171. The Marquis Wins (The Eternal Collection) Read online

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  When Daniela was ready, it was Maria who went into the sitting room to inform her stepmother.

  Daniela walked to the window and was looking up at the sky, praying as she did so that the Marquis would be able to save her in time.

  She was sensible enough to realise, because it was late in the morning, that he might already have left the villa. However, she knew that the racing in Baden-Baden did not start as early as it did in England.

  At the same time she could not help thinking of dozens of reasons why he should not be at the villa.

  In which case he would not receive her note until he returned and then it would be too late.

  ‘Please, God – please –’

  She felt as if her plea floated up into the sky like a bird.

  She could only follow it with every nerve of her body as if she was a part of her own prayer.

  Her stepmother came into the bedroom.

  “Come on, Daniela,” she said. “What are you mooning about for? André’s waiting downstairs in the carriage and we’re all going together.”

  Daniela knew without her stepmother saying so that this was a precaution in case she should try to run away.

  Still she thought that she must make one last bid for freedom.

  “Suppose, Stepmama,” she said, “I made over half my fortune to you unconditionally?”

  She paused for a moment before she went on,

  “Would you then be happy for me to stay with you without having a husband I do not – want, and who, as I am well aware belongs to – you?”

  She thought that her suggestion sounded reasonable.

  Yet she had known instinctively that her stepmother would treat it with contempt.

  Actually Esmé laughed.

  “Why should I accept half a loaf,” she asked, “when I can have it whole?”

  There was no answer to this and she went on,

  “Besides, if you don’t marry André, another man might not be under an obligation to me and therefore not so generous.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her voice sharpened as she added,

  “What I’ll be having is only what your father promised me. He deceived me by making a will that tricked me out of what I was entitled to as his wife.”

  Daniela realised that there was no use protesting that her father had never intended to marry her.

  The trickery had been on her part to grab hold of his money.

  ‘I hate her!’ she thought to herself.

  She felt her whole being rise in violent revolt against a woman who was so wicked and unscrupulous.

  Then, with a self-control that she had practised ever since she was a child, she knew that nothing would be gained by fighting openly with her stepmother.

  She would only feel degraded by indulging in a battle of words.

  “Come on,” Esmé was saying. “Your bridegroom is waiting downstairs and I’ve told the Parson we’d be there by twelve noon!”

  There was nothing that Daniela could do but move through the door Maria opened for her and into the passage.

  The older femme de chambre who had brought in the water for her bath was watching her go, but there was no sign of the younger one.

  Daniela could only hope desperately that she had gone, as she had begged her to do, to the Villa d’Horizon.

  By now it was ten minutes to twelve.

  If the Marquis had been alerted, then in some way she could not think how, he might manage to spirit her away before the ring was on her finger.

  If not, she was the Comte’s wife for as long as they both lived.

  Following her stepmother, Daniela went downstairs into the hall and the Manager of the hotel came forward to bow and wish her happiness.

  She did not reply, but her stepmother said gushingly,

  “That’s very kind of you, monsieur, and I hope you’ve arranged the celebration luncheon for when we return.”

  “Everything is as you ordered, madame,” the Manager replied.

  They passed out of the door and a carriage was waiting for them.

  It was the same one that Esmé had used every night to take them to the casino.

  The Protestant Town Church had two high steeples towering above the trees.

  And Daniela could see it long before the horses drew up outside the West door.

  She had half-hoped as they moved along the narrow roadway that perhaps the Marquis would waylay their carriage.

  But there was no sign of him and, as she stepped out, she thought that he had failed her and now her last hope had gone.

  She knew then that she would rather die than be married to the Comte.

  At least then she would be with her father and mother.

  To bear the Comte’s name and to know that because they were married she would have to obey him and still live was an impossibility.

  ‘I must – die,’ she told herself as she walked up the steps.

  She saw as she entered the Church that it was modern and had actually, although she was not aware of it, been in existence only for three years. It had been built with funds from the casino.

  The Comte offered her his arm and they proceeded slowly up the aisle.

  Waiting for them in front of the altar was a Clergyman in a white surplice.

  He looked very much like the Parson in the Church on her father’s estate in England where she had worshipped every Sunday since she was a small child.

  ‘I am being – married,’ she told herself despairingly.

  Even God had failed her.

  The Comte walked slowly and Daniela could feel vibrations of evil coming from him.

  In the quick glance she gave him, which she could not prevent herself from making, she saw that he had a smile on his lips.

  It was obviously the satisfaction of knowing that in a very few minutes he would be in possession of a very large fortune.

  ‘I must die – I must – die!’ Daniela whispered beneath her breath.

  She was aware that her stepmother had followed them up the aisle almost as if she was afraid that she would turn and run away at the last moment.

  She now moved into the front pew as Daniela and the Comte stepped into the Chancel and were standing in front of the altar.

