Storm Music (1934) (3 page)

SHARP at eleven next morning Lady Helena Yorick rode up to the farm from the lonely castle. Her groom led two spare horses, for after we had consulted, Geoffrey and I were to ride to Yorick for lunch.

As I stepped to her side :

"Nothing new?" says she.

"Nothing," said I. "And you?" She shook her head.

"Except that my brother's returning. I wish he wasn't just now, but it can't be helped. At least he's coming alone. He's very young, you know; and people spoil him, and— and sometimes he makes the wrong friends." She laughed at the look in my eyes and swung herself off her bay. "Worries of a chatelaine," she added. "If only I'd been the boy, and my brother the girl. Where's Mr. Bohun?"

"Map-reading," said I. "His man with our big baggage, will get to Villach tonight. He's got to be met, of course. What Geoffrey is trying to do is to work out how we can fetch him without fetching Pharaoh, too."

Here Geoffrey walked out of the house and gave her good-day.

"And now tell me this," said he. "When you're at Yorick, can you get a message to Plumage except by sending a man?"

Lady Helena shook her head.

"Never mind." said Geoffrey. "I only wanted to know. And one other thing: had young Florin keys upon him?"

"No," said the girl. "The posterns have spring locks, so when the night watchman comes back he has to ring for his mate to let him in, and his mate brings down his keys. Young Florin was never missed until six o'clock, and then his mate woke up to find the keys still in his hand. By rights, of course, his mate should have stayed awake till young Florin came in; but, except that we'd have known sooner, I don't know what good it would have done."

"Well, you beat them there," said Geoffrey. "Young Florin was killed for the keys which he hadn't got."

"I think you're wrong," said the girl. 'To enter Yorick won't help them. I'm the person that matters. They've got to bring me to my knees."

Geoffrey looked at her very hard. Then:

"Lady Helena versus Pharaoh and others. You know I can't help feeling that you ought to go to the police."

My lady pulled off her gloves.

"I'll tell you one or two facts," she said. "My father had vision. He knew the Great War was coming, and he saw that after the war the world itself would fall upon evil times. Mother had a very great fortune, and father was rich, and his one idea was so to invest this money that, while the lean years were passing, it would be perfectly safe. I think he really wanted it for Yorick. Our motto is, 'All things pass, but Yorick endures.' Well, this idea obsessed him, and I think my mother's death affected his brain. He threw back to his ancestors, and he put his whole fortune in gold. Golden sovereigns, mostly." She put her hands to her eyes. "I tell you, it's the curse of my life."

"You don't mean—" began my cousin.

"Yes, I do." said the girl. "Lying in the cellars at Yorick is the best part of two million pounds. It's going, of course; we live upon capital. But, even so, it'll last for a hundred and fifty years; and long before that, of course, the idea was to change it back."

"Good heavens!" said Geoffrey. And then: "But what astonishing foresight your father had."

"He was wise— in theory. But how would you like to have charge of two million pounds in gold? The only people who know are old Florin and I. I said it was in the cellars, but it's not as easy as that. It's in a private cellar, the way to which nobody knows. Once a month I take what I need to Salzburg; there's an old firm of lawyers there that sees me through. But. of course, it was bound to come out. I've done my very best, but there's been a leakage somewhere, and Pharaoh knows.

"Well, there you are. He obviously can't get away with a million pounds. He could never transport it, for one thing. Very well, what's his object? I imagine to levy blackmail. Of course, I shan't submit, but I can't afford to let the position be known. That's why I can't go to the police."

She struck the turf with her palm. "You know what gold means today. Its possession was always dangerous. Men buried it in the ground and misers counted it over at dead of night. But today they wouldn't dare count it. I'd be an outlaw tomorrow if people knew. Everyone's hand would be against me, and half the thieves in Europe would be camping outside my gates."

"The remedy's too obvious," said Geoffrey. "Why don't you get rid of the stuff?"

A weary look came into the great grey eyes.

"Because I have passed my word. My father made me swear that until the world was settled I'd keep our fortune in gold." She shrugged her shoulders. "He was wise in theory, you know. You can't get away from that. How many people that had two million invested could raise one million today?"

