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  He waited for Anoushka to ask him what this was, but she remained perfectly still, her eyes still looking at him speculatively as if, he thought, she weighed up everything he was saying.

  Because he wished to surprise and perhaps startle her he said abruptly,

  “What I have suggested is that you should marry me!”

  Now there was undoubtedly an incredulous expression in her strange eyes and it was only after a long silence that she enquired,

  “Are you asking me, Monseigneur, to be your wife?”

  “I would hope I could make you happy,” the Duke replied, “and in case you don’t understand, your position as my Duchess will be one of the most influential in England.”

  “And you think I am suitable for such a position?”

  “You will naturally have a great deal to learn, but I will be with you to teach you and protect you from making mistakes.”

  He thought as he spoke he was making it sound a proposition that was too business-like, too cut-and-dried to appeal to a young girl.

  But he felt as if Anoushka would rather hear the truth frankly and honestly than have it dolled up in pretty phrases, although why he should have thought that he had no idea.

  He waited for her answer, thinking cynically as he did so that most women would go into raptures if he had even hinted at making them his wife. “I have never thought of being married,” Anoushka said in a low voice.

  “If you are not anxious to become a nun, then surely marriage is the obvious alternative once you have left these Convent walls.”

  “It is a subject that has not appeared on the curriculum in my studies.”

  “Well, I hope you will now consider it,” the Duke said. “I wish to marry immediately for reasons I will not explain and, as we are in Paris, I can easily provide you with a fashionable trousseau that any young woman would find exciting after wearing the robes you have on now.”

  He thought as he spoke that this was an inducement no woman of his acquaintance could possibly resist.

  Paris was the El Dorado of fashion and the gowns of Frederick Worth which the Duke had bought for many of his mistresses meant as much to them as the jewels with which he encircled their necks or clasped in their ears.

  But there was not the excitement in Anoushka’s eyes that he looked for.

  “You said”, she remarked in her soft clear voice, “that you will teach me how to be your wife. But suppose I fail and you are disappointed.”

  The Duke realised that she was thinking of him as one of the teachers who his sister had told her had been specially engaged for her studies because the money had been provided to pay for them.

  “I have been told”, the Duke replied, “how exceptionally intelligent you are. I cannot imagine therefore that it will be hard to learn what you will find both interesting and enjoyable and I can assure you I am very experienced in the subjects we shall study together.” He smiled as he spoke because it seemed an almost ridiculous way to describe the union between a man and a woman.

  Then, as he did so, he knew that to Anoushka what he was saying was serious and something she must contemplate with her brain.

  It struck him then that because of her upbringing her feelings had been subordinated entirely to the demands of her intellect and he found himself wondering how long it would take before she would respond to him not as a teacher but as a man.

  Anoushka was obviously turning over now in her mind what had been said and now she asked,

  “Have I really a choice in what I do or has the Reverend Mother decided that I must leave the Convent with you, whether I wish it or not?”

  The Duke was startled.

  “I am sure that my sister would not force you to do anything you would not wish to do,” he answered. “At the same time, may I say that what I am offering you is something which most women would be very eager to accept.”

  “I have a feeling that any other woman you would ask to be your wife, Monseigneur, would not be as ignorant or as inexperienced as I am. It would therefore be much easier for them to adjust themselves to your requirements.”

  “I have already told you that I will prevent you from making mistakes and as we shall not return to England for some time after we are married, we will have a chance to get to know each other, which should make things simpler than they would otherwise be.”

  Again there was silence. Then at length Anoushka said, “May I have a little time, Monseigneur, to think this over?”

  “Certainly,” the Duke replied, “but I think you really mean that you intend to pray about it.”

  Anoushka gave him a faint smile.

  “Here in the Convent they are one and the same thing and it is easier to think in the Chapel.”

  The Duke rose to his feet.

  “Very well, then. I suggest that you go to the Chapel and I will wait here until you are ready to give me your answer.”

  He felt as he spoke that he was putting pressure on her. But he knew she was suitable for his requirements and he wished to get on quickly with his revenge on Cleodel.

  “I will try not to be any longer than is necessary,” Anoushka said in the same soft quiet voice she had spoken in before.

  She looked directly into his eyes, curtsied, then moved towards the door.

  The Duke did not open it for her. He only stood watching her leave, thinking he had never before had such a strange conversation with a woman.

  Then he walked to the open window almost as if he needed air.

  Once again he looked grim as he planned his next move, one which Cleodel would find extremely unpleasant.

  It was not more than five minutes before Lady Marguerite came back.

  “I met Anoushka going to the Chapel,” she said. “She told me that she was considering the suggestion you made to her and she wishes to think about it.”

  The Duke gave his sister a rather wry smile.

  “It is certainly unusual for any woman to wish to pray over any proposition I have made to her!”

  “Anoushka is different, as I have already told you,” Lady Marguerite said, “and I too have been thinking.”

