03 The Princess of the Chalet School (18 page)

Madge’s face cleared. ‘Ah! Then you are the bodyguard sent by the King to watch over the little Princess Elisaveta? I am glad you are here,
mein Herr
.’

‘I thank you, madame,’ he replied. ‘It is an honour to be chosen to guard our Little Lady, and to do a Belsornian’s humble best to save her from the plottings of his Highness Prince Cosimo.’

‘Do you think, then, that she is in danger from the Prince?’ asked Madge, looking troubled.

He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Ah, madame, who can say? Cosimo is a danger to her little Highness as long as the Crown Prince is alive. It is for that reason that his Majesty has graciously sent me to assist you in your task of guarding her.’

‘I must introduce you to my colleague and successor, Mademoiselle La Pattre,’ said the young Head. ‘Will you come with me?’

They walked on, overtaking Mademoiselle, who had not paused when Ternikai had spoken, and he was presented to the Frenchwoman. She looked at him shrewdly. ‘You say you are from his Majesty, monsieur.

May we not see your credentials?’

He bowed again, and drawing from his pocket a parchment offered it to them.

‘Here is the written order of the King, sealed with his own seal, and signed by himself.’

They took it and opened it. It was an official affair, purporting to come from the King, and introducing Signor Maurús Ternikai, lately Captain in the Royal Household Guards, as the bodyguard asked by la Signorina Bettany on behalf of her Royal Highness the Princess Elisaveta Margherita of Belsornia. It begged la signorina to have every confidence in Signor Ternikai, and was signed with his Majesty’s characterisitic signature, ‘Ridolpho R.B.’

They read it, and then Mademoiselle rolled it up again and put it into the bag she was carrying. ‘I thank you, signor,’ she said.

‘And her Highness?’ he queried.

‘Her Royal Highness is at present in the school-room, undergoing an examination in mathematics,’ replied Madge.

‘Then she is safe. It may be that there will be need to take her into hiding for a day or so,’ he said. ‘If Prince Cosimo should learn where she is he would, I fear, make a determined effort to kidnap her. She would prove an admirable hostage to him, for with her in his hands he could make what terms he wished with his Majesty – and Cosimo is not good!’

All the conversation had been carried on in French, but he spoke the last sentence in English, and there was a sinister sound about it – ‘Cosimo is not good’ – which affected the two ladies more than all the rest.

They looked at each other in silence. What Signor Ternikai meant by it they were not sure, but something very wrong was clear. Miss Bettany spoke at last. ‘We are very glad that you are here, that being the case,’

she said.

Ternikai smiled. Then he held out his hand in farewell. She placed hers in it, expecting a shake. To her dismay he raised it to his lips. Madge Bettany had not spent some years abroad without learning that it was an ordinary custom, but though she was used to it with some of the fathers of her pupils, she had never before felt annoyed by it. Now, she would have given worlds to rub her hand where his lips had touched it.

She couldn’t
quite
do that, but she drew it sharply away. As for Mademoiselle, she gave him no chance of treating her thus, for she merely bowed to him very freezingly. He left them after that, going on to Seespitz, where Prince Cosimo was waiting to hear if he had been able to establish himself with the Head of the school; while they turned back towards the school.

The first thing Madge did when he had gone was to get out her handkerchief and scrub her hand fiercely.

‘I, also, should feel like that,’ observed Mademoiselle as she watched her. ‘What do you think of our bodyguard, Marguerite?’

‘I dislike him,’ said Madge shortly.

‘
Vraiment
! And for me, I
distrust
him!’

‘Elise! What do you mean?’

‘He looks at one too boldly. It is well to meet the eyes of all, but not in that way. It is as one who bluffs, as Evadne would say.’

Madge stopped short in the path and faced her with troubled eyes. ‘Elise, do you mean that you do not think he is sent by the King?’

Mademoiselle shook her head. ‘I do not questions that,
ma chérie
. But it is quite possible that he is not what the King thinks him. And yet, why should I say that?’

Madge took a step backwards in her dismay. ‘Mademoiselle! That would be simply awful! If anything should happen that Cosimo should find out where Elisaveta is it may be necessary to trust him with a great deal, and I must have some one I can trust thoroughly. I had better wire them at the court to-day.’

