Danger in the Desert Read online

  “When we have talked about you getting married,” his father said, “you have told me that you are in no hurry. In the past that seemed reasonable enough. But now the doctors have told me that there is some slight damage to my heart which may shorten my life considerably.”

  “I am very sorry to hear that, Papa.”

  “I don’t want your sympathy,” the Earl snapped. “But, when it happens, I only hope that it’s quick and that I don’t linger on as so many people do.”

  “I feel sure you are exaggerating, Papa,” Royden replied. “No one could ride as you do and not be in good health.”

  The Earl thought that his son was very quick with his answers.

  Therefore he said,

  “What I want to discuss with you, is the future. If I am too ill to carry on doing what I am doing at present then I am thinking of moving to the North and leaving you in charge of The Towers.”

  His son did not reply and he went on rapidly,

  “You know, as well as I do, that you cannot live there alone. It is absolutely essential that you should have a wife to help you.”

  He paused for a moment before he continued,

  “Not just with the house itself but with the horses, the Racecourse and the garden that has grown considerably in the last few years and is the envy of every gardener in the country.”

  “I am well aware of all that,” Royden managed to say. “But I have no wish to marry anyone I know at this moment and, as you yourself will agree, being married is a serious matter and the last thing you would want, I am sure, Papa, is a divorce in the family.”

  “A divorce!” the Earl expostulated. “It is something we must never have. It would be an utter disgrace to us all.”

  “I agree, Papa,” Royden replied, “that is why I have no intention of marrying in a hurry.”

  “As I have no idea how long I will live,” the Earl said, “I want to leave everything in the very best order possible.”

  There was silence.

  Then the Earl said slowly,

  “I have therefore chosen a wife for you, who I think will be a great asset to the family and with whom there is no reason for you to be unhappy.”

  For a moment Royden was stunned into silence.

  Then, as he opened his lips to protest at the whole idea, the Earl said,

  “The person I have chosen for you is Malva Stone, the daughter of our nearest neighbour, who will, I believe, grace the position you offer her. It will make both me and her father exceedingly happy and satisfied by the union.”

  Royden jumped up from the chair and walked to the window.

  As he gazed out at the fine array of flowers in the garden, he said,

  “I just cannot imagine, Papa, anything more horrific than being tied to a woman one does not love and be forced to spend the rest of one’s life with her.”

  “If she gives you children and if she performs her duty as a wife, I cannot see any reason why you should complain.”

  “But Papa, I have no wish to be married to anyone, least of all to a girl who I hardly know and who I have not seen since she was in a pram.”

  “Lord Waverstone is my oldest friend,” his father interrupted. “His daughter is acclaimed as very beautiful and is charming, as her mother was. It is a tragedy that Lady Waverstone is dead and I think that we owe it to his Lordship to help him in every way we can.”

  He stopped for breath before he went on,

  “Nothing could be better than for us to join his land with ours and for his daughter and you to make it a really glorious and magnificent home for your children.”

  ”But I have already told you, Papa,” Royden said, his voice rising, “that I will not marry anyone until I find it impossible to live without her.”

  As he spoke, the Earl sat down in his chair and put one hand to his heart and the other pressed over his eyes.

  “You are – upsetting me,” he murmured in a voice which indicated that every word was difficult to say. “You are upsetting me a great deal and I cannot – listen to you at the moment – ”

  His words were difficult to hear and his Lordship looked as if he would slump forward onto the writing table.

  Royden reached for the bell and rang it jerkily.

  It was only a few moments before the door opened and a footman came in.

  “His Lordship is not feeling well,” Royden called out sharply. “Send immediately for his doctor and tell his valet to help him upstairs.”

  The footman ran off to obey his orders.

  Then the Earl took his hand from his eyes and said,

  “I don’t want a doctor. What I want, my son, is for you to obey me and make me a happy man before I die.”

  Royden did not answer.

  He walked to the window, knowing that his father was acting the part, but it was impossible for him to say so.

  Only when the Earl’s valet had brought him a phial of his medicine, followed by a glass of champagne to take away the nasty taste, did he turn from the window to say,

  “I will think over what you have said, Papa, but I know when you have made up your mind about anything, as you have at the moment, it is impossible to argue with you.”

  The Earl did not answer.

  But, as Royden turned towards the window again, there was a faint smile on his lips.

  CHAPTER TWO

  After Lord Waverstone had left Windsor Castle, he went to Number 10 Downing Street as the Prime Minister had sent for him.

  After he had settled a number of different questions that had been printed in the newspapers and were decidedly controversial in the country, he was driven on to his house in the heart of Chelsea.

  It was a very attractive house, but not a large one and he and his wife had furnished it with exquisite taste when they had first married.

  Every room seemed to speak to him of her.

  As he entered the house, he told the butler to inform his daughter that he had returned home.

  So he was not surprised when a few minutes later the door was flung open and Malva came running in.

