Royal Blood Part 6

"I think you've made a mistake. I am Lady Georgiana Rannoch, and this is my compartment," I said.

The horsey face turned decidedly paler. "Oh, most frightfully sorry. I only saw your back and you have to admit that that overcoat is not the smartest, so naturally I a.s.sumed..." She mustered a hearty smile and stuck out her hand. "Middles.e.x," she said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"That's the name. Lady Middles.e.x. Your companion for the journey. Didn't Her Majesty tell you?"

"She told me there would be a chaperon. She never gave me your name."

"Didn't she? Dashed inefficient of her. Not like her. She's usually a stickler for details. She's worried about the king, of course. Not at all well."

She pumped my hand energetically all the time she was speaking. Meanwhile the creature in black had slunk past us and was busy loading cases onto the rack.

"All is done, my lady," she said with a strong French accent. "I shall retire to my own quarters."

"Splendid. Thank you, Chantal." Lady Middles.e.x leaned closer to me. "An absolute treasure. Couldn't travel without her. Completely devoted, of course. Wors.h.i.+ps me. Doesn't mind where we go or what hards.h.i.+ps she has to endure. We're on our way to Baghdad now, y'know. Dashed awful place, baking in summer, freezing in winter, but m' husband has been posted there as British attache. They always post him to a spot where they expect trouble. d.a.m.ned strong man is Lord Middles.e.x. Doesn't allow the natives to get away with any kind of nonsense."

I wondered how Chantal and Queenie would get along. Our door was slammed shut and a whistle sounded.

"Ah, we're off. Right on time. Jolly good show. I do like punctuality. Absolutely insist upon it at home. We dine at eight on the dot. If ever a guest dares to show up late, he finds we have started without him."

I almost reminded her that she had nearly missed the train herself, but I consoled myself that she would not be coming to the wedding with me. I'd disembark and she would travel on to Baghdad where she would boss around the natives. We started to move, first slowly past dingy gray buildings, then over the Thames and picking up speed until the backyards became a blur and merged into bigger gardens and then to real countryside. It was a splendid autumn day, the sort of day that made me think of hunting. Clouds raced across a clear blue sky. There were sheep in meadows. Lady M kept up a nonstop commentary about the places to which Lord Middles.e.x had brought British law and order and she herself had taught the native women proper British hygiene. "They wors.h.i.+pped me, of course," she said. "But I have to say that living abroad is a sacrifice I make for my husband. Haven't had a decent hunt in years. We rode with the hunt in Shanghai, but it was only over the peasants' fields and that's not as jolly as good open countryside, is it? And all those silly little people shouting at us and waving their fists and scaring the horses."

It was going to be a very long journey.

At Dover we alighted from the train and found Queenie and Chantal.

"Dear G.o.d in heaven, what is that?" Lady Middles.e.x demanded on seeing Queenie, who was wearing the spiky fur coat and red hat again.

"My maid," I said.

"You let her look like that?"

"It's all she has."

"Then you should have outfitted her suitably. My dear girl, if you let servants go around looking like oversized flowerpots you'll be a laughingstock. I only allow Chantal to wear black. Colors are reserved for people of our cla.s.s. Come along now, Chantal." She turned to the maid. "My train cases. And I want you to stay with those porters every inch of the way until the trunks are safely on board the s.h.i.+p, is that clear?"

"You do the same, Queenie," I said.

"I ain't never been on a s.h.i.+p, miss," Queenie said, already looking green, "apart from the Saucy Sally Saucy Sally around the pier at Clacton. What if I get seasick?" around the pier at Clacton. What if I get seasick?"

"Nonsense," Lady Middles.e.x said. "You simply tell yourself that you are not going to be ill. Your mistress will not allow it. Now off you go and no dillydallying." She turned to me. "That girl wants bringing in line rapidly."