There was a little silence.

Men were making hay in the distance and two bull-calves were sporting on the farther side of the stream; a lark was singing in the heaven, and the steady hum of insects argued the summer heat. Pharaoh and all his works seemed suddenly absurd and fantastic in such a world.

"And you've no idea," said I, "how Pharaoh will go to work?"

"I wish I had," said the girl. "To give me away would be futile. I mean, it would kill the goose. He can rob me between here and Salzburg— I told you I go once a month. But he can't do that once a month for the rest of his life. I imagine he'll try next time, for a thousand pounds would be useful the sinews of war; and I think his failure last week may have had some— thing to do with Florin's death. But what's a thousand to Pharaoh, when he knows that there's more than a million lying to hand?"

I made no answer because there seemed none to make, and when I looked at my cousin he was frowning upon the bull-calves, as though their sport was untimely and their antics against the rules.

Lady Helena laced her fingers about a delicate knee.

"Well, now you know why Pharoah the Great is here. He may prove hard to deal with, but I'm in no personal danger. I think that's clear."

This was too much.

"Clear?" I cried. "I don't think it's clear at all. I think you're in very great danger by day and night. The man is ruthless— you know it. And you know that he's on a good thing the best thing he's ever dreamed of Thirty thousand a year for life, if he brings it off. And you hold the key in your hand."

"I entirely agree," said Geoffrey. "And I'll tell you another thing. In view of what you've told us this morning, I think it was no mere chance that sent John down to the dell."

Yorick was like no castle that I have seen, for though it was moated, the moat was not under its walls, and the pile seemed to rise from an island which Nature had brought from a distance and set in a fold of the hills. And this, of course, was Time's doing, for the moat had been made by men's hands and the water that filled it ran in by two aged conduits and out by two more; but the work had come to seem natural after so many years. The building stood high, with forest rising behind it and falling away in front, and it looked what it was— a stronghold whose work was done. Its walls were bright with creepers, its battlements gay with flowers and its ramparts made a fine terrace on which a mighty awning was throwing a grateful shade.

We crossed the moat by a drawbridge that could no longer be moved, and a gravel road brought us up to the castle gateway, which must have been twenty feet high. This was now shut by vast curtains of silver-grey, and to my surprise my lady rode straight between them, the horse's head and shoulders parting them as she went. We followed her under an archway and into a small courtyard.

THE light was dim, for an awning like the curtains was slung some forty feet up, and the place had the cool of a grotto, for a fountain was playing in a basin and the walls and the flags were wet. Doors and windows were open on every side, and I afterwards learned that when the weather was hot, cool air was drawn from the courtyard to freshen the principal rooms.

In the hall my lady left us, to go and change, and, when we had washed our hands, a servant led us to the terrace, where a table was laid.

The view from here was astounding, for we looked clean over the forest, which seemed spread out like a fan, on to the foothills and mountains which

stood in their ancient order, the nearest some seven miles off. The air being clear, we could see all the lovely detail of every tier, the woods that were hanging upon them and the lawns that lay like hammercloths over their heights, and .even the white of more than one great cascade, a sturdy cord that did not seem to be moving because it was so far off. Yet that was not all, for right in the midst of this background, peering from between two shoulders, was a bevy of tiny gables and miniature spires, grey against green in the sunshine, as soft as a tapestry town.

"My weather-glass," said a voice, and there was the girl beside us, wearing a black and white dress, which I fear that I cannot describe beyond saying that though it seemed simple, it looked very smart. "I can tell from the look of Lass what the weather will be. Now, of course, it's only our nearest town, but Lass used to look to Yorick in years gone by. If the townspeople were in trouble they used to light a beacon which we could see— the cage is still there at the foot of one of those spires; and, when the watchman saw it, the riders of Yorick turned out and went down to their aid."

"Oh, call back Time," said Geoffrey. "If the riders of Yorick were here ... I think you'll have to revive them raise a troop of horse. John can lead it and I'll work out the patrols."

