A Princess Runs Away, page 5
After what the Queen and the Prime Minister had said to her, she would undoubtedly be given a firm rebuke.
She would be accused of behaving in a hysterical manner and she would be taken back to The Castle to meet her intended bridegroom whether she wanted to or not.
‘Perhaps I shall be able to think of something else,’ she mused.
At the same time she felt very helpless and alone.
It was then that she was aware of a man standing not very far away from her.
He was watching the people on the Helter-skelter as she was.
Yet another man and woman came down screaming even louder than those before and, as they rose to their feet shaking themselves, the man said to the attendant,
“That was the best ride I’ve ever had.”
“Have another,” the attendant suggested.
“Can’t afford it or I would,” the man replied. “So, when you’re givin’ ’em free, just remember me.”
“That’ll be the day,” the attendant answered.
The man laughed and put his arm round the girl.
“Come on, Kitty,” he said, “we’ll go find somethin’ cheaper or I’ll be broke afore midnight!”
“I’ll give you somethin’ for nothin’,” Kitty said.
Vasila realised that she had moved a little nearer to the man watching the Helter-skelter.
It was then she suddenly decided that whatever lay ahead she would have at least one moment of unrestrained enjoyment.
Without really thinking what she was doing again, she took two steps towards the man who was still watching the Helter-skelter.
In a small rather nervous voice she asked him,
“Please would you take me on the Helter-skelter? I have come away without any money.”
CHAPTER THREE
Kelvin Ridge had arrived from India the previous day travelling incognito.
He had deliberately taken a Second Class cabin and stayed in it most of the time that they were at sea.
Immediately on his arrival in London he had gone straight to the War Office.
He was greeted with great respect and taken at once to see the Chief of the Imperial General Staff of the Army and he was told that Lord Granville, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was also waiting to see him.
The information he brought was of such importance that it had been considered wiser for him to come home in person than to send anything even by a secret code.
“You do realise, Ridge,” the Chief of Staff had said to him, “you are now a marked man and you will have to be very careful until we have rounded up all those people you have been clever enough to inform us about.”
Major Ridge was one of the top men in the Secret Service. It was known among those who worked and lived in India as The Great Game.
As the Queen was well aware, the Russians were relentlessly trying to expand their frontiers and they would not rest until India, the richest of all British Imperial prizes, was theirs.
Kelvin Ridge had brought back information of how the Czar’s Empire was pushing ever nearer to India
He had, by a shrewd combination of experience and instinct, discovered a dastardly plot that would have meant the death of the Viceroy.
This would have been followed by a Revolution to be fomented by the Russians of such strength that it would have been impossible for the British in India to control it.
Both the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of State thanked him profusely for what he had achieved.
They repeated, however, quite firmly that he must disappear for the moment.
“If you have been followed, Ridge,” the Chief of Staff had said, “which is more than likely, then you will be a dead man and of no further use to us.”
Kelvin Ridge laughed.
“You certainly put it very politely and, of course, I will do my best to keep alive and continue to serve you.”
“I am very serious,” the General asserted, “but no one knows better than you how tricky the Russians are. If they can eliminate you, it would be a feather in the cap of the man who achieves it.”
“I am fully aware of that,” Kelvin Ridge replied.
“But before you vanish,” Lord Granville said, “you must tell Her Majesty what has happened. She has been very anxious for some time about our position in India.”
Kelvin Ridge nodded as Lord Granville went on,
“As you do know, it is entirely due to her insistence that Mr. Gladstone did anything about India while he was in office.”
The Queen had been extremely annoyed with Mr. William Gladstone when he was Prime Minister.
He had refused first of all to recognise the danger in the Balkans and secondly he had ignored any report from India of infiltration by the Russians.
“You mean that I have to go to Windsor Castle?” Kelvin Ridge enquired.
“I am afraid so,” Lord Granville replied, “and that, of course, means today.”
The three men smiled.
They all knew how annoyed the Queen became if she was kept waiting for any information that she wanted to hear.
“Very well,” Kelvin Ridge said, “I will go at once. I suppose I shall not be invited to stay at Windsor Castle.”
“It is unlikely,” Lord Granville answered, “because they have His Royal Highness Prince Gadelov of Saralovia today. He arrived unexpectedly this morning and caused a terrible commotion. The Queen has arranged with some difficulty a State Dinner in his honour tonight.”
“Then I shall most certainly not be at all welcome,” Kelvin Ridge suggested a little caustically.
The General put his hand in his pocket and drew out a key.
“It would be unwise,” he said, “for you to go to one of the hotels, so I am giving you the key to a house that I bought recently.”
Kelvin looked at him in surprise and he explained,
“As I have to go constantly to Windsor Castle and I find those long drawn-out dinners in that warren of a place extremely boring, I have bought a small house on the river, where I can stay the night without any difficulty.”
