A Prisioner in Paris

CHAPTER ONE 1875-1

CHAPTER ONE

1875Lord Lanwood yawned and, turning a little in the bed, thought that it was time to go home.

It was then that something moved close to him and a voice purred,

“Lionel, darling, you are the most wonderful lover anyone could possibly have.”

Lord Lanwood had heard it all before and it had always made him feel rather pleased with himself.

Then he said,

“Now I must leave you, because I have so much to do tomorrow.”

“Oh no, Lionel, no!” the Countess exclaimed.

It was a repetition of what often happened on so many other occasions.

His Lordship responded firmly,

“I am sorry, my dearest Yvette, but I really must leave you now otherwise I will have very little sleep and be disagreeable the whole of tomorrow.”

The Countess gave a little laugh.

“But you are never disagreeable. That is the most marvellous thing about you, Lionel. You always say such nice things and are sweet and kind to everyone.”

It was the sort of compliment his Lordship liked to hear, especially from someone as beautiful as the Countess of Helston.

She was undoubtedly the most ravishing, the most admired and the most sought after hostess in the whole of London.

She had been married when she was very young – in fact eighteen – to the Earl of Helston.

She had grown, everyone said, lovelier and lovelier until now, when she was approaching thirty, she was of such high standing in the Social world that it was really surprising that there was not already a statue erected to her.

A great number of men had attempted to entice her into being unfaithful to her husband.

But she had refused them all until she saw Lord Lanwood and she had known then that he was the man she had been looking for all her life.

When she saw the rapt expression in his eyes, she knew that he was feeling the same about her.

Yet now after a night of inexpressible bliss he was about to leave her.

She reached out one of her arms to put it round his neck.

But she was too late.

He had already raised himself from the bed and was walking across the room to where he had left his clothes near the fireplace.

“When shall I see you again?” she asked in a small seductive voice.

“Just as soon as you are free and I can come here, as I did tonight, unobserved. Or at least I hope so.”

“You are quite safe,” the Countess replied. “Rory is on his way to Scotland and he will not be back for at least a week.”

“Then I will dine with you tomorrow night at the same time and will be counting the hours until I see you again.”

“That is what I was hoping you would say, Lionel,” the Countess answered, “and I too will be counting the hours.”

There was an oil lamp on the table by the fireplace and she could see that he was now buttoning his shirt and reaching out for his tie.

‘There was never a more handsome man,’ she told herself.

She knew, because they were both so outstandingly attractive, that they must have been meant for each other since the beginning of time.

‘If only I had met him before I married,’ she mused to herself, ‘how amazingly wonderful it would have been and everyone we met would have admired us together as they now do separately.’

Lord Lanwood tied his tie, looking as he did so at his reflection in the gold-framed mirror that hung over the fireplace.

As he shrugged himself into his evening coat, he turned towards the bed.

And, as he walked towards the Countess, he said,

“You are so glorious, Yvette, that I am sure you are not real and this is just a dream.”

“Then we will dream together tomorrow evening,” she replied. “Oh, Lionel, I am just so happy to have found you.”

“That is exactly what I was saying to myself,” Lord Lanwood told her. “Goodnight, my dearest darling, and I am counting the hours until tomorrow night.”

“And I will be counting them too – ”

She reached out her arms, but he knew that, if he let her put them around his neck, she would pull him down onto the bed and he would begin kissing her all over again.

“I have to go,” he sighed. “So goodnight and take care of yourself until tomorrow.”

He was gone before she could reply or protest.

She threw herself back against the pillows thinking that she had never enjoyed an evening more.

He was so different from the men she had had short affairs with in the past and she had somehow always been disappointed.

‘He is different, so different,’ she told herself, ‘that I must take great care I don’t lose him.’

She reflected, as she cuddled her head against the soft pillows, that this was very unlikely.

Because she was so beautiful and so acclaimed by everyone in the Social world, she was obviously aware that his Lordship would not find anyone else as lovely as her.

Nor so responsive to everything he required.

‘He is mine, mine completely,’ she thought with an air of triumph.

Lord Lanwood was walking back to his own house which, being in Park Lane, was not far from the Countess’s mansion.

He was, however, not thinking so much about the woman he had just left, but of what he would do tomorrow.

He had meant to ride out on his best thoroughbred in Rotton Row before breakfast as he always did.

Then he had half promised that he would go with a friend to Tattersalls as there might be a new horse which he could add to his extensive stables in the country.

It never struck him for a single moment that he might have called on the Countess earlier and spent part of the day with her.

He had never in the past mixed up his immensely enjoyable nights of pleasure with the more serious interests that filled his days.

And he certainly did not contemplate changing his lifestyle now.

