A Kiss In the Desert Read online

  The Earl understood without putting it any more clearly that he would deal with Irene. He had sighed with relief as he left the secretary’s office.

  *

  There were fortunately no letters waiting for him either at Gibraltar or Malta, so they sailed on as quickly as possible to Athens.

  The Earl had thoughts of stopping at Rome, but that would entail a long diversion from the direct route, and he was in a hurry to reach Beirut.

  For the first time since she had come aboard, Vanda longed to go ashore at Athens as she had always been fascinated by Greek history, and she wanted to visit the places she had read about and of course to see the statues of the Goddesses.

  “What I would really like,” she sighed as they left Malta, “is to visit Delphi.”

  “You will have to go there on your honeymoon,” the Earl responded. “I have always thought it a special place for honeymooners as the Gods from Olympus bless those who visit them.”

  “What a lovely idea! If and when I have a honeymoon, I shall insist that it is where my husband takes me.”

  “The man may not be able to afford it,” Charles objected.

  “We shall make so much money with your Arab horses that you will be able to give me my honeymoon as a wedding present!” Vanda quipped.

  “Even so it would be much too expensive,” Charles protested. “But do not count your chickens before they are hatched, you have not found yourself a husband.”

  “I have not yet had the chance to look very far for one.”

  “When we return to England,” the Earl suggested, “you and Charles must come and stay at Brackenshaw House and you shall meet all the eligible young men in London. I promise that you will be a huge success.”

  Vanda clapped her hands.

  “You are the kindest man who ever existed and I only hope the Arab horses come up to your expectations. If they do not, you will just have to say that you cannot afford them.”

  The Earl smiled.

  “That is a promise,” he said, “and I shall not forget about it.”

  He thought as he spoke how furious Irene would be if he invited anyone as beautiful as Vanda to his London house. It would be impossible for her not to be jealous.

  Vanda was not only much younger than Irene, she was at the same time so uniquely and serenely beautiful.

  Every day the Earl thought Vanda looked more exquisite than she had the day before.

  It seemed to him extraordinary that, even living in the country, no man had so far discovered her.

  ‘I will certainly,’ he told himself, ‘do everything I can for her on my return. No one could be more accommodating than she has been and she is playing her part splendidly.’

  When the Stewards were attending them, Vanda was always at her most formal and the Earl and Charles both remembered to say ‘ma’am’.

  Only when they were alone did Charles tease her as he had always done ever since she was a child, but she answered him back in a humorous manner which kept them all laughing.

  As they passed the Greek islands, Vanda looked at them wistfully and the Earl was aware that she was longing to stop and visit Delos where Apollo had been born.

  But she did not plead with him to do anything he did not wish to do and so they passed on quickly towards Beirut.

  When they sailed into port and saw the City which was built right on the sea line, the sun was shining.

  “Now,” he told Vanda, “your real ordeal begins. I have notified the Sheik of your arrival and the party who will escort us to his house will be waiting for us on the quay.”

  “I must look my best and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the beautiful clothes you have given me.”

  “You do indeed look very lovely in them.”

  She smiled at the Earl.

  “Do you mean that or is it just a façon de parler, as the French would say?”

  “I do mean it,” he said. “In fact a great number of people will tell you in the future, Vanda, that you are very beautiful.”

  She looked at him in surprise. It had never really crossed her mind that she was beautiful.

  The Earl thought that a hundred men would tell her how gorgeous she was once she appeared in London. With her golden hair and her perfect complexion, she was in fact exactly what one expected and hoped for in an English beauty.

  But it was Vanda’s eyes which made her different from any woman he had ever seen.

  He thought now as they lit up that she was as exceptional as the Arab horses. Perhaps a better image was a jewel of great value.

  The Earl had been right and waiting on the quay were a number of Arabs sent by the Sheik.

  They all bowed low on being introduced to the Princess and then they were escorted to the most important hotel in Beirut, where they explained to the Earl that after food and a rest, it was arranged that they should ride to the Sheik’s residence.

  Vanda was delighted.

  She thought however it would have been more convenient if they had known before they left the yacht that they were to ride to the Sheik’s residence.

  She changed into a riding habit with the help of the two Ladies-in-Waiting who had come ashore with her. They were about to go back to the yacht, but the Earl had insisted that they were seen to be in attendance.

  The Arab in charge of the welcoming party took him on one side. He told the Earl that the women who would look after Her Royal Highness when they arrived had not been brought with them, as they thought it would be too hard a journey for them.

  He was well aware that English women were good riders and could spend a long day in the saddle.

  “But our women,” he said, “prefer to stay at home and wait for the return of the menfolk.”

  “I understand,” the Earl replied, “and her Royal Highness will be quite safe in your protection until we arrive at the Sheik’s house.”

  It was not yet noon when they set off on the magnificent Arab stallions which were provided by their escort and the Earl and Charles were delighted with them.

