Part 11 (1/2)

'By no means,' Captain Hughes echoed faintly.

'Of course you will appreciate the necessity of bringing the lake -'

'Necessity, Ma'am?'

'Do not be continually repeating my words like a gaby, captain, I beg! Of course it was necessary that the lake should be here, because, when my husband returns, it will be by boat across that lake, into which, as you will recall, the sword Caliburn had to be dropped in order to summon his aunts.'

Captain Hughes remained silent. A light sweat had broken out on his brow.

'When we reached New c.u.mbria,' Queen Ginevra went on, 'a convenient location was found for the re-siting of Lake Arianrod in a dried-up depression (doubtless volcanic in origin) between Mount Damyake and Mount Catelonde; and it has remained there ever since. Some of the peasants call it Dozmary; but of course Arianrod is its real name.'

'Just so,' said the captain.

'Now to my purpose,' went on the queen. She looked sharply at Captain Hughes. 'Captain: Lake Arianrod has been stolen!'

'Gracious me, Ma'am,' said the captain, after a slight pause.

'It shall be your task to get it back for me.'

'Er,' said the captain, after another slight pause; 'I shouldn't wish to cast doubt, Your Majesty, but but you are quite sure it has been stolen, and not not merely trickled away or evaporated or sunk into the ground?'

'It has been stolen, Captain,' repeated the queen coldly. 'I am aware of the motive and I am cognisant of the culprit.'

'But how could somebody steal a lake?'

'Without the slightest difficulty. The lake frequently freezes, since it is at an alt.i.tude of fourteen thousand feet. It was purloined, and removed across my boundary, on llama-back, in the form of ice-blocks, just as we imported it from Camelot County in the first place.'

'You did say, you did mean, Ma'am,' said the captain a little wildly, 'I just wish to be sure I did not misunderstand; you did mean that your husband was the King Arthur who established the Round Table?'

Ignoring that, the queen said, 'You had best peruse this impudent doc.u.ment!' From among the folds of her draperies, she produced a scroll, embossed with a crowned dragon, and handed it to Captain Hughes.

'You may read it aloud, for the benefit of your companions,' she ordered. Accordingly he read: 'Dear Cousin, Pendragon, and Ruler of New c.u.mbria, Since you have unlawfully and barbarously violated the treaty of alliance that binds our two countries in that you have seized my child, heir, and most precious treasure, be it known to you that I have seen fit to retaliate by removing one and one half million tons of inland water from the boundaries of our two realms, which water I shall be prepared to return to you immediately upon restoration to me of the said princess, in good health and unharmed.

MABON, REX'.

'What is this about?' inquired Captain Hughes, when he had digested the contents of the epistle. 'Mabon? I understand him to be the ruler of the Kingdom of Lyonesse, which lies to the south-east of Your Majesty's dominions? But what is this heir, this princess of whom he speaks?'

'Oh, it is all such nonsense! The most ridiculous, laughable mistake!' exclaimed Queen Ginevra pettishly. 'The idiot has taken it into his head to accuse me of abducting his daughter. Why should I do such a thing? And, in consequence, he had the effrontery the out-rageousness to remove my Sacred Lake.' 'There is no truth in his accusation?' Queen Ginevra drew herself up. 'Do you doubt me, Captain?' 'Of course not, Ma'am. Of course not. Who is this princess?' 'Oh, the child's name is Helen, or Elaine some such thing.' Dido started. Instinctively she clenched her white-gloved hand. 'The girl went to boarding-school in England,' Queen Ginevra continued. 'As you may not have heard, there is a popular, superst.i.tious belief that the climate of these lat.i.tudes is unsuitable for young female persons. I believe the young lady attended a seminary in Old Bath. Upon her return home, what happens? Undoubtedly her s.h.i.+p was captured by pirates the south seas hereabouts teem with them. And yet Mabon immediately accuses we! Without the least grounds for doing so! And has the impudence to steal my lake. Imagine it! Suppose this should be the time and it might well be so, for the soothsayers have given this year as a particularly fortunate, auspicious period when my dearest husband, my dear Quondam Rex, should be due to return? What would happen if the lake were not in its place? The thought is not to be borne!'

A very strange mixture of expressions blent and battled in the queen's countenance: resentment, wistful-ness, anger, coyness, grief, pride, self-satisfaction Dido did not care for any of them. She supposed she ought to feel sorry for a deserted wife who had been sorrowing so many hundreds of years for her lost husband but how could you feel sorry for anybody quite so fat?

Besides, she oughter got used to doing without him by now, Dido thought.

'What did you wish me to do in the matter, Ma'am?' Captain Hughes sounded exceedingly glum.

