The Power and the Prince Read online

They were very large eyes and when she opened them wide they seemed to fill her whole face.

  Sometimes when she was unhappy, they looked almost purple in colour, but always there was something mysterious about them with a depth that was not to be found in other people’s eyes.

  ‘Richard is right,’ Charlotte thought, ‘she is perfectly lovely and she does not look like anyone else. Surely – surely the Prince will find her more attractive than me?’

  Alana looked out the window for a long time.

  Then, as Charlotte held her breath, she turned to say,

  “Do you really think I can help you in this, Lady Charlotte? Because I know it would be wicked for me to say ‘no’ even though I am – afraid of what you are – suggesting.”

  “You will do it! Oh, Alana, you will do it!”

  Alana nodded.

  “Yes, if you are absolutely certain that what you are doing is right.”

  “I am absolutely certain,” Charlotte replied in a voice that was very solemn. “It is right and good for me to marry Shane, who loves me and I love him and it would be wrong and wicked for me to marry Prince Ivan.”

  Alana gave a little sigh.

  “Then I will do what you want me to do, Lady Charlotte, but you will have to help me so that I will not make silly mistakes and spoil everything for you.”

  “I know you would never do that,” Charlotte said quickly, “but, oh, Alana, how can I thank you?”

  As she spoke, she moved towards her and kissed her cheek.

  “I am so grateful – so very very grateful,” she sighed, “and I know that Shane will thank you from the bottom of his heart when he hears how kind you are.”

  Alana gave a wry little smile.

  “I have told you that I shall be frightened and that is an understatement, I should be frightened to stay at Storrington Park, let alone anywhere as famous as Charl Castle.”

  “You have heard of it?” Charlotte asked in surprise.

  “I have read about it in the newspapers,” Alana replied. “When Prince Ivan bought it, there was an article in the Illustrated London News and a fine sketch of The Castle.”

  “Then you know more than I do,” Charlotte said. “I have only heard Richard and Shane talking about it and, of course, Papa and Mama.”

  “Well, we shall both see it for the first time. I can only hope that I am not exposed as an imposter from the very moment I cross the threshold.”

  “Richard will see that it does not happen.” Charlotte replied. “You know how clever he is at organising things. He has been the same since he was a little boy. It was always he who organised the paper chases and musical chairs that we played when we were children.”

  She smiled and went on,

  “Now he organises the point-to-point meetings and Steeplechases for his friends and the shooting parties when Papa is too busy. Everyone says he is brilliant.”

  “I very much hope he will organise me,” Alana said, “for I shall need to know what to say and what to do and, of course, Lady Charlotte, what to wear.”

  “I have told you that you can wear my clothes,” Charlotte said, “and before we leave I will bring you a gown that you can arrive in and a warm travelling cloak. As you are supposed to have just arrived from Ireland, we could say that your own clothes have been lost on the journey and you are borrowing from me until yours turn up.”

  Alana laughed.

  “I can see that you are as good as your brother at make-believe.”

  “That is the right word. We will make it into a story like those your father used to tell me when he first started to teach me. I had always thought that music was rather boring until he made it almost magic.”

  “That is exactly the right word and now that I am without him, I miss his magic more every day.”

  “I think you have the same magic,” Charlotte said impulsively. “That is why it was always so exciting for me to be with you both and to play in my very amateurish way with two such gifted musicians.”

  For a moment Alana’s large eyes filled with tears.

  “It makes me very happy to hear you say things like that. Only somebody who knew Papa as well as you did and for so many years could know how different he was from anybody else.”

  “I shall never forget him,” Charlotte said, “and of one thing I am quite sure – if he knew what you are going to do, he would think it a huge joke!”

  “I believe he would,” Alana replied slowly. “And now, Lady Charlotte, you are making me feel that I cannot fail either you or Papa.”

  “That means,” Charlotte replied, “that you have to entice the Prince away from me and I am quite sure that it is something you will easily be able to do with your magic!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “We have done it!” Charlotte cried as the Private train started off from a side platform at Brilling, which was the nearest Station to Storrington Castle.

  “So far, so good,” her brother said quietly.

  His eyes were on Alana and, as she sat opposite him in one of the comfortable armchairs that the drawing room carriage was furnished with, he was thinking that she was even lovelier than he remembered.

  This was not surprising, because Alana, in one of Charlotte’s travelling gowns, looked very different from the way she had in Church, wearing a dress that she had made herself and a cheap little bonnet trimmed only with ribbons.

  As Charlotte had said, Richard was a good organiser and had arranged everything they did down to the last detail.

  “We must take no chances,” he had said over and over again to Shane and then to his sister.

  Charlotte had been only too willing to agree, knowing that her whole future depended on what became a wilder and more fantastic scheme with every day that passed.

  Now with Alana wearing a blue travelling gown that was matched by the feathers in her small bonnet and with a fur-lined cape falling from her shoulders, it was impossible to think that anyone would be suspicious that she was not who she appeared to be.

  Alana herself had felt, after Charlotte had left her on the day that she came to the Vicarage, that she must have dreamt everything that had been suggested.

