66 The Love Pirate Page 7

  “I cannot help thinking that it would be better if she had not sent you to Sarawak anyway. It is a very primitive underdeveloped country, although, as I expect you know, the Rajah is a white man.”

  “I have heard of Sir Charles Brooke – but otherwise I know very little about the country.”

  She looked round as she spoke and saw that the library which was so eulogised in the brochure issued by the P. & O. was actually situated in the writing room.

  One whole wall was covered with books, locked away behind glass doors.

  Lord Saire followed the direction of her eyes.

  “I think that you will find quite a great deal here that will interest you,” he said. “And if not, I will try to buy you a book about Sarawak when we reach Alexandria tomorrow.”

  “You are so kind – so very very kind,” Bertilla sighed. “I was looking forward to seeing Alexandria, but perhaps it would be unwise for me to go ashore.”

  She was thinking of Mr. Van de Kaempfer and Lord Saire said,

  “You certainly cannot walk about Alexandria alone. I will try to make arrangements for someone to take you if I cannot do so myself.”

  Bertilla shook her head.

  “I have no wish to bother you. Please forget about me. Now that I am on this deck, I am sure – I can look after myself.”

  “I am afraid I have little confidence in that,” he said with a smile, which took the edge off his words. “I have a feeling that you are somewhat accident-prone.”

  She looked at him apprehensively and he went on,

  “Porters run you down with luggage, you find ogres where they are least expected and goodness knows what will happen to you in the Red Sea or when you are among the head-hunters in Sarawak!”

  Lord Saire was only being amusing and speaking as he would have spoken to any woman of his acquaintance, but, as he saw the fear leap into Bertilla’s eyes, he added quickly,

  “I am only teasing you. I am quite certain that your bad luck, if that is what it is, has already blown itself out like a North wind.”

  “It was good luck for me – that you were here,” Bertilla said. “When I saw you come aboard, it was somehow comforting to know there was one person in the whole ship whom I knew and who had been kind to me. But I did not wish to – encroach on you.”

  There were few women in his life Lord Saire thought who had said that to him. They were always too ready to encroach, to force themselves upon him whether he wished it or not.

  “You are not encroaching and you are not being a nuisance and I promise you it is no bother to do what I can for you,” he answered. “There is a journey ahead which I hope you will enjoy. Personally I love the heat and I find it an adventure to see new countries and meet the people who belong to them.”

  “I have been thinking that too, but it is only that I am so – stupid and become – frightened quite unnecessarily.”

  “In this case it has been far from unnecessary,” Lord Saire answered. “What happened was something you could not help, so don’t blame yourself. Just forget it ever happened and look forward to tomorrow.”

  He spoke kindly as he might have done to a child and, as Bertilla looked up at him, he saw that there were tears in her grey eyes.

  “No one has ever been so – kind to me before,” she said with a catch in her breath, “and I know that if Papa was – alive he would want to thank you. You must – believe me when I say – thank you from the very bottom of my heart.”

  *

  Having seen Bertilla to her new cabin, Lord Saire returned to his own.

  As he climbed into bed, he was not only feeling sorry for the child but disgusted by her mother’s behaviour.

  It might have been what he expected, he thought, of the much acclaimed beauties who, as he had told d’Arcy, looked like Goddesses on Olympus, but obviously behaved like devils in their own homes.

  Bertilla had, however, set him a problem that required a great deal of his intelligence to solve.

  He was well aware that, if he constituted himself her Guardian during the next stage of the journey, it would cause an enormous amount of comment.

  He was quite certain that the gossips were already chattering like a lot of parrots about his interest in Mrs. Murray.

  However careful they had been, they could not have prevented the other passengers being aware that they walked round the deck together, had their chairs side by side and that Mrs. Murray’s green eyes when she looked at him were very revealing.

  Although it might be difficult for people to prove an even closer relationship, they would certainly speculate as to how far the affair had gone.

  To appear immediately with Bertilla, young though she was, would be, Lord Saire knew, to make her the talking point of the women who had nothing else to interest them as the ship moved down the Suez Canal.

  At the same time he could not leave Bertilla alone with no one to talk to and perhaps still apprehensive that the Dutchman might in some way make contact with her.

  Lord Saire had known women in almost every mood, passionate, angry, fiery with desire, or vitriolic with recrimination, but he could not remember ever before having coped with a woman who was afraid.

  He had thought that Bertilla trembling, her lips quivering and her fingers locked together, was very pathetic.

  He thought too that he had never known a woman whose eyes were so expressive that they actually mirrored the emotion pulsating inside her.

  “Millicent Alvinston ought to be shot!” he told himself aloud in the darkness.

  He decided that, if it was the last thing he did, he would somehow see that Bertilla was properly looked after.

  What would happen when the voyage ended was something out of his control, but he was well aware of the depression in her tone when she told him she was to be a Missionary.

  He had some idea of what her aunt was like, having come in contact with a great number of Missionaries in one way or another.

  Although the majority of them were dedicated men who really believed they had a vocation to save the souls of the heathen, the women were usually frustrated, hard-hearted and often aggressive.

