Rescued by Love Page 9

  But this was certainly not the right time for her to argue with her brother.

  So she merely said,

  “I will go and explore a little more of the house. You must tell me what time you want to leave for dinner.”

  “There is no hurry,” Ivor told her. “If you want me to carry one of your cases upstairs, I will do so.”

  “Let’s hope it is for the last time,” Weena smiled, “and a footman will be here do it in future.”

  Ivor carried two of her smaller cases upstairs to the bedroom he had chosen for her.

  She opened the cases and then shut them up again.

  There was so much dust in the room that she knew she would be very unwise to take anything out which was not absolutely necessary.

  Even then it was certain that dust would settle on it the moment she set it down on a table.

  She even had to wipe the mirror on the dressing table before she could see her reflection in it.

  She thought that once everything was cleaned up it would be the most beautiful bedroom she had ever slept in.

  When she went downstairs, she found Ivor sitting at the writing table with a pile of letters in front of him.

  “Are those all the people you are writing to?” she asked him even though she knew the answer.

  “They are all the people I have learnt were friends of Prince Feodor and I intend to post them immediately so that our invitations should be pouring in by the end of the week.”

  “There is nothing like being optimistic, Ivor. What is more you must tell me everything you know about the Prince, otherwise they will suspect at once that he was not so much of a friend as you pretend him to be.”

  “I am not a fool!” Ivor snapped. “I have already looked up before we left home everything that I could find about him and his family. I also, as I have told you, met him once when I was in St. Petersburg.”

  “Was he very charming?” Weena enquired.

  “He was certainly very impressive and that is the reputation he has in England which we will benefit from.”

  She thought again that he was being optimistic, but considered it a mistake to say so.

  She therefore helped him put stamps on the letters which apparently he had bought from the Captain of the ship.

  Then she waited at the door while he ran out to post them in the nearest post-box he could find.

  When he came back, he said to her,

  “Now that we have taken the first step in the right direction, we can only hope that the angels are with us!”

  “I think we have been very lucky already,” Weena replied.

  Then she was thinking once again of how lucky she had been when David had saved her from the horrible man on the ship, and how interesting she had found him when she might have been left alone with no one to talk to while Ivor was playing bridge.

  ‘But he did not say goodbye to me,’ she reflected a little wistfully.

  Then she tried to put him out of her mind because she had so much to think about.

  But it was difficult.

  They enjoyed an excellent dinner at a restaurant recommended by Brownlow.

  *

  On their return to the house they found that he had came back from the Agency to tell them that he had been extremely fortunate.

  He had engaged three housemaids who would start tomorrow to clean up the house and there would be two footmen, one of whom was quite experienced.

  He had also found two people to help in the kitchen and was promised that another would be arriving before the end of the week.

  “My wife’s now feelin’ as if she’s dancin’ on air,” Brownlow enthused. “Once we buy the food she needs, you’ll have the best meals of anyone in this area.”

  “That is what we are looking forward to,” Ivor told him. “That reminds me you must tell me what money you require to purchase the food and, of course, the cleaning materials for the house.”

  He paused for a moment before he added,

  “I have some I can give you at once and the rest will be in the bank when I require it.”

  It was then that he remembered when he went into the hall that the luggage and boxes he had brought from their home still had to be unpacked and displayed.

  “What we really need,” he said to Weena, “are two or three men from a shop who are used to handling such valuable pictures and ornaments and will therefore display them better than any servant could do.”

  “I expect it will be easy for you to find out which is the best shop in this part of London,” Weena replied. “Of course there must be one.”

  “I expect there will be a dozen if we look for them and I must go to an auctioneer to ask what they think of the pictures. Unless they value them for a very large sum of money, I will have to sell them privately.”

  Weena wondered what would happen if they could not sell them at all.

  But her brother was speaking so optimistically that he would get what he wanted that she knew she must not appear to be in any way doubtful.

  Her bed which had been made up by Brownlow and his wife was actually very comfortable.

  Because there was still a distinct smell of dust in the bedroom, Weena opened all the windows and she knew by the morning that it would be very different from what it was at the moment.

  She was so tired after all the excitement of the day and the worry at the back of her mind as to what the future held that she fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

  When she awoke, the sun was streaming in through the open window and when she sat up in bed she could see the trees in Hyde Park.

  She wondered if Ivor had slept as well as she had.

  She went through the boudoir to his bedroom and found that he had already dressed and gone downstairs.

  ‘He is certainly in a hurry to make a good start,’ she thought and went back to her own room to dress.

  When she finally went downstairs, it was to find that there were already two women and two men cleaning the hall and the study.

  She knew that at least some of Brownlow’s orders were being carried out.

  She found Ivor in the dining room, which they had not seen last night.

  It was a panelled room with a very fine fireplace and crystal chandeliers on either side of it.

