A Victory for Love Read online

  Now they were in the wood and there was a silence created by the trees and the faint sounds that came from small animals hurrying away through the undergrowth at their approach.

  Then there would be the sudden flight of a bird coming off the roost because they had passed immediately underneath him.

  They reached the clearing where the moonlight seemed dazzling in its brightness and instinctively Farica turned her head to look up at Ivan because she was sure that he found it as magical as she did.

  It was then that he dropped the reins, put his other arm around her and his lips found hers.

  For one instant it was a surprise to Farica. Then she knew that, almost without knowing it, it was what she had longed for and prayed for ever since she had met him.

  He kissed her fiercely and demandingly as if he could not control himself.

  Then, as he felt the softness of her mouth and the little quiver that went through her, he became more gentle, tender and yet possessive, as if he wooed her with his kisses.

  He kissed her until Farica felt as if the moonlight had entered into both of them and joined them with a radiance that could only have come from Heaven itself.

  She had never been kissed and the sensations that Ivan gave her were so wonderful and so different from anything she had ever known or even imagined in her wildest dreams that she felt as if they both moved on shafts of light up to the moon itself.

  They were no longer human, no longer on Earth, but part of the Heavenly Sphere and the stars were not only all around them but in their hearts and minds, their eyes and lips.

  Only as Farica felt as if she had touched Heaven and would never come back to Earth did Ivan raise his head and say,

  “God, how I love you! My darling, I did not mean to do this tonight or at any time until I am a free man.”

  “I – love you!”

  Because her voice had a rapture and ecstasy in it that told him what she was feeling, Ivan kissed her again.

  She could feel his heart beating against hers and he knew that never in his life had he known such ecstasy.

  Then, as if he was suddenly aware that they were still sitting on the back of Waterloo, who was cropping the rather sparse grass in the clearing, Ivan swung himself down on the ground and then lifted Farica from the saddle.

  He did not, however, put her down, but holding her cradled in his arms he kissed her until without really meaning to she put up her hands in protest.

  Instantly she was free, except that he kept one arm around her as if to steady her.

  “Forgive me,” he said, “but you go to my head and I cannot think sanely about anything when I am so near you.”

  It was then that the reason for her coming to him in the first place was back in her mind.

  And yet it was hard to think of anything except that his kisses made her feel as if she had come alive and her whole body was pulsating with the wonder of him.

  “I – love you!” she murmured again.

  “And I love you!”

  Three simple words, but she knew that they came from the very depths of his heart and were spoken with a sincerity that could not have been more sacred if he had said them to her in a Cathedral.

  Then, as they gazed at each other, their eyes, reflecting not only the moonlight but also the radiant light of love that came from within them, they heard Hagman coming through the wood.

  He joined them a few moments later carrying a bundle, which Farica guessed was all that Ivan possessed, except what he stood up in.

  “It was lucky that you were there tonight,” she said to Hagman, “otherwise I was wondering how I could get word to you as to where I was hiding your Master.”

  “Where do we go from here?” Ivan asked.

  “I will have to show you or you will never find it and it will be easier to walk than to ride.”

  “I will walk,” he said, “and, as I shall be leading Waterloo, you can ride.”

  Again he lifted her into the saddle and gave her the reins.

  Then he walked as Farica directed along a twisting path between a number of fir trees that brought them out on the outside of the garden of The Priory.

  They had been moving in silence until Farica now said,

  “The path ahead is likely to be overgrown as no one has used it for a long time.”

  She slipped down from the saddle onto the ground and walked ahead to show them the way, Ivan following her with Waterloo and Hagman behind.

  The path twisted between the trees until suddenly in the very centre of a large clump of rhododendrons there was a small house.

  It was so tiny that it was little more than a shed, but, as the moonlight illuminated it, Ivan could see that it looked rather like a house out of a Fairytale with a high thatched roof and blue shutters covering the windows.

  Farica opened the door with a key she had brought with her in her pocket and, although she could just about stand up to go inside, Ivan had to bow his head to follow her.

  It took them a few minutes to find the tinderbox and to light the candle lantern that hung from the rafters in the centre of the room.

  When it was lit, in order to make it easier to see, Farica opened the shutters that covered the windows.

  Ivan stared around in amazement and Farica laughed.

  “Papa built this for me when I was ten,” she explained. “It was my own special doll’s house, but large enough for me.”

  “I have never seen anything so amazing,” Ivan exclaimed.

  “I adored it,” Farica smiled, “and, although you may feel rather like a giant in it, it is very unlikely that anyone will think of looking for you here. At least it is a roof over your head, and the bed will be just big enough for you.”

  The house was divided into two portions, first a sitting room that was beautifully furnished with a carpet on the floor, a fireplace, chairs that were small, but just big enough for a grown-up to sit in and the same applied to the sofa.

  There was a table to eat at with pretty chairs with velvet-covered seats and the pictures on the walls were all of fairies and goblins.

