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  Her voice changed noticeably now that she was speaking about Mr. Gladstone.

  Because the Earl knew how much she disliked him, he said quickly,

  “I can only thank Your Majesty from the bottom of my heart for being so understanding. I hope to return with good news as quickly as possible.”

  The Queen held out her hand and he bent over it.

  Then he moved slowly backwards to the door.

  As he reached it, it was opened and he went out.

  The same equerry was waiting outside and said as the Earl reappeared,

  “You have been quite a long time, my Lord. I was hoping that things were going smoothly.”

  “Very smoothly indeed,” the Earl relied. “In fact I have left you nothing to worry about, which I know is to your satisfaction.”

  “It certainly is, my Lord. Would you like some tea or a glass of champagne before you leave us?”

  “Unfortunately I will now have to return to London immediately,” the Earl answered, “as I have a meeting this evening. But many thanks for your offer and on another occasion we will then propose the health of Great Britain’s success in everything she may undertake.”

  “I will certainly drink to that,” the equerry laughed.

  They reached the ground floor and walked to the front door where the carriage that had brought the Earl to Windsor Castle was waiting.

  He thanked the equerry for looking after him and shook him by the hand.

  Climbing into the carriage, he told the driver to go back to London as quickly as was possible.

  As they turned out of the gates of Windsor Castle, the Earl was thinking with satisfaction he had brought off what he might well consider a complete triumph.

  The one difficulty would be, he thought, to kerb the Prime Minister’s tongue and he therefore decided to say as little as possible to him.

  Equally he realised that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for Samosia, Count Yuri Unkar, would be waiting for him at his office.

  He was a very well-spoken man to whom the Earl had felt friendly from the first moment they had met.

  He had been most polite and apologetic in asking for England’s help.

  But, as he had said, it was the only chance they had of saving themselves from the greed and ambition of the Russians in expanding their already enormous Empire and to seize as much power as possible in Europe and to extend their reach to the Mediterranean.

  And most of all to save Samosia, which was a large and prosperous country, would be a triumph for Britain and surely prove to be another disaster and disappointment for the Czar.

  From all accounts Czar Alexander III was a very unpleasant man who was already generally disliked by his own people.

  He was absolutely determined to gain more land in the Balkans for Russia.

  At the same time the Earl suspected that his mind was on a very different matter.

  In fact it was being whispered that the Russians desired eventually to conquer India and take it away from the British Empire.

  Many Cossacks were already rampaging over Asia and doing a great deal of harm to the small local tribes.

  They were, he had been informed secretly, creeping nearer and nearer to India every day.

  They were using their increasing power and their fast horses to ensure that a great many places in Asia were now under Russian rule.

  The Earl sighed as he thought that India would have to defend herself very much more than she was doing at the moment and, if she did not, the Russians would obtain a victory that would be a bitter blow to the Union Jack and Great Britain’s influence in the world.

  When he arrived back in London, the Earl learnt at the War Office that the Prime Minister had received an urgent message to visit someone of great consequence who lived in Norfolk.

  As this was the opposite direction from where he would be going the next morning, the Earl thought that he had every reason to be delighted that the Prime Minister was not there to question him.

  Telling a junior official that he had been called away on important family business and would not be able to communicate with the Prime Minister until he returned, the Earl made it clear that he had nothing special to say about the afternoon’s visit to Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle.

  He then went straight to his own office where, as he had expected, he found the Secretary of State for Samosia waiting for him.

  Count Yuri Unkar was a very good-looking man of fifty and he was sitting comfortably in an armchair when the Earl entered the room.

  He sprang up and exclaimed,

  “You are back, my Lord, and I am sure that you have something exciting to tell me.”

  “I will tell you everything word for word,” the Earl replied. “But as we have to leave first thing in the morning for Plymouth, I will now have to return to my home and tell my wife where I am going.”

  He smiled before he added,

  “She will not be particularly pleased I am leaving as we have a party tomorrow night at which unfortunately only my wife will now be present. You and I will also miss the weekend amusements we had planned for you at our house in the country.”

  “You are so very kind and hospitable,” the Count answered, “but I am intrigued to know where we are going and why?”

  “That is a complete and absolute secret,” the Earl answered. “But I will tell you all I am allowed to do when we set forth soon after dawn. We are travelling by train so I suggest that you meet me at my office in three hours’ time.”

  “You mean that we are leaving tonight!” the Count exclaimed in surprise.

  “Well, actually very early tomorrow morning,” the Earl told him. “But it will be so much more comfortable if we spend the night sleeping in our own beds, so we will not leave until after breakfast.”

  “I see your point,” the Count replied. “I understand that we must not waste any time.”

  “None at all and, if you come with me now, I will take you in my carriage and drop you off where you are staying before I go home.”