‘Indeed, you can do nothing of the kind,’ returned Mademoiselle promptly. ‘That would be to tell the whole continent where she is. No; you must write, and if they say it is well, then you must trust him. That is all.’

‘Well, it’s a ghastly proposition, and I’m beginning to wish I’d never undertaken her. Oh,
what
a term this had been! In fact, what a year it had been! Measles last term! Matron, a thunderbolt, and a fire this! And now, all this on top of it all! There’s only one thing to be thankful for!’

‘And what is that?’ asked Madmoiselle.

‘It’s been the first term since we started that Jo hasn’t managed to do something to herself! I suppose I’d better be thankful for small mercies and rejoice that she’s got through safely without bringing my heart into my mouth over something!’

By this time they had reached the gate of the school, so they went in, and there were met by an awful tale of how Joey Bettany had upset her desk, turning the ink over a new gym. tunic.

‘And both inkwells were full!’ wailed Miss Durrant, who had come to tell the Head what had occurred.

‘Geography is next, you know, and they want red ink for their maps. You never saw such a sight in you lives! She’s blue where she isn’t red, and her tunic is ruined!’

‘But what on earth was she doing to do that?’ demanded her sister.

‘She
says
the desk wasn’t set up right, she thinks,’ replied the mistress. ‘It seemed all right to me. Anyhow, she’s changing at this present moment, and Marie has taken her tunic to the kitchen to see what she can do with it.’

Madge turned to Mademoiselle with a resigned look. ‘Did I say Joey had got through the term all right?’

she said. ‘I spoke too soon. I do wonder what she will contrive to do next?’

Elisaveta in Danger, and Joey as a Detective

‘Joey! – Joey, wake up! I want you!’

Joey Bettany moved uneasily and grunted, Elisaveta, who was standing beside her, bent over her and shook her vigorously. ‘
Joey, wake up
! I want you!’

This was more successful. With a deep sigh Joey opened her eyes, and then sat up so suddenly that she nearly banged her head against Elisaveta’s chin.

‘Ow!’ said that young lady involuntarily, as she started back.

‘Sorry!’ Jo rubbed her eyes vigorously, and was wide-awake at last. ‘What under the starts do you want?’

she demanded, speaking in her normal tones.

Elisaveta hushed her at once. ‘Be quiet! You’ll wake Bianca if you yell like that, and she mus’n't know!’

‘Well, but what’s
up
?’ asked Jo, lowering her tones. ‘Are you sick, or anything?’

‘No! If I was, I shouldn’t be standing here!’ declared the Princess. ‘When I’m sick, I
am
sick!’

‘Then why on earth have you wakened me at this time of night?’ protested Jo, who had been in the thick of a most thrilling dream and resented having it spoilt.

Elisaveta bent forward. ‘’Cos there’s some one standing outside down there, and I
think
it’s that Ternikai man.’

‘Coo! What can he want now?’ Jo’s dream was forgotten, and she reached her hand out for her dressing-gown.

‘Where are you going?’ asked Elisaveta.

‘To see if it’s him, of course!’ was the cheerful and ungrammatical reply.

‘Supposing it isn’t?’

‘Then I shall ask why they are trespassing. People have no right in our field at two o’clock in the morning

– or any other time, as far as that goes, unless they are asked.’

Jo was into her dressing-gown by this time, and the two stole quietly to the wide-open window and looked out. There was no one to be seen, and no sounds came up to them either. Joey turned a disgusted look on her companion. ‘You silly ass! There’s not a soul there!’

‘But there
was
!’ declared Elisaveta.

‘You’ve dreamt it!’

‘I didn’t! I’ve been awake for ages, and I
know
I heard voices. It sounded like Belsornian, too.’

‘Talk sense! Who on earth’s going to talk Belsornian at two in the morning under out window – unless that Ternikai person is mad and talks to himself!’

‘You can say what you like,’ persisted Elisaveta. ‘There
was
some one there, and I’m going out on the balcony to see if I can see who it was.’

She climbed on to the window sill as she spoke, and swung herself out on to the little balcony. Joey followed her as a matter of course, and the two peered into the grayness of the July morning. They could see no one at first; then a figure loomed up dark against the shadows, and Maurús Ternikai came slowly towards the house. Elisaveta seized Joey’s arm in a bruising grip. ‘It
is
him! What can he want?’

