Hide and Seek for Love (16 page)

“Do you think he could manage one?”

“Of course he can.  I heard him telling Nanny that if she wanted rabbits or ducks, he would shoot one for her.”

“That answers the question,” David smiled.  “But I think if it is what Newman needs, he had better be armed with a proper gun.”

“I should let him choose what he wants,” suggested Benina, “and let's all be certain that we have enough bullets.”

They searched and found them in a drawer.

“Now to work,” enthused David.

They walked back up the stairs and as they were passing through the hall, Newman appeared.

“We are going to search again on the first floor, and by the way, Newman, Miss Benina insists that you and I carry guns or pistols to protect ourselves.”

“I've been thinking, your Lordship should do just that,” replied Newman, “ever since you've been here.  As it so happens, I've got me own gun by me bed, but I'd feel happier if I had something I could carry in me pocket.”

“Then help yourself, Newman, but I see no reason why you should be particularly anxious.”

He knew this was not strictly true, then, as if Benina realised that he did not want to speak about the Russians, she remarked,

“Now you are here people are bound to talk about the picture gallery and there are valuables of some sort in every room.”

“Yes, of course,” agreed David.  

He reached the top of the stairs, so he did not see Benina, halfway up the stairs, looked back meaningfully at Newman, who nodded his head.

She was well aware, because Nanny had told her, that Stella's lady's maid had intrigued the kitchen with a graphic description of how David had saved Fort Tibbee.

‘I would suppose,' she ruminated, as she followed him along the first floor passage, ‘that it was far too good a story for anyone to keep secret!'

At the same time she was feeling frightened.  She had read in magazines and newspapers about Russia's ambition to build up a huge Empire as impressive as and even larger than the new German Empire.

Prince Otto von Bismarck, the First Chancellor of the German Empire had succeeded in uniting all the small German Principalities into an Empire.

The Russians were determined to do the same in the Balkans and there was very little doubt that their advances in Asia showed that they ultimately desired to take over India.

However, Benina was conscious that David did not want to talk about the Russians.

They worked hard on the first floor moving things, opening endless drawers and cupboards, hunting for secret passages that they never found.

When it was teatime, they had to wash away the dust and dirt from their hands before they went downstairs.

Nanny, as expected, had baked a fruitcake and there were several plates with sandwiches, bread and butter and delicious small buns.

David said he had not eaten such delights since he had been in the nursery.

“I shall never be too old for Nanny's little titbits,” sighed Benina.

David smiled at her.

“You have been a brick today, Benina, but I don't want you to become too tired.”

“I am not tired and I cannot help thinking about the magnificent horses you will be able to buy once you have found the hidden millions.”

“I was thinking of that as well.  The horses we were riding this morning did us well, but I have a feeling that Ben is going to think they should have a rest tomorrow.  It would be a mistake to push them too hard too quickly.”

“I agree, my Lord, but I did enjoy riding today.”

“I swear to you that we will ride in the future on the finest horses available – once I can pay for them.”

He noticed Benina's eyes light up.

He did not realise that it was not only because he was promising her horses.

He was promising her they would be together in the future.

It was impossible for Benina to put into words how relieved she was that Stella Ashworth had finally gone.

Even now she could feel the agony that had swept over her when she thought that David would respond to the seductive way she was speaking and caressing him.

She was not so naïve as not to realise that if David brought a bride to the house, she and Nanny would have to leave.

When tea was finished, Newman appeared to take away the tray.

“It was lovely to have so much silver out,” Benina said.  “It must have taken you a long time to polish it.”

“That's true, Miss Benina, and with everything in the safe as black as the night, it's going to take me a week of Sundays to get it back to the brightness it should have.”

“There's plenty of time, so don't exhaust yourself.”

David then left the room.

Lowering her voice, Benina muttered to Newman,

“I think we would be wise to carry our guns loaded.  If we were burgled or attacked, there might not be time to load them in a hurry.”

“I've been thinking of that meself, Miss Benina.”

He paused and looked to the door as if to make sure that David was not listening.

Going a little nearer to Benina, he added,

“Seeing as what we've heard about them Ruskies, I've asked Mr. Cosnet and Ben to sleep in the house till we be sure they're not after his Lordship.”

“That is a very wise idea of yours.  I am sure Nanny will not mind cooking for two extra in the evening.”

Newman smiled.

“Mr. Cosnet knows the way to get to Nanny's heart.  He comes in today with a bowlful of strawberries and he's promised her there'll be some fresh raspberries tomorrow!”

“I know that'll please her and I expect we will have some of them for dinner.”

“You can bet on that, Miss Benina.”

He left just as David returned and Benina thought it would be a mistake to tell him what had been arranged.

She was fully aware how touchy he became when anyone referred to the Russians and had seen how horrified he had been when Stella had said that they were all talking about him in Calcutta.

It also meant, she was sure, that he would be talked about in England too.

Every word made life more dangerous for him.

Because she did not want him to feel depressed, she set out at dinner to be amusing and to keep him laughing.

She told him stories of her father's horses and of the people they had known in the country.  She recounted anecdotes about her relatives and some who had been very eccentric in their behaviour.

When they went into the study after dinner, David threw himself down in one of the armchairs.

“I have a lot of work I should do before I go to bed, Benina, but I do want you to go on talking to me, as I have never enjoyed an evening more.”

“You are like a child being told fairy stories to send him to sleep,” Benina teased him.