  Vanda was so thrilled she ran out of adjectives to say how much she admired them.

  As they rode through the city the Earl thought no one could have looked more attractive on horseback or, in fact, so Royal.

  Vanda rode ahead as if it was her right and the two Englishmen kept respectfully behind her.

  There was only one matter which had upset the Earl and that was when they had reached Beirut, he was handed a letter from his secretary which had arrived only the day before they docked.

  He suspected that it must be bad news after his instructions to Mr. Wilson and therefore he did not open the letter immediately, as all the time they were surrounded by the Arabs until they set off for their host’s house.

  He told himself that he would read it when they arrived and then it would not be his fault if there was a delay in sending an answer.

  Once they were outside the City the land began to look more like a desert. There were just a few trees and a little fertile country before they reached the sand.

  Their cavalcade of nearly fifteen aroused a good deal of interest and people waved to them from the streets.

  Vanda, as if she was as important as they thought her to be, gave them a little nod, occasionally raising her hand to respond to their waving arms.

  She thought no one could have been accompanied by a more dramatic escort.

  The beautiful Arab stallions they were riding might have stepped out of a picture and the Arabs wearing their black and white robes looked almost majestic.

  After they had been riding for two hours, Vanda understood why they had been given something to eat and drink before they left.

  The suitcases which contained the clothes they had just taken off were following them on slower horses and the luggage which came from the yacht had, she was told, already gone ahead.

  Their horses were built for speed and Vanda realised she had never ridden as fast as she was able to do now.

  She had alw
ays been told that Arab horses were famous for their endurance and later in the afternoon she was beginning to feel tried.

  She felt somewhat ashamed when her horse did not seem to feel any fatigue, as even though they had been galloping for what seemed like hours, it was still comparatively fresh.

  It was four o’clock in the afternoon before the Arab who was riding beside Vanda pointed into the distance.

  They had been in wholly desert country for the last three hours but now there were some mountains in view in the distance.

  Then, as one of the Arabs pointed, Vanda saw what appeared to her to be a clump of trees in the centre of which loomed a large house.

  It was impossible to see very clearly but she felt that it must be the Sheik’s. It was built low like all Eastern houses, but was obviously impressive.

  A number of roofs could be seen behind the house surrounded by what seemed to be fertile ground, and Vanda realised at once that the houses were built in the middle of an oasis which would keep them well supplied with water.

  She thought the oasis itself was most picturesque with its trees and vegetation after the dusty desert and was certainly made even more so by the nearness of the mountains.

  She could understand why the Sheik had built a house in that particular place so far away from civilisation.

  It was then that Vanda turned to the Earl,

  “I forgot to ask, how do we address our hosts?”

  “If he is a Ruler as ours is, you say ‘Your Highness’ otherwise, ‘Your Excellency’.”

  As they drew nearer the Arabs began to move even faster as their horses knew they were home and they too were very willing to quicken their pace. They galloped towards the house at what seemed to Vanda to be an almost superhuman speed.

  They swept in through the trees to halt at an imposing entrance to what was clearly a very fine Eastern building.

  Even as they arrived she could see a man in pure white robes waiting for them.

  This must be the Sheik Abu Hamid.

  The Arabs pulled in their horses abruptly so that they seemed to genuflect to him with their legs in respect.

  Vanda rode forward until she was almost level with the Sheik and a servant helped her down from her mount.

  The Sheik stepped forward to greet them in quite good English,

  “I welcome Your Royal Highness to my humble home, and it is with the greatest pleasure I offer you a salutation from my people.”

  “I am very delighted to be here, Your Highness,” Vanda replied.

  The two men joined her and the Earl shook the Sheik by the hand and introduced Charles to him.

  They were taken into a large room furnished with soft low sofas on which they were expected to sit.

  Coffee was brought in immediately together with some delicious sweetmeats made from nuts and honey.

  Vanda was hungry after her long ride and enjoyed them.

  Then the Earl suggested that Her Royal Highness should take a rest before dinner.

  The Sheik clapped his hands and instantly two Bedouin women appeared who were introduced to Vanda as her Ladies-in-Waiting. She found, although they could not speak English, they were both fairly fluent in French.

  They escorted her down some long passages to what they told her was a room specifically arranged in a European fashion so that she could feel at home.

  It did not in fact look very European to Vanda.

  There was a low bed on a platform about a foot high and what she realised was a dressing table with a golden-framed mirror in the centre of it.

  She said of course how much she appreciated her room.

  The women bowed and almost prostrated themselves in front of her.

  Her luggage had not yet arrived from the yacht so Vanda undressed and lay down on the bed wearing only her chemise and a petticoat.

  The two women asked if she would like them to stay in the room. She thanked them for their kindness and she said in French that she preferred to be alone as she was a very light sleeper.

