Fire in the Blood Read online

  The way she spoke made Pandia look at her in surprise and, because she had always been able to read Selene’s thoughts, she asked,

  “Who is this person who means so much to you? Your voice changes when you speak of – him.”

  Selene smiled.

  “I suppose it will not matter my telling you,” she said, “but, Pandia, I am in love – wildly, crazily in love!” Pandia looked at her in astonishment.

  “But – Selene – you are – married!”

  “What has that got to do with it?”

  “I should have thought that it was – if not impossible very – wrong to love – somebody else when you are married.”

  Selene gave a little laugh.

  “I might have guessed that would be your attitude, living in this hole, but I can assure you that in the world outside nearly everybody in my position, especially if they are as beautiful as I am, has a lover.”

  “Selene!”

  Pandia was now shocked, very shocked.

  “How can you say such things?” she asked. “Papa and Mama would be horrified!”

  “Oh, do stop being so ridiculously old-fashioned, Pandia!” Selene snapped. “If that is the attitude you are going to take, I shall not tell you anything and we never used to have any secrets from one another.”

  Pandia softened at once and she replied hesitatingly,

  “Of course we had no – secrets in the past, and I want you to – tell me everything, but it is – difficult for me to – understand the life you lead now.”

  “Of course it is,” Selene agreed, “being shut up here, seeing nothing of the world and never meeting a decent-looking man from one year’s end to another.”

  “Tell me about this – person you – love,” Pandia said, wishing to divert Selene’s criticism from herself.

  Her sister put her arms on the table and rested her chin in her hands.

  “He is wonderful, Pandia,” she sighed, “the most wonderful, the most attractive man I have ever met in my whole life!”

  “And he loves you?”

  “Of course he loves me in the same way that I love him! I never knew before that I could have such ecstatic feelings!”

  The way she spoke with a note of passion in her voice that Pandia had never heard before made her feel very strange.

  “But – Selene – what can you do about it – when you are married to the Earl?”

  “It has been difficult to see Ivor as much as I have wanted to,” Selene replied, “and when George said he was going to Paris it was a Heaven-sent opportunity for us to be together.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I am not going to tell you or anybody else that,” Selene replied, “but we shall be alone and for a few days at any rate I shall be in Heaven!”

  Again there was that note of passion that sounded very strange and, as if she was aware of what Pandia was thinking, Selene said with a little laugh,

  “At least Papa gave me something! I certainly have fire in my blood which I can tell you is very Hungarian!”

  “It would upset Papa if it got – you into – trouble,” Pandia said quickly.

  “That is not likely to happen,” Selene replied, “if I am careful and if you help me.”

  Pandia looked puzzled.

  “How can I help you?”

  “It’s quite simple,” Selene answered, “you must go to the funeral of the Duke instead of me!”

  Pandia stiffened and sat straight up in her chair.

  “G-go to the – funeral?” she faltered. “How can I – possibly do that?”

  Selene bent forward towards her.

  “It will be quite easy, Pandia. I will tell you exactly what you have to do and, while we have grown apart, we are still exactly alike.”

  “But nobody would – believe that I am – you!”

  “In my clothes, driving in my carriage? Don’t be so silly! Why should anyone question for one moment that you are not who you appear to be?”

  “B-but – I would be – frightened! Supposing somebody – spoke to me and I did not know the – answers?” Selene sat back in her chair.

  “Really, Pandia! When I think how Papa used to rave about your brains and your intelligence and how much cleverer you were than I am, I can hardly believe you cannot do me this simple little favour.”

  “It does not sound – very simple to me!” Pandia protested.

  “There will be no difficulties, and after you have helped me, as I know you will, because I do desperately need your help, you can come back here and disappear! Nobody will ever hear of you again or have the slightest idea that I have a twin sister who is still alive.”

  The way Selene spoke made Pandia feel that she was very easily disposed of and of no consequence whatsoever.

  At the same time, she thought what Selene was asking her to do was frightening and extremely irresponsible.

  She was quite certain that her mother would have thought it was something she should not do.

  But how could she refuse Selene, who was, after all, the only relation she knew and who in the past had meant so much to her?

  “Surely, Selene,” she said aloud, “you could give up one day of being with this – gentleman who means so much to – you to go to the funeral and join him afterwards?”

  “How can I do that?” Selene asked. “George will be returning on Friday and every minute, every second Ivor and I are together is a joy and a rapture that we may never have the chance of again.”

  Because she thought Pandia was going to refuse her, she put out her hand saying,

  “Please, dearest, you used to love me and I cannot believe that you of all people have changed over the years! Help me to be happy, Pandia, for just a few days.”

  She did not wait for her sister to reply, but went on,

  “It’s not much to ask and Ivor has been looking forward to it for so long that I cannot disappoint him.”

  The pleading note in her voice and her outstretched hand made it impossible for Pandia not to put her hand into her sister’s and say,

  “I will try – but if I fail you know how – angry you will be.”

  “You will not fail, dearest, and thank you, thank you for being my friend and loving me enough to help me when I need it most.”

