On the Night of the Seventh Moon (41 page)

“What could it have? Do you know, Miss Trant?”

“I've no idea. All I'm convinced of is that last night someone was waiting in the turret room to kill me.”

“Have you an idea who?”

“No. But it has something to do with my relationship with Maximilian.”

“Ah,” she said, “but we don't want to get ideas and fancies till we're sure, do we?”

“I feel very uneasy.”

“That's a good sign. You'll be on your guard.”

“So many strange things are happening. Fritz walking in his sleep . . .”

“He's done that often.”

“What of Dagobert?”

“The young monkey got hold of someone's laudanum bottle and took a swig or two. Nobody would be very surprised at that. We know what he is. He's into everything.”

“It's too glib an explanation,” I said, “following on what happened to me.”

“We'll let him sleep it out. He'll be himself before the day's out.”

We went back to the schoolroom.

Fritz was telling Liesel: “And I dreamed that someone came in and picked me up and I was carried away and away . . . and I was in a new country and there was a horse . . . a horse with a man on it and the man had a crown on his head . . . all polished it was.”

 

That afternoon I was in my room when there was a tap on the door. I called “Come in” and Prinzstein entered.

“I have the carriage below, Miss Trant,” he said. “The Duchess sent
a message that I was to take you to the
Landhaus.
She is holding a meeting there of those who are to help her in the hospital.”

“I had no message,” I said.

“It came some time ago. I told Frieda to tell you. I believe Frau Graben called her away for something. She must have forgotten it. I hope you will not be too angry with her. She is of a nervous nature and the fire in the turret room upset her, so she is not herself.”

“I understand, of course, but I am not ready.”

“Perhaps you will be as quick as possible, Miss Trant. We must not keep Her Grace waiting.”

The idea of meeting that woman again made me very apprehensive. This time however there would be others there—her helpers. I knew that war was very close indeed. It seemed inevitable now, and she would naturally wish to get her hospital into working order as soon as possible.

I changed my dress and combed my hair. I wanted to look as attractive as I could. That would give me courage in the presence of the woman who believed herself to be Maximilian's wife.

Fifteen minutes after Prinzstein had knocked at my door we were driving to the
Landhaus Schloss.
We drove to the town and then through the valley to the other side of the mountain. There it stood—a yellowish gold-colored castle, smaller than Klocksburg but beautifully perched on the hillside among the pine woods. We drove through the gates under the castellated tower into a courtyard.

We entered the castle and I saw that the
Rittersaal
had already been made into a ward and several beds had been placed side by side.

Prinzstein led me to a small room at which was a table with chairs placed round it. On the table was a bottle of wine and several glasses, with a plate of little spiced cakes.

“It seems that I am not late after all,” I said.

“Her Grace and the other ladies have not yet arrived. Or perhaps they are inspecting another part of the castle. Equipment is being brought in every day. Her Grace's instruction was that I was to offer you refreshment as soon as you arrived.”

“Thank you. I prefer to wait for the others.”

“Her Grace said immediately when you arrive. She will not be pleased if you refuse. This wine is from the vines of Klarenbock. She sets great store by it and I will warn you she likes everyone to praise it. She will no doubt ask your opinion. She says it is better than anything that comes from the French wine-growing country or the Moselle district.”

“I would rather wait.”

He poured a glass. “Just taste it,” he said, “and as soon as you see her take an opportunity of telling her how good is the flavor.”

I sipped it. I could taste nothing special about it. He offered me one of the spiced cakes. They were similar to those which Frau Graben ate in such quantities, and I refused.

Prinzstein went on to say that it would not be long before war was declared. He reckoned he would have to go. There would be changes. Wars were terrible.

He left me sipping the wine and said he would go and see if anyone was arriving. He left me in the room for a few moments and when he came back said that Her Grace had arrived and had gone straight up to the rooms at the top of the castle which would be used for those who were not badly wounded, and she wished me to join her and the others there.

Prinzstein led the way. We climbed a broad staircase to a landing and then mounted a spiral stair. This was very similar to Klocksburg and the room I entered bore a resemblance to the turret room there.

