The River Maid (11 page)

His hands were unsteady when he finally turned to his men.

“
What did you see?” he asked. He didn’t want to say it in case they thought he had gone made. Given how much he’d had to drink, perhaps he had.

“
It was a mermaid,” one sailor said, his voice a whisper as if he too was afraid to say it out loud. 

“
You all saw it?” Fournier asked.

One by one they nodded. His lieutenant had served with him for nearly four years. He might doubt his own sight, but not his.

“It can’t be real,” one of his men said.

But if it was
…

His eyes gleamed and a smile twisted his lips as he thought
of the possibilities. Other men had come over to look, but he could no longer see the creature.

“
What do we do now, Captain?” the lieutenant asked.

“
We follow our orders and rejoin the army.”

He stared for a long time at the spot where the creature had disappeared. He had been waiting for his luck to change and finally, it had happened.

~~~~~

Christian stood on the battlements, watching the ships on the river. Even from this distance he could tell what type they were, what rigging they used, what type of sail. He had loved ships since he was a child. When he was younger, he had dreamed of one day having his own ship. Later those dreams had turned into dreams of joining the army. But they were just dreams. He was going to spend the rest of his life here in this castle, cut off from the world.

He wandered back inside. His mother came out of the breakfast room, a letter in her hand. He could see the tension in her face.

“
What is it?” he asked, fearing something had happened to Gaspard.

“Not here,” she said, her voice quiet. “
Come into the study.” He followed her into the room, shutting the door behind them. She handed him the letter. “The French have heard rumours about a girl that appeared from the river. They want to know if there’s any truth to them.”

Christian scanned the letter. “What will you tell them?”

“I don’t know. As little as possible without lying to them.” His mother sighed. “I’m worried about Lorelei and the ball. The guests will wonder who she is. They’ll want to know where she came from. There will be gossip and speculation. Perhaps I should cancel it.”

“
There will be even more gossip if you cancel it and you’ve gone to so much trouble. Lorelei says so little. I can’t see her talking to anyone.”

“
We don’t even know if she can dance.”

“
You can always teach her.” That made his mother smile weakly. He remembered the dance tutors she had hired to teach him.

“Have you noticed anything strange about Lorelei?” she asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“Some of her behaviour is very odd. I’ve spoken to the servants and they’ve noticed it as well. The maid says Lorelei’s nightdresses keep going missing and when we were at the dressmakers, she seemed preoccupied with you, and then she panicked when the dressmaker tried to take her shoes off.”

“I’m sure there are worse things than a few missing nightdresses. From her accent, she’s obviously not German. She must simply have different ways to us.”

“
I wish Gaspard was here,” she said quietly.

He took her hands in his. “
He will be back soon.”

“
I know you are right. I will stop worrying.” She kissed his cheek and he watched her compose herself before she left the room. He missed Gaspard as well. He had become used to the Frenchman being there to advise him. If the French found out about Lorelei, they would want to take her away for questioning. They would insist upon it when they saw the amount of jewels that she had. They would want to know who she was and where she came from and they wouldn’t stop until they found out.

Lorelei was so naïve and innocent. There was no artifice to her like the other girls at court. He wanted to keep her safe. The world would judge her and try to correct her mistakes. They would insist she conform and wear her hair neatly pinned up. He didn
’t want to see that happen to her. She could be herself as he could not be.   

He went down to the stables. A groom hurried to saddle his horse. He swung up and kicked the horse into a trot. He rode along the cliffs before he reined in his horse and watched the ships and barges as they sailed down the Rhine. He wondered what it would be like if he went and found work as a sailor on one of them. No one would ever know that he was a prince. He could make something of himself and be judged by his abilities, not his titles. It would be a much simpler life. The townspeople seemed content with their lives.

He sighed. He turned his horse away from the river. He couldn’t sit here and daydream. He had responsibilities and Lorelei was now one of them. He had to keep her safe.

He was dreading the ball. It was time that he married and did his duty and produced an heir. He didn’t want to end up like the Counts of Katzenelnbogen and have his line end with him. But he wanted an equal partnership, like his parent
’s marriage. He wanted someone that he would be able to share his worries and fears with. Someone to stand by his side, to make him laugh, to tell him when he was wrong.

