A Battle of Brains Read online

  Her stepfather chuckled.

  “I hope you will approve of my new purchases and they will certainly add lustre to my collection.”

  “You have many fine pictures here in London.”

  “They are the first purchases I ever made and to be quite honest I could have done better.”

  “Some of them are very lovely,” argued Yolanda.

  “But nothing as fine as those in the country. I took a great deal of trouble to learn much more about art than I knew before – and I had a good teacher.”

  Yolanda smiled at this reference to her mother.

  She thought it impossible not to admire a man who could work so hard – not only at making money but also on improving his own brain.

  She was just going to ask more questions about the pictures when he added,

  “We are entertaining a guest this weekend and he is coming to see my Stubbs. I also want to know a little more about his interests in America and the automatic air brakes that have been invented for trains.”

  Yolanda looked at him wide-eyed.

  “I am hoping that you and I will be clever enough to make him talk about it. His name, by the way, is Lord Milborne.”

  He was about to say more when his secretary came into the room.

  “I am sorry to bother you, sir,” he said, “but there is a man here from the country who wishes to talk to you about the gas lighting you ordered for the servants’ quarters. I understand there is some difficulty regarding the roof.”

  “I will come and speak to him.”

  He left the room.

  When he had gone, Yolanda stood where he had left her, thinking over what he had just said.

  She knew Lord Milborne.

  He was the gentleman who had been exceedingly kind to her father when they were living in Baden-Baden.

  Her father was having one of his bad periods at the gaming tables and his luck seemed to have deserted him.

  They had arrived in Baden-Baden after he had been gambling very successfully in Hamburg and they had taken rooms in the Stephanie Hotel, which was undoubtedly the best and the most famous of all the many sumptuous hotels in the town.

  Baden-Baden itself was beautiful and Yolanda, who was then only fourteen, was thrilled with the stream running through it and the gardens filled with flowers and blossom.

  She, of course, was not allowed to enter the Casino, but she was well aware how important it was in their lives.

  The first night her father had won and they were all laughing and happy the next morning.

  He took her mother and her to the races. He won again and Yolanda spent an exciting time with her parents before she was sent to bed.

  The next morning was totally different.

  Her father had apparently had a disastrous evening at the Casino and her mother was trying to console him by saying that things would be better today.

  Unfortunately things were not better that day or the next and by the third day her father was completely broke.

  They were sitting out in the garden of the Stephanie Hotel wondering what they should do next.

  How, her father asked over and over again, could he pay for the rooms in the hotel?

  Lord Milborne then passed by and greeted them.

  He was a very good-looking man, Yolanda thought, perhaps a little older than her father.

  It seemed they knew each other well – they both belonged to White’s Club in London.

  Lord Milborne exclaimed when he saw the Earl and his family,

  “I was looking for you, Longwood. I hear you had a bad day yesterday! If you are intending to go to the races this afternoon I have a winner for you!”

  He rose and walked towards Lord Milborne.

  “I have a sad story to tell you,” he began.

  “I believe that I can guess what it is,” replied Lord Milborne.

  As he spoke, the two men turned and walked away along the side of the stream.

  As they did so, Yolanda’s mother put out her hand and laid it on her daughter’s.

  “I am praying,” she whispered, “that Lord Milborne will help Papa. Otherwise, dearest we are in a terrible fix.”

  An hour passed before Yolanda saw that her father was coming back to them.

  By the way he walked and the smile on his face she knew that all was well.

  He came to where they were sitting and bent down to kiss her mother before he said,

  “Everything is all right, my darling. Your prayers are answered and we will not be thrown out of the hotel or be forced to walk home.”

  “Lord Milborne has helped you?”

  “He has been very generous and what is more, he has given me the winner of the big race this afternoon.”

  The horse had indeed won and they then spent two very happy weeks in Baden-Baden before moving on.

  It was Lord Milborne who had rescued them, but Yolanda had not thought of him since.

  Yet she realised now that she could not allow her stepfather to outwit him as she suspected he wanted to.

  She had heard several people talking at the dinner table about the new automatic air brakes. Everyone thought they would prevent the accidents, which kept occurring on the railways.

  The Stockton and Darlington railway was designed in 1825 to carry coal from the mines to the waterways and it had proved immensely successful.

  In the following years England was covered with a vast railway network and soon other countries in Europe began to build their own railway systems.

  There were many unfortunate accidents because it was easy to start a train, but difficult to stop it.

  Several men working on manual handbrakes had to be co-ordinated, but if this procedure failed, a dangerous accident was likely.

  Now there was talk about a Mr. Westinghouse in America who had developed an automatic air brake, which was being adopted by a number of American railways.

  Yolanda realised from the look on her stepfather’s face and the many questions he asked when the air brake was being discussed that he was interested in the product.

  And it meant that he would want to buy it before anyone else in England could.

  Yolanda was not concerned – it did not matter to her from whom he obtained the air brakes.

