Leading Lady Read online

  ‘Yes.’ Lifelessly. Then ‘What’s that?’ She heard it again. A groan? A stifled call for help?

  ‘What’s what?’ He had her arm again, starting her back down the path.

  ‘No! There’s someone hurt; there in the thicket. This way!’

  ‘You’re imagining things, acushla. I heard nothing.’ But when she took no notice, he followed her perforce along the cattle track that led into the bushes.

  It was rough going; briars caught at her skirts, pulled her hair; then, from one moment to the next she was in the forest itself, black, thick-growing fir. ‘Where are you?’ She called, stopped, listened.

  ‘It will be dark soon,’ Desmond protested.

  ‘Be quiet!’ She heard it again, close now. ‘Thank God!’ She pushed aside low-growing branches to see where a man had crawled to hide, flat on his face on the ground. He made the strangled sound again, and she saw the gag round his neck, his hands tied behind his back. The hood of his cassock, pulled back for the gag, showed fair hair. ‘It’s a monk! Help me, Desmond. Your knife!’

  ‘Here.’ He handed it to her reluctantly. ‘How do we know it really is a monk? Some quarrel among outlaws, more like. Loose him, and he’ll attack us. We should get help.’

  ‘We can’t leave him here. Whoever did this might return.’ She crept closer to work on the gag, by touch rather than sight. ‘I’ll have this off you in a moment,’ she told the rigid shoulders. ‘Don’t shout; they might still be close. You can trust us. There!’ The last savage knot gave to her clever hands.

  ‘Bless you, Cristabel,’ said Prince Franz.

  ‘Dear God! Franz! Hold still, while I free your hands. I’m going to have to use the knife, they’re savagely tied.’

  ‘I know,’ he said ruefully, and lay still.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ she asked as she sawed carefully at the strong cord.

  ‘A blow to the head, nothing more. Caught unawares. What in God’s name is going on here in Lissenberg?’

  ‘Later,’ she said. ‘Don’t talk; don’t move; I’m afraid of cutting you.’

  Even when she had him free and they were struggling back to the path, the curiously awkward silence held. After the first impulsive thanks, he had said nothing to explain, and she had hesitated to ask him.

  ‘Well, here’s a rum go.’ Desmond plucked burrs from his coat and dropped them on the road. ‘Welcome home, highness. Can we offer you a lift in our carriage? And how do you propose to explain your surprise appearance?’

  ‘Footpads,’ said Franz. ‘Will you oblige me by driving first to the martyr’s stone? My wife was to meet me there. It’s getting dark; she will be anxious.’

  ‘There’s a carriage coming now.’ Cristabel’s hearing was sharp. ‘Look, there are its lights, coming up the hill. What should we do?’ Unspoken among them was the possibility that it might be the prince’s attackers.

  ‘We must chance it.’ Franz answered the silent question and stepped into the road to wave an imperative hand at the carriage as it came lumbering round the corner.

  ‘Oh, thank God,’ Martha tumbled out into his arms.

  ‘And that, so far as we are concerned, appears to be that,’ said Desmond to Cristabel, back in their carriage. ‘We save his life and all we get is a quick thank you, and goodbye. Not a word of explanation! They didn’t even ask for a promise of secrecy!’

  ‘Maybe they thought it would be useless,’ said Cristabel, and then regretted it.

  ‘The servants, you mean. You’re right, of course. No way of stopping their clacking tongues.’

  ‘Not footpads,’ said Martha, safe in their room at last.

  ‘No. They ambushed me at the rock. How could they have known?’

  ‘I told no one but Anna and Doctor Joseph. And I didn’t tell him where we were to meet. But I suppose someone could have suspected something; kept a look out. Idiotic of me to name such a public meeting-place. They took you from the martyr’s stone itself?’

  ‘Yes.’ Ruefully. ‘Like a sitting duck. There I was, straining my eyes for a sight of your carriage, listening for your wheels. Heard a sound, turned. Too late … A blow … Then, nothing.’

  ‘Who were they? How did you get away?’

