Mandie Collection, The: 4 (46 page)

The orchestra played, and finally the magician performed for the guests. Mandie watched his every move, trying to catch on to his magic. The man did various tricks with handkerchiefs and balls and then he made an announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will now give you the highlight of the evening,” he spoke in a loud voice. An assistant rolled a large trunk onto the stage, which stood on end, and the magician walked over to it and opened the lid.

The young people watched closely.

“You can see that this trunk is empty,” he stated. He paused, walked around the stage and came back to the trunk. “I will now close the lid, and when I open it again you will see a beautiful young lady.” He slammed it shut, waited a moment, shook a white handkerchief, and then reopened the lid.

The three young people gasped as the dark-haired woman Rupert knew stepped out of the trunk. She was wearing a beautiful gown of bright red silk, and sparkling gems at her throat and in her hair, which was piled high on her head. As the crowd clapped loudly she smiled, curtsied, and walked off the stage. The adults spoke to one another animatedly and shook their heads. The entertainment was finished for the night.

“That’s the woman!” Mandie exclaimed.

Dorothy, sitting next to her, asked, “What woman? Do you know her?”

“She’s the one who was to cause the fireworks tonight,” Mandie whispered.

“I don’t know about fireworks, but she is Lady Catherine,” Dorothy stated.

Jonathan and Celia had leaned forward to listen. The crowd stood up and the young people did likewise.

“Lady Catherine?” Mandie asked.

“Yes, her family is from England. At one time they were very wealthy, but now all she has is her title,” Dorothy said.

“And Rupert treats her like a servant,” Jonathan said.

Mandie quickly explained to Dorothy what they had seen. The girl listened in wonder at the tales of how Rupert had treated them.

“I had heard that Catherine intended to marry Rupert, one way or another,” Dorothy told them as they moved about the room. “But, of course, the baroness will never allow it.”

“Because she has no money?” Celia asked.

“That’s right,” Dorothy said. “Love doesn’t mean a thing to people like the baroness. They make decisions with their accountant’s advice, not listening to their hearts.”

“I’m thankful my family is not like that,” Mandie said.

“I wonder where she went when she left the stage. Let’s see if we can find out,” Jonathan suggested.

The four young people walked through the room behind the stage
but found it empty. An outside door stood open at the back and they went into the yard. The surroundings were illuminated with dozens and dozens of lights, and many of the guests had also stepped outside, but the young people could find no sign of the woman, or of Rupert.

“I have an idea,” Mandie said. “Remember the barn where we saw them earlier? Let’s go look there.”

As Mandie led the way down the lane, she explained to Dorothy about the barn. They had been looking for the parked carriages, and had found Rupert and Lady Catherine arguing in the barn.

“We never did find the carriages that all the people came in,” Mandie said as they walked along, their skirts held up to avoid the dirt and weeds.

“Oh, I know where they are,” Dorothy said. “Kurt, the baroness’s head driver, supervised all that, and had them put in a clearing all the way across the field on the other side. My father happened to mention it because he had to go back to our carriage to get something he forgot.”

They came within sight of the barn. Mandie cautioned everyone to be quiet just in case Rupert and the woman were there. The young people slowly made their way to the window of the barn and peeked in. A lantern partially illuminated the room, and to their amazement there was Rupert—holding Lady Catherine in his arms and kissing her!

“My goodness!” Mandie exclaimed, shyly backing away from the window. “Look at what Rupert is doing, and he’s engaged!”

“I told you she was in love with him,” Dorothy reminded them as they all looked inside and then cautiously moved away.

“Well, he must love her too, or he wouldn’t be kissing her,” Celia remarked in a soft voice.

“He’s old enough to be in love,” Jonathan said with his mischievous smile.

As they huddled there in the bushes, Mandie heard someone coming. “Sh-h-h! Someone is coming!” she whispered. The group remained motionless as they watched. A man in a dark cloak came swaggering down the pathway, went directly to the door of the barn, and knocked loudly. The door immediately opened and Rupert stood in the doorway.

“I came for the rest of the money,” the man said.

When he spoke, Mandie recognized him as the first driver of
their carriage, the one who had wrecked it. She whispered this to her friends.

