The Peril and the Prince by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd
Published: 2013-11-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Forty minutes later Vida walked out through a side door into a courtyard to see the Prince’s magnificent travelling carriage drawn by six horses waiting in the sunshine.

She was dressed in the uniform of an outrider, her red hair covered by a white wig and a peaked velvet cap.

She wore a short livery jacket of claret trimmed with gold braid, which was the same as was worn by the servants in The Castle and below it white buckskin breeches and highly polished boots.

She would have felt embarrassed if any of the five other outriders had looked at her, but as soon as she appeared they mounted the horses that were brought from the stables one by one by the grooms.

Vida was helped onto the saddle of a magnificent thoroughbred, which she knew was of Hungarian origin.

As soon as they were all mounted, the carriage drove from the courtyard to the front of the hotel and the whole cavalcade waited.

Vida held her breath, for she knew that this was the most dangerous moment of their deception and that somewhere, although she could not see them, they were being watched by men who would doubtless report to one of the Czar’s Head Agents what was going on.

After several minutes, during which the horses fidgeted and the sun seemed unpleasantly hot on her face, through the door of the hotel came first a shrouded figure in blankets carried by two men, followed by Margit and Henri.

Very carefully the men lifted the shrouded figure onto the back seat of the carriage while Margit, holding a handkerchief, a fan and various other items that might be required, sat on the seat opposite.

The door of the carriage with its panel painted with the Prince’s Coat of Arms was closed and then he himself appeared through the doorway.

Now his black stallion was brought to the mounting block by two grooms.

The stallion was being extremely obstreperous, rearing and bucking and the grooms had difficulty in holding it.

As soon as the Prince was in the saddle, the carriage moved away and the outriders rode three on either side of it.

It was only when they passed down the main road of the town and were out into the countryside that Vida felt that she could give a sigh of relief.

When the Prince had expounded his idea that her father should take her place as the woman who was ill and who had come to visit her Confessor, while she herself rode with the outriders, she could hardly believe what she was hearing.

He had taken her agreement to his scheme for granted and without waiting for her to say anything had gone from the room.

Then, almost before she realised what was happening, her father had left her and Margit was dressing her in the livery that had been brought in to them by the Prince’s valet.

“I knew there’d be trouble if we came to Russia,” Margit was saying almost beneath her breath.

“Be careful!” Vida begged her. “All that matters is that Papa should be safe.

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