Then she strode out ahead of me toward the gangplank. It was a pleasant crossing with just enough swell to make one realize one was on a s.h.i.+p. Lady Middles.e.x and I had lunch in the dining room (she had a hearty appet.i.te and devoured everything within sight) and emerged in time to see the French coast ahead of us. We found Queenie, who was clinging to the railing as if it were her only hope of survival.

"It don't half go up and down, don't it, miss?" she said.

"Your mistress should be addressed as 'your ladys.h.i.+p,' " Lady Middles.e.x said in a horrified voice. "I can't think where she found such an unsuitable maid. Pull yourself together, girl, or you'll be on the next boat home."

Oh, dear. I'm sure that was exactly what Queenie wanted at this moment.

"Queenie is still learning," I said quickly. "I'm sure she'll soon be splendid."

Lady Middles.e.x sniffed. We sailed into Calais Harbor and then we sailed through the ha.s.sle of customs and immigration thanks to Lady M and the royal warrants, which allowed us to bypa.s.s the long lines and the customs shed. I had to admit she was marvelous-frightening, but worthy of admiration as she chivvied French dockworkers and porters until luggage was loaded and we were safely in our wagons-lits compartments of the Arlberg Orient Express.

"Run along now," Lady Middles.e.x said, waving Chantal away as if she were an annoying fly. "And take Lady Georgiana's maid with you."

I was relieved to find I had my own sleeping berth and didn't have to share with Lady Middles.e.x. I was about to come out into the corridor when I heard words I never would have expected to escape from Lady Middles.e.x's lips.

"Ah, there you are at last, dear heart."

I simply couldn't imagine Lady Middles.e.x calling anyone dear heart, and I knew her husband was already in Baghdad, so I was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with curiosity as I slid my door open. Coming up the corridor, clutching a bulky and battered suitcase, was a middle-aged and decidedly frumpy woman. She was wearing what was clearly a home-knitted beret and scarf over a shapeless overcoat and she looked hot and fl.u.s.tered.

"Oh, I've had the most awful time, Lady M. Most awful. There were two terrible men sitting across from me on the s.h.i.+p. I swear they were international criminals-so swarthy looking and they kept muttering to each other. Thank G.o.d it was not a night crossing or I'd have been murdered in my bunk."

"I hardly think so, dear heart," Lady Middles.e.x said. "You haven't anything worth stealing and they were not likely to be interested in your body."

"Oh, Lady M, really!" And the woman blushed.

"Well, you're here now and all is well," Lady Middles.e.x said. "Ah, Lady Georgiana, let me introduce you. This is my companion, Miss Deer-Harte."

"I am honored to meet you, Lady Georgiana." She bobbed an awkward curtsy, as she was still clutching the large suitcase. "I'm sure we'll have some jolly chats on the way across Europe. Let us just pray that there are no snowstorms this time and that none of those dreadful Balkan countries decides to make war with its neighbor."

"Always such gloom and doom, Deer-Harte," Lady Middles.e.x said. "Buck up. Best foot forward and all that. Your cabin is just down there. Why you had to struggle with that suitcase yourself instead of employing a porter is beyond me."

"But you know how hopeless I am with foreign money, Lady M. I'm always terrified of giving them a pound when I mean a s.h.i.+lling. And they always look so sinister with those black mustaches, I'm frightened they'll take off with my bags and I'll never see them again."

"I've told you before, n.o.body would want your bags," Lady Middles.e.x said. "Now, for heaven's sake go and get settled and then we'll find the dining car and see if they can produce a drinkable cup of tea."

As she finished speaking she looked down the corridor and opened her mouth in horror. "What in heaven's name?"

Queenie was rus.h.i.+ng toward us, blindly pus.h.i.+ng past people. She reached me and clutched at my sleeve like a drowning person. "Oh, me lady," she gasped, "can't I come in with you? I can't stay down there. It's all foreign people. Speaking foreign and acting foreign. I'm scared, me lady."