He paused before he went on,
“There is a woman who lives next door who comes in to look after me. She cooks quite well. You will draw no attention to yourself there.”
“That is very kind of you, sir,” Kelvin said, “I was just thinking it will take me quite a long time to get down to the country where I want to go.”
“I am sure that Her Majesty will keep you quite a considerable time. So when you are free, go to my house which is called ‘Riverside’. And it is not very far from The Castle.”
As he spoke, he handed Kelvin Ridge a card with the name of the house and the road it was in on it.
“My servant’s name is Mrs. Banks and she will not be surprised if she finds you there in the morning.”
“I think I would be wise to call on her before I go to The Castle,” Kelvin suggested. “Perhaps she would leave me something for dinner, which would save my going to an inn. That, as you have just said, might be unwise.”
The two men knew such a place could be dangerous if there were Russian spies out looking for him.
The General nodded.
“I will leave it to you. You are more experienced at this sort of thing than I am, thank God.”
Kelvin then left the War Office with their thanks and praises ringing in his ears.
However, he thought it a nuisance that he had to go to Windsor Castle
He knew that the Queen had a very soft spot in her heart for India and she felt that it was due entirely to her that any action had been taken against the Russians.
It was far easier to agree with Her Majesty than to disagree. At the same time her patronage was more than welcome.
Kelvin had naturally left his uniform in India.
He had announced to the Purser and anyone else on the ship who could be interested that he was a commercial traveller. He was seeking new products and looking for new customers in the East.
He had, when he saw the passenger list, looked to see if any names were Russian.
Yet, as he knew only too well, if he was disguised, so would they be and they would not be so foolish as to betray themselves by using Russian names.
He had, however, actually kept himself very much to himself without appearing unusual in any way. It would have been a mistake for the Stewards and Stewardesses to talk about him.
It was with a huge sigh of relief that he had stepped ashore at the Port of Tilbury and then, hailing a Hackney carriage, drove off without being noticed.
He now travelled to Windsor Castle in a hired post chaise and arrived twenty minutes before the time that he had been told Her Majesty would be expecting him.
As he was going to stay the night in the General’s house, he had paid off the post chaise.
He had gone there first and left his luggage. The house was pretty small but, he thought, attractive and had a small garden sloping down to the River Thames.
He realised it was just the sort of pied-à-terre for someone like the General, who clearly found the pomp and circumstance at The Castle boring after a hard day’s work.
There was a small hall with a dining room on one side of it and a staircase led up to one large bedroom and one small one.
The bed in the large bedroom was made up and he realised that this was where he would be expected to sleep.
The General had, however, told him something else before he left.
If he wished to sleep on the roof as he so often did in India, he could reach it through a cupboard in the main bedroom. Inside it there was a ladder which would take him onto the roof.
As the weather was hot and he was used to sleeping outside, Kelvin decided that it was where he would spend the night.
He had, at this moment, no time to explore any further but hurried to Windsor Castle.
His interview with the Queen had been just as he had expected. She was well informed as to the part he had played in India, not only in this last episode but previously.
“They have made you a Major, I know,” she said, “but I personally think that you deserve a far higher rank.”
Kelvin smiled.
“I am quite happy as I am, ma’am, but thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness in thinking of it.”
“We are all deeply grateful to you,” the Queen went on. “I myself am convinced that, if we do not make every possible effort to prevent the Russians getting any nearer to India, it will mean eventually an outright war.”
“I think, Your Majesty, that that should be avoided at all costs,” Kelvin said. “And I am certain now that, since the Secret Service is proving so efficient, we shall always know before they move what the Russians intend to do.”
“As long as we have men like you, Major Ridge,” the Queen replied, “I can sleep peacefully at night. At the same time I must admit that India is giving me a great deal of anxiety at present.”
Kelvin Ridge could easily have added that it was what most of those in responsible positions in India were feeling.
However, he thought it wise not to alarm the Queen more than she was already.
“The Marquis of Dufferin, our Viceroy,” he added, “is convinced that, after our discovery of this latest attempt to cause trouble, the Russians will realise that they have to be more careful and will, for the moment, lie low.”
“I hope you are right,” the Queen responded. “But everyone must be alert. We have already suffered from too much complacency.”
She spoke sharply.
And Kelvin Ridge knew that she was thinking of Mr. Gladstone and Her Majesty would never forgive him for ignoring her earlier warnings.
It had been a great relief to her when the Marquis of Salisbury had come back into power as her Prime Minister at the beginning of the year.
Kelvin kissed the Queen’s hand and bowed himself out of the sitting room.
He walked out of the main gate intending to go to the General’s house by the river.
Then he heard the music of a circus just over the hill and he thought that it would be rather amusing to see what was happening there.
It was a long time since he had been to a circus.
