101. A Call of Love (13 page)

For a moment there was astonished silence.

Then, as a man came through the door, the Viceroy jumped to his feet.

“Warde!” he cried. “I am so delighted to see you.”

He walked to the Major and held out his hand and as he did so Lord Kenington also rose.

“We have been desperately worried about you,” the Viceroy was saying. “Now you turn up and I cannot tell you how glad I am that you are here.”

“I am very glad to be here myself,” Major Warde said. “But you will understand why I was detained when I tell you what has happened.”

The Viceroy remembered that he had a visitor and turned towards Lord Kenington.

“I want you first of all to meet Lord Kenington who has come from England to discover for the Prime Minister a little more about
The Great Game
.”

The Major turned and held out his hand to Lord Kenington, who was surprised to see that he was wearing uniform.

He had thought if he did come back, he would still be in some disguise, but instead he was shaved and smartly turned out.

“I am delighted to meet you,” Lord Kenington said.

“And you must be grateful to Lord Kenington,” the Viceroy chimed in, “because he has brought your daughter here from Calcutta.”

The Major’s eyes brightened.

“Aisha is here!” he exclaimed. “That is excellent news. I had thought she would still be waiting for me in Calcutta.”

“She would have been,” Lord Lytton explained, “except that Lord Kenington was wise enough, as he was coming here, to bring her with him.”

Before Major Warde could speak, he added,

“Now please sit down and tell us exactly why you disappeared and why you left us worrying about you.”

“I am sorry about that,” Major Warde said, “but I think you will understand when I report to you that quite by accident I discovered that the Russians were planning an attack on a Fort on the North-West Frontier.”

“A Russian attack!” Lord Lytton exclaimed.

Major Warde nodded.

“They had worked up the local tribesmen and, when they were least expected, they intended to rush the Fort and set it on fire.”

The Viceroy drew in his breath.

“As bad as that,” he muttered.

“I have been thinking, like you, that it would not have been successful, but I had to warn the Garrison and I only arrived there a day before the onslaught was planned.”

“And you prevented them from carrying it out?” “The Garrison did so very effectively by firing their guns, as if they were practising, in the direction of the frontier. The noise they made and the fact that the Fort was seen to be so active deterred the Russians from doing what they planned.”

“I think it was brilliant of you, Warde.” “This is just the sort of story I want for the Prime Minister,” Lord Kenington said, “and it will confirm the answer to his question as to whether we need more troops in India than we have at present.”

“Of course we need more,” Major Warde replied. “I have said so a number of times, but no one will listen to me. Perhaps they will now.”

He did not sound very optimistic about it, but the Viceroy said,

“Lord Kenington will make it very clear that more troops are wanted. Also that
The Great Game
, to which we are eternally grateful, is surely living up to its reputation.”

Major Warde smiled.

“No one could have done more than you have,” the Viceroy went on, “and, as you well know, when you retire, you will be acclaimed as we dare not do yet.”

“I think it is something that you will be able to do very soon,” Major Warde said quietly. “Too many people were well aware, when I reached the Fort, that I was the conveyor of the news that sent the Garrison immediately into action.”

“Do you mean,” Lord Kenington asked, “that you cannot go on in
The Great Game
?”

“Not if I wish to survive. There was no time for pretending to be anything but the conveyor of the warning that they were to be attacked. The stupidest recruit knew I was the only one who could have brought such a message when they had not had a visitor for several weeks.”

“Well, it’s a really wonderful way to bring down the curtain,” the Viceroy said, “and I can only thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“You will have to do more than that, my Lord,” Major Warde replied. “I have been asked by Colonel Brewhurst to get reinforcements sent at once and to convey to the powers that be exactly what occurred.”

“What I am longing to know,” the Viceroy said, “is how you discovered the plot in the first place.”

“In the usual way,” Major Warde replied lightly, “by listening and, because I was suspicious – which is why I came up here – that something was going to happen. I had no idea that the Forts on the North-West Frontier are sure to be the first target for anyone who intends to invade India.”