  Ivor was eating his breakfast and he looked up and exclaimed,

  “Good morning, Alweena. I was wondering when you would wake up.”

  “Then you should have woken me,” Weena replied, walking towards him. “And I had forgotten that I now had a new name!”

  “Then don’t you forget it again!” Ivor said sharply. “You are Princess Alweena Kerlensky and it would be a great mistake to show in any way that you were unfamiliar with your importance and Social position.”

  Weena laughed.

  “It’s like living in a dream or perhaps playing a part on the stage.”

  “Whichever way you find it,” Ivor urged her, “you must not forget your lines. It is an imperative order that you have to obey.”

  “Stop frightening me, Ivor, and let me have some breakfast,” Weena chided. “I see there is a bell beside you which I am sure you are expected to ring.”

  Ivor did as she suggested.

  Brownlow, looking very different from the way he had yesterday, entered and he was now dressed exactly as an English butler should be.

  He bowed as he greeted Weena,

  “Good morning, Your Highness. Would you prefer eggs and bacon or fish for your breakfast? And is it tea or coffee?”

  “The fish sounds delicious,” Weena replied, “and I would love coffee.”

  Brownlow bowed again and left the room.

  She said in a whisper to Ivor,

  “He is marvellous and is quite obviously enjoying himself.”

  “He certainly is,” Ivor agreed, “already servants are pouring in to clean up the house and we should be able to entertain here far sooner than I expected.”

  “Except we have no idea
who we should entertain,” Weena remarked.

  “We will surely find out soon enough,” he replied confidently. “In fact I will be disappointed if I don’t have one or two answers to my letters today.”

  “You are very confident,” Weena laughed. “Dare we leave the house long enough to go into the Park? I can see it through the windows and I am longing to go to Green Park and see Rotten Row where Mama used to ride when she was a girl. She told me that all the smart young people gather there on their horses.”

  “Then, of course, we will have to ride there too,” Ivor replied.

  Weena stared at him.

  “Do you really mean that or are you saying it just to be impressive?”

  “Of course I mean it. I had forgotten about Rotten Row. I went there when I was in London and Mama was right. It is very smart and all the best people are mounted. I am sure that Brownlow will be able to tell us where we will be able to hire some horses before I have time to buy them at Tattersalls.”

  Weena stared at him in consternation.

  “Oh, do be careful,” she pleaded. “If you throw all our money away too soon, we will then have to leave this comfortable house and camp in Hyde Park!”

  Her brother laughed.

  “It will not be as bad as that. Not once people can see the treasures I have brought with me, which we have to arrange as soon as possible.”

  He stopped for a moment before he went on,

  “Actually I see that there are one or two frames in the house which will fit the pictures I have brought with me. At the moment they are occupied by pictures which are not as beautiful or as valuable as mine.”

  “That will certainly save you from buying frames,” Weena said. “At the same time when we leave you will have to put back the pictures that belong to the house and it would be a shame if they were damaged or lost.”

  “Of course it would be,” her brother agreed, “but you can trust me to be careful and although you might not think it, I am counting every penny, expecting that every penny I spend will come back to me a hundredfold!”

  “I only hope that’s true,” Weena sighed.

  As she spoke, Brownlow came in with her breakfast which she found was delicious and served on silver dishes.

  “Has the last tenant,” she asked Ivor once they were alone, “left everything here including his silver? Surely his relations would have taken it?”

  “According to Brownlow they took most of it, but they have been anxious to let the house, which they have until now been unable to do and they have left things like silver dishes and china ornaments to encourage any tenant who is interested.”

  “Which we certainly are,” Weena laughed.

  Then her smile vanished as she said,

  “Oh, Ivor, I do wish we could have brought Papa’s silver with us. That will all be buried now in the ruins of the house. You must remember how pretty it was because Mama had chosen it when they were first married.”

  “I have been telling myself ever since we left that I was a fool not to have taken away more, but it was very important that I should not show I was aware the house was going to be burnt down. I only managed to remove the things I have here at the dead of night.”

  “It was very brave of you to do so,” Weena said, “and I am not complaining. It’s just that I hate to think of the lovely treasures that meant so much to us all our lives are now lying in ashes under the smouldering remains of our glorious home.”

  “Don’t think about it,” her brother ordered. “You must look happy and cheerful and forget everything except that we two are fascinating and aristocratic Russians whom everyone wants to entertain.”

  “We can only hope that is what they will think,” Weena said. “At the same time I am so frightened of doing the wrong thing and letting you down.”

  “You will only need to be your beautiful self,” he replied. “And thank God that we had an English mother.”

  He was silent for a moment before he added,

  “It would have been far more difficult for us if we did not speak perfect English and if we did not look, both of us, more English than Russian. I am convinced in my own mind that in consequence of this the English will be impressed by our title and find us extremely intriguing.”

  Weena giggled.