  Once they had left she got out of bed and ran to the window as she realised that darkness came quickly in the East and she wanted to take a last look at her surroundings.

  Now she could see a number of horses which were being brought into a sort of enclosure before it was dark. Even though they were at some distance, she could see how magnificent they were.

  She appreciated how important it was for the Earl and Charles to be able to buy them at reasonable prices.

  ‘We have done it!’ she thought. ‘We have made it here and so far we have been very, very lucky.’

  *

  In another room, actually not far from Vanda’s, the Earl was opening the letter which he had brought with him from Beirut.

  It contained an enclosure on very familiar sky blue writing-paper.

  Mr. Wilson’s letter was explanatory,

  ‘My Lord, You may think it unnecessary for me to disturb you so early in your journey, but Lady Grantham called after you had left and made such a terrible scene about getting in touch with you that I had to promise I would send you the enclosed letter.

  Her ladyship behaved in such a strange manner I was afraid that if I did not do as she asked, she would bring other people to convince me that the letter she wished you to receive must in some way reach you.

  I only hope it will not disturb your Lordship but I feel her Ladyship will not be satisfied until she has an answer.

  I remain

  Yours respectfully

  Basil Wilson.’

  The Earl read the letter again and his lips set in a straight line. The last thing he wanted was Irene making a scene in front of his servants.

  He had known before he left England that she would be furious if she knew he was to be away for long and he could only wonder why she had acted more quickly than he anticipated.

  He opened her letter.

  As he read the first words he knew what to expect.

  She accused him first of being a liar, a hypocrite, a deceiver and then as he read on she wrote,

  ‘You swore to me that there was no one going with you on this journey except a man.

  Edward’s friend, Lord Mayfield, told him that when he was going to the House of Lords, he saw you boarding your yacht a little lower down the Thames.

  He had in fact admired the yacht when it was anchored there and was interested to see you going aboard with two friends, a man and a woman.’

  She carried on upbraiding him even more angrily than she had already done.

  If he was prepared to take a woman with him, why had he not taken her?

  ‘If she is someone you are interested in and whom you care for more than me, I swear I will kill her.

  You are mine, Favin, mine completely, and I will not permit any woman to take you from me.’

  She scrawled her name and like her writing it was almost indecipherable.

  The Earl reckoned that she must have been completely hysterical when she wrote the letter.

  There was nothing he could do.

  He tore it up into such small pieces that it would be impossible for anyone, even if they were interested, to put it together.

  There was no reason to be afraid of what Irene or the London gossips could do to him at this moment.

  They were a long way from England, but he was taking no chances.

  ‘Why did I ever become involved with anyone who behaves in such a ridiculous manner?’ he asked himself.

  Then he recognised that if the truth was to be told, he never wanted to see Irene again.

  She attracted him physically, of course she did, which was not surprising considering how beautiful she is and their passion together had been abnormally tempestuous.

  He felt now that it was something which made him feel embarrassed. He did not want to think about her and he certainly did not want to have anything more to do with Irene.

  At the same time he was very conscious that she would be waiting for him on his return.

  S
he might even try in some way to hurt Vanda although he could not really believe that she would go to such extremes.

  On the other hand, who could control a woman who could not control herself?

  The Earl rose from where he was sitting to walk to the window as Vanda had done in her room.

  He looked out and by now it was nearly dark.

  The first stars were beginning to gleam and there was an irresistible beauty about the skyline.

  It made him feel that anything which happened elsewhere was irrelevant and unimportant and yet he knew he must not underestimate the harm which Irene could do to him. A scandal such as she might create would horrify and disgust his family and friends.

  ‘Whatever can I do?’ he muttered to himself.

  But there was no answer.

  Only the growing darkness of the night and the stars overhead seemed to tell him that the world was a large place and a jealous woman a very small part of it, but he was still feeling apprehensive.

  *

  It was thus a relief when he changed for dinner and went to join the Sheik. He found Vanda already there talking animatedly to their host.

  They were speaking half in English and half in French, in which, the Earl realised, she was most proficient.

  She gave him a smile when he entered the room.

  He bowed to her as to Royalty and she graciously inclined her head.

  “His Highness has been telling me about his wonderful horses,” she told the Earl. “And tomorrow we are to have a special demonstration by his tribe which I shall find most enthralling.”

  “So shall I,” the Earl agreed. “It is an event I have seen only once before, and I can assure Your Royal Highness that it is a thrilling spectacle.”

  The Sheik was obviously gratified by what they were saying.

  When Charles came in the conversation was all about horses and how the Sheik himself had built up one of the finest breeds in the whole of the Middle East.

  “My stable has cost me a great deal of money,” he confessed, “But it has also given me more enjoyment than I have ever experienced. What man could ask for more?”

  “What indeed?” the Earl replied impressed.

  Vanda wondered if there were any women in the Sheik’s house and she felt certain that he must keep a harem somewhere.