  “Papa, you are back early!” she exclaimed. “I did not expect you until later, but it is lovely to see you. Now for once I can have you to myself.”

  Lord Waverstone smiled and replied,

  “That is exactly what I want as I have so much to tell you and to talk to you about.”

  Malva sat down on the sofa and asked,

  “What has happened now, Papa?”

  “Nothing frightening, but certainly unusual,” Lord Waverstone replied. “I want you to listen very attentively to what I am going to tell you.”

  “I always do,” she replied. “As you know, Papa, I see far too little of you and I am counting the days until we can go back to the country and ride our wonderful horses again.”

  “So am I,” her father answered. “But there is a proposition which I have to put in front of you. I want you to consider it very carefully and not make up your mind until you have thought it out in every detail.”

  “You are making me curious. What can it be?”

  “That is exactly what I am going to tell you,” Lord Waverstone said. “As I told you before I left this morning, I had a very special message from the Earl of Hillingwood, asking me to meet him at White’s.”

  “I remember that, Papa, and I wondered why he wanted to see you.”

  “He wanted to see me,” he said slowly, “because his one desire in life is that you should marry his son!”

  Malva stared at her father as if she thought that he must be playing games with her.

  Then, as she saw by the expression on his face that he was serious, she breathed,

  “Did the Earl really say that? Are you quite certain it was not a joke?”

  “No, it was no joke. He made it very clear that the one thing he wants is that we should unite our estates into one and, of course, you and Royden will run it from The Towers.”

  While he was speaking rather slowly and distinctly, his daughter
was staring at him incredulously.

  Then she said,

  “He must be pulling your leg, Papa. You know as well as I do that everyone in London is aware that Royden is determined not to marry and spends his entire time with beautiful ladies who are already married and so they cannot take him up the aisle.”

  She spoke the words sharply and her father retorted,

  “Yes, I know that, my dearest Malva, but the Earl is terrified that his son will not marry at all and when he himself dies it will be the end of the very long history of his family.”

  There was silence for a moment.

  Then Lord Waverstone continued,

  “Because he is so terrified that might happen, he is determined that his son shall be married. It’s quite obvious that you are a suitable wife for him in every possible way. Of course if our lands were joined it will make The Towers even more impressive than it is already.”

  “What you are telling me takes my breath away,” Malva murmured. “What does Royden say to this idea?”

  “That, of course, I was not told, but, as the Earl has set his heart upon it and is determined with every means in his power to see that the marriage takes place, I can only suppose that Royden will give in to his father.”

  “And I think he will not,” Malva asserted. “As he lives next door and, as you know, people talk about him all the time, I have been informed of almost every affaire-de-coeur he has had these past two or three years and they certainly do not include anyone of my age.”

  “Or anyone who he could marry,” Lord Waverstone replied.

  “Well, for one thing I have no wish to marry him or anyone else at the moment,” Malva declared. “I love being with you, Papa, and I am very happy as I am.”

  There was silence.

  And then Lord Waverstone said,

  “You make it very difficult for me not to consider what the Earl has suggested. After all, as you well know, he is a very old friend of mine.”

  “What do you want me to consider, Papa?” Malva asked. “I want to marry someone I love and I know Mama wanted me to do that. She often told me how you and she had fallen in love with each other from the moment you first met.”

  Lord Waverstone made a strange sound, but he did not speak.

  And Malva went on,

  “Mama told me it was the most wonderful moment of her life when she looked into your eyes and knew that you were feeling exactly the same way as she did. Look how happy you were. I never knew that people could be so blissfully happy or so much in love until I watched you and Mama together.”

  “I know, I know,” Lord Waverstone muttered, as if it was agony to hear what his daughter was saying.

  Then he seemed to shake himself and stated firmly,

  “At the same time we have to face facts. As I will not live for ever, you will have to marry someone sooner or later and who could be more suitable than the Viscount Royden with The Towers and our land joined together?”

  He paused for a moment and then continued,

  “And you would make a very beautiful Countess of Hillingwood, my dearest Malva.”

  “I would make a very unhappy one until I left the man I had been forced to marry,” Malva replied stoutly.

  There was silence.

  It was a long silence because her father sat waiting, thinking that it would be wrong to press her too strongly at this stage.

  “I think you have forgotten one thing,” Malva said unexpectedly. “I am in mourning for at least another four months. You know as well as I do that Her Majesty frowns on anyone who comes out of black in what in her opinion is too soon.”

  She spread out her hands as she added,

  “I hate black. It’s depressing and unbecoming, but what else can I do?”

  “Nothing, my dearest. The one thing it would be impossible for either of us to do would be to offend Her Majesty. She has always treated me with great kindness and I can assure you that it is very flattering for me that she consults me so often on matters which she believes I am more knowledgeable about than my contemporaries.”

  “Of course you are, Papa, and I think, if you are honest you will realise that Her Majesty really likes tall handsome men around her and you are certainly that.”