  How could she, knowing nothing of the world and having lived for so many years in a small cottage in the village, possibly act the part of a Society debutante well enough to deceive not only the Prince but also Lady Odele?

  When she had told Charlotte that she had heard of her aunt, she knew that she could never repeat the stories that were circulated about the professional beauty by the people in the village who had known her since she was a baby.

  Naturally they were extremely interested in every Storr, feeling, because they lived on the Earl’s land and in the Earl’s cottages, that they too were part of the family and entitled to praise or criticise them as they wished.

  Lady Odele’s birth, her Christening, her girlhood and her Wedding to wealthy racehorse owner, Sir Edward Ashford, were all talked about and reminisced over by those who could remember them happening and by those who wished that they were old enough to remember.

  But whatever age the villagers were, they were all aware that Lady Odele was a member of the Prince of Wales’s smart and rather raffish set of friends.

  Also, Alana found, that they knew the names of her admirers almost, she thought sometimes, before Lady Odele was aware of them herself.

  This was not surprising, not only as the parents of Lady Odele’s lady’s maid lived in the village but a number of other servants in Sir Edward’s employment had been trained at Storrington Park.

  That Lady Odele had now captivated Prince Ivan Katinouski had been talked about for several months.

  Although Alana tried not to gossip, knowing that it would have shocked her father, it was impossible to be aloof or snooty in the small shops where she collected the food for the Vicarage or to the farmer’s wife they bought eggs from or to anyone else who popped into the Vicarage for a chat.

  She was really not surprised when Charlotte t
old her that they would be travelling to Charl Castle in the Prince’s Private train.

  “Aunt Odele has written to Richard,” she said, “to tell him that it will not only be more comfortable but will save the trouble of finding me a chaperone when we cross London.”

  Alana waited wide-eyed as Charlotte went on,

  “Of course it is a whole lot of nonsense and I asked Richard why I should have to be chaperoned when I am with him. But he says it is really because Aunt Odele is making very sure that there is no one in the party to distract the Prince’s attention from me!”

  There was a little pause and then Charlotte said,

  “Oh, Alana – Alana – you must somehow arouse his interest! Supposing, after all the trouble we have taken, I – have to – marry him?”

  “You are making me very nervous,” Alana protested. “How can I possibly interest a man like the Prince?”

  “Why should you not?” Charlotte asked. “You are a thousand times prettier than I am, you are much cleverer and you have your father’s magic, which I shall never have in a thousand years!”

  Alana laughed.

  “You make Papa’s magic sound as if it was something tangible we can hold in our hands and that will draw the Prince like a magnet.”

  “That is exactly what it is,” Charlotte said, “and what you must believe so that you can help me escape him.”

  When Charlotte had left the Vicarage, having brought a message to the Vicar to give her an excuse for seeing Alana, she had stood for a long time at the window gazing up at the sky.

  Alana was asking, as she had done before, for guidance and it seemed to her almost as if her father heard the question she asked him and told her that she was doing what was right.

  She knew that he, of all people, would have been shocked and horrified at Charlotte being forced into marriage with any man, but most of all with the Prince.

  Alana had not been speaking lightly when she told Charlotte that she had heard and read about Charl Castle and its owner.

  She had also been unable to avoid listening to a great deal of scandal that percolated into the village as soon as it was known that the Prince was Lady Odele’s latest admirer.

  His extravagances, his numerous love affairs and his almost Royal way of living lost nothing in the telling.

  Now as she thought of it, Alana was sure that the Viscount’s plan for her to divert His Highness’s attention from Charlotte to herself was as ridiculous as asking her to perform a miracle.

  Nevertheless, because she loved Charlotte and for another reason that was hidden deep in the back of her mind, she had agreed to act in this charade and could only pray that she proved competent enough to deceive not only the Prince but also Lady Odele.

  On Charlotte’s second visit to the Vicarage, Alana had expressed a very practical fear.

  “If I am successful in diverting the Prince’s attention from you,” she asked, “what will happen to me when he discovers that I have deceived him?”

  Her large eyes were dark and wide as she spoke, but she did not add that she had lain awake for several nights worrying about this very thing.

  “Richard has thought of that,” she replied almost triumphantly. “He is well aware that if it is discovered who you really are, Papa might force the Vicar to dismiss you. That is why he says that as soon as the party is over you must disappear.”

  “Disappear?” Alana repeated faintly.

  “We will have the laugh on the Prince, because he will no longer want to marry me, but we cannot do as we originally planned and tell him that you are not well-born and not Shane’s cousin. Instead we are just going to say that you have gone away and we have no idea where you have gone.”

  “Supposing he – insists on trying to – find me?” Alana asked.

  “I asked Richard that very question,” Charlotte answered, “and he said that, knowing the Prince, if he loses one woman there are hundreds of others only too willing to take her place.”

  “Yes – yes, of course,” Alana said quickly.

  She thought that perhaps she had been presumptuous in thinking that the Prince would have any interest in her except for the few days that they were at Charl Castle.