“So you think the Russians are really serious?” “They are little more than twenty miles away from us at present,” Major Warde said quietly.

“As near as that!” the Viceroy exclaimed.

“Not in great force at the moment, but if they see open gates, so to speak, right in front of them, they will undoubtedly move in.”

It was now Lord Kenington’s turn to gasp and he enquired,

“You really think that is possible?”

“It is what they are aiming to do and everyone who works in
The Great Game
will tell you it has been in the forefront of their minds since the Cossacks started causing havoc in Asia. Behind them come the troops and guns.”

“Do you think they will be at all upset, or shall we say alarmed, that this plan to destroy the Fort was foiled?” the Viceroy asked.

“It was planned, but it did not take place. However, as Colonel Brewhurst and I have ascertained, there were a number of men we thought were Russian soldiers mixed up with the tribesmen. When they all withdrew, we could see them more clearly and there were certainly a considerable number of them.”

He paused for a moment before he went on,

“When our men search their hiding-places, which they had started to do when I left, they will undoubtedly find a great store of arms, besides, of course, the materials with which they intended to set fire to the Fort.”

“I can only thank you on behalf of Great Britain for saving us from losing that particular Fort.” “I repeat what Colonel Brewhurst has asked me,” the Major answered, “to urge you to send him more men and more guns as quickly as possible.”

“Which of course we will do,” the Viceroy replied.

Major Warde now turned towards Lord Kenington.

“Is Aisha really here?” he asked. “If she is, I must thank you most sincerely for looking after her.”

“When you were not on the quay at Calcutta to meet her,” Lord Kenington said, “I took her at once to Government House, where we learnt that you were missing and they were very concerned about you.”

Major Warde made a helpless gesture.

“It was just impossible for me to communicate with anyone while I was making for the North-West Frontier Fort. I could only hope that Aisha, who is a very sensible girl, would go to Government House and ask for me.”

“That is exactly what she did, only I went with her. I don’t expect you know that she had to travel alone and I had the privilege of taking care of her.”

“Travelled alone!” Major Warde now exclaimed in astonishment. “What happened to the Dean and his wife?”

“The Dean was taken ill at the last moment and it’s not necessary for me to say that I saw at once that your daughter was far too pretty to travel alone without getting into trouble.”

He saw the expression on Major Warde’s face and added quickly,

“But I was able to help her and, of course, when I learnt that she was your daughter, it was something I was only too willing and anxious to do.”

“Then I am extremely grateful, my Lord. I had no idea that Aisha would be travelling alone.”

“There were a few difficult moments, but I am sure she will tell you about them.”

“As you can imagine,” the Major said, “I am very anxious to see her.”

“Of course you must be,” the Viceroy said, as he rang a silver bell on his desk. “Later you must tell Lord Kenington all that he wants to know and I am more curious than usual to discover that you have again succeeded so magnificently, as you invariably do.”

Major Warde smiled as an equerry opened the door.

“Ask Miss Aisha Warde to come immediately,” he said, “but don’t tell her who my visitor is.”

“Very good, my Lord,” the Equerry replied.

He closed the door and the Viceroy said,

“It is very important that no one in this house party should realise why you have been delayed.”

“It was usual Regimental duties,” the Major replied.

Lord Kenington laughed and said,

“You should have said, ‘very unusual ones’!”

“If they have to be the last,” Major Warde said, “I could not have had a better end to the drama. When the guns flared out just as it was getting dark and the tribesmen and the Russians began to run, it was so like a melodrama. I could not for the moment believe it was real.”

“They were waiting in hiding until dark? “Behind every bush, in the long grass and in holes they had dug in the ground,” the Major replied.

“I know the Prime Minister will be delighted by the story and it will make the Liberals, who are continually saying that we are exaggerating the situation, look foolish.”