  In the bedroom there was the bed that Farica had used and several doll’s beds as well as a small dressing table and washstand that were just the right size for a little girl of ten.

  Ivan looked round and said,

  “Only you could produce something so fantastic! When I first saw you, I thought that you had stepped out of Fairyland and now I know I was right!”

  “And this is the – Fairy House in the wood,” Farica replied, “which I am quite certain will be invisible to anyone – who is looking for you.”

  She tried to speak confidently, but there was a tremor in her voice, as if she was afraid, and Ivan took a step towards her as if he would take her in his arms.

  Then he remembered that Hagman was outside.

  “There is also a special place for Waterloo,” Farica continued, “because I often used to come here on my pony and Papa made a little stable for him where I could groom him myself.”

  They went outside and she showed Ivan where Waterloo could be stabled.

  It was rather small, but there was a manger and a bucket that he could drink from and straw on the ground.

  They took Waterloo’s bridle and saddle from him and he went into the stall and seemed perfectly content.

  “What do you think of it, Hagman?” Ivan asked.

  “If I wasn’t a seein’ it with me own two eyes, my Lord,” Hagman replied, “I’d say I’d had one too many at The Fox and Goose!”

  Ivan laughed and then he declared,

  “Now you know where to find me and I shall keep out of sight here until you can tell me – what is being planned for me.”

  “I’ll keep me eyes and ears open, my Lord, don’t you worry about that and I’ll be over to see you as soon as I can get away.”

  “Thank you very much, Hagman,” and if you can, bring me a newspaper. I want to be sure there is still a world outside this one.”

  “
Leave it to me, my Lord. Goodnight.”

  He looked at Farica and said,

  “And goodnight to you, miss. This be a surprise and make no mistake, but his Lordship’ll be safer here than anywhere else.”

  “I am sure he will be,” Farica answered.

  Hagman went off through the trees and they knew that it was not a long distance across country from here to The Castle.

  Farica closed the shutters that were letting in the moonlight because she was afraid that the light from the lantern might in some way be seen through the trees.

  Then, as if Ivan thought that it was a mistake for her to be alone with him inside the house, he went out through the front door to stand on the little terrace that had been erected by her father.

  The rhododendrons had grown since they had been planted until the house was almost lost amongst them.

  “I am sure you will – be safe here,” Farica said as if she was reassuring herself.

  “Nothing could be more enchanting, except you!”

  Farica smiled up at him and then said,

  “Tomorrow morning early, very early, so that no one will see me, I will bring you some food. Oh and I forgot to show you a tiny well outside by the stable. The water is absolutely pure as it comes straight down from the hill at the top of the woods.”

  “What more could anyone want?” Ivan asked.

  He was joking, but it flashed through her mind and she knew it flashed through his, that he did not wish to live in a doll’s house but in The Castle that was his own and which had been his father’s and his ancestors’ before him.

  “I had better go back,” Farica said reluctantly.

  “You know I don’t want you to go,” Ivan replied,

  “But I am terrified of hurting you in any way and even gossip can be dangerous.”

  “I am not afraid of that.”

  “You are so perfect,” Ivan said, “that I would not have anyone say a word against you. All I wish to do myself is to kneel before you as if you are a Saint and thank you for all you have done for me.”

  He put his arm around her as he spoke and, tipping her face up to his, he looked at her for a long moment.

  “No one could ever be lovelier,” he said, “and I can only say that I will fight for you and defend and protect you for the rest of my life.”

  The way he spoke was very moving and Farica felt herself quiver because he was touching her and because she loved him.

  “We are going to win,” she said, “there is no doubt of it. But please be very careful of yourself because you know that the forces of evil are ranged against you.”

  She saw the expression in Ivan’s eyes and knew how much he resented the fact that he was to all intents and purposes powerless and he loathed having to hide and scheme rather than attack his enemy in the open.

  She knew exactly what he was thinking and because she wanted to comfort as well as inspire him she put her arms around him and drew his head down to hers.

  “I love you,” she said, “and our love – must be invincible.”

  He held her so tightly that it was impossible to breathe.

  Then once again he was kissing her wildly and passionately as if the fires within him were ignited and flaring violently like a forest fire.

  He kissed her lips, her eyes, the softness of her neck, giving her strange sensations that she had never known before and yet she was not afraid.

  She realised that he must express what had been kept hidden for so long and now burst from him like a volcano that suddenly erupts.

  He kissed her until the moonlight seemed to swing dizzily around them and they were no longer standing amongst the rhododendrons and in the shadow of the trees, but were sailing on shafts of light up into the sky.

  “I love you – I love you!” Farica wanted to shout out, but it was impossible to speak.

  She could only feel her heart beating and a fire burning within her that came from the fire on Ivan’s lips.

  Only when they were both breathless did he say,

  “Forgive me, I should have sent you home ages ago, but, my darling, I would not frighten you.”