As he rode up to the castle, Lorelei came out to meet him as she often did, her hair a waterfall of gold as it cascaded over her shoulders and down her back, reminding him of the stained glass angel they had seen in the church. He swung down and handed the reins over to a groom.

“Would you like to go for a walk later?” he asked as they walked together back into the castle.

She beamed at him as if he had just said something wonderful.
“Yes, I would like that.”

She said so little. He often wondered what she thought about on their walks together. Her memory had still not returned. Christian was beginning to fear that it never would. He wondered if she had a family somewhere waiting for her. Perhaps a husband or even a child. He almost wished that he loved her. She was so beautiful and sweet. It should be easy to love her. He liked her company, but she was like a child in how she behaved. He would spend his life keeping the harshness of the world from her and that wasn’t what he wanted in a wife. But then, he wasn’t sure what he wanted existed. 

Chapter Twelve

Fournier sipped his wine, savouring the tartness against his tongue, and watched his friend who sat across the table as he finished off the last of his dinner. He and Ducasse had served together through revolution and war. But while Ducasse was now a general, Fournier was still a mere captain. Again and again, Fournier had been overlooked for promotion, while Ducasse had risen steadily through the ranks. He looked at the fine wine they were drinking and tried to keep his jealousy in check. All this should have been his. He had served in the army for thirty years and he was tired of being just a captain, tired of standing by and watching as men who were younger and less experienced were promoted over him. 

“
You have a sour look on your face, my friend,” Ducasse said as he cut up his roast beef.  

Fournier set his glass down. “I want a promotion. I deserve a promotion. The Emperor is generous to everyone but me. I have always been loyal. I have always served France. But am I rewarded? No. I’m ignored and sent to ferry grain.”

Ducasse continued to cut up his dinner. “There’s a very simple way to secure a promotion.”

Fournier leaned forward eagerly.
“Tell me.”

“It’s simple. You must
do something to earn it.”

Fournier threw his napkin down on the table and pushed back his chair.

Ducasse laughed. “Sit down, sit down,” he said, waving him back to his chair. Fournier sat. “It’s not about what is fair. The Emperor is generous to those that win him victories. That’s all he cares about. Go and capture him something.”

Fournier estimated how much wine his friend had drunk.
“I saw something in the river on my way here. Something that might be of interest to the Emperor.” He was reluctant to tell him what he had seen, afraid Ducasse would want it for himself.

“
What did you see?”

Fournier leaned forward and lowered his voice. “
I saw a mermaid.”

Ducasse coughed, choking on his food. He thumped his hand against his chest to clear his throat. “A mermaid? Like in the stories?”

Fournier nodded. “It was real. I saw her clearly. She was in the river near St Goarshausen.”

Ducasse put his head back and roared with laughter. He had to wipe away tears from his eyes with his napkin. It was several minutes before he had recovered enough to speak.
“It’s a funny story, but I don’t think it will impress the Emperor.”

“
I’m not joking. I saw one. It was as real as you or I.”

“
You saw a fish. You thought it looked like a mermaid.”

“
No, there was a girl, but instead of legs she had a fishtail. My officers saw it as well.”

“And how much wine had you drunk when you saw this creature?” Fournier remained silent and Ducasse smiled knowingly. “If
you want the Emperor’s favour, you need to win a battle, not make up stories.” Ducasse shook his head, amusement still clear on his face. “Perhaps you should see a doctor.”

“
I know what I saw.”

“
Of course. If you say you saw a mermaid, then I believe you.”

He was still chuckling. Fournier threw down his napkin and rose. It was clear Ducasse didn’t believe him. His laughter followed him as he left.

The next morning, still furious from Ducasse mocking him, Fournier went to meet the other officers. They sat around a table filled with maps and the latest reports under a tent, the flaps tied back. As he approached, they started to laugh.

“
Fournier,” Ducasse said, beckoning him over. “Come and tell them what you saw in the river.”

He accepted a cup of coffee from an aid and gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore their laughter.

“You will have to show us this mermaid of yours,” a lieutenant said.

“
Perhaps you could find the Emperor a nymph or two as well,” another called.

They roared with laughter. His hand tightened on his cup. If it had been glass it would have shattered. He let them laugh. He knew what he had seen and he would prove them all wrong. They would regret ever mocking him.