  “You are certainly optimistic if nothing else. I can only promise you that, if things go wrong and you don’t get exactly what you want it, will not be my fault.”

  “That is what I want you to say,” Ivor replied.

  When they had finished breakfast, they went to the study to find that the morning newspapers were arranged, as Weena thought they should be, on the stool in front of the fireplace.

  “Brownlow must have ordered them all for us,” she said. “Now we can look in The Times and The Morning Post and see what parties are taking place every night and hope that our names will soon be on the list.”

  “They will be, that I can promise!” Ivor declared.

  As she picked up one of the papers, Weena had the feeling that he was convincing himself more than worrying about convincing her.

  As it happened, they were making up their minds whether they would go to Rotten Row to see the horses or wait until they appeared there themselves on horseback.

  “Fortunately I have a very smart riding habit that Mama had made for me before she died,” Weena said. “It almost seemed too smart when I was riding at home round the fields. But now I am sure it is exactly what I want. As I know riding clothes don’t go out of fashion like other clothes.”

  “What we require first are horses,” Ivor replied. “I must find out from Brownlow where the best local stable is. There must be one in this part of London.”

  He was just about to ring the bell for Brownlow, when he came into the room carrying a silver salver.

  “This has just been left by hand, Your Highness,” he said to Ivor.

  Ivor looked at the letter and picked it up quickly.

  “The first reply!” he exclaimed. “I was hoping that one would arrive today.”

  Weena did not ask how he knew what it was before he opened it.

  She merely waited patiently until he had slit open the envelope and taken out the letter.

  He glanced at it before he gave a whoop of joy.

  “What does it say?” Weena asked breathlessly.

  “It’s from Lady Carstairs, who I can assure you is one of the most famed London hostesses. She says,

  ‘My dear Prince Ivor,

  I was delighted to receive your letter this morning and to know that a friend of our dear Prince Feodor is in London.

  I think of him so often and miss him more than I can say in words.

  I very much hope that you and your sister are free this evening as I have a dinner party planned for young people so that they can dance afterwards.

  I will look forward to meeting you and your sister at seven-thirty and please be kind enough to let the bearer of this letter bring me back your reply.

  Yours sincerely,

  Alice Carstairs’.”

  Having read it aloud, Ivor then said,

  “I told you that those who had feted Prince Feodor would be pleased to meet us. I will now send a note of acceptance back with the messenger.”

  He opened a drawer and found that there was some headed writing paper in it besides envelopes that matched.

  He then rapidly scribbled out an acceptance to Lady Carstairs while Brownlow waited.

  Ivor addressed the envelope and handed it to him.

  “Please tell your wife that we will be out to dinner tonight,” he told him.

  The butler’s eyes twinkled.

  “I thought that was what Your Highness would say. I can assure you that her Ladyship’s parties are the best and the most envied in the whole of Mayfair.”

  He did not wait for an answer, but left the room closing the door behind him.

  Ivor threw up his arms.

  “We have won! We have won! Now we have been asked, as you
have just heard, to dine with one of the top hostesses in the whole of Mayfair and who could ask for a better introduction to the Social world?”

  “I am incredibly glad for your sake, Ivor,” Weena commented.

  “This is where our great adventure begins. As luck is with us, it will end with a fanfare of trumpets!”

  It was Brownlow who found a good hairdresser for Weena and it was Mrs. Brownlow who pressed the dress she chose to wear.

  Weena did not dare trust such a job to one of the housemaids until she could assess their capabilities.

  *

  In the afternoon, after they had had luncheon, they went to find a stable where they could hire horses to ride in Rotten Row tomorrow morning.

  “Perhaps we will be too tired,” Weena suggested.

  “Then I will ride alone,” Ivor asserted. “But I will make it clear to everyone I talk to that I am waiting to visit Tattersalls to buy horses to fill our own stable which is in the Mews behind us.”

  Weena drew in her breath.

  She had the feeling that her brother was moving too quickly.

  Buying horses was undoubtedly spending money he could ill afford, but she knew it was no use her continually nagging at him.

  She only hoped that they would soon be able to sell their pictures and the other objects they had brought with them for the high prices he was eagerly anticipating.

  She also hoped that their expenditure would not be as frightening as it appeared to be at the moment.

  She next found herself wondering what happened to foreigners who came to England and then found that they were bankrupt and could not pay their bills.

  Although she dared not ask Ivor the answer to this question, it consistently haunted her during the day.

  He not only ordered horses for them both to ride but a carriage drawn by a pair which was to be always at their disposal and not hired to anyone else.

  ‘Supposing,’ she said to herself, as the housemaids brought her bath into her bedroom, ‘we suddenly find that we have run out of money. The only course then would be for us to run away.’

  She had the feeling, however, that they might send the Police after them and she remembered reading many books in which criminals were always caught and punished for their crimes.