"You'll be fine, Queenie," I said. "You have Chantal, who has traveled on these trains many times and speaks the language too. Ask her if you need anything."

"What, 'er with the hatchet face?" Queenie demanded. "She gives me a look that would curdle milk. And she speaks foreign too. I had no idea it was going to be so-well, foreign."

Lady Middles.e.x faced the terrified girl. "Pull yourself together, girl. You are embarra.s.sing your mistress by making a scene. There is no question of your remaining in first cla.s.s with your betters. You will be perfectly safe with Chantal. She travels with me all over the world. Now go back to your own compartment and stay there until Chantal tells you to disembark. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Queenie let out a whimper but she nodded and scurried back down the corridor.

"Have to be firm with these girls," Lady Middles.e.x said. "No backbone, that's the problem. Disgrace to the English race. Now let's go and see if any of these French people can make a decent cup of tea."

And she strode out ahead of me down the corridor.

Chapter 10.

On a train, crossing Europe Tuesday and Wednesday, November 15 and 16 Thank G.o.d Lady Middles.e.x is traveling on to Baghdad. I don't think I could stand her company for more than one night. Reminds me of a brief and unhappy episode when I tried to join the Girl Guides and failed my tenderfoot test.

Soon we were sitting in a lounge car drinking what pa.s.sed for tea-the light brown color of ditch water with a slice of lemon floating in it.

"No idea at all," Lady Middles.e.x said. "I don't know how the French exist without proper tea. No wonder they always look so pasty faced. I've tried showing them the correct way to make it, but they simply won't learn. Ah, well, one must suffer if one has to travel abroad. Never mind, Deer-Harte, you'll have decent tea once we reach the emba.s.sy in Baghdad."

"And what exactly is your destination, Lady Georgiana?" Miss Deer-Harte asked, taking what must have been her fifth biscuit.

"Lady Georgiana is to represent Her Majesty at a royal wedding in Romania."

"In Romania? Good heavens-such an outlandish place. So dangerous."

"Nonsense," Lady Middles.e.x said. "I thought I mentioned it to you in my last letter."

"You might have done, but unfortunately my mother's naughty little doggie, Towser, found the post and chewed off one corner of your letter. He's such a scamp."

"No matter. We're all here now and we are going to accompany Lady Georgiana to her destination in the mountains of Transylvania."

"I'm sure there is no need for you to interrupt your journey," I said hastily. "I trust a car will be waiting for me at the station."

"Nonsense. The queen specifically asked me to deliver you safely to the castle and I am not one to s.h.i.+rk my duty."

"But Lady M, a castle in the mountains of Transylvania, at this time of year too," Miss Deer-Harte said, her voice quivering. "We shall be set upon by wolves, at the very least. And what about vampires?"

"What tosh you do talk, Deer-Harte," Lady Middles.e.x said. "Vampires. Whatever next."

"But Transylvania is an absolute hotbed of vampires. It's common knowledge."

"Only in children's fairy stories. There is no such thing as vampires in real life, Deer-Harte, unless you mean the bats in South America. And as for wolves, I hardly think they can bite their way through a solid motorcar on a well-traveled road."

Lady Middles.e.x drained her teacup and I stared out of the window at the twilight wintry scene. Rows of bare-branched poplar trees between bleak fields flashed past us. The lights were already s.h.i.+ning from farmhouses. I felt a thrill of excitement that I was abroad again.

"What are you staring at, Deer-Harte?" Lady Middles.e.x asked in her booming voice.

"That couple across the aisle," she said in a stage whisper. "I am sure that young woman is not his wife. Look at the brazen way he's holding her hand across the table. Such goings-on the moment one is on the Continent. And that man in the corner with a beard. He is obviously an international a.s.sa.s.sin. I do hope our cabin doors can be locked from the inside or we'll be murdered in our beds."

"Do you have to see danger everywhere we go?" Lady Middles.e.x demanded irritably.

"There usually is danger everywhere we go."