"And I could be the hospital nurse. I can't help feeling my hands would be very full."

Here an Austrian lady joined us, a Madame Olave, who plainly lived at the castle for Lady Helena's sake. But though in this way convention was doubtless observed, as I have shown, my lady went unattended wherever she chose. Indeed, the idea of a duenna never entered my head, for she did not need the protection that any such woman could give, and I can think of no protest that would not have died unspoken before the look in her eyes.

When luncheon was done, my cousin went off with this lady to see the gallery of pictures, while the sun was still in the south, but Lady Helena walked with me round the ramparts, showing me certain landmarks and telling me the lie of the land.

After a little—

"And now where's Plumage?" she said.

"That way," said I, pointing. "You take that ride over there and bear to the left when you come to the stricken oak."

"And Annabel?"

"More to the right. Straight on till you come to the stream; then follow the water down."

"And Villach?"

For a moment I searched the distance, shading my eyes. Then

"I think, beyond that mountain with the tuft of trees on its head."

Lady Helena nodded.

"Full marks," she said. "I won't trouble you any more. Was that grey all right this morning?"

"Yes," said I. "He gave me a lovely ride."

"I thought he would. You shall have him to take you back. I shall keep three horses at Plumage as long as you're there, with a groom, of course. You may have news any moment which I should hear. But please don't think they can only be ridden this way. They're for you and your cousin to use whenever you please."

"I shall ride to Yorick," said I, "to see how you are."

"But not too early," says she. "Yorick wakes up at six, but its eyes aren't properly open till eight o'clock. So don't ride before then, if you please, either in this direction or anywhere else. Or are you damned if you're going to be treated as though you were seven years old?"

"No," said I, laughing. "I've too much to thank you for."

Lady Helena smiled.

But when at length she turned, her face was grave.

"John, I'm going to ask you to do a difficult thing. It concerns old Florin. You see, it's so awful for him. He knows I can take no action, and what can he do? He's got to sit down helpless under this shattering blow, while the men that dealt it go free— and smoke and drink and sleep as they always have, as if they had stamped on some cockroach, instead of taking the life of his only son. And so I want you to see him and tell him what you told me— that you are out to get them and to see that justice is done."

"With all my heart," said I. "Let me see him at once."

Without a word she led me across the terrace and into a library. Then she summoned a servant and bade him ask the warden to come to her there.

Two minutes later a man of some sixty summers was ushered into the room.

He was dressed as his son had been dressed and must have stood six feet four; his head was high and his hair was thick and grey, and his eyes were set very wide in his rugged face; if his look was tired, he gave no sign of emotion of any kind, but only bowed to his mistress and then stood waiting like a hound with his eyes on her face.

Helena spoke in German.

"John, this is my warden. Florin, this is the gentleman of whom I spoke."

The warden bowed to me when she had finished speaking, and I went forward directly and took his hand.

"I can't bring back your son, Florin, but one day I'll show you his grave. Ifs a pretty place, far better than any churchyard, fit for a king. But before I take you there, I've some work to do. I'm going to find the fellows that took his life. And they're going to pay for it, Florin. I'll never rest till they're taken, alive or dead."

The warden lifted his head and looked me full in the eyes. Then he turned his head to his mistress and looked at her. Though he never spoke, he seemed to ask her some question, for after a moment she nodded and looked away.

With his hand still in mine, the warden went down on one knee. .

"Your servant, sir," he said quietly. And then, "I am very grateful, sir. I cannot say more. But I beg that you will be careful. My son will not rest in his grave if you come to hurt."

Then he rose and turned to his mistress, and when she had smiled and nodded, he bowed to her and to me and left the room.

As the door closed behind tum:

"He shouldn't have knelt," said I. Helena shrugged her shoulders.

"That's his affair. But please tell no one he did so. You and he and I know, and that's enough."

Upon a sudden impulse I put out my hand for hers. She gave it me gravely enough. Then I went down on one knee and put the cool, slight fingers up to my lips.

As she caught her breath:

"Your servant." I said quietly, "and you may tell whom you please."