  ‘Gustav’s men. I was only unconscious for a moment, managed to pretend lifelessness. They were arguing about how to get me to Gustavsberg. They’d left their carriage hidden on the road to the Trappists’ farm, had to carry me across the ridge, didn’t much like the job. I made myself as heavy and awkward as possible. At last they put me down, started to argue about waiting till I recovered and they could make me walk it. It was getting darker all the time. While they were hard at it, I managed to roll over, slide away into the bushes. It was rough going. I shan’t be a very elegant prince tomorrow!’

  ‘No.’ She had been busy bathing his scratches as they talked. ‘Cristabel was bleeding too. But, Franz, Gustav’s men? You’re sure?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Max is there,’ she said bleakly. ‘He went some days ago. I sent a message, when Frau Schmidt came, summoning him back. What do you think Gustav will do?’

  ‘I doubt he’ll let him come. I’m afraid we can only wait and see. You sent to order the arrest of the men at the border?’

  ‘Yes. It’s going to cause a lot of talk, I’m afraid.’ Her gentle fingers had reached the swelling on his head. ‘This must hurt! How long were you unconscious?’

  ‘Only an instant. It’s nothing to signify.’

  ‘It’s nothing to neglect either.’ She had hoped so much from this moment of reunion, but she had also thought about it a good deal. ‘You must be bone tired. I’m going to give you a light supper, put you to bed in here and sleep in the dressing-room where I can keep an eye on you. We’re both going to need all our strength and all our wits about us in the morning.’

  ‘We certainly are.’ He caught the hand that was tending him and kissed it. ‘You think of everything. I love you so much, my love. Do you sometimes wish as I do, that we were strolling players, living on your money and my wits?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ she said.

  Tongues were still wagging about Franz’s return and the arrest of the border guards when Lodge arrived with a message from Prince Gustav. After congratulating Franz on his return, he came straight to the heart of the matter. ‘Prince Gustav asks your permission to come and visit you. You and he have things to discuss, he says. I am afraid he means to keep your brother and my friend Playfair at Gustavsberg until he has seen you. Oh, they are comfortable enough but confined to the castle. I don’t think either of them is enjoying it much. I do hope you will see your way to granting your father’s request. I wouldn’t like to contemplate the consequences if I were to go back without the required permission.’

  ‘Blackmail,’ said Prince Franz.

  ‘Your brother, highness, and my friend.’

  ‘Do you know what it is that Prince Gustav wants to discuss?’ Martha had joined the private conference on her husband’s insistence, much against Lodge’s will.

  ‘The future of Lissenberg. What else? The news your brother brought makes a decision more urgent that ever.’ He had addressed himself entirely to Franz, ignoring Martha as if she had not spoken.

  ‘And what does he propose for Lissenberg’s future?’ asked Franz.

  ‘Ah, that he did not choose to tell me. Send for him, prince, I urge you.’

  ‘We must, I think. Don’t you?’ to Martha.

  ‘Oh, yes. But we won’t send Mr Lodge, will we? I hope he will give us the pleasure of entertaining him here at the palace.’

  ‘Prince Gustav doesn’t care a fig for my comfort,’ said Lodge. ‘But I’ll be happy to stay, if you wish it, highness.’ Once again, this was to Franz. ‘I brought a messenger, just in case.’

  Prince Gustav arrived next day, and once again Franz insisted that Martha be present at their interview. ‘We have no secrets from each other,’ he told the man he could not bring himself to look on as his father.

  �
�Admirable, I am sure.’ Gustav looked sleek and spruce, younger, Martha thought, than when he had been deposed the year before. ‘I am so glad to see that there is no truth in the rumours about you two. You do not intend to yield to Napoleon and marry his niece?’ To Franz. ‘Forgive the blunt question, but it has bearing on our discussion.’

  ‘I do not,’ said Franz.

  ‘Spoken like my son.’ He turned to Martha. ‘I wonder, my dear, if you would not really prefer to leave us. What I have to say next must be painful to you.’

  ‘I’ll stay if Franz wants me,’ said Martha.

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Very well then. We’re here to consider what the future holds for Lissenberg, the country we all love, at this time of European crisis. France and Austria both want our minerals. We want, as we have always wanted, to stay neutral. We can make Lissenberg rich for years to come if we play our cards right. You’ve not answered the Austrians, I hope?’ he said to Franz.