  The Parson, standing a step higher, opened his Prayer Book.

  “Dearly beloved –” he began and he was speaking in English.

  He was halfway through the first prayer of the Marriage Service when a voice came loudly from the back of the Church,

  “Stop this marriage!”

  Daniela thought that she must be dreaming.

  Then, as the Comte turned his head instinctively to see who had spoken and the Parson’s voice died away, she knew with a leap of her heart that the Marquis was there.

  He walked up the aisle, his footsteps ringing out until he reached the Chancel, which was carpeted.

  Then in the same strong authoritative voice that he had used before he declared,

  “This marriage must not take place! The bridegroom is already married and he has no right to take another wife!”

  “Are you sure of this, sir – ?” the Parson began.

  He was interrupted by the Comte who shouted,

  “It’s not true! Ma femme est morte!”

  “That is something that must be proved,” the Marquis replied.

  It was then that Esmé came from the front pew to stand beside the Marquis.

  “What has it to do with you?” she demanded. “How dare you interfere!”

  “I knew the late Lord Seabrooke,” the Marquis answered, “and I know that he would not wish his daughter to become the wife of a bigamist.”

  He paused a moment before continuing,

  “Or, for that matter, to marry in this ‘hole and corner’ manner without any of her relatives being present.”

  “That’s not for you to say, nor for you to interfere,” Esmé replied furiously.

  “That is a matter of opinion,” the Marquis retorted. “Dan
iela, go and get into my carriage, which is outside waiting.”

  It was a command.

  Daniela, who had been looking at him with shining eyes, picked up the trail of her gown.

  Her stepmother stepped forward to obstruct her, but before she could do so Daniela ran down the aisle quicker than she had ever run in her life before.

  Through the West door and down the steps she ran to fling herself into the carriage.

  It was standing just behind the one that had brought her with her stepmother and the Comte to the Church.

  “I’ll not allow this!” Esmé Seabrooke screamed as Daniela flew away.

  The Marquis made no reply.

  He walked quickly after Daniela, leaving three people staring after him having no idea for the moment of what they could do to stop him.

  He too hurried down the steps of the Church and climbed into the carriage and a footman shut the door he had been holding open for him.

  Immediately the horses moved off.

  It was then that Daniela, the tears streaming down her cheeks turned to the Marquis,

  “You have – saved me! Oh, how could – you have – been so wonderful! I was – quite certain I would have – to die!”

  Chapter Five

  “You will live,” the Marquis replied quietly, “and with any luck without seeing that guttersnipe again!”

  When he accused the Comte of bigamy, he had been quite certain from the expression in his eyes that it was true and he was well aware that his wife was alive.

  In that case the Marquis was sure that he would simply disappear and find another way of obtaining money from some other unfortunate woman.

  At the same time he was aware that he must save Daniela not only from the Comte but, and this was more important, from her stepmother.

  He had the idea that Esmé Blanc would not give up easily.

  As Cora Pearl had told him, she was determined to have money and he expected that she would now resort in some way to blackmail.

  Unfortunately, as he had reasoned out on his way to the Church, she was in a very comfortable position if she was legally Daniela’s guardian.

  ‘If I take the girl to her relations,’ the Marquis thought, ‘they can sort out all these problems. They are really not my business.’

  Then, as he looked at Daniela with her eyes raised to his in gratitude and the tears running down her cheeks, he thought that no woman could look lovelier.

  “How can – I thank you?” she asked in a low voice. “How can I tell – you how – wonderful you are to have – come at the very – last minute?”

  She gave a little sob as she said,

  “As I walked up the aisle, I thought even – God had – forgotten me, but He sent you, I know He did, and now I am – safe!”

  “We must not count our chickens before they are hatched,” the Marquis said quietly. “England is far away and I am afraid that your stepmother will try to prevent you from reaching Seabrooke Hall.”

  He saw the terror come back into Daniela’s eyes and thought that it had been a mistake to frighten her.

  Equally he knew, if he was honest, that he was nervous himself that his plans might be circumvented.

  He recognised that both he and Daniela had to be constantly on their guard.

  “Do you – think,” she asked now in a very small, frightened little voice, “that my – stepmother will – try and – stop me at the – Station?”

  “I am quite certain that is what she will try to do,” the Marquis said, “but if she does she will be disappointed.”

  “Why?” Daniela asked.

  “Because we are not leaving Baden-Baden by train.”

  Daniela stared at him in astonishment.

  “Then – how can we – get away? We cannot – drive all the way to – the coast.”

  “No, of course not,” he answered, “but I fortunately have another way of travelling.”

  Daniela looked at him in perplexity.

  As she had been speaking, it had passed through her mind that it would be very difficult to avoid detection.

  Everybody would undoubtedly stare at her when she appeared dressed as a bride.

