away.
In a flash I was upon the intruder, had flung an arm round his neck and had clapped a hand over his mouth.
Then I jumped like a schoolgirl, let go my prisoner and lay back against the wall.
It was the Grand Duchess.
For a moment neither of us spoke, but I know that my heart was pounding and there was sweat on my face.
At length—
“I’m most dreadfully sorry,” I whispered. “I—”
“Where are you going?” she breathed.
“To Bariche for petrol. We’re in the enemy’s camp.”
“Ah,” says she. “Are you sure?”
“Certain. Hanbury will tell you tomorrow. You gave me the cue.”
“Does the bailiff suspect that we know it?”
“No,” said I. “And, if you’ll shut this door behind me, there’s no reason why he should.”
“Very well.”
I hesitated. Then—
“I – I must have hurt you,” I stammered.
“It is nothing,” she said. “How will you find your way?”
“Bariche lies South, and I can steer by the stars.”
“I see,” she said slowly. And then, “I don’t want to fumble. You had better show me the bolts, if I am to shut the door.”
She gave me her hand, and I brought her up to the door. Then, with my hands upon hers, I taught her to shoot the bolts without making a sound.
A moment later I was out on the turf, and, before five minutes were past, I had left the meadows behind and was climbing within the woods.
I have little to say of that journey, except that I can think of no error into which I did not fall.
I sought to go South, but, though the stars were luminous, I met so much mountain and forest, that my course became more ragged with every step. So sure as I found a road, this would soon curl about until I was heading North, and twice, with my eyes on the heaven, I walked clean into a ditch. I strode a mile out of my way to miss a wood, only to encounter a cliff which I could not climb, and, when, in despair, I returned and entered the wood, five minutes’ scrambling brought me into a valley from which I could only escape by stumbling due East for nearly another mile. Because I could find no bridge, I stripped and forded a river to gain a road; but, before I had gone half a mile, the road turned suddenly North and over the very water I had been at such pains to cross. The countryside itself might have been enchanted. I confounded substance with shadow, and height and depth deceived me over and over again. Peer as I would, I could not judge any distance, great or small, and if ever I dared to hasten some pitfall was always ready to bring me down. If I passed by men or beasts I never saw them, while, as for habitations, I might have been wandering in some uninhabited land.
All the time I kept thinking of the Grand Duchess and our meeting upon the stair and the rough way in which I had used her before I knew that it was she. I was sure that I must have hurt her, for I am a powerful man, and, remembering the touch of her soft and yielding body and her delicate face, I cursed again the violence which I had laid on. How she had come to watch me I could not divine, but supposed that she had not known me and, finding my way suspicious, had followed me down. This seemed a poor explanation, for, when I released her, she knew me, although I had spoken no word: and that made me wonder how it was that I recognized her…
Whilst I was revolving this mystery, I caught my foot in a trailer and fell into a bramble-bush. And that was the end of my troubles, for I let out an oath so noisy that some dog began to bark, and, when I had ploughed through the briers, I saw a farm house below me and, beyond it, the white of a road.
The farmer was a decent fellow and readily agreed himself to drive me to Bariche, from which I found to my disgust I was still fourteen miles away: but, though his heart was willing and his good wife was more than kind, he did not know how to hasten, and, when I tried to teach him, began to fuss.
It follows that the day had broken long before we
In a flash I was upon the intruder, had flung an arm round his neck and had clapped a hand over his mouth.
Then I jumped like a schoolgirl, let go my prisoner and lay back against the wall.
It was the Grand Duchess.
For a moment neither of us spoke, but I know that my heart was pounding and there was sweat on my face.
At length—
“I’m most dreadfully sorry,” I whispered. “I—”
“Where are you going?” she breathed.
“To Bariche for petrol. We’re in the enemy’s camp.”
“Ah,” says she. “Are you sure?”
“Certain. Hanbury will tell you tomorrow. You gave me the cue.”
“Does the bailiff suspect that we know it?”
“No,” said I. “And, if you’ll shut this door behind me, there’s no reason why he should.”
“Very well.”
I hesitated. Then—
“I – I must have hurt you,” I stammered.
“It is nothing,” she said. “How will you find your way?”
“Bariche lies South, and I can steer by the stars.”
“I see,” she said slowly. And then, “I don’t want to fumble. You had better show me the bolts, if I am to shut the door.”
She gave me her hand, and I brought her up to the door. Then, with my hands upon hers, I taught her to shoot the bolts without making a sound.
A moment later I was out on the turf, and, before five minutes were past, I had left the meadows behind and was climbing within the woods.
I have little to say of that journey, except that I can think of no error into which I did not fall.
I sought to go South, but, though the stars were luminous, I met so much mountain and forest, that my course became more ragged with every step. So sure as I found a road, this would soon curl about until I was heading North, and twice, with my eyes on the heaven, I walked clean into a ditch. I strode a mile out of my way to miss a wood, only to encounter a cliff which I could not climb, and, when, in despair, I returned and entered the wood, five minutes’ scrambling brought me into a valley from which I could only escape by stumbling due East for nearly another mile. Because I could find no bridge, I stripped and forded a river to gain a road; but, before I had gone half a mile, the road turned suddenly North and over the very water I had been at such pains to cross. The countryside itself might have been enchanted. I confounded substance with shadow, and height and depth deceived me over and over again. Peer as I would, I could not judge any distance, great or small, and if ever I dared to hasten some pitfall was always ready to bring me down. If I passed by men or beasts I never saw them, while, as for habitations, I might have been wandering in some uninhabited land.
All the time I kept thinking of the Grand Duchess and our meeting upon the stair and the rough way in which I had used her before I knew that it was she. I was sure that I must have hurt her, for I am a powerful man, and, remembering the touch of her soft and yielding body and her delicate face, I cursed again the violence which I had laid on. How she had come to watch me I could not divine, but supposed that she had not known me and, finding my way suspicious, had followed me down. This seemed a poor explanation, for, when I released her, she knew me, although I had spoken no word: and that made me wonder how it was that I recognized her…
Whilst I was revolving this mystery, I caught my foot in a trailer and fell into a bramble-bush. And that was the end of my troubles, for I let out an oath so noisy that some dog began to bark, and, when I had ploughed through the briers, I saw a farm house below me and, beyond it, the white of a road.
The farmer was a decent fellow and readily agreed himself to drive me to Bariche, from which I found to my disgust I was still fourteen miles away: but, though his heart was willing and his good wife was more than kind, he did not know how to hasten, and, when I tried to teach him, began to fuss.
It follows that the day had broken long before we
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