104. A Heart Finds Love (8 page)

“I hope that you’ll say the same when your Grace’s eaten it,” Brooks replied.

The two men went into the study where Alnina was sitting on the sofa.

She was looking, the Duke thought, exceedingly attractive in a cotton dress, which might not have been the height of fashion, but it matched the blue of her eyes.

“Come and have tea,” she said. “You deserve it. I heard Brooks telling you that his wife has made one of her special cakes and she will be hurt and upset if you don’t enjoy it.”

“I am sure that it’s like everything else you have given us,” the Duke said, “unique and different in every way from anything we have had before.”

Alnina laughed.

“I am so glad that is my reputation, because like you I get very bored when things are humdrum and always exactly the same. That is why I like travelling.”

“I have just been telling the Duke,” William said, “that it will be no use his impressing Prince Vladimir with our photographs if we cannot find an honest overseer for the mountain.”

Even as he finished speaking, he realised that he had been indiscreet and the Duke had not told Alnina what he was trying to buy from the Prince.

He put his fingers up to his lips and, looking at the Duke, sighed,

“I am sorry, John.”

“I thought that it was women who could not keep a secret,” the Duke said. “But I feel that we can trust Miss Lester, so we will let her into the plan.”

“Oh, please do!” Alnina begged. “You told me that there was a special reason for your going to Georgia, but not what it was.”

“The trouble with William has always been that he talks too much, but our secret, now that you know at least a quarter of it, shall be yours and I will tell you that, ever since I last visited Georgia and saw the fantastic Caucasus mountains, I wanted to own one.”

Alnina stared at him.

“To own a mountain! But how exciting! And how thrilling! Of course it would be something really precious to have, all of one’s own.”

“That is exactly what I feel, but I never thought that I could possibly afford one until by the curious hand of Fate I became the Duke.”

“Now you are really going to buy a mountain? It’s the most intriguing idea I have ever heard.”

“Everyone else will think I am a fool, but this is the one thing I want, because, when William and I were there some years ago, we explored one that belongs to Prince Vladimir and we are quite certain that it contains gold.”

“So then you will have a gold mountain all of your own. It’s not surprising that you are so excited.”

“William has just presented a difficulty however.”

“What is that?” Alnina asked.

“Well, neither of us speak Russian and, as he has pointed out, we will need to hire a trustworthy overseer we can give orders to. We must hope that he speaks French.”

Alnina looked from one to the other.

“Are you really telling me that you are thinking of buying a mountain which will cost you a lot of money and neither of you speaks Russian?”

“Because we both spoke French all the time with the people we were staying with and with the Prince when we met him, it never occurred to me that the ordinary people of Georgia speak a different language altogether.”

“But of course they do,” Alnina said.

“What I have suggested,” William broke in, “is that we both learn Russian before we go out and spend a great deal of money buying this mountain over which, however much gold it contains, we are bound to be crooked.”

“I think that is very likely,” Alnina remarked, “but it will take you some time. It took me over a year to learn Russian and I had one of the best teachers ever.”

The Duke stared at her.

“You speak Russian?”

“Fluently, I am glad to say,” Alnina replied. “But I did work very hard at it and, as I had completed all the other lessons in the school, I did nothing else.”

There was silence for a moment and then William said,

“Then of course you will have to teach us.”

Alnina smiled.

“For one year? Or if you enjoy your life in London, which undoubtedly you do, it might be two or three years.”

Again there was silence before the Duke suggested,

“The only possible answer to this problem is that you come out with us to Georgia. Then you can give the overseer his orders and we hope that he passes them on.”

”Are you serious?” Alnina enquired.

“Of course I am serious. I have been dreaming of this for years. Now that it is actually within my reach to own a mountain that seems to me much more exciting than anything else I have seen on my travels, I just cannot give up and admit I am defeated.”

“No, of course not, but I am sure that you could find someone more suitable than I am.”

The Duke spread out his hands.

“Quite frankly we know no one. And to go to the Russian Embassy would be crazy.”

“Why should it be?” William enquired.

“Don’t be silly. You know as well as I do, if the Russians thought that there was gold in the mountain you are talking about, the gold would be theirs before we even left home.”

“Mr. Armstrong is absolutely right there,” Alnina agreed. “The Russians, I was told by my teacher, who was a Russian, have been actively searching for gold and every other available mineral in the Caucasus.”

She smiled at them both before she continued,

“But those who prospected in the North have often been disappointed. And they have now almost given up believing that treasure is there waiting for them.”

They looked at each other and then William said,

“Miss Lester is quite right. I think, if she will come with us to Tiflis, it will make those we meet think we are merely on an adventurous holiday.”

“That is sheer common sense,” the Duke said, “so please, Miss Lester, or rather Alnina – remember I knew your brother and please call me John – will you come with us as my guest and help me buy the one possession I really want to own?”

“It is the most exciting invitation I have ever had,” Alnina enthused, “but how can I leave everything here with Charles’s creditors trying every way they can to extract money from me that I do not have?”

“You can leave all that in the hands of my Solicitor and one of my Managers,” the Duke said. “Most of them have little to do at The Castle as they have already made it almost perfect. My Solicitor will keep the dogs at bay until you return.”

“I cannot believe you are really serious about this,” Alnina sighed.

“I am completely serious and William will tell you how much I have longed for this particular mountain, but have never been rich enough until now to buy an inch of it, let alone the whole mountain itself.”

Alnina looked from one to the other.

“I don’t know what to say. You have taken all my breath away and I cannot think clearly.”

“Just leave it all to me. I will arrange that nothing difficult happens while you are away and, if the creditors get really out of hand, my people shall pay them and we can then discuss later how much you owe me instead of them.”