As a small boy, his father had taken him to Astley’s Circus which was very popular at that time. It had thrilled him as nothing else had ever done.
He walked onto the circus ground.
He saw from the size of the Big Top and the Helter-skelter that this must be quite a big and successful circus.
It was not one of the cheap travelling circuses that had a few ancient animals and rather unamusing clowns to recommend them.
He walked past the Big Top where people were already going in for the evening performance,
Coming to the Helter-skelter he noticed that it was well built and, for a travelling circus, quite impressive.
He imagined that the whole apparatus of the circus was now transported by train, a possibility introduced only quite recently.
He saw that this circus was using old-fashioned oil lamps and he recalled reading in India that nine years ago a circus at Brighton had used electric illumination.
Unfortunately the arc lamps of two thousand candle power frightened the horses and they therefore had to be discontinued.
Having reached the Helter-skelter, he then watched youngsters come sliding down it at a tremendous pace.
They were screaming with a mixture of excitement and fear and the girls were holding closely on to the men they were with.
Kelvin was wondering what other innovations this circus offered.
Then a small voice beside him said,
“Please would you take me on this Helter-skelter, I have come away without any money.”
Kelvin Ridge turned in surprise to look down at the girl standing beside him.
He saw at a glance that she was very pretty and also, he thought, quite young.
He imagined that she was about sixteen, she was well dressed and she spoke in an educated manner.
And her pleading eyes were very persuasive.
He smiled.
“Of course I will take you if that is what you want. Are you quite certain that you will not be scared?”
“I don’t think so, it is something I want to do very much because I have not seen a Helter-skelter before.”
He must have looked surprised as she then added quickly,
“I have read about them and that is why I should like to go on one.”
“Very well,” Kelvin said, “but we have to go round to the back and, of course. climb up to the top.”
He moved as he spoke and she walked in beside him.
He saw as he looked at her again that she was even prettier than he had at first thought. In fact ‘lovely’ was the right word.
She was obviously a lady, so it seemed strange that she should be here at the circus unattended.
Unless, of course, she had deliberately been able to slip away from her escort.
His instinct, which was usually very acute, told him that there was some mystery about her. Then he thought that perhaps he was just being imaginative.
He paid the money to the man in charge at the back of the Helter-skelter and they climbed up steep steps that took them to the top.
Here another man produced a mat that they would slide down on and he helped them both onto it.
“You’d better put your arm round the lady,” he said to Kelvin, “otherwise they gets so excited they falls orf.”
“I will not fall off,” Vasila said in a whisper.
Nevertheless Kelvin put his arm round her.
Then, as they heard the shriek from the last couple to descend, the man in charge started them off.
They swung twice round the Helter-skelter and then with their speed increasing every second they rushed down to the bottom.
Vasila did not scream, but instinctively she moved closer to the man beside her and, putting out her hand, she held onto his coat.
Only when they hit the bottom with a crash, did she give a slight scream. But it was hardly audible.
As they climbed to their feet helped by the man in charge at the bottom, Vasila enthused,
“Thank you, thank you, that was very exciting and something – I will never forget.”
“I am glad you enjoyed it,” Kelvin said. “Now have you someone waiting to meet you?”
Vasila shook her head.
“No one,” she answered, “and I would love to look at some of the other side-shows as this is the first time I have ever been to a circus.”
“Then you must certainly not miss any of it,” he said. “Let’s see what we can find.”
They walked away from the Helter-skelter and saw that there was a rifle range nearby where they were and two men were shooting.
If they succeeded in breaking one of the cups which were rotating at a quick pace at the back of the booth, they received a small gift.
Kelvin thought it would amuse the pretty girl who seemed to have now attached herself to him. He picked up one of the rather clumsy guns and shot down two cups in quick succession.
Vasila clapped her hands with delight.
“That was clever!” she exclaimed. “You are a very good shot.”
He thought with a smile that that accomplishment had saved his life a dozen times when he had been far quicker on the draw than the man attacking him and had therefore survived.
He, however, accepted the praise that the proprietor of the booth gave him and Vasila received a pretty doll and a bracelet made of beads.
“That was exciting too,” she smiled as they left.
“I suppose we should see the show in the Big Top,” Kelvin suggested.
As it happened, he was thinking that perhaps he had been somewhat indiscreet.
He had been showing off by shooting so accurately with what he knew were designed as poor weapons. They were too inaccurate for most ordinary men to win a prize with them.
Vasila’s eyes were shining.
“I would love that,” she said. “Are you quite certain you don’t mind taking me?”
“I shall be very honoured. But I am curious to know why you are here alone. Surely your father and mother would not approve of your coming to the circus without an escort?”
He was looking as he spoke at two men who had obviously drunk too much and they were now eyeing the unattached girls with the obvious intention of picking up the prettiest.