  But she was aware that she could not permit him to trick Lord Milborne, who had saved her father, her mother and herself from disaster.

  ‘I have no wish to hurt Step-papa,’ she determined. ‘But at the same time he has so much. Perhaps Lord Milborne needs a helping hand now, just as Papa needed one all those years ago in Baden-Baden.’

  *

  That afternoon she had arranged for some fittings in Bond Street and afterwards she asked the coachman to take her to Grosvenor Square.

  She believed that her stepfather’s secretary would keep a list of the people he knew and where they lived.

  So she looked at the book on his desk while he was at luncheon and found, just as she had expected, Lord Milborne’s address listed – Milborne House, Number 93 Grosvenor Square.

  She and the maid who accompanied her drove there from the shop in Bond Street.

  Yolanda felt that she was being somewhat disloyal to her stepfather, but at the same time it was honourable to try to pay back some of the huge debt her father owed Lord Milborne.

  Grosvenor Square was indeed the largest and most impressive square in London and yet to Yolanda it seemed somehow overpowering.

  When the carriage drew up by an important-looking house, it was with difficulty that she prevented herself from instructing the coachman to drive on.

  Then she remembered the smile on her father’s face when he had come back from his walk with Lord Milborne in Baden-Baden, and how he had bent to kiss her mother before he told her the good news.

  ‘I am sure,’ she pondered, ‘this is what Papa would want me to do.’

  The first footman on the carriage rang the bell of Number 93, the butler opened the front door and Yolanda stepped out.

  �
��I would like to see Lord Milborne,” she asked.

  “Is his Lordship expecting you, madam?” the butler enquired.

  “No,” she replied. “But will you please inform him that Lady Yolanda Wood wishes to speak with him.”

  The butler was obviously impressed by her title, so instead of asking her to wait, he took her across a high-ceilinged hall and opened a door on the other side of it.

  He announced Yolanda in a stentorian voice as she entered what she guessed was a study or a library.

  There were many books everywhere, a fine painting by Stubbs hung over the mantelpiece and two big French windows opened on to a walled garden at the back.

  For a second Yolanda thought there was no one in the room and then a man rose from behind a writing desk.

  The butler closed the door behind her.

  As the man walked towards her, Yolanda stared at him in surprise.

  He was not the Lord Milborne she remembered, but a young gentleman, tall and good-looking.

  He reached her and held out his hand.

  “I am delighted to meet you, Lady Yolanda. I have heard a great deal about you.”

  “But you are not Lord Milborne!”

  The young gentleman smiled.

  “You were expecting to meet my father who I know was a friend of yours. I am afraid, however, that he died two years ago.”

  “Oh, I am so sorry!” exclaimed Yolanda. “I met him a long time ago in Baden-Baden, when he was so very kind to my father and my mother and we were all extremely grateful to him.”

  “That sounds so like my father,” he replied. “And, as you have been kind enough to come to see me, I expect you know that I am staying with you this weekend to see the new pictures your stepfather has just bought.”

  “Yes, he has told me about them. Though I have yet to see them, I am sure that they are magnificent.”

  “I have a few Stubbs myself and I am very proud of them. I only wish I had known the others were for sale. I would have obtained them before your stepfather managed to do so!”

  Before Yolanda could reply, he asked,

  “Can I offer you any refreshment?”

  “No, thank you, my Lord. I came to say something to your father without letting my stepfather know what I was doing. I am not sure now what I should do – ”

  She sounded indecisive and Lord Milborne said,

  “I can understand your surprise at finding my father is no longer here. But please allow me to take his place. If there is any way I can help you or answer any questions you would have put to him, I am at your service.”

  Yolanda seated herself on a sofa by the fireplace and Lord Milborne stood with his back to it.

  Then, as if he felt it would seem friendlier, he sat down on the sofa beside her.

  “What is worrying you, Lady Yolanda? Everyone went to my father with their troubles, so I have a feeling that is why you have come to me.”

  Yolanda drew in her breath.

  “Actually, my Lord, you may think it surprising, but I want to repay in a small way the wonderful kindness your father showed us when we were in Baden-Baden.”

  “What did he do?”

  Yolanda looked away from him and a little shyly she answered,

  “I expect you know that my father was a gambler?”

  Lord Milborne smiled at her.

  “I think everyone knew he was the most charming and the most delightful gambler there has ever been. The story of his life really ought to be in a book.”

  Yolanda gave a little laugh.

  “I have never thought of that idea before.”

  “It is something you should consider. I am certain that you could write it better than anyone else.”

  Yolanda did not reply and he continued,

  “I met your father several times when he was riding in the Park, at many Racecourses and when I first proudly became a Member of White’s. I thought he was the most charming, the most handsome and the most delightful man I had ever met.”

  Yolanda’s eyes now lit up as she clasped her hands together.

  “Thank you for saying that. It is the way I want people to remember my Papa – not to remember him when things went wrong.”