“I have repeatedly told you I will pay up when I can close the deal with Herr Zieger,” Rupert said angrily. “And I want you to stop bothering me about it.”

“Then you stop that horseman, the one you asked me to hire to scare those people, from bothering me,” the man said quickly. “He expects his pay from me, you know.”

“I know, I know,” Rupert replied. “And when I get the money I’ll pay you.” He started to shut the door, but the other man put his foot in to stop it.

“I’m only giving you till sundown tomorrow, or I’ll go to the baroness herself,” the man informed him.

“You try that and you’ll never get your money,” Rupert warned. “You dare to tell anyone anything and you’ll wish you never had. Now go back where you belong.”

The man withdrew his foot as he said loudly, “I mean business!” He walked off up the pathway, and Rupert slammed the door shut.

Mandie quickly explained to Dorothy what that was all about, and she was shocked that Rupert would enter into such a scheme.

“He is a very unstable person,” Dorothy said vehemently. “I plan to steer clear of him.”

“He is dangerous,” Jonathan decided.

As the young people stayed hidden behind the bushes, Mandie thought she heard something again.

“I think there is someone else around here,” she whispered to the others. They all remained very still and quiet, waiting to see if another person would appear on the pathway.

Mandie kept watching the dimly lighted window in the barn, even though from where they were they couldn’t see Rupert and Lady Catherine inside. Suddenly a dark form materialized out of the darkness and moved over to stand in front of the barn window. The three young people gasped at once as the dim light from inside illuminated the face of the person.

“The woman from the ship!” Mandie exclaimed softly.

“Yes!” Jonathan and Celia both agreed.

Dorothy looked at them, not understanding.

“Let’s approach her,” Mandie dared her friends as she quietly stood.

“I’m with you!” Jonathan quickly assented.

Celia remained silent.

Mandie and Jonathan silently moved through the bushes toward the figure before the window. Just as they reached her, the woman turned and caught a glimpse of them.

“You are the lady from the ship!” Mandie spoke aloud. “What are you doing here?”

The woman replied in a low voice, “You will find out eventually!” Then she fled, vanishing in the darkness.

“Well, what do you suppose she was up to?” Mandie said impatiently, stamping her foot.

“Who was that?” Dorothy wanted to know.

The young people quickly explained to her about the woman watching them on the ship they had sailed on to London from the United States, and how she always seemed to turn up wherever they went. But they never could quite catch up with her to find out who she was and what she wanted.

Dorothy was excited. “That’s a real mystery, isn’t it? You must all lead such exciting lives, and nothing ever happens to me,” she said with a sigh.

“Oh—something is going to happen right now,” Mandie murmured as she turned to face Rupert and Lady Catherine standing there staring at them.

“What are you Americans doing here? The party is in the castle, in case you didn’t know,” Rupert said rudely.

“We know that very well, Rupert,” Mandie told him. “We also know what you’ve been doing in that barn.”

Rupert stepped toward her and said, “What I do is none of your business and you’d better not meddle in something that doesn’t concern you.”

Jonathan quickly stepped to Mandie’s side. “But it does concern us,” he said.

“Yes, we know now that you were involved in what happened to our carriage, and we could report it and make trouble for you,” Mandie threatened.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Rupert answered, balling up his fists.

Lady Catherine just stood there holding her breath as she listened and watched. Then she said, “Go ahead and tell everything. That would break up Rupert’s engagement, which I would not be unhappy about.”

Rupert gasped and said, “That is not the business of these nosy Americans! You had better go home, Catherine. Now!”

Lady Catherine stood there, smiling. “I’ll go home when I want to and not before. I think I’d like something to eat or drink before I go, anyway. She turned toward the pathway to the castle. Rupert grabbed her arm to stop her. “Don’t touch me.” She moved away from him.

“Don’t you dare go back to the castle,” Rupert told her. “That silly act with the magician was enough, but if you go inside among our guests, I know my grandmother will insult you.”

“Just because your grandmother doesn’t want you to marry me doesn’t mean that she would insult me,” Lady Catherine insisted. “I’ll go and see.”