  Pandia felt her press her fingers and then she released them saying,

  “We must leave for London at once.”

  “I am to come with you – now?”

  “Of course, and when we reach Linbourne House we have a great deal to do.”

  Pandia rose from the table. She felt that her head was stuffed with cotton wool and she was not thinking clearly.

  One part of her mind was asking how she could do anything so strange and frightening and yet her heart wanted to help Selene because she was her sister and her twin.

  Selene rose too and, as she did so, she said,

  “You have always been so proud of your Hungarian ancestry and at least the Hungarians are adventurous! From all I can remember Papa telling us about them, they never refused a challenge.”

  “That is true,” Pandia answered, “and Papa was very dashing when he was a young man.”

  “Then tell yourself you are being like him,” Selene suggested.

  As she spoke, she walked out of the dining room and Pandia had the idea that it was almost a triumphal march because she had got her own way, having worked on her feelings so cleverly that it had been impossible for her to refuse what she wanted.

  When they reached the small hall, Pandia asked,

  “Do you really mean me to come with you now, Selene?”

  “Of course! Because I am extremely efficient, I brought with me a perfect disguise so that none of the servants will see you until we have changed places.” Pandia did not know what she meant, but she went upstairs and, taking her best cloak from her wardrobe, she laid it on the bed as Selene came into the room.

  She was carrying something in her hand, but before asking her what it was, Pandia said,


  “I am afraid I have only one black gown which I bought for Papa’s funeral, which is the one I have on.”

  “It looks cheap, but actually it is just what I want you to wear because this is what will be on your head.”

  She opened a small hatbox she was carrying in her hand and Pandia guessed she had collected it from her carriage, which had returned from The Anchor and was now waiting outside.

  Selene drew from the box a bonnet which had a long black veil trailing from it.

  For a moment Pandia looked at it in surprise, then she realised it was a widow’s bonnet and the crêpe veil which would cover her face was, as Selene said, a perfect disguise.

  “I told the coachman to wait outside so that he would not talk to Nanny and find out anything about you,” her sister explained. “Now put on the bonnet and we will go downstairs, but be careful to keep the veil over your face so that the footman does not see you, and the same applies when we reach Linbourne House.”

  “What shall I take with me?” Pandia asked.

  “Nothing,” Selene answered. “All the things you will wear in London will be mine and my maid will look after you and see you have everything you need.”

  “Your maid?” Pandia asked. “She knows we are changing places?”

  “Yes, naturally,” Selene answered, “and she is the only person I trust.”

  She gave a little laugh as she added,

  “Yvette is French, and the French always have a complice d’amour in their love affairs, so she knows exactly what is expected of her.”

  “An ‘accomplice of love’,” Pandia translated. “I remember seeing it written on some of the French prints that Papa had in a book.”

  “That is what Yvette is,” Selene replied, “and remember, she will be the only person who is aware you are not me and will help you if there are any difficulties.”

  She saw the expression on Pandia’s face and added firmly,

  “There will be none, but hurry! You are wasting time and I want to be back in London as soon as possible.” “You are going to him tonight?” Pandia asked.

  “Of course I am!” Selene replied. “George left this morning for Paris and I am certainly not going to waste one moment of being with Ivor.”

  Pandia sat down at the dressing table, put the widow’s bonnet on her head and pulled the veil down over her face.

  The crêpe was so thick that it completely obscured her features and any glimpse of the red lights in her hair. Selene was right. It was a very effective disguise.

  Then, as she rose to her feet, Selene put her thick cape over her shoulders, while she was searching in a drawer for the black gloves she had worn yesterday for her father’s funeral.

  “Now we will go downstairs,” Selene said. “The carriage is waiting and I think it would be a convincing remark if you say when you see it,

  “‘What an elegant carriage! It is so kind of you to take me to London with you and I shall be far more comfortable than if I was travelling on my own’.”

  “I will say that,” Pandia agreed.

  She gave a little chuckle as she added,

  “You are stage-managing everything, just as you did when we were children. It was always you who thought up the best charades!”

  “I rather pride myself on my organising ability,” Selene said, “but come on!”

  “I must go and tell Nanny where I am going.”

  “Just tell her you are coming to London with me for two days and you have no time to answer a lot of questions. You know what a ‘Nosey Parker’ she is!”

  “That is unkind!” Pandia said quickly. “She has been really wonderful in looking after us and doing everything because we could not afford any other servants.”

  Selene did not reply because she was already walking ahead of her down the stairs.

  When Pandia caught up with her, she said,

  “You must see Nanny before you leave. She would be broken-hearted if you left without talking to her.”

  “Of course I am going to see her,” Selene replied, “and I will make all the explanations about your coming with me. I can do it much better than you can.”

  As she reached the hall, she looked at her sister and said,

  “Throw back your veil. You don’t want Nanny to think you look like a widow.”

  “No, of course not!” Pandia agreed humbly, thinking she should have thought of that herself.

  They went into the kitchen and, as Nanny put down the plate she was drying, she exclaimed,

  “Miss Selene! Well, you’re a stranger, if ever there was one!”