‘Ask him and see,’ returned Joey practically. ‘P’r'aps he’s brought a message from your father.’

Elisaveta hung over the balcony rail and whistled a low fluting note. Joey did not know, but it was the call the Belsornian cowherds use when they want to call each other. It carries a long way, even when whistled as softly as she did it, and the man below heard it at once and looked up. He saw the two figures on the balcony at once, and came nearer. ‘It is I – Ternikai, Highness,’ he called in low tones.

‘I see it is,’ replied the Princess. ‘What do you want?’

‘A word with you, Highness. Can you come down?’

‘Not now,’ declared Joey for the Princess. ‘The place is all locked up and we couldn’t get out without some one hearing us.’

He looked up with a slight scowl. He had recognized the child who had stared so at him, and he was not anxious to meet her again. However, it was imperative that he should speak to the Princess as soon as possible. He had been prospecting round trying to find out by guess which was her window, and Prince Cosimo was within earshot, so he must make the best of things. ‘If the balcony will bear my weight, Highness, I could climb up.’

‘I should think it’s strong enough for that,’ decided her Highness. ‘You can try, anyway.’

‘It would be better if
we
came down,’ said Joey. ‘You could catch us as we fell, and then, if we could stand on your shoulders, we could climb back. I think we’d better do that.’

‘What I have to say is for her Royal Highness alone,’ said Ternikai firmly.

‘Well, I needn’t listen,’ replied Jo with equal firmness. ‘If you want to speak to Elisaveta you’ve got to put up with me coming too. I promised to keep an eye on her, and I’m going to!’

Ternikai swore under his breath. He was very anxious to get the Princess by herself, and he distrusted this black-eyed child with the firm little chin with all his heart. It struck him that she was too clever, and he would have given anything to have got her out of the way somehow. However, he saw that there was no help for it, so he gave in, and the two retired to get into something more suitable for the interview that pyjamas and dressing-gowns.

Prince Cosimo joined him when they had disappeared. ‘Aren’t they coming?’ he growled.

‘Yes, Highness. They have gone to put some garments on,’ replied Ternikai.

‘What are they doing that for?’

‘I think it is the English ideas of propriety,’ explained his servant.

‘
You
think!’ snarled the Prince; but he said no more, and two minutes later the children reappeared on the balcony, clad in their school-frocks.

Elisaveta climbed over the rail first. Joey held her wrists, then there was a low ‘Ready,’ and she dropped to the ground, Ternikai catching her neatly. Joey clambered over as soon as she was safely on the ground, and he was obliged to catch her with the same care as he had shown to the Princess. He would dearly have liked to let her fall, but he didn’t dare. When she was safe he held out his hands to them. ‘Come. We will go a little farther away,’ he said. ‘Some one might see us here!’

‘We can walk by ourselves, thank you,’ said Joey, drawing away. ‘Oh, and be careful of the mounds! Herr Braun hasn’t had time to get them rolled yet.’

He let his hands fall, realizing that they would infinitely prefer to manage by themselves, and they went a little way away from the house.

‘Have you brought a message from my father?’ demanded the Princess, as he stopped.

‘Yes, Highness,’ he said; ‘a message, and another friend.’ He raised his voice. ‘Belsarni!’

Prince Cosimo came towards them. He was doing a daring thing, but it was necessary that Elisaveta should think him another of her bodyguards. She had not seen him since she was six, and she had known him as a clean-shaven young man then. Now he was much older and wore a beard, which he had grown for his present purpose. Ternikai presented him with much ceremony. ‘May I present Signor Carlo Belsarni to you, madame? He is to be trusted as you trust myself.’

The Princess looked at him. The gray dawn was approaching, and she could see him fairly well. At once a dim memory teased her. Where had she seen him before?

Joey answered that in part. ‘Why, it’s the other man!’ she said; ‘the one at the station when we were coming from the Zillerthal!’

Cosimo started and regarded Joey with a malignant air. Like Ternikai he came to the conclusion that she was far too clever, and he wondered uneasily what he had been doing at the station when she had seen him.

It was useless to deny that he had been there, for remembrance had dawned in the Princess’s face, and he was afraid lest she should probe further and remember who he was. ‘La signorina is very clever,’ he said to Joey, with what she called ‘a
beastly
sneerish expression.’ ‘I am flattered that she remembers me at all.’