  “And of course praying!” the Duke added almost mockingly.

  His sister ignored the interruption and went on,

  “If Anoushka decides to many you, although there is always the possibility that she may refuse – ”

  “Now really, Marguerite,” the Duke interposed, “are you seriously suggesting that a girl of eighteen would refuse to be the Duchess of Ravenstock?”

  “You and I know what it means and entails,” Lady Marguerite replied, “but to Anoushka it is just a name. Do remember, Raven, that she knows nothing of the world except what she has read in books and those which come to the Convent are very carefully chosen, I can assure you.”

  The Duke did not reply and she continued,

  “To Anoushka it would be like coming from another planet where they had never heard of the ordinary everyday things that make up your life – racing, cards, balls, dinner parties, the theatre!”

  She paused and then went on,

  “You and I know what those mean and when I speak of them they conjure up for us memories of what we have seen and done. But to Anoushka they are just words of one or two or three syllables!”

  Lady Marguerite paused to see if her brother was following her and then finished,

  “She cannot, however imaginative she may be, have any idea what such activities are really like or the people who take part in them.”

  The Duke did not reply and after a moment his sister said,

  “Now I have had more time to think about it, the whole idea seems absurd and quite impracticable! Go away, Raven, and find some young woman who at least has been brought up in the same way as we were.”

  Her voice softened as she carried on,

  “I know something has upset and hurt you, but I do not feel that by marrying Anoushka you will feel any happier or give her the happiness she deserves.”

  “I i
ntend to marry her,” the Duke declared stubbornly.

  There was an inflexible determination in the way he spoke which told his sister that he was about to be difficult.

  “I should not have mentioned her in the first place,” she said, as if she spoke to herself. “If she leaves here, I want her to find happiness.”

  “Which you are quite convinced I cannot give her.”

  “Let me put it another way,” his sister replied. “I want her to find love, the real love I knew with Arthur, the love that is so glorious and wonderful when a man and a woman find it together that it is a gift from God.”

  The Duke moved restlessly across the room.

  “And suppose she does not find this idealised love which happens, as you are aware, to very few people? Will you not feel you have deprived her of a position that most women would give their eyes to attain?”

  “I understand what you are saying, of course I do. At the same time, Raven, I am frightened. For the first time in many years I feel indecisive and I really do not know what is right or wrong. You are undermining my confidence in myself.”

  “Listen to me, Marguerite,” the Duke stipulated. “I came to you for help, and you have given me what I asked for.”

  Lady Marguerite’s eyes met her brother’s defiantly, then, as if she felt that she could not go on fighting him, she suddenly capitulated.

  “Very well, Raven,” she said, “I will allow you to marry Anoushka, as long as she agrees to do so, but on one condition.”

  “What is that?”

  “Because you are what you are a very experienced, sophisticated man with a reputation, I want you to give me your word of honour, which I know you will not break, that, while you marry Anoushka in name, she remains as she is for three months, in your very own words, pure and untouched, before you actually make her your wife.”

  The Duke looked at his sister reflectively.

  “Do you think that is wise? I have always thought any marriage should be normal to have a chance of being successful.”

  “The marriage you are contemplating is not normal from the very beginning,” Lady Marguerite replied. “It is not normal for you to come here demanding a girl who has been brought up as a novice.”

  Her voice sharpened as she continued,

  “It is not normal for somebody in our position to marry out of our class or, if you prefer it, our special environment, and certainly not normal for you to find waiting for you, as if by fate, someone like Anoushka.”

  The Duke did not speak and Lady Marguerite then insisted,

  “Promise me this, Raven, please promise me. You will set my own mind at rest and I believe it will eventually help you and Anoushka to come to an understanding of each other.”

  There was a sob in her voice as she said,

  “Because I love you – I have always wanted your happiness in a very different way – from how you have found it up to now.”

  “It is not wise to ask too much,” the Duke replied to her lightly.

  “Well, you and I at any rate could never tolerate second best,” Lady Marguerite flashed.

  “That is true.” He thought as he spoke that that was what he had been about to accept in Cleodel, second best skilfully disguised with an intent to deceive.

  Thinking how near he had been to making her his wife and how later he would have realised he had been tricked and that there was nothing he could do about it, he felt he should be grateful rather than angry.

  “Do you need any money, Marguerite?” he asked unexpectedly. “I suppose I should express my gratitude to you in the usual manner.”

  Lady Marguerite shook her head.

  “I am still a rich woman, Raven, which is why I am allowed to run the Convent very much my own way. But you can thank me by giving me your promise, which I have not yet received.”

  “Very well,” the Duke conceded, “I promise!” “And you may break it only if Anoushka asks you to do so.”

  “Thank you,” the Duke replied a trifle sarcastically.

  He was thinking that he had never been with a woman who had not invited him with every word she spoke, every glance from her eyes and every movement of her lips for his kisses and a great deal more.