~~~~~

Gaspard pulled out a chair in the inn where he was staying and signalled the innkeeper to fetch him a mug of ale. He had been in Koblenz for several days now, but so far his enquiries about Lorelei had turned up nothing. The girl was still a mystery. No ships had gone down in the Rhine in the days before she appeared; no royal family was missing a princess. The fact that no one was looking for her puzzled him. He had described the jewels that Lorelei had been wearing to several jewellers. One jeweller had known of a similar necklace. Made for Isabella, Queen of Spain, the necklace had been lost for centuries after the ship carrying the necklace had sunk. He had thanked the jeweller, but told him it could not possibly be the same one, and yet something told him it was.

There was one possibility that he didn’t like to consider; that Lorelei had stolen the jewels. But surely someone would be looking for her if she had. That amount of jewels wouldn’t have gone unnoticed had they gone missing.

He tensed as he felt someone approach behind him. He moved his hand down to the pistol concealed under his coat.

“I heard that you were asking about a girl.” The burly man - a sailor from his thick arms and calloused hands and coarse clothes - stank of stale sweat and cheap beer. 

“
I might be,” Gaspard replied casually.

The man sat down next to him. Although it was only midday, he was already a little drunk.
“I saw a girl in the river up by St Goarshausen. But no one believes me when I tell them what I saw.”

“
What did you see?”

“You’ll have to b
uy me a drink first if you want to know.”

Gaspard signalled to the innkeeper to pour the man a drink. He put a few coins down on the table and pushed them across.
“What was it that you saw?”

The man drank down his beer and wiped his hand across his mouth.
“I saw a girl in the river, just like you said, with long brown hair.”

“
Was she dead?”

He laughed.
“I wouldn’t say that.”

Gaspard signalled to the innkeeper to pour him another drink.
“Tell me what you saw.”

“
You won’t believe me. No one believes me.”

“
I will believe you.” He wasn’t sure that he would. The man was most likely drunk more often than he was sober, but he wanted to hear what he had to say if there was any chance that he had seen Adrianna.

He leaned forward. Gaspard resisted the urge to move away at the stench of his stale breath. The sailor put his face close and whispered.
“She was a mermaid.”

The man moved away and drank down the rest of his beer. Gaspard wanted to sigh at the waste of money. For a moment, he had actually believed he might have seen her.

The man frowned. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me. No one believes me.”

“
Did anyone else see this mermaid?” Gaspard asked, feeling suddenly weary.

“
I was the only one. I was watching the cliffs when I saw her. She came up for just a moment. She looked like a girl at first, but when she dived back under I saw her tail.”

“
If you say you saw one, then I’m sure you saw one.” Gaspard didn’t want to upset him, not when he was twice his size. He kept his hand near his pistol.

“
There’s a story of one that lives up by St Goarshausen. That one had golden hair in the story, but this one had brown like you said.”

“
Thank you for the information,” Gaspard said solemnly.

The man nodded, his thick fingers closing around the coins. Gaspard let him take them and once he was gone, he signalled to the innkeeper to pour him a drink; a strong one. He had wanted information, but the only thing he had found was a ridiculous story.