  “I know, Nanny,” Selene said, “but you must not scold me! Just say, ‘Better late than never!’ as you used to do.”

  “You haven’t changed much,” Nanny sighed looking her over, “despite all the frills and furbelows. You’re just as you were and I expects just as discontented!”

  “Now, Nanny, you are not to be unkind to me,” Selene replied. “I am taking Pandia to London with me for two days because I think it would be good for her to have a change after being upset by Papa’s funeral.”

  “You should have been here yesterday,” Nanny reproved her, “and mournin’ him respectfully.”

  “I know,” Selene said humbly, “but it was impossible for me to get away and, as Pandia has forgiven me, you must too.”

  Nanny looked at Pandia for the first time since they had come into the kitchen.

  “What’s that you’ve got on your head, Miss Pandia?” she asked. “It’s different from the bonnet you wore yesterday.”

  “I thought it would be warmer for her while we are driving to London,” Selene said before Pandia could reply, “and with a foot-warmer for her feet and a fur rug over her knees she will not catch cold in the carriage.”

  “That’s right,” Nanny said. “You look after your sister for a change! It’s been a long time since you left and not a word from you, nor even for that matter a present at Christmas.”

  “I know and it was very remiss of me,” Selene replied, “but now Pandia is coming with me to London and I will make up for it.”

  “While you’re at it,” Nanny said in her most authoritative tone, “your sister could do with some new clothes. It’s not right for her to wear the same threadbare garments year in and year out, while from the look of it, you’ve got all the comforts!”

  “You are quite right, Nanny,” Selene agreed, “and I will see that Pandia has lots of lovely gowns to come home with.”

  “Now don’t you forget,” Nanny grunted, “as you’ve forgotten us these last three years!”

  Selene looked at the kitchen clock and gave an exclamation,

  “Quick Pandia, we must hurry!” she cried. “It’s a long way to London and we want to be there before it gets very dark.”

  “Yes – of course,” Pandia agreed.

  She stepped forward and kissed Nanny on the cheek.

  “Take care of yourself, Nanny, and I will be back almost before you know I have gone!”

  Selene did not kiss Nanny, but having reached the door she said, waving her hand,

  “Goodbye, Nanny! It has been lovely to see you again!”

  The two girls hurried through the hall and, as they opened the front door, the footman quickly helped them into the carriage.

  There was, as Selene had promised, a foot-warmer for their feet and a fur rug made of sable over their knees.

  As the carriage drove off, Selene, lying back comfortably against the soft padding, remarked,

  “I must say Nanny looks a great deal older! Rather like a wizened old gnome! But as you saw, I have not forgotten how to handle her!”

  “I don’t know what we would have done without Nanny when first Mama was so ill – then Papa.”

  There was a little sob in Pandia’s voice because she could not bear to hear Selene disparaging Nanny when she had looked after them since they were babies.

  She remembered now that, when they were both small, Selene had always been Nanny�
�s favourite.

  “I find old people tiresome,” Selene replied.

  The way she spoke made Pandia turn to ask her instinctively, “You said that your husband is older than you. How old is he?”

  For a moment she thought that her sister was not going to answer. Then Selene replied,

  “George is nearly sixty!”

  “Sixty! Why did you marry him?”

  “Don’t be so silly, Pandia! Very rich Earls as distinguished as George are not lying about the place, and if they are, some ambitious Mama snaps them up before they realise what is happening!”

  “But he is so very much older than you!”

  “I know that and I thought it did not matter, until I met Ivor.”

  “Who is Ivor?”

  “You are being too curious. I am not going to tell you his full name in case you ever said something that might be repeated to George and make him suspicious.”

  “Selene! How could you think that I would do such a thing!” Pandia exclaimed. “Besides, you have made it clear that after I have helped you I am to return home to the country and disappear. You know there is nobody here who can talk of anything except growing vegetables.”

  “That is true,” Selene conceded, “but because where Ivor is concerned I am afraid of my own shadow, I shall just tell you that he is Russian, he is a Prince and so overwhelmingly attractive that women follow him as if he was the Pied Piper’!”

  Pandia gave a little laugh and Selene smiled as she added,

  “But he loves me. He tells me he has never loved any other woman in his life in the same way.”

  “What a pity you did not wait a little longer so that you could have married him!”

  Selene turned her head to look at her sister. Then she answered,

  “Oh, dear, I keep forgetting how unsophisticated you are. Ivor is married! Of course he is married! Russians are betrothed almost when they are in the cradle! Fortunately his wife is in Russia while he is here.”

  Pandia could hardly believe what she had heard. Then she said humbly,

  “I quite understand, Selene, why you think me unsophisticated. At the same time I think Mama would have been – shocked at your having a – love-affair with a married – man, when you have a – husband.”

  “If you think I would do anything so silly as to run away as Mama did, you are very much mistaken! I have no intention of causing a scandal for, as you well know, if a woman is divorced she is ostracised by everybody in the Social world and might as well be dead!”