  They had been forced into the life because there was no alternative but to follow their husbands to foreign lands when they would much rather have stayed at home.

  ‘Poor girl, what a future!’ Lord Saire thought.

  He knew that trying to convert the heathen from the faith of their ancestors was a thankless task.

  Before he fell asleep, however, he came to one decision about Bertilla.

  *

  The next morning after Lord Saire had taken his usual exercise round the deck before most people were awake, he sought out Lady Sandford.

  He had known her for some years, but, because she was a boring woman, he had done his best so far to avoid her during the voyage.

  Now he sat himself down beside her deckchair and, having asked after the health of her husband, said in a tone he knew most women found impossible to resist,

  “I need your advice.”

  Lady Sandford looked startled but gratified.

  Her husband had spoken warmly of Lord Saire’s achievements, but she thought that he was rather a stuck-up young man and had realised as soon as the ship left harbour that he had no intention of burdening himself with their company.

  But now she put down the knitting she was habitually engaged in and said with an ingenuous note in her voice,

  “My advice, Lord Saire?”

  “I have just discovered that Lady Alvinston’s daughter is on board,” Lord Saire answered, “and to tell the truth it has put me in rather an embarrassing position.”

  Lady Sandford was listening attentively and he went on,

  “As it happens, I saw Lady Alvinston at Marlborough House the night before I left and she told me that her daughter was travelling out to Sarawak. However, it slipped my mind.”

  He saw a flicker in Lady Sandford’s small unattractive eyes and knew that she was aware of the rea
son why everything had slipped his mind except for a certain red-haired, green-eyed passenger.

  “I learnt yesterday that owing to a mistake by the steamship line and a very reprehensible one, I may add,” Lord Saire went on, “Miss Alvinston had been put on the Second Class deck.”

  Second Class!” Lady Sandford exclaimed in horror.

  “It was an oversight or a clerk’s error,” Lord Saire said airily, “but, as you can imagine, I feel very guilty that I had not made enquiries before as to her whereabouts.”

  “It really is a disgraceful mistake and quite unforgivable,” Lady Sandford replied. “What has happened now?”

  “I understand that the Purser has moved her onto this deck. Naturally the girl has had no one to speak to below and I should imagine that she is feeling rather disturbed by having to endure such an experience.”

  “Of course there may be some decent people in the Second Class,” Lady Sandford said doubtfully, “but I am afraid there are a great many foreigners too.”

  The way she spoke the word made it quite unnecessary to add what she thought of such undesirable aliens and Lord Saire said quickly,

  “That is why, Lady Sandford, I am in such a dilemma to know what to do so late in the day.”

  Lady Sandford smiled.

  “I suppose, Lord Saire, you are asking me to take charge of this young woman?”

  “It would be just like your usual warm-hearted generosity,” Lord Saire replied in all sincerity.

  Then he added with an almost impish note in his voice,

  “I promise you, Lady Sandford, I am quite at a loss as to how to behave when it comes to young girls. It is a very long time since my debutante days!”

  Lady Sandford laughed.

  “Leave it to me, Lord Saire. What is this girl’s name?”

  Lord Saire put his hand up to his forehead.

  “Now let me think. Lady Alvinston told me what it was, but I am afraid I was not listening very intently. It begins with a ‘B’ yes, that is right – Belinda – or Bertilda – something like that.”

  “Don’t give it another thought,” Lady Sandford said with a smile.

  “You are kindness itself!” Lord Saire declared. “And I shall always be grateful to you for covering up my shortcomings!”

  “I quite understand that you had other things to think about,” Lady Sandford said with a touch of irony. “Indeed I think, at this moment, there is someone trying to attract your attention.”

  Lord Saire looked round and saw that Rosemary Murray had come onto the deck.

  She was looking very alluring in a gown of green silk that matched her eyes and a large straw hat that shaded her face and her red hair.

  “I think that Mrs. Murray wishes to say goodbye to me,” he said.

  “I am sure she does,” Lady Sandford replied.

  Lord Saire left her side to go blithely towards two green eyes, which were looking at him reproachfully.

  *

  Bertilla was astonished and at the same time glad of Lady Sandford’s almost gushing approach when she went out on deck as the ship docked in Alexandria Harbour.

  “I have been looking for you, Miss Alvinston,” Lady Sandford said, “as I have only just learnt that you are on board. I know your mother, my dear, and I am sure she would like me to look after you during the long hot days that lie ahead of us when we reach the Red Sea.”

  “That is very kind of you,” Bertilla replied, rather surprised.

  “You must have a deckchair next to me,” Lady Sandford said, “and I will arrange for you to sit next to my husband and me at meals. Of course, we are at the Captain’s Table, but now that Mrs. Murray has left there will be an empty place.”

  “Thank you so very much.”

  Bertilla did in fact find Lady Sandford very kind when later in the day she took her ashore and they drove in a carriage through the streets of Alexandria so that she could see the famous waterfront and some of the ancient ruins.

  There were several things that Bertilla would have liked to buy, but she told herself that she must conserve what little money she had in case she had expenses later on in the journey, especially when she had to change ships at Singapore.

  She had learnt, somewhat to her consternation, that when she arrived there the steamer only left every two weeks.