  Now, as she wondered what the Marquis was implying, he said with a faint smile,

  “As you have already thought, to travel by train or coach is more or less impossible in the circumstances, but there are two other ways that you have not mentioned.”

  “What are they?” Daniela asked.

  “Either by balloon, which we do not possess,” the Marquis answered, “or by boat, which is actually the way we are going.”

  Her eyes widened and she repeated,

  “By – boat?”

  For a moment she could not think what he was saying, knowing that they were a long way from the sea.

  There were mountains all round them besides the Black Forest, which she always thought of as impenetrable.

  Then, as if he was pleased with himself at having perplexed her, the Marquis responded,

  “You have forgotten the Rhine!”

  Daniela gave a little cry of excitement.

  She had in fact learnt a great deal of geography at the Covent, and was aware that the Rhine was one of the great waterways of Europe.

  But it had never struck her that it flowed quite near to Baden-Baden.

  “It is only about fourteen miles away,” the Marquis said as if he could read her thoughts.

  He paused before he went on,

  “My friend who lent me the villa fortunately has this superb team of carriage horses which will make short work of the distance.”

  Daniela gave a little gasp.

  “Then – my stepmother can – never catch us with the – one horse that – drove us to the Church.”

  “Not unless it had wings!” the. Marquis smiled.

  “How could you – think of – anything so – clever and so marvellous?” Daniela asked.

  She clasped her hands together as she spoke and looked so radiant that the Marquis felt as if the sunshine had suddenly lit the inside of the carriage.

  As they drove out of the old town of Baden-Baden with its seventeenth-century houses, Daniela felt as if they were flying into the sky.

  She was leaving her problems and fears behind her.

  They had driven for some distance before she said a little hesitatingly,

  “There is – only one other problem and I hate to – bother you with it.”

  “What is that?” the Marquis asked.

  “I-I have – nothing to wear – aboard ship but this Wedding gown.”

  She thought as she spoke that because her stepmother had chosen it for her for the Wedding Service that she never wanted to see it again.

  “Are you underestimating my powers of organisation?” the Marquis asked with a note of amusement in his voice. “It is something I pride myself on and now I consider that you are insulting me.”

  “How could I – ever do such – a thing?” Daniela asked quickly. “At the – same time – ”

  She paused.

  “I think you will find,” the Marquis said, “unless something has gone very wrong and the maid you sent with the note has not carried out my instructions, that your luggage will be waiting for you on board The Sea Horse.”

  Daniela stared at him in disbelief.

  “My yacht will be ready for us when we reach the Rhine,” he continued, “and your luggage is now travelling ahead in a brake drawn by six horses.”

  “I don’t – believe it!” Daniela gasped. “I am – dreaming for no one except – a magician could be as – fantastic as you!”

  “Thank you,” the Marquis said. “I only hope that you will not be disappointed and the six horses will not turn into mice and the brake into a pumpkin!”

  Daniela laughed as he meant her to do and she leant back against the comfortable padded seat.

  “Only a – magician,” she said softly, “could have a yacht – waiting for him at – exactly the moment it was – most n
eeded.”

  The Marquis knew himself that it was really a lucky chance, since if there was one thing he hated it was travelling by train.

  The Railway might be a recent innovation, but he found trains noisy and uncomfortable.

  He disliked being rattled along at what he thought was too quick a speed and he also disliked being unable to spend the night in a comfortable bed.

  In England, when he was going on a long journey, he invariably had his own private carriage attached to a train.

  Because he was of such importance there was no difficulty about it.

  When he decided to come from Paris to Baden-Baden, there had been endless formalities.

  The private carriage he hired was not in any way as comfortable as his own and he had found the whole journey extremely disagreeable.

  Anticipating this before he left Paris he had sent a message to the Captain of his yacht, which was in harbour at Calais.

  He ordered him to proceed up the Rhine and dock as near as possible to Baden-Baden.

  He knew that The Sea Horse would enter the Rhine through Holland.

  As it was a wide river, if the Captain steamed at full speed the journey would not take more than a few days.

  And there it would remain until he required it.

  He knew that unless something very radical had gone wrong The Sea Horse would now be there.

  It was something that Esmé Seabrooke would not anticipate and indeed it would take her undoubtedly some time to discover in which direction Daniela had vanished.

  The Marquis could not help feeling that it must have been his remarkable perception that had warned him that The Sea Horse should be available at exactly the right spot.

  If he had still been anxious to be with Cora Pearl, he might have returned with her to Paris.

  As it was, he found time while the carriage was being brought round with its team of four horses, to scribble her a note.

  He told her that he unfortunately had to leave for England unexpectedly without saying ‘goodbye’.

  He thanked her for the happy time that they had spent together and he enclosed a present which he hoped she would like and which when she wore it would bring back memories of the occasion.

  Hastily he gave the note with the small parcel to the Major Domo in charge of his friend’s villa.