“I feel breathless,” Alnina murmured. “Of course it will be thrilling for me to go to Georgia and to see the Caucasus. It is something I thought would never actually happen and I would only be able to read about it, as I have done already, in books.”

“Very well. William and I will go back to London and I will send down one of my Managers and a Solicitor tomorrow for you to give them your instructions as to what is to be sold in the house and what is not.”

The Duke smiled at her.

“Personally,” he went on, “I think it would be best if nothing was sold until we return.”

“I doubt if the creditors will agree to that,” Alnina answered in a small voice.

“Very well, they will just have to be paid off,” the Duke asserted.

He then looked up at the empty space over the mantelpiece and continued,

“I only wish that this had happened sooner and you would have been able to keep a great number of pictures that you have already sold.”

“I hated doing it,” Alnina admitted, “and it would have broken Papa’s heart.”

“Well, what is done cannot be undone,” the Duke said. “But we can make amends for you in the future and, as our teacher, you will be entitled to a large salary.”

Alnina stared at him incredulously.

“Are you really serious?” she asked.

“Of course I am. It matters to me enormously. I am not so concerned with money, but only with possessing the mountain I have always wanted and, if you like, loved as if it was the wife everyone is begging me to marry!”

William laughed.

“You would find it cold, hard and cumbersome when you were making love to it!”

“Now you are just being unpleasant, William. The mountain is what I dream about and I have wanted it ever since we first saw it. Now I have a chance of making it mine I am not going to miss it. That is my final word, so it is no use arguing with me about it.”

“I would not dare,” William said. “I just know how pig-headed you can be when you make up your mind and Alnina will have to get used to that, just as I have.”

Alnina was looking from one to the other as if she could not believe that what they were saying was true.

Then the Duke announced,

“With any luck we will leave next week. Now tell me if there is anything else you want done while we are away.”

“I hate to say it, but Brooks and his wife have been wonderful to me and have looked after me ever since I was a baby. They have hardly been able to afford enough food when we have not sold anything and they have not been paid any wages for months.”

“You can leave that to me,” the Duke said.

“I hate to bother you with it,” Alnina replied, “but they are the only people who have helped me since I have been alone.”

“As I have already said,” the Duke insisted, “I will see that the Brookses are cared for and have help in the house while you are away with me.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” Alnina cried. “I just could not bear them being half-starved, as they have been at times and I am sure that they would feel very lonely in the house if there was no one with them.”

“I will see that Mrs. Brooks has someone to help in the kitchen and that Brooks has a footman.”

Alnina threw up her hands.

“I don’t believe it. I am dreaming all this and will wake up and find that I am alone in bed.”

“You will wake up and find that you are in Tiflis and have a thousand things to do for me,” the Duke said. “Before we leave I am certain that, as my wife, you will want some fashionable and expensive clothes as part of my bargain.”

He paused before he added,

“You had better come to London and stay two or three nights and buy what you want, which, of course, must be suitable for a Duchess.”

Alnina drew in her breath.

“Now I am quite certain that I will wake up at any moment!” she exclaimed.

“In that case William and I are going to leave while you convince yourself you have not been dreaming and are merely being practical! And, of course, earning your salary as our teacher and, as far as Tiflis is concerned, as my wife!”

Alnina then stared at him again as if she could not believe what she was hearing, but William laughed.

“This is John all over! Once he gets going there is no stopping him. So come along, John, it is time we went back to London and you can send a carriage for Alnina tomorrow morning.”

“You are quite right, William, because we have so much to do. Goodbye, Alnina, and remember that you are doing me the kindest turn ever and I am extremely grateful to you.”

He shook her hand.

Then, as she was unable to speak for the moment, he walked ahead out of the door with William behind him.

By the time Alnina had followed them to the front door, they were already climbing into the chaise.

“So we will see you tomorrow,” the Duke shouted, waving his hand.

Then, as the horses moved off, Alnina stopped at the top of the steps and with difficulty waved back.

‘This cannot be true, I am dreaming, I know I am dreaming,’ she sighed to herself, as she walked very slowly back to the study.

The very next morning Alnina was astonished when two men arrived, sent by the Duke.

One was a Solicitor, the other one of his Managers.

“His Grace has told us,” they informed her, “that we are to look after your estate and keep Lord Lester’s creditors at bay until you return with him from his trip.”

Brooks had shown them into the study.

Alnina was there at the writing table making notes of what would be required.

She could not help feeling that it might all be a hoax. She was genuinely afraid that His Grace would, at the last moment, change his mind and not take her.

Now she realised that everything had to be done in a hurry and she produced the collection of bills that had not been paid.

To her intense relief the Solicitor did not exclaim with horror, but took them quietly into his possession and he assured her that there would be no trouble while she was abroad.

It was more difficult to explain to the Manager what was required on the estate and that she was trying to save the pensioners from starving and to keep the land in a reasonably good condition without spending too much.

“The sad truth is,” she said, “I don’t have any at the moment. You can readily understand that, although I have managed to sell many items, I still have to find even more for the creditors before spending anything on the estate.”

She gave a deep sigh before she added,

“At the same time I cannot allow people to starve simply because I cannot give them what my father did and my grandfather before him.”

“I understand,” the Manager said. “His Grace has told me that I am to do the best I can for your people and that he will supply anything urgently needed while you are away.

“It is
so
kind of him,” Alnina smiled.

However, she felt ashamed that she should have to accept what was really charity from a stranger and her only consolation was that the Duke and William had known Charles at Eton.

Therefore they had been to some extent friends of his and so she did have some tie with them.