  She would have to find a very cheap hotel, because it would be disastrous if she ran out of money before she could proceed on her journey to join her aunt.

  She tried not to think too much about what would happen once she reached Sarawak, but she felt that it was like a dark cloud on the horizon every day that she drew nearer and nearer to Aunt Agatha,

  Even to say the name was to conjure up the fears her aunt had instilled in her as a child and memories of her harsh voice, which had always seemed discordant when she was speaking to her father.

  She had made no bones about the fact that she disliked children, unless they had to be converted to Christianity.

  That evening when she was having coffee beside Lady Sandford in the Saloon, Lord Saire came walking across the room towards them.

  She thought he looked very smart and there was no other man in the whole ship to compare with him.

  “Good evening, Lady Sandford,” he said. “Good evening, Miss Alvinston.”

  “G-Good evening,” Bertilla wondered why it was difficult to say such an ordinary word and somehow she sounded almost as if she was stammering.

  “Bertilla and I had a most interesting time in Alexandria,” Lady Sandford said. “We enjoyed it, did we not, dear?”

  “It was wonderful!” Bertilla agreed. “I had no idea that the town was so beautiful.”

  “I am sure you will find some books in the library which will tell you of the history of it,” Lord Saire suggested.

  He spoke, Bertilla thought, indifferently, as if the subject did not interest him.

  Then he said in a meaningful manner to Lady Sandford,

  “I just came to say thank you. I have a great deal of work to do which I am afraid has been rather neglected so far on the voyage, so you must excuse me if I go to my cabin and settle down to my papers.”

  Lady Sandford smiled.

  “You don’t have to thank me, Lord Saire,” she said. “It is a very great pleasure to have Bertilla with me. George is always like a bear with a sore head when he is at sea and I find it delightful to have someone young to talk to.”

  Lord Saire bade them goodnight and, as he walked away, Bertilla watched him go a little wistfully.

  He had no sooner disappeared through the door of the Saloon than Lady Ellenton, whom Bertilla had already met with Lady Sandford, came and sat down beside them.

  She was about thirty-five, the wife of a Colonial Administrator, and very fair and fluffy. Young men out from England for the first time found her irresistible.

  “He is fascinating, is he not?” she asked Lady Sandford.

  “Lord Saire?” Lady Sandford enquired. “I believe a great number of people find him so.”

  “It is not surprising so many women, of course including Lady Gertrude Lindley, lose their hearts over him!”

  “I have never met Lady Gertrude,” Lady Sandford remarked firmly.

  “But you knew Daisy?”

  “Yes, of course!”

  “Well, she has hardly recovered, even now. Oh dear, the trouble handsome men cause in our lives!”

  Lady Ellenton spoke complacently and then said with a little laugh,

  “You know Lord Saire’s new nickname, I suppose?”

  “I have no idea,” Lady Sandford replied, busy with her knitting. Equally Bertilla was aware that she was listening.

  Lady Ellenton bent a little nearer so that it was hard for Bertilla to hear what she said and yet she did hear it,

  “‘The Love Pirate!’” Lady Ellenton exclaimed. “That is what they call him and very appropriately I think,”

  “Do you? But why?” Lady Sandford asked.

  “Because he plunders every
woman he fancies and, having taken all their treasure, goes off in search for more! That is exactly what a pirate does!”

  Lady Ellenton giggled, but Bertilla thought that there was something spiteful behind her eyes and in her voice,

  ‘She is jealous!’ she thought. ‘She would like Lord Saire to look at her, but she is not nearly attractive enough!’

  Chapter Four

  Someone came to stand beside Bertilla at the ship’s rail and she knew without turning her head who it was.

  They had reached the Malacca Straits after the long voyage through the Red Sea, then rounding Ceylon and through the Andaman Sea.

  Now the Malay Peninsula was on the left and it seemed to Bertilla to be more beautiful than she could possibly have expected it to be.

  They were steaming fairly close along the shore and there were the great forests of trees, which she had learnt from her guidebook included species of bread fruit, purple mangosteen, nutmeg and mango, besides oaks with evergreen leaves.

  She was trying to identify them all when Lord Saire asked,

  “What are you looking for?”

  She turned her face to him with a smile to reply,

  “Please tell me everything about this magical and beautiful country. I am so afraid of missing something.”

  He laughed before he answered,

  “You set me an impossible task. There is so much both old and new in Malaya that every time I come back I feel I ought to write a history book about it.”

  “I have been reading about Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who founded Singapore,” Bertilla said, “and I feel you could be like him.”

  Lord Saire looked surprised and then, leaning over the rail beside her, he asked,

  “Would you like to explain what you mean by that?”

  “I feel that you could build up a great Port or create a country as he did by sheer personality and determination.”

  “You think that is what I have?”

  There was a mocking note in Lord Saire’s voice, but Bertilla replied quite seriously,

  “I am sure you have and the world needs men like you.”

  She spoke gravely and in a way impersonally.

  Looking at her profile as she stared at the trees, the primitive houses built on stilts and the children splashing at the water’s edge, Lord Saire thought she was unlike any woman he had ever met before in his life.