'Well,' Queen Ginevra replied, in a tone that was unexpectedly cheerful and chatty, 'I had originally intended you to go and reason with King Mabon, Captain Hughes, and, if necessary, threaten armed intervention by British forces; my own army is, unfortunately, sadly depleted. But, since you have brought your charming young friend to see me, I have been visited by a much better notion.' She fixed her pale eyes on Dido. 'You shall go to King Mabon, Captain; I will give you a safe-conduct across the frontier through the Pa.s.s of Nimue. Young Miss Twite there shall accompany you, and you will inform King Mabon, who will know no better, that you are returning his daughter to him!'

'What!' gasped the captain, who could hardly believe his ears. 'What, Ma'am? You cannot be serious! You cannot intend the subst.i.tution of that young person there for for the missing princess?'

'Why not, pray?' said the queen coldly. 'The princess has been away at boarding-school for ten years. He will never know the difference. Why, you could easily pretend to be his daughter, could you not, child? Of course,' she added with what was evidently meant to be a winning smile, 'I should greatly prefer that you remain with me, as my dear little guest but you would do this small service for me, would you not? You need not remain with King Mabon for long, you know -merely until he has restored my property. Then you can run away and return to me here, and we shall have such splendid times together!'

Dido gaped at the queen. So many snags in the plan presented themselves to her that she did not know which to mention first. Meanwhile the captain was spluttering like a firecracker.

'But but but, Ma'am! That would be rank deceit fraud imposture knavery it is not to be thought of!'

'No?' Queen Ginevra turned her protruding eyes on him. The look in them was now far from friendly.

'I could by no means countenance such sharp practice in the name of King James's Government, or my masters at the Admiralty.'

The queen briskly clapped her hands. Immediately a dozen grey-clad guards appeared from behind the curtains at the side of the hall. Queen Ginevra gestured towards Captain Hughes.

'Take him to the Wen Pendragon prison,' she said. 'He may cool his heels there, until, perhaps, he has second thoughts.'

Captain Hughes was dragged away, struggling, cursing and protesting loudly. 'I object! This is an outrage! An act of war! Disgraceful detention of a diplomatic official! One of King James's subjects! Monstrous! Intolerable!' His voice died away in the distance.

Ignoring him, the queen looked thoughtfully at Dido.

'As for you, child -' Ginevra reflected for a little, seemed to hesitate. Then she said, 'You may have two days to decide. If you are prepared to go on this mission to King Mabon for me I daresay that young man would escort you?'

Dido and Lieutenant Windward eyed one another uncertainly; after a moment Dido slightly jerked her head, and he answered, 'Y-yes, Ma'am,' in a faltering voice.

'Very well! If you undertake the mission for me if King Mabon returns my lake your captain shall be released. Now you may leave me. In forty-eight hours (or sooner, of course) I shall expect your decision.'

Dido found voice enough to croak, 'Might we go and look at this here lake, Missus your High-and-Mighty? Where it was, I mean? Jist to make sure it has really gone, like?'

'You doubt me?' asked the queen formidably.

'No, no, Ma'am! But you never know somebody mighta put it back by this time.'

'Most unlikely! But, in any case, if you travel to the court of Mabon in Lyonesse, you must cross the frontier at the head of Lake Arianrod, so you will see it then. You will need a safe-conduct to show to the Guardian of the Temple of Sul, which commands the Pa.s.s of Nimue. If you agree to go, I will see that the Grand Inquisitor supplies you with the necessary pa.s.s.'

'Thank you, Ma'am.'

Mr Jones, the Queen's Physician, now approached and, deferentially but firmly, wrapped a black bandage round the queen's plump arm, pressed a pigskin bulb, and studied the motions of a small dial.

'You should rest, Your Mercy,' he said. 'The audience with the gringo captain has tired you more than you are aware.'

'Oh, very well, very well,' snapped the queen, who did not appear particularly tired, so far as Dido could judge. However she accepted a dishful of pills red, yellow, green, black and pink which the doctor handed her, swallowed them with a little milk, and said to Dido.

'You may depart, child. On your decision rests whether you see your captain again.'

The atmosphere in Bath Palace was stifling, warm as a conservatory. Despite this, Dido felt icy cold as she walked away from the dais; Queen Ginevra's glance seemed to pierce like an oyster-knife between her shoulder-blades. It was a comfort to have Lieutenant Windward's firm clasp on her arm. He was walking at a measured pace, trying to avoid undignified signs of nervous hurry. Dido had leisure to observe that the side hangings were in fact spiderwebs huge, sagging curtains of them, swinging from roof to floor. They sparkled, here and there, with precious stones, diamonds perhaps. And the spiders, occasionally to be seen lurking in thickety knots of web, were as large and hairy as coconuts.

In the curving gallery outside they found Daffyd Gomez, the Grand Inquisitor, waiting to intercept them.

'Here comes more trouble,' breathed Dido, as the venerable white-bearded figure extended a skinny hand.