  “I am not afraid,” Farica said, “but I did not understand that love was so exciting and so completely different from what I expected.”

  He laughed gently and asked,

  “What did you expect?”

  “I always thought that love would be very quiet, soft and sweet, rather like music from a violin or perhaps the song of the birds.”

  “And now?”

  “It is overwhelming – stupendous! Like being swept along on a chariot of fire so glorious that I feel as if I am enchanted.”

  “I think that is what you are.” Ivan said, “and because you love me, I am enchanted too. We are no longer human, my precious, but have become as Gods and as Gods we are unconquerable.”

  He held her close against him as he went on,

  “You have inspired me and made me aware that I am more of a man than I have ever been before.”

  “I love you – as a man.”

  “I love you as a woman, my woman, and no one shall ever take you from me.”

  He looked down at her for a moment before he said,

  “Supposing, just supposing I am unable to reclaim my rightful place as my father’s son? Suppose I fail and yet remain alive? Will you still marry me?”

  Farica laughed and it was a very happy sound.

  “Do you really believe for a moment that I love you – because you are an Earl?” she asked. “I love you because, as I have said, you are a man. I love you because from the very first moment I met you, I knew that you were something special and different from anybody I have known before.”

  Her voice softened as she continued,

  “When you turned to look at me – I felt that there was a light coming from you that silhouetted you against the tree trunks. Then I told myself it was the sunshine.”

  “And to me you have been illuminated by a light ever since I saw you standing a little way from me and thought that you were a nymph of the trees,” Ivan said, “and so different and so inescapable that you stole my heart and it has never been mine since.”

  “That is what I wanted to know, Ivan. Whatever happens, will you swear we will never lose each other?”

  “I swear it!” Ivan asserted firmly. “And if it is impossible for us to live at The Castle, then I will build a Castle for you somewhere else, even if I do it with my own hands. What really matters, Farica, is that you are, mine, mine completely and I cannot lose you.”

  He kissed her again and this time she felt as if there was something desperate about it, as if he was afraid not only for himself and the position that had been stolen from him but of losing her.

  “Because tonight we are both enchanted,” she murmured softly, “I know, as an enchantress, that everything will come right. We may have to labour like Hercules to achieve what is right and just, but we will be successful as long as we do it together.”

  Ivan kissed her hand and then he said,

  “You are perfect, but now go to bed, my darling, while I can let you. One day, God willing, we will be married, then not even the night shall separate us. But now I have to let you go.”

  Farica kissed him gently on the cheek and instantly the fire swept away the solemnity of his eyes and his lips were seeking hers.

  He kissed her until she felt that he drew her very heart from her body and made it his.

  “I want you, oh God, I want you,” he breathed.

  Then abruptly, as if flesh and blood could stand no more, he walked away from her into the little doll’s house and closed the door behind him.

  For a moment she could hardly believe that he had gone.

  Her heart was beating so tumultuously and she felt as if the world was swimming around her.

  Then, because she knew it was right, she ran away through the bushes towards The Priory.

  As she went, her heart was singing and she was saying over and over again,


  ‘Thank You, God, thank You. He loves me, as I love him, and nothing else is really of any consequence!’

  Chapter Six

  Farica rose very early in the morning, well before five o’clock when she knew that the maids would be coming downstairs to open up the house.

  As she crept along the shrouded corridors, she thought that if her father knew what was happening he would be horrified, and so, if she was alive, would her mother.

  And yet she was aware that there was nothing she could do at the moment but try to help Ivan in every way she could.

  She knew that he was not exaggerating when he said that Fergus was very dangerous and, although it seemed incredible, she did believe that he would kill without compunction rather than lose his position as the sixth Earl.

  It was so frightening to think about that Farica made herself concentrate on Ivan and the more human and humdrum necessity of providing him with something to eat.

  The kitchen was very quiet and the smell of newly washed flagstones mixed with the scent of onions that hung from the rafters of the timbered ceiling.

  She went, however, further down the passage to where there was a dairy with its cool marble slabs where there were huge bowls of milk that had already overnight turned to cream.

  There was also, she knew, all the food left over from the previous day, besides eggs and butter that had been brought in from the Home Farm.

  She found a basket and filled it first with the heavier things, taking slices of ham from a newly cut leg and brawn that the chef had made according to a recipe her father had inherited, which everybody said was more delicious than any brawn they had ever tasted.

  There was also an ox tongue that had not yet been cut and the remains of a salmon that had been served hot at dinner the night before.

  Farica knew that the salmon had been bought on her father’s instructions, as soon as it was caught in the River Avon, which was not very far away.

  She felt sure it was a luxury that Ivan must have enjoyed as a boy and he would enjoy it again now.

  Having filled one basket she placed into another, a dozen eggs, a pound of golden yellow butter from her father’s Jersey herd and a comb of honey from the hives in the kitchen garden.