Evil in a Mask

'My love, I do not suggest it. What I have in mind is that he should appear to have run away, but actually lie hidden somewhere nearby for a couple of days. Then I would pick him up and take him with me to Paris.'

Georgina nodded. 'That seems a good plan; but after Paris? What then? The Emperor never remains in Paris for long, and you will have to accompany him when he next sets out for Italy, Spain or Berlin. You could not take Charles with you. And I would be loath to have him left in Lisala's hands.'

'I agree. And there lies our worst difficulty. Obviously we must endeavour, in some way, to get him back to England, so that Still waters again becomes his home. But how? In the old days I had many ties with smugglers and might have got him across. That is not so now. Alone, if hard put to it, I doubt not I could find a way. Accompanied by a lad who might be called on to answer awkward questions, it would be a desperately dangerous undertaking for us both.'

They remained silent, thinking hard, for more than a minute, then Georgina exclaimed, 'I have it! My Archduke.'

‘I have been meaning to ask you about him; but last night was no time for that.'

'He is John, the youngest of the Emperor Francis' brothers. Last August, he was making a tour of the Rhine, incognito. Through some mismanagement by her Captain, the yacht in which he was voyaging struck a rock in the shallows a mile or so away, and so badly damaged her rudder that another had to be sent for from Mayence. To pass the time, he and his gentleman-in-waiting came ashore, trudged up to the Schloss and asked permission to see the view from the tower.

'Ulrich was then away from home, in Berlin; so it was I who received them. He introduced himself as Count Stulich; only later he told me that he was an Imperial Highness. On learning of their plight, I naturally invited them to remain and dine with me. Within the first half-hour the subtle spark passed between us. He is charming, intelligent and most courteous; everything a true gentleman should be. It seems that he found in me all the qualities to be admired in a woman. No sooner had we finished our meal than he packed his gentleman off down to the yacht to bring up some sketches he had made of castles on the Rhine. Then...'

'Then he proceeded to make love to you,' Roger broke in with a laugh.

'Indeed he did. But, thank God, I kept my head. Otherwise the affair might have ended with a tumble on the sofa. Having repulsed him vigorously, I let things bide a while. Then I said, quite casually, "If you have to wait some days for your new rudder, I feel sure I could find for you and your friend more comfortable quarters here than you have in your yacht".

'Oh, Roger, darling! You should have seen his eyes light up. For the next three days and the best part of three nights he never left my side. He parted from me with the greatest reluctance and vowed that, had we both not been married he would have risked his brother's, the Emperor's, displeasure, to marry me.'

'What a delightful romance, and what a clever witch you are.' Turning over in bed, Roger added, 'Does Ulrich know of this?'

'I could not conceal the fact that two gentlemen had stayed here in his absence. But I had already found out about his disgusting practices; so, had he asked me, I would have told him the truth. No doubt it was to avoid the possibility of a futile scene that he refrained from doing so.'

'Tell me, though, how can the Archduke help us in the matter of your Charles?

Georgina propped herself up on one elbow. 'Why, do you not see? Austria is not under the yoke of Napoleon. As an independent Power, Napoleon cannot prevent her maintaining diplomatic relations with England. Couriers must come and go between Vienna and London. Can you but get Charles to Vienna, I am confident that John will see to it that he is conveyed safely home.'

Pulling her down again, Roger kissed her. 'Dear heart, you have solved the worst pan of our problem. Now, this is what must be done. Tomorrow you must tell Charles that, greatly as it grieves you, for his sake you are sending him home, and that it must be made to appear that he has run away. He should leave a letter for you, saying that he is homesick and can bear life here no longer; then ask your forgiveness for having taken money and some of your less valuable trinkets to pay for his journey. The latter you will give him; I will provide him with money. The next day, Saturday, he must vanish; but remain concealed somewhere in the neighbourhood where I can pick him up when we leave on Monday morning.'

Georgina pondered for a time, then she said, 'Your plan is sound, but where to hide him for two days I cannot think. There is a hut some half a mile away, down on the shore, where we keep our fishing tackle. When you leave here, your coach will pass within a hundred yards of it. But, once Charles is missed, and I produce his letter, there will be a most ghastly rumpus. The whole district will be searched for him, and it's as good as certain that someone will look in the hut.'

'Let him go there, then; but not until first thing on Monday morning. Meanwhile, surely there is some place in the Castle where you can hide him?'

'They will search it from cellar to attic, on the off chance that, at the last moment, he lacked the courage to make off, and has hidden from fear of punishment-'

'I cannot believe that there is no place in this great pile where they would not look.'

'Wait!' Georgina sat up again and said excitedly, 'I have it. The Weinstube at the back of the Castle. The vintage is over; the pressing room will remain closed until next year. Charles could lie concealed inside one of the big presses. Then, even if someone looked into the room, he could not be seen, and on the Saturday and Sunday nights I could take him food.'

'To remain in such confined quarters for two nights and a day would be a considerable ordeal,' Roger commented dubiously. 'Think you the boy could endure it?'

'For that I'll vouch,' Georgina replied with conviction. 'Young as he is, he prides himself upon being an English nobleman, and a direct descendant of Charles II. He knows backwards the story of the King's forty-three days and nights escaping from his enemies after Worcester fight. He will think of himself as hiding in Boscobel Oak.'

'Ah, now you reassure me! That, then, is the plan we will adopt. One thing more. Before Saturday night I want you to get for me something of his. A penknife, or an odd sheet of work that he has done for his tutor, would do. Anything which would enable me to lay a false trail, that will be found after his disappearance.'

On the Friday, the Baron took Roger and a party of other gentlemen to shoot buck in his forests inland, beyond the vineyards. That night, Georgina told Roger that, greatly as Charles was distressed at the thought of leaving her, he had agreed that it was for the best; as he realised what was behind his stepfather's attentions, and loathed and was frightened by them.

Roger then told her the full truth about Lisala. When he had done, she sighed, 'How terrible that such evil should lurk in so beautiful a person. And your lot, my love, is worse than mine. Apart from being a pervert, Ulrich is not a bad man. He would never delight in flinging his depravity in my face, much less murder one of his parents.'

Saturday they went to dine at a neighbouring casde, but Roger was careful to drink sparingly of the rich wine, as he had work to do during the coming night. At one o'clock in the morning, he and Georgina took Charles down to the Weinstube. There were three large, circular presses there, about six feet in height; with, protruding from each, four great capstan bars which, when pushed round by the vintagers, wound a stout lid down an enormous screw, and so crushed the grapes.

When they had lined the bottom of the press with a layer of cushions, and lowered into it a supply of food and drink, the boy took a tearful leave of his mother, shook Roger by the hand, and bravely climbed into the press. Then Roger assisted the weeping Georgina back to her own room, where he spent half an hour doing his best to console her.