  Lord Waverstone laughed.

  Then he said,

  “If I don’t wish to offend Her Majesty, I certainly don’t want to offend the Earl. As we live next door to each other and share so many interests, including our horses, it would be a disaster if he became angry with us and we were not on speaking terms.”

  “Then what can we do?” Malva asked despairingly. “I have no wish to marry his son or anyone else for that matter.”

  There was silence for quite some minutes.

  Then Lord Waverstone said,

  “What I suggest, my dearest, is that you don’t say immediately that marrying Viscount Royden is something you would never do. I think that the way to handle this very difficult matter is for you to talk to him. I expect you will find that he is just as anxious to remain single as you are. In fact when it comes to fighting against the marriage I think that you will be able to leave it to him.”

  “I did not think of that, Papa,” she answered him. “You are very astute to do so.”

  “What I am thinking,” Lord Waverstone continued, “is that we will go to the country and, while we are there on our own ground, so to speak, you meet Royden and tell him your feelings quite frankly, which I am almost certain will be the same as his. Then leave him to get us out of the difficulties as pleasantly and as expeditiously as possible.”

  Malva clapped her hands.

  “You are so clever, Papa. I might have guessed that you would find a solution to this nonsense. After all, if you can do it for the Queen, you can certainly do it for me!”

  Lord Waverstone chuckled.

  “I certainly hope I am right, but I am quite certain if Royden is immersed in love affairs with older and married women, he will have no desire to be married to a young girl. Even if we combine all our horses that will not be enough temptation!”

  He was speaking slowly and his daughter laughed.

  “Of course you are right, Papa, you are always right about things like that. As you so rightly say, it would be a great mistake to quarrel with the Earl. After all I am allowed to ride all his horses when I wish to do so and ever since I could read I have been permitted to borrow books from his fabulous library and I sincerely think that I would miss his books more than anything else if we were to be at daggers drawn.”

  “That is something that we must not be under any circumstances,” Lord Waverstone said. “If you have your perks from The Towers, so do I. Not only have his horses been at my disposal but his carriages as well. And it would embarrass me to think how often I drive in his quicker and far more up to date carriages to Windsor Castle than I do in my own.”

  “Of course you do, Papa. Otherwise they would stand in the stables month after month without being used.”

  “I should be most uncomfortable if I did not use them,” Lord Waverstone confessed. “There are also a good number of other small things that we share because we are neighbours which would make it not only difficult for me to do without them but I would find it very expensive.”

  “I know exactly what you mean, Papa. Therefore I agree we must be careful not to offend the Earl. At the same time I cannot and will not marry his son.”

  “But you must not say so, my dearest, except, of course, to young Royden. I think it is what he will want to hear anyway.”

  Malva gave a deep sigh.

  “Very well, Papa, you arrange for us to meet, but make it very clear that we have a great deal of talking to do before any final decision is reached.”

  “One thing is quite certain,” her father said, “I don’t want to lose you. Equally I have told myself many times I must not be greedy. If you do fall in love, my dearest, I will try not to think that I have lost a daughter, but gained a son.”

  Malva, who was sta
nding near him, bent down and kissed him.

  “You are always very sensible, Papa. I am sure that is why the Queen likes you so much. So many people are hysterical about themselves and, of course, are always very certain that their way is the best.”

  “That is the sort of flattery I like,” he replied. “But we must be very careful, as I have already told you, not to upset his Lordship. If he is very angry, let his son bear the brunt of his anger.”

  “I will certainly do so, Papa, and I might even point out to him that there are plenty of other young women of far greater consequence than I am who would jump at the idea of being his wife simply because they would then be the Mistress of Hillingwood Towers.”

  Lord Waverstone opened his lips as if he was about to say something and then changed his mind and remained silent.

  He was actually thinking that it would make him very happy if his daughter was the Mistress of The Towers, but it would be wrong for him to say so and upset Malva.

  He could only hope that perhaps by some miracle she and Royden would find that they had a closer affinity than they had at the moment.

  Perhaps, although it might take quite a long time, they could develop a real affection for each other.

  Then he told himself that he was only dreaming.

  Royden, although still a young man, was too old to change his ways and certainly not to marry a girl who was so much younger than he was.

  Even though he was quite certain that he would have to go a long way before he found anyone as attractive or intelligent as Malva.

  ‘But I am prejudiced,’ he told himself.

  Then he began to open the letters waiting for him on his table.

  *

  It was the day after they arrived in the country that Malva was riding one of the fastest of her father’s horses when she realised that there was a man coming out of the wood that bordered their estate with the Earl’s.

  One glance told her instantly who it was.

  She deliberately turned her horse round and started to ride in the opposite direction.

  She had lain awake for several nights thinking over what her father had said to her, and how she had been very positive that she would not marry Royden even though she realised how exceedingly tactful she had to be in refusing him.