"Fiddlesticks. Never been in real danger in my life," Lady Middles.e.x said.

"What about that time in East Africa?"

"Just a few Masai waving spears at us. Really, you do fuss about nothing. You're just a bundle of nerves, woman. Snap out of it."

I tried not to smile. It was such an improbable relations.h.i.+p-I wondered why on earth the overbearing and hearty Lady Middles.e.x had chosen such a simpering busybody as a companion, and why Miss Deer-Harte had accepted a position that took her from one uncomfortable place of danger to the next.

We approached Paris just as darkness fell. I peered out of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower or some familiar monument but all one saw through the darkness were little side streets with shutters already closed and the occasional cafe-tabac cafe-tabac on a corner. If only I had money, I thought, I'd go and live in Paris for a while and pictured myself as a risque bohemian. on a corner. If only I had money, I thought, I'd go and live in Paris for a while and pictured myself as a risque bohemian.

The French failings at tea making were more than made up for with a superb dinner of coquilles St. Jacques and boeuf Bourguignon just after we left Paris. Lady M continued her monologue, interrupted only by Miss Deer-Harte spotting another international criminal and reiterating the fear that we should all be murdered in our beds. Toward the end of the meal, when we were savoring a spectacular bombe glace, Miss Deer-Harte leaned toward us. "Someone is spying on us," she whispered. "I thought it earlier and now I am sure. Someone was watching us through the door to the dining car and when I tried to have a good look at him, he moved hastily away."

Lady Middles.e.x sighed. "For heaven's sake, Deer-Harte, don't be so silly. No doubt it was some poor fellow coming to see if anyone interesting was in the dining car, deciding he didn't want to dine with boring types like us and taking himself off to the bar for a while. Must you read drama into everything?"

"But our doors don't lock properly, Lady M. How do we prevent ourselves from being murdered in our beds? You hear what happens on these international trains, don't you? People vanis.h.i.+ng in the night or found dead in the morning all the time. I think we should take turns in guarding Lady Georgiana. It may be an anarchist, you know."

"No anarchist would want to kill Lady Georgiana." Lady Middles.e.x gave a disparaging sniff. "She's not next in line to the throne, you know. I could understand your concern if it were one of the king's sons, but if someone is spying on us, he is probably a Frenchman with an eye for a pretty girl and wants a chance to meet our Lady Georgiana without two old fogies d.o.g.g.i.ng her every step. I fear he will be unlucky because I have sworn to watch over her like a hawk."

I was grateful that Lady Middles.e.x suggested we retire to our sleeping berths early. As I came out of the bathroom at the end of the car I had the oddest sensation that I was being watched. I spun around, but the corridor was empty. It's that awful Deer-Harte woman, I thought. She is making me jumpy now. And I have to confess that I found myself wondering if there was any truth in what Lady Middles.e.x had said about a Frenchman wanting a chance to meet me away from the chaperons. That was an interesting thought. Belinda had always maintained that Frenchmen made the best lovers. Not that I intended to invite him in, but a harmless flirtation might be fun.

I lingered in my doorway but no Frenchman materialized, so I went to bed. Deer-Harte had been right, however. There was no way of locking the compartment. Then it occurred to me that maybe a Frenchman would be more interested in my jewel case than in me. Perhaps Queenie had confided to Chantal that I was carrying my tiara. Perhaps she had announced this loudly enough that everyone around them heard. This was a disturbing possibility. I put my jewel case at the back of my bunk, behind my head, and propped my pillow against it. Although the bed was comfortable enough, I couldn't sleep. As I lay there, being gently tossed by the rhythm of the train, I thought about Darcy and wondered where he was and why had hadn't contacted me since his encounter with Fig. Surely he wouldn't have been intimidated by her. Then I must have drifted off to sleep because I was standing in the fog with Darcy and he went to kiss me and then I found that he was biting my neck. "Didn't you know I was really a vampire?" he asked me.

