His Cavalry Lady

Oh, dear. It was true. ‘The Duke?’ she said, in her best imitation of total surprise. ‘But monsieur her best introduced himself as plain “Calder”.’

‘It is his way, Captain Alexandrov. He is Dominic Aikenhead, fourth Duke of Calder. I fear he has played a trick on you.’

The Duke straightened, as if very much on his dignity, but there was a decided twinkle in his eye when he said, ‘I beg your pardon, Alexei Ivanovich. I supposed that we were going to have to work together during your Emperor’s visit. I thought too many “your Graces” might get in the way.’

‘Indeed, your Grace,’ Alex said, trying to prevent herself from smiling. ‘I will try not to allow too many “your Graces” to get in the way of our working relationship, your Grace. Will that suit your Grace?’

The Duke burst out laughing. ‘Confound the boy. He gives me back my own again.’

‘You deserve it, too,’ said Captain Wood.

‘Aye. Probably.’ He turned back to Alex. ‘We can agree, I hope, that I shall be plain “Calder” to you? And that you shall be “Alexandrov” or “Alexei Ivanovich” to me. Agreed?’

Alex felt the beginnings of warmth around her heart. ‘Agreed,’ she said.

Chapter Three

‘How are you now, Alexei Ivanovich?’

Alex was not at present on duty, and so she was standing near the front of the immense crowd, watching the proceedings. Had the Duke sought her out merely to ask after her health? Strange, if true. And yet another example of his kindness. ‘Better, thank you, Calder. Much better,’ she answered politely. ‘I find I like the steadiness of Dover very much.’

‘Have you eaten?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’ he demanded sharply.

She bristled. She was grateful to him, but he had no right to order her life. ‘On board ship, I could not, even if I would have. And now that we are on land, there has been no opportunity. I must attend on his Majesty. I cannot take time out to fill my belly, however hungry I might be.’

Several voices hushed them angrily. The assembled dignitaries were now about to present their address, on behalf of the inhabitants of Dover.

Alex stood motionless throughout, trying to look blank. She understood it all, of course, though it was remarkably dull and pretentious.

The speech of welcome ended, and the Emperor stepped forward to reply. ‘Although I understand your language,’ he began, to murmurs of surprise all around, ‘I do not feel myself sufficiently acquainted with it to reply to you in English; and I must therefore request those gentlemen of the deputation who speak French to be my interpreters to those who do not.’ He then continued in French. His speech was received most warmly.

‘That was a considerable surprise, Alexei Ivanovich. Were you not aware of your Emperor’s talents?’

‘I…I have not been an aide-de-camp to his Majesty for very long, Duke. I…I have had no occasion to discover that he speaks English. How would I?’

‘How indeed? Do you tell me that no one in the Emperor’s suite speaks English?’

‘I think it was assumed that most of our hosts would speak French,’ Alex said, avoiding the question as best she could. Somehow she did not want to lie to this man. If she did, he would know it. She was sure of that.

‘Not everyone in England speaks French, you know, though most of the nobility does, I suppose. The royal family speaks German, so the King of Prussia and Marshal Blücher will be well served on that front. But if you, and others of the Emperor’s party, go out into London, you will not be able to make yourselves understood. That could be dangerous. Even for allies.’

‘Then we shall have to trust to our good-hearted liaison officer to rescue us, shall we not?’ she asked impudently.

He gave a snort of laughter. His eyes were dancing. ‘That, Alexei Ivanovich, is the sort of reply I should have expected from one of the sharp-tongued Cyprians of London, not from a battle-hardened cavalryman such as yourself.’

‘Don’t worry, Calder. I may not have your language, but I do have my sabre. I fancy it will be able to rescue me. Even if you do not.’

Major Zass, the Tsar’s principal aide-de-camp, smiled round at the group of young officers who were now assembled in the Pulteney Hotel. ‘That all went off very well,’ he said, ‘in spite of the problems on board ship.’

Alex felt the beginnings of a blush on her neck. He meant her seasickness. If it had not been for the Duke of Calder, it would have been even worse. He had been so very kind, so very thoughtful. Almost like a brother.

What a strange fancy to have. Was that how an elder brother would behave? She had no way of knowing. Her only brother was still a child. Yet Calder—

Zass was allocating various duties to his officers. ‘You, Alexandrov—’ at the sound of her name, Alex’s daydream evaporated and she came smartly to attention ‘—you will attend on his Imperial Majesty when he rides out on horseback and when he makes visits to the sights of London. We will not involve you in the balls and receptions, though. We all know, don’t we, gentlemen—?’ he cast a laughing glance round at the others, who were all smiling knowingly ‘—that Captain Alexandrov is no dancer. Indeed, I’d wager that he is actually frightened of ladies.’

Alex’s protest was drowned in the wave of laughter from her companions. There was no point in arguing. For it was true. She did avoid the company of ladies whenever she could. There was too much risk that they might see through her disguise.

‘More seriously,’ Zass continued, ‘you will all have met the Duke of Calder, who has been assigned to us as a liaison officer by the British Government. He appears to speak no Russian, only French and English. But it may be that he has some Russian, too. So no one—’ he looked sternly round at the assembled officers ‘—no one is to take any chances in his company. Do not assume he will not understand what you are saying. I trust I make myself clear?’

‘Sir!’ the officers said, in chorus.

‘Good. Alexandrov, you seemed to be particularly friendly with the Duke.’

‘Sir, it…it was simply that he was kind to me when I was ill on board ship.’

‘That may well be true, but—’ He stopped in mid-sentence, frowning. ‘I think I need a private word with you, Alexandrov,’ he said, beckoning her into an empty side-room. The other members of the Emperor’s suite were left to continue gossiping and joking together.

‘It would be particularly useful, Alexei Ivanovich, if you were to become friendly with the Duke of Calder. We believe he is not quite what he seems. Why, for example, is a duke, no less, acting as liaison officer? There must be many officers of the British army who speak French well enough for the task. It is beneath him. So, why does he do it?’

‘You suspect he is a spy?’ Alex breathed wonderingly. He had been so kind to her. She had accepted it, had even begun to return his warmth. Was it all just playacting, a means of gaining her trust? But why? She was the most junior member of the Emperor’s entourage. She knew nothing. Nothing at all.

‘It is possible. The English have stood alone against Bonaparte for many years, trusting no one. We may be allies now, but there have been moments…’

Alex caught her breath. Was Zass about to criticise the Tsar? Surely not?

Zass laughed harshly. ‘I am sure the allies did only what was necessary for the sake of their countries. As did our beloved Tsar. But from England’s point of view, it would not have seemed so. For them, all the allies were fickle, and unpredictable. The English have never trusted Russia. Which may go some way to explaining your Duke’s presence here.’

‘My Duke?’ Alex exclaimed. ‘I have only just met the man.’

‘He is yours, Alexandrov. His Majesty gives him to you. To find out everything you can about him. For your country. Is that understood?’

‘Perfectly, sir.’

‘Excellent.’ He made to leave, but turned suddenly. ‘The Duke does not know about your background, does he? I mean your command of English?’

‘No, sir. I have been taking pains to look particularly stupid and uncomprehending every time English is spoken.’

‘Good. Make sure it stays that way. I will expect your report, on a daily basis. Everything, you understand, no matter how trivial.’

‘Of course, sir.’

Satisfied, Zass left the room without another word.

Alex allowed her shoulders to relax. She let out the breath she had been holding. Zass made her nervous. His Majesty had promised that the secret of her real identity would be shared only with Court Minister Volkonsky. And yet, Zass was very close to the Emperor. He might even know—