaged with fascinating women unacceptable to their mothers.

  Anyway, the young men came and went and were not interested in a mere schoolgirl.

  ‘Now’, she thought, ‘I have had a really interesting conversation with this tall handsome man beside me.’

  “Here they come!” he cried, leaning over the rail. “And I hope you will be pleased to see there are not very many of them.”

  Tania supposed that many of the passengers would have got out further up the line.

  They would not know until they reached the scene of the accident that the railway line had been blocked.

  Nevertheless from her point of view it was useful that there were only twenty or thirty people now boarding the ferry.

  Then, as a couple walking rather more slowly than the others, came down the steps leading to the gangway, Tania gave a little cry.

  “Oh, over there! There are some friends of mine!” she exclaimed. “It is so exciting to see them and you must come to meet them, Rupert.”

  She had a feeling, although she was not sure, that the handsome Captain beside her was disappointed that she had found some friends so unexpectedly.

  Although he did not say so, she was quite right.

  He was enjoying having this beautiful young girl all to himself and had no wish for her to be caught up with her friends.

  However, he could hardly refuse to go below as she insisted.

  They went down from the upper deck just as the train party was moving slowly into the ship – most of them were First Class passengers and were directed to the main deck.

  It was then as Tania saw Mr. and Mrs. Bracebridge come aboard that she gave another cry of delight and ran towards them.

  She had first met them many years ago when she was very young and since visited their most impressive house in Belgrave Square with her parents, who were very fond of them.

  She had even once stayed at their delightful country home – Atherstone Hall near Coventry.

  She knew that they were very rich, but childless, and because of this had always made a great fuss of her.

  Mrs. Bracebridge was tall, stately and beautiful and Tania’s mother had said once that, as well as being artistic and intelligent, she had the greatest warmth of character of anyone she had ever known.

  Waiting for the older couple to finish their conversation with the Captain, she recalled that Charles Bracebridge was a well-known traveller and owned property in Athens.

  “He is generous, impetuous and often petulant,” her father had said. “He has huge pride in his family and has traced their descent back from Lady Godiva!”

  What her father had liked more than anything else was Charles Bracebridge’s horses. He had brought many back from the Far East and had bred from them.

  Of course her father had ridden these horses, as well as enjoying the Bracebridge’s hospitality at a whole host of amusing and entertaining parties at Atherstone Hall.

  As soon as the Captain had finished greeting his important guests, Tania ran towards them.

  Before she reached them, Mrs. Bracebridge threw out her hands and exclaimed,

  “Tania, what on earth are you doing here?”

  “I am on my way home,” Tania answered as she kissed Mrs. Bracebridge, “and then my train smashed into another. It was only by good fortune that I managed to get here and did not have to wait until they could move all the other passengers.”

  “You are not alone?”

  Charles Bracebridge asked as he kissed her.

  “No, please let me introduce Captain More, who has been very kind to me.”

  Charles Bracebridge put out his hand.

  “I would not have expected you to be here either, Rupert,” he chuckled. “I thought you would be on your way to Turkey.”

  “That is just what I was expecting myself,” he said, “but it is delightful to see you again, Mr. Bracebridge. I have not forgotten how much I enjoyed riding your Arab horses the last time I was at Atherstone.”

  “Well, do let’s sit down somewhere whilst you tell us all the excitements,” Mrs. Bracebridge now suggested.

  “I understand that we have a cabin and I’m sure we will be much more comfortable there than anywhere else.”

  “We also have cabins, so we shall all be together,” Tania told her. “I am very happy I will not have to share it with the old nun who was supposed to be looking after me! She completely collapsed when our train crashed.”

  “I have never heard such a dramatic story,” gushed Mrs. Bracebridge. “So let’s go now to our cabins and you must tell us everything right from the beginning.”

  They moved up to the cabins on the upper deck and Tania found to her delight that the Bracebridge cabin was only one door away from hers – and that one was Rupert’s.

  “You were terribly lucky to secure these cabins,” Mrs. Bracebridge prattled on. “We always book far ahead, but I don’t suppose you had booked yours.”

  “No, we just arrived,” replied Tania. “But because they were so impressed with Captain More, we were lucky enough to book a cabin each and we have just finished our dinner.”

  “Well, my lady’s maid will be along in a moment,” Mrs. Bracebridge said, “and the rest of our luggage will arrive when the porters move it from the Guard’s van.”

  “I will see to
it,” Charles offered, “and don’t worry! Take Tania into your cabin and order us some champagne. I am sure Rupert will be only too pleased to join us.”

  “I suppose I really should not be that surprised to see you as you are always travelling,” said Rupert. “I only think it strange that your great friend Florence Nightingale is not with you.”

  He was well aware that Selina Bracebridge prided herself in collecting the most interesting people. In particular she enjoyed young writers and musicians.

  The Nightingale family had hoped that Selina, who was so happily married and a firm believer in matrimony, would persuade young Florence to accept a distinguished and handsome man who was longing to make her his wife.

  But so far she had been unsuccessful.

  They had taken Florence on many of their tours of Europe and yet she was still convinced that she should not marry, but wait for the special mission she believed would be sent to her by God.

  She had, however, travelled with the Bracebridges to Egypt and then on to Greece in 1840.

  She had written endless letters home to her mother describing how much she enjoyed the experience and being with the Bracebridges.

  Governors, Ambassadors and Consul-Generals entertained them – in fact all the most distinguished people in every country they visited.

  But this and Florence Nightingale was no nearer, much to her family’s dismay, to accepting marriage with Richard Monckton Milnes, later Lord Houghton.

  Tania had heard this story from her mother and in fact she had been most impressed that any young woman, because she believed she had a vocation, should refuse the man she claimed she ‘adored’.

  Now, as she reached her cabin, Tania enquired,

  “You were just going to tell me all about Florence Nightingale. I often thought about her at school. You will remember I met her once with you at your lovely house in Belgrave Square.”

  “Florence has done a great deal since then!” cried Selina. “I don’t know if you have been told that she has gained her first nursing experience in Germany?”

  “I think I remember Papa saying something about it before I was sent off to school, but I have been there for two years and only now am I at last going home, although Stepmama begged the Mother Superior to keep me there even longer.”