I woke with a start as the train went over a set of points with great jolting and shrieking, and I lay there, thinking about vampires. Of course I didn't really believe in them, any more than I believed in the fairies and ghosts that the peasants in Scotland were convinced were real. Poor old Miss Deer-Harte was convinced they existed. Apart from reading Dracula Dracula long ago, which I'd found horribly creepy, I really knew very little about them. It might be rather exciting to meet one, although I wasn't sure I wanted my neck bitten and I certainly didn't want to become undead. I chuckled to myself, remembering that conversation with Belinda. Of course now I really wished that I had taken the risk and brought her along as my maid. We'd have had such a lark, and now I was stuck with a maid who was a walking disaster area and n.o.body to laugh with. long ago, which I'd found horribly creepy, I really knew very little about them. It might be rather exciting to meet one, although I wasn't sure I wanted my neck bitten and I certainly didn't want to become undead. I chuckled to myself, remembering that conversation with Belinda. Of course now I really wished that I had taken the risk and brought her along as my maid. We'd have had such a lark, and now I was stuck with a maid who was a walking disaster area and n.o.body to laugh with.

I was just drifting off again when I thought I heard someone at my door. We had been a.s.sured that the border agents would not disturb us during the night when we crossed from France into Switzerland and then into Austria. It could, of course, be Lady Middles.e.x, checking on me.

"h.e.l.lo," I said. "Who's there?"

The door started to slide slowly open, and I was conscious of a tall, dark shape outside. Then I heard a stringent voice echoing down the corridor. "You there, what are you doing?"

Then a deep voice muttered, "Sorry. I must have mistaken my compartment."

Lady Middles.e.x's head appeared around my half-open door. "Some blighter was trying to enter your sleeping berth. The nerve of it. I shall have a word with the conductor and tell him that he should keep better watch on who comes into this car. Maybe I should keep you company, just in case he tries it again."

"Oh, no, I'm sure I'll be all right," I said, deciding that a night with Lady Middles.e.x would be worse than any international jewel thief or a.s.sa.s.sin.

"I won't sleep," she said with determination. "I shall sit up all night and keep watch."

In this knowledge I finally drifted off to sleep. In spite of Miss Deer-Harte's predictions that we'd be murdered in our beds, I awoke to a perfect Christmas card scene that was familiar to me from my days at finis.h.i.+ng school. Adorable little chalets perched on snow-covered hillsides, their roofs hidden under a thick blanket of snow. As I watched, the sun peeked between mountains, making the snow sparkle like diamonds. I opened my window and stood on my bed, breathing in crisp cold mountain air. Then the train plunged into a tunnel and I hastily shut the window again.

We breakfasted somewhere just after Innsbruck and came back to find our beds stowed and normal seats in our compartments. Luckily the scenery was so breathtaking as we climbed through spectacular mountain pa.s.ses that conversation was not necessary until we moved into the flat country before Vienna. Here there were only patches of snow and the countryside was bare and gray. We had luncheon between Vienna and Budapest and when we came back to our compartments after a long and heavy meal, we found Chantal and Queenie already packing up our things, ready to disembark.

"I ain't half glad to see you, miss," Queenie said, apparently forgetting already how to address me. "I've been that scared. I didn't sleep a wink among all them foreign types, and you should see what muck they eat-sausages so full of garlic that you could smell them a mile away. There was no decent food to be had."

"Well, I expect we'll have decent food at the castle," I said, "so cheer up. The journey's almost over and you've done very well."

"I wouldn't have come if I'd known," she muttered. "Give me a nice cafe in Barking any day."

"All ready?" Lady Middles.e.x's face appeared around my door. "Apparently the train is making a special stop for us. So they don't want to wait around too long. We must be ready to disembark the moment it comes to a halt."

I looked out of the window at the gray countryside. It had become mountainous again and flakes of snow were falling. There was no sign of a city.

"Aren't we going to the capital?" I asked.