“You tell me stories that I find really amusing and I cannot hear too many of them.”

They carried on talking until Benina yawned.

“Frankly I am rather tired, so I am going to bed, but don't be late yourself, my Lord.”

“I have several letters I should have written more than a week ago to friends who were kind to me in India.  I was not able to say goodbye to them as I had left in such a hurry.  If I don't write them now, they will never be done.”

“Well limit yourself to two or three every night and then the task will not be so arduous.”

Benina walked towards the door before she added,

“Let's think where we will start tomorrow.  As you know, there must still be nearly half the house to be done.”

David threw up his hands.

“I know!  I know!  I keep hoping and praying that we will find the money soon, so we will not have to look any further.”

“I had thought of that already.  So hurry and finish your letters.  There may soon be many congratulations you will have to answer!”

Benina did not wait for a reply, but closed the door and ran upstairs to her room.

She was really exhausted as well as feeling a little stiff because she had not ridden for so long.

The horses had carried them nobly and she thought good food would make them stronger every day.

At least she and David would have plenty time to ride before they settled down to what looked like being an everlasting search.

She undressed and then she walked to the window to have another look at the moonlight.

She wanted to feel the beauty of it before she went to sleep.

First she looked up at the stars and then down into the garden where there was a fountain on the lawn.

She was contemplating how glorious it would be if they could make it play again, but as there was so much to do for everyone, she did not dare ask Cosnet for anything more outside the kitchen garden.

She looked out towards a row of lime trees with the moon shimmering like silver on the leaves.

Suddenly she was almost certain that she had seen a movement, but it was too dark to see anything clearly.

Yet she was sure that in the darkness something or someone was moving – slowly like a man moving step-by-step and pausing between each one.

Still she could not be sure.

Yet she felt as if by instinct that there was danger in the air, whether she could account for it or not.

She turned back into the room.

There was only one candle by the bed and beside it lay the revolver she had carried in her pocket when she had gone downstairs for dinner.

She picked it up.

Then blowing out the candle, she opened the door and ran downstairs.

By this time Newman would have gone to bed and the house was in darkness except for an occasional candle in one of the sconces.

Newman had wanted more candles, but Nanny had said they could not afford them and anyway she had added sharply that no one should be walking about the house after they had all gone to bed.

In her hurry to run downstairs Benina had forgotten to put on her slippers, so she ran barefooted across the hall and down the passage to the study.

When she opened the door, it was to see David still sitting at the writing desk with a pen in his hand.

He looked up at her in surprise.

She closed the door behind her and ran towards him.

“You might think I am being foolish,” she panted, “but I am almost certain I saw someone moving in the trees on the far side of the lawn.”

She looked up at him, afraid that he would laugh at her and tell her not to be so imaginative.

Instead he muttered,

“If it is anyone looking for me, they will doubtless expect to find me either in my bedroom or in here.”

Benina thought for a moment, then she suggested,

“If there is a light downstairs, they will know you have not yet gone to bed.”

“That makes sense, and I am wondering how they will get in.”

Benina gave a helpless sigh.

“There are many windows on the ground floor and we both know that most of them are unshuttered and are in such a bad state of repair that it would be easy for anyone to open them.”

David nodded.

“We will just have to wait and see.  You have your revolver with you, Benina?”

“Yes, of course.”

As she was holding it down by her side, it had been hidden by her nightgown.

For the first time since she had left her bedroom, she remembered that she had not put on her dressing gown – in her fright she had run downstairs only in her nightgown.

It was made of soft cotton and luckily it appeared almost like a dress and was not transparent.

All the same Benina blushed because she thought that David was looking at her somewhat critically.

“I am so sorry.  I was in such a hurry to reach you, I forgot to dress as I was just getting into bed.”

David smiled.

“The way we look is of no importance at present.  I suggest we hide behind the curtains which will give us a chance to see anyone who comes into the room before they can see us.”

There were two big windows in the study and they went to the one behind the writing desk.

The study was on the same side of the house as her bedroom and David's.

It was not possible for them to see the lime trees where Benina had thought she had seen someone moving.  In fact from where they were now there was nothing to see but the lawn and the fountain in the moonlight.

David was intently looking out of the window with his revolver in his right hand and Benina was holding hers.

She felt she could almost hear her heart beating and as she was scared, it seemed to be thundering inside her.

She knew that David was trying to hear if there was the sound of anyone breaking a window or moving about the house.

Newman had closed the windows in the study when he had pulled the curtains, so David put out his hand and very slowly, making no noise, unlatched the window.

Then he pushed it open and the night air rushed in.

They were both listening, but could hear nothing.

 

Benina felt that David was already thinking that she had been hysterical and unnecessarily scared and she was just about to say she was sorry and would go back to bed.

Then there was just the faintest sound behind them.

They both turned round.

David peeped out of the left side of the curtain and Benina the right.

There was nothing to see by the light of the candles except the room just as they had left it.

Benina noticed that one of the cushions on the sofa looked crushed and Newman must have forgotten to pat it back into shape after he had drawn the curtains.

It was then they heard just the slightest creak of the door being opened.

Benina drew in her breath and she felt sure David was doing the same.

Slowly the door opened just an inch or so.

Then suddenly it was flung forward violently and two men burst into the room.

They were both carrying rifles at the ready.

For a moment David paused.

Then he pulled back the curtain and shot at the man facing him.