“You should ask them to come out here for a short time,” Major Warde suggested. “They would soon learn the truth!”

“That is exactly what I want to take back with me.” At that moment the door opened and Aisha, looking very attractive, walked in.

“You wanted me, my Lord?” she asked.

Then she saw her father.

“Papa!”

It was a cry of sheer unabridged joy, as she ran across the room and threw herself against him.

“You are back! Oh Papa! I have been so worried.”

“I know you have, my dearest, but you might have guessed that I would turn up like a bad penny!”

“You have come back and that is all that matters,” Aisha said. “I have prayed and prayed you would be safe.”

“And your prayers have been answered,” Major Warde smiled.

He was holding his daughter very close to him and he kissed her again and again before he said,

“I told you not to worry and now you will never need to do so again, because we are going home.”

“You are coming back to England?” Aisha gasped.

“I am retiring and there will be no more sleepless nights or worry about your poor father.”

“Oh Papa! That is so wonderful! Nothing matters except that you are not lost, as I thought you were.”

“Thank God I am here and alive,” he sighed.

“I tell you what you ought to do now,” the Viceroy remarked, “and that is to go into the garden for a short while with your daughter. Then, if you will, come back here, Warde. I want to hear your story step by step so that Kenington can take it to the Prime Minister.”

“I think to be honest, my Lord,” Major Warde said. “I will tell him what I think he ought to know. And seeing that for the moment I am still in
The Great Game
, there are certain matters on which my lips are sealed.”

“Of course, of course,” the Viceroy agreed. “We appreciate that and will not, I promise, press you.”

“Come along, Papa,” Aisha urged. “There is so much I want to tell you about what is happening at home and how thrilled I am to see you.”

She slipped her arm through her father’s and drew him towards the door and, as he reached it, the Major turned back towards the Viceroy.

“As you see, my Lord, families come first and duty second and that in my opinion is exactly as it should be.”

“Indeed,” Lord Lytton agreed. “And who could resist such a charming and beautiful member of a family as you have?”

As the door closed behind them, the Viceroy gave a deep sigh.

“I have never been so grateful in my life,” he said. “I thought for certain something had happened to Warde. As it is, now that he feels he must retire, I cannot think how we will manage without him.”

“There are a number of other men in
The Great
Game
,” Lord Kenington pointed out.

“I am very well aware of that,” Lord Lytton replied. “Equally I have always liked Warde more than any of them and we will miss him more than I can say. But, if he wants to go, you can be quite sure he has a good reason for it.”

In the garden Aisha took her father to the seat near the swimming pool, the coolest place she had found.

“Oh, Papa, I am so pleased to see you!” she sighed. “I have been terrified ever since I arrived that something dreadful had happened to you.”

“Don’t let’s talk about it, dearest, just tell me what is happening at home and how you managed to come here on your own. It was something I would not have allowed if I had known about it.”

Aisha told him what had happened on board the P & O Liner and how she had wisely asked Lord Kenington if she could be seen talking to him and how he had been extremely kind and then had rescued her from the awful Arthur Watkins.

The Major was listening attentively, but she knew he was angry that such horrors should have happened to her simply because she was alone.

“You should have waited, dearest, until the Dean was better,” he said finally.

“I so much wanted to see you, Papa, and it is such wonderful news that you are coming back to England and I will never be alone again.”

“I will see to it, but we will have to find ourselves a house in London. I understand that the Prime Minister wants me to help him on India and, if a hint is to be believed, I am to be a Member of the House of Lords.”

“I have been told that, Papa, and no one deserves it more than you.”

They talked until it was time for luncheon and then they went into the reception room to be introduced to the rest of the house party.

They were all delighted to meet the newcomer.

At the same time Aisha kept thinking that they eyed her father curiously and perhaps it would prove dangerous to him if they had the slightest idea of who he actually was.

After luncheon was over, the Major said to Aisha,

“I have to see the Viceroy some time and I think he would like me to go to his study now.”