Part 16 (1/2)
”I'll be back,” I said.
”A midmorning tryst. How romantic. Siegfried will be jealous.” Matty wagged a finger and the other girls giggled as I went to the door. I hoped she was just joking. For a second I felt a stab of a different kind of fear-had I been brought here to be bride of this particular Frankenstein after all? Frankly if it was a choice between life with Siegfried and a bite from a vampire, I think I'd prefer to be undead. But I didn't have long to consider this as Darcy was waiting outside the door for me.
”Ah, there you are,” he said, drawing me to one side. ”Look, something has come up and I have to go.”
”Go? Go where?”
”We've run into a complication,” he whispered. ”Nicholas's father demanded to be taken straight to see Pirin.”
”Oh, Lord, so I suppose the game's up.”
”Not yet. We kept the curtains drawn so that it was pretty dark. The firelight actually made his skin look reddish. I slipped into the room and hid under the bed, then I snored loudly to make it sound as if he was still breathing.”
I started to laugh, it was so absurd.
Darcy smiled too. ”It worked once, but the king is very concerned. He wanted to send one of the cars to bring his personal physician from Bulgaria immediately.”
”How did you stop him from doing that?”
”Nick persuaded him that there was a good hospital with modern equipment in the nearest city and it would be better if Pirin were transported there immediately.”
”Oh, no, what are you going to do?”
”I've volunteered to go to the hospital with him, since Nicholas can't leave his bride.”
”But what good will that do? They'll p.r.o.nounce him dead as soon as he arrives.”
”If he arrives,” Darcy said. ”I'm also going to be driving and unfortunately the car is going to go off the road into a snowdrift somewhere up on the pa.s.s. By the time I've gone for help poor Field Marshal Pirin will have died, so there will be no point in summoning the personal physician. And the news of the tragic death won't reach the castle until after the wedding.”
”So you're not going to be here for the wedding either?” The disappointment in my face must have shown.
”I have to do this, my love,” he said. He raised his hand to my cheek. ”I'm the only one who can do it, but I want you to help Nick and Anton in any way you can.”
”Of course,” I said. ”Take care of yourself.”
”You too.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, then he went down the stairs without looking back.
Chapter 22.
Still in Bran Castle
I returned to the salon.
”That was quick for a tryst,” Matty said.
”He just had a message to give me,” I said. ”Your future father-in-law wants the field marshal to be taken to a hospital immediately and Darcy has volunteered to accompany him.”
”Thank G.o.d he's going,” Matty said. ”Now we can return to enjoying ourselves.”
I excused myself soon after, having decided not to ask one of the seamstresses to save my scorched dress. The way those sewing machines were clattering away indicated that they were busy enough already. Maybe when all the dresses were finished, I'd try again. I came into the hallway in time to run into Lady Middles.e.x and Miss Deer-Harte. ”I don't know how you two managed to go for a walk in that snow,” Lady Middles.e.x said accusingly. ”We only ventured a few yards before Deer-Harte sank up to her middle. Had a dashed difficult time getting her out.”
”I'm sorry,” I said. ”We walked in the tracks the cars had made.”
”Better get you up to your room, Deer-Harte, before you catch your death of cold,” Lady Middles.e.x said. ”Saw them loading the field marshal's body into one of the hea.r.s.es, by the way. And Mr. O'Mara went off with him. I hope they're taking him to a place where a proper autopsy can be performed.”
I put my finger up to my lips. ”Remember we're not supposed to be talking about this,” I said. ”Field Marshal Pirin has gone to hospital.”
”Oh, yes. Right. Of course.” She grinned like a naughty child. ”Not that it matters. I'm sure none of the servants understand a word of what we're saying.”
”I'm sure it's very easy to listen in on conversations in a castle like this,” I said. ”We have a laird's lug at Castle Rannoch-you know, a secret room where you can listen to conversations in the great hall. And sound carries through all the pipes in the bathrooms, so I'm sure it must be the same here.”
”Well, I believe in calling a spade a spade,” Lady Middles.e.x said, annoyed now that I'd caught her out. ”I don't hold with trickery and deceit. Not the British way, you know. And if there is a murderer loose in this castle, then it's high time he was found.”
I looked around to see who might be listening to this outburst. Luckily the hall appeared to be deserted, but at that moment I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Prince Nicholas came toward us, taking the steps two at a time.
”Well, that's been accomplished, thank G.o.d,” he said. ”My father saw him off.”
”How did you manage that?”
Nicholas grinned. ”We carried him down to the car, wrapped head to toe in blankets against the cold. Father never had a chance to see any more of his face than a mustache peeping out. Good old Darcy. Splendid chap. Now we can hope that it takes a long time to mend the telephone wires.”
”So when do we hold the council of war?” Lady Middles.e.x demanded.
Prince Nicholas looked wary. ”War?”
”I mean when do we meet to plan strategy and work out how we are going to solve this?”
”Oh, right.” Nicholas looked as if meeting with Lady Middles.e.x was not what he had in mind.
”We should pool our brains on this one, and our observations,” she said. ”Deer-Harte thought she noticed one of the servants acting s.h.i.+ftily.”
”Very well. No time like the present, I suppose,” Nicholas said. ”Maria is still with her ladies and the dressmakers, I presume?” I nodded. ”So I'll find Dragomir and my brother and we'll meet in the library in fifteen minutes. Agreed?”
”Just gives you time to get out of those freezing wet clothes, Deer-Harte,” Lady Middles.e.x said.
I was making my way up to the floor that contained the library when I remembered that I hadn't had any breakfast and took a detour to the breakfast room in the hope that there was still a roll I could grab. The room was empty but for Belinda, sitting alone at the table with a coffee cup in front of her.
”Where have you been?” she asked. ”I've been looking everywhere for you.”
”I got up late and then went for a walk with Darcy,” I said.
”How romantic. But where is everyone else? The place is like a morgue.”
”Matty is having a dress fitting with her attendants and you know that the royal party arrived, don't you?”