He reached the front door of his house as the stars were beginning to fade overhead and there was just the faintest touch of colour in the sky.

He let himself in with his own key and was amused to see that his usual night-footman was fast asleep in the padded chair just inside the door.

It always made him smile to find the night-footman asleep as he knew it prevented the gossip that occurred in the servants hall as to the time his Lordship returned home.

It was usually the housekeeper and the housemaids who speculated as to which one of the Society beauties had kept him so late.

He thought as he went very quietly up the stairs that it would be a great mistake for them to realise where he had been.

Because the Countess was so beautiful, her picture appeared in the ladies magazines and the fact that he found her so alluring and enchanting, as so many other men had done, would naturally be the gossip not just of the Social tongues but of those in his own house.

If there was one thing Lord Lanwood disliked it was being gossipped about by the chattering tongues who always made the worst of every situation and seldom the best.

Therefore, knowing a great deal of gossip travelled from the servants’ hall into the drawing room and, unlike many other gentlemen of substance, he told his valet not to wait up for him.

This would mean that, if the night-footman did not see him, no one would be aware of what time he returned or how late some entrancing beauty was keeping him.

When he climbed into bed, he told himself again that it would be a great mistake for him to be talked about with the Countess.

There was more gossip about her affairs than any other beauty at the present moment.

Even those pursued by the Prince of Wales did not attract the same amount of chatter as she did.

‘A pleasant and delightful evening,’ Lord Lanwood murmured to himself before he fell asleep.

*

He slept peacefully without dreaming and woke to see that a bright sun was peeping in through the sides of his bedroom curtains.

A glance at the clock beside his bed told him that he was an hour later than usual.

But nothing would prevent him from riding before breakfast as he always did.

He rang the bell beside his bed.

His valet, who had been waiting for him for over an hour, hurried into the room.

“Good morning, Yates,” Lord Lanwood began. “I am somewhat later than usual, but fortunately it is of little consequence as I have nothing special to do this morning.”

“As it happens, my Lord, there’s a man downstairs, one of them foreigners, who says he’s come to see you on very important business.”

“A foreigner!” Lord Lanwood exclaimed. “That sounds odd. And I was not expecting anyone, what do you think he wants?”

“He says it be of great importance, my Lord, and, although he’s a bit difficult to understand, as he speaks a foreign language, I thought as how he was serious in what he was sayin’.”

“Then, of course, I must see him,” Lord Lanwood said. “I can only hope he does not keep me long because I need some fresh air and exercise.” Yates smiled, although he did not reply.

As he was helping his Master into his clothes, he was thinking it was always the same when his Lordship had an evening with some beautiful lady.

He was later getting up, but more eager than usual for his exercise and fresh air.

It was almost, he thought, although he did not say so, as if his Lordship wished to sweep away the memory and the excitement of the previous night and take himself back, as it were, to what was routine and less absorbing.

‘It’s what I used to feel like myself, when I was young,’ Yates thought as he helped his Master into his coat and handed him a clean handkerchief to put in his pocket.

Without saying anything Lord Lanwood walked out of the room and down the staircase.

The butler was waiting in the hall and before Lord Lanwood could ask him where the man who wanted to see him was, he said,

“The caller’s waiting for you in the servants hall, my Lord. Shall I bring him into the study?”

This told Lord Lanwood without further words that the man was of servant class and therefore not allowed to wait in one of the front rooms, but in his rightful place which was with the servants.

Wondering who this man could possibly be, Lord Lanwood said briefly,

“Bring him to me, Ancaster,” and walked towards the study.

He was thinking as he did so that he had no wish to have a long interview with a stranger when he wanted to be riding.

He knew by this time that his grooms in the Mews would have been notified that he was dressing and his best stallion would have been brought round to the front door, saddled and bridled.

He only had to wait a few seconds before the butler opened the door and a man came into the study.

The sun was streaming in through the windows and his Lordship, standing with his back to the fireplace, was astounded to see that the caller was a rough-looking man with shabby bad-fitting clothes and was obviously foreign.

A mere glance at his face told his Lordship that the man was in fact French.

The stranger crossed the room to him.

Only when he was standing directly in front of Lord Lanwood, did he feel in the pocket of his coat and bring out a crumpled piece of paper.

“I were told if I gave you this, my Lord, you’d reward me for bringin’ it to you across the sea as quick as any man could come.”

He spoke in French and Lord Lanwood knew that it was the French of the gutter and he had some difficulty in understanding what the man was saying to him.

He took the piece of paper from him.

Opening it, he saw with startled surprise that it was from his nephew, Charles, whom he had not seen for quite a while.

He was the only child of his elder sister, who had died several years ago and he had, almost as soon as he left school, started to travel as his father had done and which had eventually caused his death.