  ‘I thought we had best wait to hear what you and Max had to say.’

  ‘Wise of you. Maybe we are going to be able to deal together after all, you and I, which is more than I ever had hopes of doing with that hothead, Max. So – we sell to the highest bidder, do we not? Or, just possibly, to the first with ready money. In fact, there are all kinds of possibilities, intelligently handled.’

  ‘You think so?’ asked Franz, very quiet.

  ‘Well, of course.’

  ‘And who is this “we”?’

  ‘Why, you and I. I had hoped you had seen the need for a wiser head by now. I am going to come back here to the palace as your father, adviser, friend. It will give you two young people the backing you so visibly need. And, better still, it will give you the heir you begin to seem so significantly to lack.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ Franz was white now.

  ‘Forgive me.’ This time he did include Martha. ‘But there does seem to be some small delay in the arrival of the little prince everyone longs for, does there not? While the countess and I, I am happy to tell you, are married at last. You will find her delightful company, I am sure, dear child.’ To Martha. ‘And she will be able to help you to go on rather better with our stiff-necked Lissenbergers. And there will be little Gustav for everyone to pin their hopes on, until, of course, you decide to oblige us, my dear.’

  ‘Never,’ said Franz, through gritted teeth.

  ‘Oh, my dear boy, do pause to think a little. There is a very unfortunate accident waiting to happen to your brother at Gustavsberg. He is getting so tired of being cooped up in the castle, poor lad. When he gets the chance, he will very naturally try to escape, and then, I am afraid, he will be shot by mistake. Taken for a poacher, you know. It was so very good of you to allow me to preserve the game on my own estate, while you threw the rest of the country open to the masses. And got small thanks for it, I’m afraid. An ungrateful lot, our Lissenbergers, as I think you are beginning to find.’

  ‘You wouldn’t …’ Franz looked at his father. ‘Yes, I believe you would.’

  ‘We will get on much better, dear boy, if you believe me capable of anything where my own comfort is concerned.’

  ‘I should know by now.’ He reached out to take Martha’s hand. ‘We will have to think about this, my wife and I.’

  ‘Don’t think too long, my children, or the accident might happen, by accident, as it were. Remember, I’m not asking much. I don’t in the least wish to be Prince of Lissenberg again; I’m very happy as I am. I just want to be back in the centre of things, to feel the strands of power in my hands.’

  ‘And see little Gustav heir of Lissenberg?’ asked Martha.

  ‘Purely as a temporary measure.’ This time he spoke to her directly. ‘As a woman, you will understand that my wife, his mother, has her heart very much set on it. There were some extremely tedious rumours in connection with the boy’s birth, with which I will not bore you. His acceptance as heir presumptive would take care of them once and for all.’

  ‘What about Max?’ asked Franz.

  ‘Ah, yes – he does present a problem. But he’s a soft-hearted young man. Approached in the right way, I do not think he would hold out for long. It’s a pity that opera of his was such a fiasco, but I am sure he has his heart set on trying again. I think I have managed to convince him that in fact the failure was a political rather than an artistic one. You haven’t endeared poor little Lissenberg to the Austrians much, have you, my boy? They like their diplomacy in velvet gloves, masked, as it were. Now, I’ve the very ally for us, one that will suit you too, I think.’

  ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘Prussia. Frederick William and his minister Haugwitz have refused to join the allies against Napoleon. I’ve been in correspondence with Count von Haugwitz, a most agreeable man and a friend of Goethe. He’s more interested in the Oder than the Rhine, and an old admirer of Napoleon, like you, my boy. Who’s to say you are both wrong?’

  ‘It’s not something I feel now,’ said Franz. ‘Let me get this straight, sir. What you are suggesting is that you come back here to the palace, to live, with Countess Bemberg and the children? As our adviser? And we ally ourselves to Prussia and sell our lethal minerals to the highest bidder?’

  ‘And name little Gustav as your heir. I’ve made sure that Max sees something of him, and of the dear girls. Pity they are too close kin for marriage, but then that poor besotted Max is still wearing the willow for Lady Cristabel, is he not? Is her marriage the disaster they say, and her voice as badly affected? I hope you are going to put on an opera for me while I am enjoying my stay with you, so that I can judge for myself.’