She was there and to my surprise, alone. There was something different about her. Her expression was as cold as it had been on that other occasion but there was an excitement behind it. She appeared to be suppressing some inner emotion.

“Ah, Miss Trant,” she said, “it was good of you to come so promptly.”

“I feared I might have kept you waiting. I understand you are calling together several of those who will help in the hospital.”

“There is someone here. She will come in shortly. Perhaps you would like to see the view while you are waiting. There is a door leading out to a little tower. It's called the Cats' Tower. You have seen such towers before, I am sure. Boiling oil and missiles used to be thrown on invaders
from them. The noise it made was like screaming cats. You can imagine that, I am sure, Miss Trant.”

“Yes,” I said.

“The view is magnificent, is it not? Straight down the steep side of the mountain to the valley. Do you wonder what it would be like to plunge straight down to . . . death.”

“Such a thought had not entered my mind.”

“Had it not? It is a way to die. You know, of course, of the legend at Klocksburg. A young woman years ago threw herself out of the window there. The room is said to be haunted.”

“I know of that—yes.”

“Well, you know Klocksburg well. But you are not superstitious. You are practical—the sort I shall need in my hospital, I am sure. That girl killed herself because she had been deceived—a mock marriage with one of the Dukes. One can understand in a way. Can you understand, Miss Trant?”

She was standing very close to me, her eyes inscrutable, and for the second time I had the alarming feeling that I was in great danger. I grasped the stone balustrade firmly. I saw her eyes go to my clenched hands.

“It's a strange afternoon,” she said. “Do you feel it? There's a humidity in the air. Does it make you feel sleepy?”

I replied that on the contrary I felt very wide awake.

“Let us go inside for a moment,” she said. “There is something I have to say to you.”

I was relieved to get away from the tower. She sat down and signed to me to take a chair.

When we were seated she said: “You are aware, Miss Trant, that I know a good deal about you.”

“I have no idea what you know about me.”

“About you, and my husband. I have learned that there was a ceremony in a hunting lodge. Do you really believe that was a true marriage?”

I knew I had to speak then. “It
was
a real marriage,” I said. “I am his wife.”

“In that case, who am I?”

“You are not his wife.”

“It is not possible for a Princess of Klarenbock to be in the position you suggest I am in.”

“It is possible. Moreover it is a fact.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I mean that it is not possible for such a slur on our house to be accepted. Do you understand that you are in acute danger?”

I stood up. “I think we should discuss this when Maximilian returns.”

“We are going to settle it now.”

“How can we without him? He is planning to tell you. It is no fault of his, yours or mine that we are in this position.”

“I am not concerned with faults. I merely tell you that it cannot be.”

“But if it is . . . ?”

“It may be now but it must not be tomorrow. What did you think of the wine? We are proud of it in Klarenbock.”

She was looking at me steadily and a horrible possibility dawned on me.

“Yes,” she said, “the wine was drugged. Don't think we have poisoned you. Not at all. You are just sleepy, nothing more. When you are so far gone that you know nothing at all, you will be carried out to the Cats' Tower and gently dropped down into the valley.”

I cried: “This is madness.”

“It would be madness to let you live, Miss Trant.”

I could not stop staring at her although my greatest impulse was to run as fast as I could down the spiral stair and out to Prinzstein and the waiting carriage.

“It will be the old story,” she said quietly. “The deceived woman, the plunge to death. It is becoming so usual. Even innkeepers' daughters do it now.”

She laughed in an odd way. Then she looked up at me and went on; “The wine is taking care of you.”

“I scarcely touched it,” I replied.

“A little would suffice. You will feel nothing. It is an easy way out. Easier than it would have been because this time you will know nothing. They should have managed better. It was a simple thing. Frieda is quite stupid.”

“You mean that Frieda was aware . . .”

“People are aware sometimes, Miss Trant. Why don't you sit down. You must be feeling very strange.” She passed her hand over her eyes and murmured: “The fools. They should have managed better. Where are you going, Miss Trant?” I was at the door and about to leave her when she added: “It is no use. Prinzstein will not let you go. He failed in the Klocksburg room. He will not fail in this one.”