  “I am most grateful,” the Count said, “and I am positive that I will be more grateful than I can possibly say when we have achieved our objective.”

  He paused before he continued,

  “I can only guess that Her Majesty is behind us and approves of what we are doing.”

  It was a question more than a statement, as the Earl realised.

  Then, because he thought it would be a mistake to talk too much or to excite the Count unnecessarily until the future was more or less foolproof, he merely said,

  “We must make haste.”

  As he spoke, he turned away to give instructions to his assistant of where he was going in the morning and to reserve two First Class tickets for him on the early train to Plymouth.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Actually it was after nine o’clock the next morning when they arrived at Paddington Station to catch the train that the Earl had been informed departed promptly at half-past-nine.

  It would mean two changes before they could reach Plymouth.

  He had also, when he had bid goodbye to the Count last night, told him to make sure that the ship he had come in from the Balkans proceeded at once to Plymouth to dock there and await instructions.

  He was certain that this would take some time.

  But if they were successful in the mission they were undertaking, the Count would be able to return to Samosia with the good news, or even better still, with the bride-to-be herself.

  ‘I hope I have thought of everything,’ the Earl said to himself when he woke up early in the morning.

  He asked himself the same question when he had finished breakfast and his wife wanted to know when he would be returning.

  “As soon as I can, dearest,” he replied. “But you know what people are like. It is so often impossible for them to make up their minds as quickly as you have always done.”

  His wife laughed and kissed him.

  “Take care of yourself,
” she said, “and I will try to keep the wolves from the door while you are away. But you know as well as I do that the moment you have left there will be half-a-dozen people turning up wanting to see you to solve their problems for them.”

  The Earl smiled.

  “It is one of the penalties of working with foreign countries,” he said. “At the same time I find it extremely interesting.”

  “I know you do,” she answered, “but I am jealous as they take up much more of your time than you reserve for me!”

  “I will try to behave better when I return,” the Earl grinned and kissed his wife again.

  They were very happily married.

  He often thought how lucky he was to have a wife who understood the difficulties of his appointment and she very seldom complained that he was neglecting her.

  The Earl and the Count had then been driven to Paddington Station.

  They found that the Earl’s Secretary had reserved a comfortable First Class carriage for them and had informed the restaurant car that they required a table in a quiet part of the carriage.

  This was always essential when the Earl travelled just in case anyone should overhear what he was saying.

  There were, as he well knew, inevitably spies from different countries who were told to watch the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in particular.

  And he was always fully aware that a remark made casually might prove disastrous to his country.

  Thus security was of the utmost importance for all members of the Government.

  The Earl’s valet, who was travelling with them, had procured all the morning newspapers.

  He had brought a bottle of the Earl’s champagne to be put on ice in the restaurant car so that they could send for it at any time.

  “You certainly travel in comfort,” the Count said as the train started to move off. “The trains to Constantinople are already passing through the Balkans on the main lines, but we who live some distance from Sofia find it difficult to travel in any way, except as we always have, behind our horses.”

  “I cannot say that I really like trains,” the Earl told him. “I am glad that you have told your ship to proceed immediately to Plymouth.”

  “I sent my instructions to the Captain first thing this morning, my Lord. As he is a good sailor, who has been at sea for many years, I am sure that he will have no difficulty in finding his way there.”

  The Earl had considered the idea of them travelling to Plymouth in the ship belonging to Samosia.

  But as time was what really mattered, there would be nothing quicker than going there by train.

  The one they were in was certainly as up to date as he had expected and he was convinced that there would be no quicker way of reaching Prince Vladimir and his house in Devon.

  The train itself was actually faster than the Earl had hoped, even though there were numerous stops at which he felt that precious time was wasted.

  It was getting dark when finally, after what seemed to him long hours of boredom, the train finally puffed its way into the Station at Plymouth.

  “We have actually arrived!” the Count exclaimed excitedly.

  It was with difficulty that the Earl did not say how glad he was that the journey was now over.

  He always found it most difficult to sleep in a train unless he could lie down fully. This he was unable to do in their reserved carriage as there were no arrangements for sleepers and nor were the carriages convertible as they were just beginning to be on the expresses heading to Scotland.

  The Earl managed to shut his eyes and made it clear to the Count that he wished to rest rather than talk.

  The Count found himself gazing out of the carriage window at the green fields and the attractive countryside they were passing through.

  He hoped that the journey would not take long and that his expectations would not turn out to be as difficult as he anticipated they might be on their arrival.

  A messenger had, in fact, been sent from the Earl’s office. He had travelled all night and would, the Earl had reckoned, reach Plymouth at midday.

  Prince Vladimir would therefore be aware of their arrival several hours before their train reached Plymouth and would not be put out if they had arrived at his house suddenly and unannounced.