  ‘You are taking altogether too much for granted,’ said Franz. ‘My wife and I must discuss these drastic proposals of yours. We will talk again tomorrow. I take it we can assume that my brother is safe in the mean time.’

  ‘Oh, I think so,’ said Prince Gustav. ‘And have I your permission to drop in at the opera house, listen to a rehearsal and have a word with my old friend Lady Cristabel? It would be discourteous not to say a word about her marriage.’

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Martha asked. The long day crammed with insincere civilities, was over at last and they were alone in their own rooms.

  ‘God knows.’ Franz sat down heavily in a chair and put his hand to his head.

  ‘Your head aches?’

  ‘A little. He said nothing about my scratched face.’

  ‘I noticed that too. Well, it saved us a few lies. What would have happened, do you think, if he had had both you and Max in his power?’

  ‘You would have received a still more drastic demand.’

  ‘This one is drastic enough.’

  ‘Yes, in the way it is made. But,’ he was actually smiling, ‘the disconcerting thing about it, my darling, is that it seems to me to make a great deal of political sense. I’ve been racking my brains, all this time I’ve dangled helpless at Napoleon’s heels, for an ally who would help Lissenberg stay neutral, and I’d come up with the same answer as Prince Gustav. Prussia is most certainly the one. She’s far enough away, you see. She won’t want to swallow us whole, as Austria does. I’d been wondering how to get in touch. Well, now I have my answer. Not that I have ever thought very highly of Lodge and Playfair, but as messengers I suppose they will serve.’

  ‘You think they are in Prussian pay now?’

  ‘Everything points that way, does it not?’

  ‘Yes.’ Reluctantly. ‘I suppose it does. But – your father and the countess, you cannot seriously mean to bring them here to the palace …’

  ‘Frankly, my darling, I don’t think Prince Gustav seriously means to come. He would dislike it quite as much as we would. I am sure he will be glad to reach a compromise about that. Specially,’ he paused, took her hands, ‘if we were to offer to bring up the little boy. Would you mind very much?’

  ‘But he’s only a baby! What? A year and a half? Something like that. His mother would never part with him.’

  ‘Oh, my
dearest, I think she would. You mustn’t make the mistake of judging others by yourself. I think you will find that however much they boast of him, his parents leave little Gustav very much to his servants. And you know the saying: Give me the child for his first seven years and he is mine for life. You’d be a much better mother to him, Martha. Would you do it? For me? For Lissenberg?’

  ‘Of course I would. I’d like to.’ So much they were not saying. ‘But, what of Max? What would he say?’

  ‘Do you think it’s true that he still loves Cristabel?’

  ‘I’m afraid so, poor man. If you had seen his face when I told him of her marriage …’

  ‘Then the question of his marrying, having an heir, is remote for the time being. And the first thing is to get him safely away from Gustavsberg.’

  ‘From that accident that’s waiting for him.’ She shivered. ‘Yes, indeed.’

  ‘I love you,’ he said. ‘Right, then. We invite the whole party here for the anniversary celebration, say we cannot make any final agreement without Max, but begin by inviting little Gustav to live with us.’

  ‘And send friendly messages to Prussia at once?’ she suggested. ‘Will they want our minerals too?’

  ‘Bound to. But they would be using them for defensive purposes, as neutrals. Better, surely?’

  ‘Much better. I wish I trusted Lodge and Playfair. And – you’ll think me a fool –’

  ‘Never.’ He kissed her hand.

  ‘It’s the anniversary opera. It gives me the strangest feel. You remember the last time?’

  ‘I do indeed, since it brought us together against all the odds. You’re never superstitious, my darling?’ Tender amusement in his voice as if he rather liked the idea.

  ‘Maybe a little. I had the same feeling yesterday, in the tunnel, when we parted. I was afraid … and I was right to be, Franz!’

  ‘Just a woman after all, not entirely a heroine.’ He pulled her to him. ‘Oh, my darling, I have missed you so.’

  ‘And I you!’ Her arms went up to clasp him, her whole body melted against his. ‘My darling, it’s been so long.’