  She hesitated for a moment and then she added,

  “It was when things went so very wrong in Baden-Baden that your father saved Papa at a time when we were desperate. He not only lent him money, which I am not sure was ever repaid but he gave Papa the winner of the big race which he attended that afternoon.”

  “That sounds very much like him. Of course I am very proud of him and I am trying to follow his example. So please allow me to take his place and tell me why you are here.”

  It was difficult for Yolanda to find the right words.

  “I expect you know how rich my stepfather is and that he has made every penny of his fortune himself.”

  “I have heard the stories and how can anyone not admire him for what he has achieved?”

  “He has been so very kind to me and I could never be grateful enough for what he did for Mama and me after Papa died.”

  Again there was a pause before she went on,

  “I know in business men do not always behave in the same manner as your father and my father would have behaved.”

  “I understand what you are trying to say to me.”

  “You may think,” said Yolanda, “that I am being very disloyal, but because your father was so kind when we were desperate, I just wanted to warn him when he came to stay that my stepfather is most interested in the automatic air brake invented by Mr. Westinghouse and which is now being used so successfully in America.”

  What she was saying came hesitatingly to an end.

  She looked up appealingly at Lord Milborne as if she was begging him to understand what she was trying to say.

  He smiled at her appreciatively.

  “I think it is very brave of you, Lady Yolanda, to come and tell my father what you have just outlined. I do understand perfectly your reason for doing so.”

  Yolanda gave a sigh of relief.

  “My stepfather, because he is so rich and so astute, invariably gets what he wants, and he has heard that you too are interested in the air brakes.”

  “I am indeed and I am grateful to you for thinking of my father and now myself in that connection.”

  Yolanda rose to her feet.

  “Please, my Lord – you will not tell my stepfather I have been here?”

  “No, of course not. It is a secret between you and me and I thank you for thinking of my father. I know that he would have been so grateful and appreciative at what you have been brave enough to do.”

  “Then we shall meet on Friday evening, my Lord, and I think we will both enjoy seeing Step-papa’s Stubbs.”

  “You can be quite certain,” added Lord Milborne, “I will be grinding my teeth with envy because he beat me to the sale. I have been abroad, which is the reason why I was not aware it was taking place.”

  “I feel sure you will have better luck next time.”

  She held out her hand as Lord Milborne asked,

  “I suppose you don’t have time to see a Stubbs I have in another room? I also have a very beautiful Titian in which, as it depicts the Goddess Venus, you should be particularly interested.”

  Yolanda realised he was paying her a compliment.

  “I would love to see it if you have the time.”

  Lord Milborne escorted her into the drawing room, which was beautifully furnished and Yolanda thought that it had an atmosphere of having been lived in.

  The superb Titian painting of ‘Venus and Adonis’ was hanging on one wall.

  And there was the particularly fine Stubbs over the mantelpiece – however in his picture there were no horses, but two cheetahs he had painted brilliantly.

  “Your pictures are very lovely,” Yolanda sighed as she walked from one to the other. “How lucky you are to own anything so perfect.”

  “That is just what I think myself,” Lord
Milborne replied, “and it is why I want to add to my collection. I have other pictures, which I would like you to see, but they are in my country house. Perhaps you will come and stay there one day?”

  “I would love to,” enthused Yolanda. “I remember Mama telling me how lovely your house is after she had been there with Papa.”

  “I think they stayed. I don’t recall meeting your mother, but I have heard how beautiful she was and that you are very like her.”

  His dark brown eyes gazed at her tenderly.

  “I only hope that is true.”

  They walked out of the drawing room and down the stairs and Yolanda admired a Hogarth in the hall.

  “I don’t care much for that picture,” Lord Milborne told her. “But the one I would like you to see is ‘The Holy Family’ painted by Rubens, which I think is one of the best pictures he ever did.”

  By now they had reached the front door and one of the footmen was opening it.

  Lord Milborne took Yolanda across the pavement and when they reached the carriage, she turned to him,

  “Thank you, my Lord, you have been very kind.”

  “That is just what I should be saying to you, Lady Yolanda, and I will say it to you again on Friday.”

  He saw her glance at him quickly, so he added in a voice that the footman holding the door could not hear –

  “When we are alone.”

  Yolanda smiled and climbed into the carriage.

  Lord Milborne did not go back into his house until she had driven away.

  As the carriage drove into Park Lane, Yolanda felt a little guilty and yet she knew she had done what her father would think was the right thing.

  Lord Milborne’s father had saved them from being humiliated at being unable to pay their bill and her father might have had to face Police charges, which would have caused a dreadful scandal.

  ‘There was nothing else I could do but warn Lord Milborne,’ mused Yolanda quietly to herself.

  At the same time she felt rather apprehensive.

  Her stepfather might ask what she had been doing besides shopping and she had no wish to lie to him.

  It would, however, be most embarrassing to admit that she had been to visit Milborne House.

  Fortunately they were dining out that evening.

  Therefore Yolanda did not meet her stepfather until she came downstairs wearing a new and attractive gown.