  ‘I only hope,’ the Earl said to himself, ‘that he will meet us at the station.’

  It was only because the Count had been so eloquent in explaining the terrible situation they were in in Samosia that had made him realise that it would be cruelty to delay matters any more than was absolutely necessary.

  In fact, the Earl thought, as the train drew to a halt that he could not imagine any Government Department, except his own, moving so quickly.

  The Earl knew that, if the Russians were causing trouble in Samosia, it would be very cruel as well as being disastrous to deny them the help he hoped and prayed that he would be able to offer them.

  To his great relief there was a carriage waiting at the Station.

  As soon as the footman found out who they were, their luggage, that had been supervised by the Earl’s valet, was hurriedly taken to a porter.

  As they finally drove away from Plymouth Station, the Earl gave a deep sigh of relief.

  There was always a distinct possibility that Prince Vladimir might have been away from his home, in which case their journey would have been a complete waste of time.

  Or he might have been reluctant to receive visitors thrust upon him unexpectedly.

  The Earl, however, always found that the average person extended a deep respect for those who served their country in the Cabinet.

  He had learnt that a call from the Prime Minister or any of his colleagues was in itself as vital as a summons from Windsor Castle.

  “Well, we are here,” the Earl said, as the closed carriage drawn by two well matched horses set off at a brisk pace.

  “I think you are really splendid, my Lord, in how swiftly you have arranged everything,” the Count told him. “I only wish that we could be as effective in Samosia as you are in England.”

  “I should have thought the difficulties you suffer at the moment of never knowing what will happen the next day or the day after that,” the Earl remarked, “is something that invariably must keep you alert and on your toes.”

  “We are certainly very scared,” the Count admitted. “But it was only in the last two or three months that we have realised just how much the Russians were infiltrating upon us and how cleverly they have talked a small number of people into being aggressive and causing trouble in the towns and villages.”

  The Earl, who had heard this story before in other Principalities, knew exactly how astute the Russians were in infiltrating into a country and urging the people to rebel against their Rulers.

  As the horses left the town of Plymouth, the roads were fairly smooth and they enjoyed the peace and quiet of the Devon countryside.

  The Earl thought how fortunate the English were to have no fears of an invasion or of infiltration by foreigners, who wished to conquer their beloved country and enslave their people.

  He could easily understand how nerve-wracking it must be to be never quite certain when one woke up if the people were in revolt.

  Or if the Russians were moving across the border to take over villages and towns before the inhabitants had any idea of what was happening,

  ‘I must help this man as much as I can,’ the Earl thought to himself.

  And he knew that it was only a question of time.

  Once the Russians had taken hold of the country and deprived Prince Ivor of his throne, it would be almost impossible for anyone to do anything about it.

  He just hoped that Prince Vladimir, who he recalled now called himself a Baron, would not prevaricate or waste time unnecessarily.

  Prince Vladimir’s house was only ten miles from Plymouth.

  After passing through numerous cornfields and then a large wood, they came in sight of a most attractive Manor House nestling in a pre
tty green valley not far from a small village.

  As they drove up a long drive with silver birch trees on either side of it, the Earl could see in front of them a delightful country house.

  Its windows were glittering in the sunshine and just in front of it was a stream running under a bridge towards a small lake.

  The carriage came to a standstill outside the front door, which was reached by several steps.

  A footman in a very smart livery was in the process of laying a red carpet down them.

  As the Earl climbed out of the carriage and walked up the steps followed by the Count, a butler with grey hair bowed politely.

  “His Lordship is waiting for you, my Lord,” he informed the Earl, “but he did not expect you to arrive so quickly from the Station.”

  “We did not waste any time,” the Earl replied, “and surprisingly our train was not late.”

  The butler smiled.

  “You can never depend on them trains, my Lord,” he answered. “Some guests we were expecting last week were three hours late as there had been a breakdown on the line.”

  As the butler finished speaking, he opened the door in front of him and announced,

  “The Earl Granville, my Lord, and a companion.”

  The Earl had deliberately not given the butler the name of the Count.

  He had merely said that he was bringing a friend and would explain why when he arrived.

  As he entered the room, he noticed that many vases of brightly coloured flowers filled the air with a delicious fragrance.

  Sunshine was streaming into the room through a French window that led into the garden where there was a large fountain playing.

  For a moment the glitter seemed to blind the Earl’s eyes.

  It was only seconds later that he realised that Prince Vladimir was standing in front of him and holding out his hand.

  At forty-six years of age he was still as handsome as he had been before he left London for ever and it was not difficult to understand why he had been so popular with the Beau Monde of the time.

  It was always said that every debutante hoped that he would look in her direction and ask her to dance.