She turned and hurried up the pathway with Rupert right behind her. The young people followed.

“Here come the fireworks!” Mandie told Dorothy.

When Lady Catherine went through the doorway of the drawing room Rupert was still right behind her. The young people were close behind them. Several guests turned to look at the group. Then Mandie saw the baroness talking to her grandmother with Frau Jahn’s help.

The four young people stopped to watch as Lady Catherine walked directly to the baroness. She turned to Lady Catherine without missing a breath, and extended her hand to the young woman. “How nice of you to join us, dear!” she said through Frau Jahn’s interpretation.

Mandie and her friends were amazed, and Rupert stood with his mouth open.

“Rupert found me after I assisted the magician, and invited me inside for refreshments,” Lady Catherine told the baroness through Frau Jahn. Baroness Geissler smiled at Lady Catherine, and Frau Jahn told the girl, “The baroness is delighted to serve you, and if you will follow me I will show you where the refreshments are.”

Lady Catherine smiled at the baroness and followed Frau Jahn through the crowd. At the same time Mandie caught a glimpse of Elsa
watching Lady Catherine. She wondered if Elsa had overheard the conversation.

Rupert quickly disappeared as the young people watched him.

Mandie turned to Dorothy and asked, “I wonder if you could tell me something. You seem to know all about Rupert and his grandmother. How can his last name be the same as his grandmother’s if he is the son of her daughter?”

“That’s common knowledge,” Dorothy said. “His real father died when he was a child. The man had no money, no title, nothing, and the baroness had been against the marriage. So when he passed on, the first thing the baroness did was to legally adopt Rupert and change his name to hers so that he could inherit her title, property, everything.”

“And then his mother married an American and moved to the United States,” Jonathan added.

“And the baroness was glad, because then she would have Rupert all to herself. She worships the ground he walks on,” Dorothy said.

“But she doesn’t really know him,” Celia remarked.

“Well, she may get to know all about him soon,” Mandie said. “Lady Catherine may tell all.”

“I hope she does,” Jonathan said.

“And I hope we’re around to find out about it,” Mandie added.

Mandie was hoping Rupert would be exposed for what he really was. Maybe when his grandmother knew the truth, she would be able to help change him for the better. In the meantime, what was going to happen with Lady Catherine and Elsa? Who would win out?

CHAPTER TWELVE

WHAT MADE THE TREE JUMP?

The next morning was cloudy. Mandie and Celia looked out their windows at the gray sky and sighed together.

“It’s probably going to rain, and I wanted to watch that tree again today,” Mandie moaned as she pulled her robe tightly around her.

“But it’s not raining now,” Celia said. “Maybe we could go out right after breakfast.”

They had no sooner dressed, when Olga knocked on the door and brought them their breakfast on a tray.

“Everyone sleeps late after a big party like last night’s, but I thought you young ladies would probably want something to eat now,” Olga said, smiling. She put the tray on a round table in their sitting room, and began unloading the dishes.

“But you have four place settings, and there are only two of us,” Mandie remarked.

“Nein, there will soon be four of you,” the maid said. “Miss Dorothy said she would like to eat with you, and also your friend, Mister Jonathan.”

At her remark, Dorothy and Jonathan both appeared in the open doorway.

“Come in,” Mandie invited. “You two are up early. Olga has brought us a delicious breakfast.”

Jonathan and Dorothy greeted the girls and sat down at the table.

“Celia and I want to go outside and watch that juniper tree when we’re finished eating. We’re supposed to leave here tomorrow, I think, so we don’t have much time left,” Mandie remarked as Olga poured the hot tea.

“I wish you luck,” Olga said. “I have never seen the tree jump myself, and I doubt it really happens.”

“Maybe we’ll be fortunate enough to see it,” Dorothy said as she buttered a hot roll.

Olga smiled at Dorothy and said, “If there is nothing else, I will see if others would like breakfast in their rooms.”

“Oh, yes, thank you, Olga,” Mandie told her. “It was really nice of you to think of us.”

Olga started out the door and turned back to say, “You Americans are so polite and friendly. Good day now.” She went out, leaving the door open.