  He wondered how long it would be before Anoushka followed the example of all her predecessors, with of course the exception of Cleodel.

  But she had Jimmy!

  He had been making love to her when he was borrowing her father’s horses. And perhaps every night they were in London Jimmy had sneaked up the ladder on to her balcony to share her bed.

  Once again the Duke saw everything crimson before his eyes and felt his anger rising in his throat and almost choking him.

  Then there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in!” Lady Marguerite called out.

  It was Anoushka. She entered the room, closed the door behind her and walked without hurry to where Lady Marguerite was standing.

  She made a small curtsy and stood straight and still, waiting for permission to speak.

  Lady Marguerite looked at her.

  “You have found the answer you were seeking, Anoushka?” she enquired.

  “Yes, Reverend Mother.”

  “Will you tell me what it is?”

  “I have decided I would like to accept the proposal the Monseigneur has made to me, but only, Reverend Mother, if you consider I am capable of fulfilling the position of his wife.”

  “I am sure you will do that very adequately, my dear.”

  Lady Marguerite looked towards her brother as she spoke and the Duke, feeling as if he was taking part in a strange drama in which he was not quite certain whether he was the hero or the villain, walked forward.

  He took Anoushka’s hand in his and lifted it perfunctorily to his lips.

  “I am very honoured that you should accept me as your husband,” he said quietly, “and I will do my uttermost to make you happy.”

  *

  The Duke, having returned to his house in the Champs Élysées, then sent for his French secretary, Monsieur Jacques Tellier, who managed his possessions in France and told him his exact requirements.

  When he heard of the Duke’s intention to be married the following morning, Jacques Tellier was obviously surprised but at the same time too tactful to say so.

  “My congratulations, Monsieur le Duc,” he said. “I will go at once to La Mairie to make arrangements for the Civil Ceremony.”

  “Afterwards a quiet service will take place at the Chapel attached to the Convent du Sacré Coeur,” the Duke told him briefly.

  He remembered as he spoke that, before he had left the Convent, he had said to his sister:

  “I presume Anoushka is a Catholic?”

  “She came to our services and was instructed by the Priests who are attached to the Convent.”

  “What do you mean by that?” the Duke had asked, knowing the answer was not clear-cut.

  “I have always had the feeling that before she came here, Anoushka had been brought up in the Russian Orthodox Church.”

  “Her name is certainly Russian, so her mother may well have been Russian. But surely she would have told you so.”

  Lady Marguerite sighed.

  “I don’t really have time to explain it to you, but it was quite obvious that, although she was only eight years of age, Anoushka had been told that she must never speak of her life before she was left on our doorstep and because she is so different from other girls she never has done so.”

  “Not about anything?”

  “Not about her religion, where she lived, who her parents were, nothing!”

  “I cannot believe it!” the Duke had exclaimed.

  “It is certainly incredible. At first because I thought she was suffering from the shock of separation from those she loved, I did not press her to tell me anything, but thought it would all gradually emerge.”

  “But it did not?”

  “She has never dropped a hint or shown either by her familiarity with anythin
g or by her knowledge of anything different from all that she was doing here that she had known any other life.”

  “I find it very hard to believe,” the Duke had said.

  “So did I,” his sister agreed, “but, as I have told you, she is different from any other child I have ever met. Perhaps the Buddhists would account for it by saying that she is a very old soul.”

  “So you think the religion in which she was brought up was Russian Orthodox.”

  “I am only guessing – ”

  “It certainly seems very strange,” the Duke said, “but I presume she will not object to being married as a Catholic to a Protestant.”,

  “I will ask her, but I feel that she will make no objections. In fact she doubtless knows already that you are not of her faith because they all know here that I changed my Church when I came to France.”

  She had smiled before she added,

  “As you will understand, the younger novices here are always very interested in asking me what my life was like when I was their age.”

  “And you tell them?” the Duke had enquired.

  “I tell them what I think is good for them to know,” Lady Marguerite had replied and he laughed.

  When the Duke left the Convent, he had sent a groom to one of the most exclusive dressmakers in Paris.

  It was obviously no use asking Monsieur Worth for a gown because he designed individually for each of his clients.

  That, the Duke decided, would come later, but he wished Anoushka when she left the Convent to set aside all the trappings of a novice and become at least superficially a worldly young woman dressed traditionally as a bride.

  ‘It would be the start of her new life,’ he thought, ‘and as I intend it to continue.’

  It was not compulsory at a Civil Marriage for Anoushka to be present in front of the Mayor. The Duke therefore attended to all the formalities and his secretary stood proxy for his future wife.

  When the documents had been prepared and stamped, the Mayor took him warmly by the hand and wished him a long life and many children.

  The Duke bowed his gratitude and wondered what the Frenchman would think if he knew he had sworn that for three months his bride would remain untouched and as pure as when she left the Convent.

  When he went to bed, he told himself that in a way it was a good idea.