“Prinzstein,” I stammered. “He is a good servant.”

“A good servant to me. He has served me well and would have done so last night but for that stupid wife of his.”

My hand was on the door handle, I tried to turn it but could not. The horrible thought struck me that I was locked in. But I was wrong. The reason the door would not open was because someone was holding it, trying to turn it and come in.

“Who is there?” I called.

The door opened and Ilse walked in.

“Ilse!” She hobbled toward me with the aid of a stick. I stared at her in astonishment for I could not believe in the first seconds that it was really Ilse.

“Yes,” she said. “It is Ilse. You are right, Helena.”

“What are you doing here? I have so much to say to you.”

“Yes, of course, Helena. You see I have grown infirm since we last met, I cannot walk very easily.”

She sat down in the chair I had vacated.

“I have so wanted to find you,” I cried.

She looked at the Duchess who was staring into space in an extraordinary manner. She smiled at her fondly but the Duchess did not appear to see her. “She is my sister,” said Ilse, “my half sister. I was the result of one of those light love affairs which are so prevalent in high places. I was brought up in the shadow of the palace, but never being
part of it. I always loved my little sister, though. She is fifteen years younger than I.”

“I think the Duchess is ill,” I told Ilse.

“She is heavily drugged. She has taken the draught that was meant for you. It should be you who would be sitting there, Helena. That was the plan. You were to be unconscious, in a stupor and then we were going to take you out to the tower and let you fall over. Prinzstein was to have done it in the turret room at Klocksburg. It would have been so much more appropriate there. But they bungled it. Her Grace was furious with them.”

“I don't understand,” I said. “Have you brought me here to murder me?”

“You have guessed aright, Helena. You were brought here to be disposed of. But I am not a murderess. They would say it was a weakness in me.”

“You are talking in riddles,” I said. “Explain to me. She wants me dead because I am Maximilian's wife—that's true, I know. She brought me here to kill me.”

“You must not judge her harshly. She does not regard it as murder. It is a state of affairs that cannot be allowed to continue. She, the Duke's mistress! It is impossible. His having a wife already cannot be tolerated. It is statescraft, she would say. Sometimes people have to die for it and in strange circumstances. She plans that when you are dead she and the Duke will be secretly married and few will be the wiser as to what has gone before. I have been brought up more rigidly. I see the deliberate killing of one person by another as murder. So I am here to look after you both. I looked after you once before, you don't realize what I did for you. I could so easily have . . . disposed of you then. But I didn't. I looked after you, I made everything easy for you.”

“Easy! That . . . easy! Listen. Ilse, I want to know exactly what happened, right from the beginning.”

“I'll tell you. A husband was found for me. Ernst—ambassador from Rochenstein. I married him and persuaded him to work for my country Klarenbock. This sometimes meant working against Rochenstein.
Ernst was a friend of Prince Maximilian before he came to Klarenbock and when he went back to Rochenstein with me as his wife, he had a post in the Prince's entourage. He learned of Maximilian's meeting with you and his obsession. Ernst had to go to London to see a heart specialist and he offered to bring you back.”

“So you posed as my cousin.”

“The fact that your mother was a native of these parts made that easy. We brought you back and arranged that you and Maximilian should meet on the Night of the Seventh Moon. There was the marriage. We believed it would be a mock marriage with a pseudo priest, and when we discovered that Maximilian was so besotted that he had gone through a genuine ceremony we could see that this was disaster to the treaty which was being made between Rochenstein and Klarenbock. I was working for my native country and I realized that I had to act quickly. The Prince went away after the brief honeymoon because a rebellion was brewing and he had to be with his father. I should have left you in the lodge to be blown up, but I couldn't do it. My sister says that was the greatest mistake I ever made. From her point of view, I daresay it was, but I had come to look upon you as my little cousin. I was fond of you. I thought I would get you back to England and no one would be the wiser. So I destroyed the evidence of the marriage—your lines and ring; and with the help of the doctor who was working with us we tried to convince you that you had lost six days of your life when you lost your virtue. I don't know how we did it.”