  At the same time some practical part of her mind told her that once she had disappeared he might renew his pursuit of Charlotte.

  Of course there was always the possibility that he would not find her attractive or interesting in the first place and then all their endeavours would have been for nothing.

  It was all too complicated and there were so many possibilities that they were difficult to put into words until they had actually reached Charl Castle and seen the Prince for themselves.

  “Leave everything to Richard,” Charlotte kept repeating, “and if all else fails, Shane and I will run away together.”

  She gave a little sigh as she added,

  “If only we had just a little money – but Shane is always broke and it would be difficult to hide even in the wilds of Ireland, although it is very cheap, unless we had enough to keep a roof over our heads and provide us with food.”

  To Alana everything seemed more complicated at every turn, but, because Charlotte was so insistent and because she could not bear to see her unhappy, she found herself meekly agreeing to everything that was asked of her.

  She could only pray that somehow, in some magical way, everything would come right.

  It was the Viscount who had thought out her excuse for leaving the Vicarage and arranged for her departure.

  “You cannot say that you are going away with me,” Charlotte had said when she had brought Richard’s instructions, “because someone is certain to mention it to Mama and she would be astounded that you should be included in a house party at Charl Castle.”

  “Yes, of course,” Alana nodded.

  “What Richard wants you to say is that a relation you have not seen for years is passing through Brilling and will pick you up there and take you to stay with her and another relative for a few days.

  “You can tell Mrs. Bredon what a nuisance it is, but that you feel you have to go.”

  “I am sure she will agree,” Alana answered. “She is always very kind and understanding.”

  “That is what I thought. And, as the Vicar will obviously not have time to drive you to Brilling, you must say that you mentioned it to me when I called today and I have said that as it happens I shall be going into the town that very day and will give you a lift.”

  “I hope she will not think it strange.”

  “Why should she,” Charlotte asked, “if you say that otherwise you will have to rely on the carrier?”

  “He is very unreliable,” Alana ruminated, “so Mrs. Bredon will understand that I would rather accept your invitation.”

  “I am afraid that the village will be aware that Richard and I are going to Charl Castle,” Charlotte said.

  “They know it already!” Alana answered. “The footmen could not wait, they came and told their parents that you had been invited almost as soon as your aunt’s letter arrived.”

  “It is frightening how everything is known.”

  “Everything,” Alana agreed. “And therefore I am sure that it is better to be quite open with the fact that you are giving me a lift to Brilling. If you picked me up in the road, somebody would be sure to see us.”

  “Richard always says that if one has to tell a lie, it must be a plausible one.”

  “The Vicar would not approve of that sentiment,” Alana said with a smile, “but equally I am sure that his Lordship is right.”

  “Just say to everybody how lucky you are to be driving into Brilling with me,” Charlotte then insisted, “and how much more comfortable it will be than going there any other way.”

  When Charlotte had called at the Vicarage two days before they were to leave for Charl, Mrs. Bredon was in the hall when she came downstairs from the nursery.

  “I hear that you are going to stay at Charl Castle, Lady Charlotte,” she said, makin
g the introduction to the subject easier than Charlotte had anticipated.

  “Yes, it is so exciting?” Charlotte replied. “I believe it is very magnificent and my aunt has described it in glowing terms.”

  “One of the finest Castles in England, I have always heard,” Mrs. Bredon said.

  “I shall be able to tell you if that is true when I come back,” Charlotte answered. “And I hear that Alana is going away on the same day.”

  “To see an elderly relative.”

  “I don’t know how you will manage without her.”

  “We will manage,” Mrs, Bredon replied, “but I only hope that she will not be away for long.”

  “I have told her that I can give her a lift as far as Brilling, which will save the Vicar having to take her there,” Charlotte said. “We actually pass the Vicarage door on the way to the Station.”

  “That is indeed thoughtful of you, Lady Charlotte. In fact my husband was wondering only this morning how he would fit in such a long journey when there are so many other things to be done.”

  “It will be no trouble,” Charlotte smiled. “But Alana must be ready at ten o’clock.”

  “I will see that she is,” Mrs. Bredon promised, “and thank you very much, Lady Charlotte, for your thoughtfulness.”

  “I am so glad that I can be of some help, but please don’t say anything about it to Mama, She does not like me to do things on my own initiative and she might think that I was interfering.”

  The way Charlotte spoke made it easy for the Vicar’s wife, who disliked the Countess, to understand why Lady Charlotte had not visited Alana immediately after her father’s death.

  In fact the whole village had considered it rather heartless, considering how many years Mr. Wickham had journeyed up to the Big House three times a week for Lady Charlotte’s music lessons.

  Now Mrs. Bredon understood that Lady Charlotte, who she had always thought a sweet young lady, was making up for her previous neglect.

  “I understand, Lady Charlotte,” she said soothingly, “and I shall say nothing. There is far too much chitchat in Brilling as it is.”

  Alana had been picked up by the carriage and they had all four travelled to Brilling Station. There Charlotte and Alana rushed into the ladies’ waiting room with Richard’s instructions that they must take no more than ten minutes.