The Prisoner in the Mask Read online

  He nodded and she helped him liberally, then herself, and they sat down to their first course. Perdreau en casserole and cheese straws followed, after which he peeled for both of them Doyenne pears. It was a light meal as meals went in those days, but appropriate to its setting.

  During it they talked, at first a shade awkwardly; but very soon the strangeness of being together again wore off, and they were laughing as happily as they had during that fortnight long ago at Jvanets, when they had first come to know one another. After the meal they stacked all the plates in the little kitchen; then Angela, skilfully forestalling her guest from occupying the sofa with her, settled herself in one corner of it and put her feet up. Waving him to a nearby arm-chair she said:

  ‘Now, sit there and tell me of all your wickedness.’

  He smiled. ‘There is really not much to tell. In Madagascar I learned, thank God, how to sublimate my passions into will power. In North Africa, of course, my whole life was different, as it was no longer lived almost entirely on a mental plane. But by far the greater part of the time I was in small frontier towns or the desert. Now and then I got back for a week or two to civilisation. In winter, particularly, the big hotels are always full of visitors, and I generally found some pretty woman who was willing to let me show her the sights; but, by and large, for a young officer, my life was quite a model of rectitude.’

  ‘Armand, I can hardly believe that. Do you mean to tell me that in your six years abroad you did not have one serious affaire?’

  ‘Well, not really serious. There was a singer in Oran. A real little gamin. As wicked as sin, but amusingly so, and possessing extraordinary powers of fascination. For a bet I took her away from one of the richest men in the city, then got caught myself. For a few weeks I was quite mad about her and became insanely jealous every time I suspected her of deceiving me, which I am sure she did quite frequently. Fortunately I was recalled to the frontier and the desert air soon cleared my brain again.’

  Angela smiled. ‘It must have been very good for you to meet your match for once. But were there no others?’

  ‘During one of my leaves to Rome I met a charming Contessa. She was a young widow. One night we slipped away from a dance and drove up to the Palatine Hill in the moonlight. It was one of those sudden things and terrific while it lasted. We were both broken-hearted when my leave came to an end; but she wrote me a few months afterwards that she had fallen in love with an American, and meant to marry again; and by that time I too had got over it.’

  ‘And what else?’

  ‘Nothing. Nothing that could count as an affaire, I assure you.’

  ‘You amaze me.’ Angela shook her head. ‘I would never have believed that the leopard could change his spots; yet, by comparison with the life you led during that year you lived in Paris, it seems that you have. And now, since your return, I gather that you have again become the respectable lover of that clever Madame Pollit?’

  ‘Dear me, no! You are quite wrong about that. As your husband must have told you, I have had to pose these past eight months as a staunch supporter of the government. To do so I had to cultivate a quite different circle of friends; so I made use of Josephine’s good offices to that end, that is all.’

  ‘Really! Are you trying to persuade me that you are now endeavouring to qualify for canonisation?’

  ‘God forbid!’ he laughed. ‘Let me still your fears that I am becoming abnormal by telling you that I took a fortnight of my summer’s leave in Vienna; and I found the girls there as beautiful as ever.’

  ‘I am being silly,’ Angela declared. ‘Having sowed your wild oats why should you not have settled down to take your pleasures in moderation? In any case I have no right to catechise you.’

  ‘Oh, but you have! You have gained that right from having once tried to save me from going completely to the Devil. Besides, I mean to catechise you. When was it that you first came to your senses and decided to enjoy life like other people?’

  ‘Not very long after you were sent abroad. The night that we had our talk I made up my mind to give myself to you. I was conceited enough to believe that although other women couldn’t hold you, I could, and that I would be able to bring out all the best in you.’

  ‘And you could have! Oh, Angela, my dear, just to think what I missed through the scurvy trick those Generals played on me. It makes me feel like seeking out old Billot and strangling him.’

  She laughed. ‘Mon ami, be sensible. All this is ancient history. Fate decided that we should not become lovers, and had not General Billot been to hand the blind goddess would have used some other instrument to separate us. But, as I was about to say, looking back on it now I don’t think my decision was based solely on the urge to save you from yourself, or even the fact that I had never ceased to have a great tenderness for you. I was twenty-two and, subconsciously at least, becoming increasingly aware that my natural instincts were being thwarted.’

  As she paused, he supplemented: ‘So someone blessed of the gods came into the paradise which should have been mine. Tell, me, did he deserve it?’

  ‘Yes. After you had gone I was very miserable for a while. You see, once I had taken my decision about you I had springtime in my heart, if only for a few hours, and when the blow fell the following evening that it was not to be, I felt that for the second time in my life I had been wickedly cheated.

  ‘Then some three months later I met a young attaché who had just been posted to the British Embassy. He was a sailor, and like so many Englishmen rather shy. At first we were just friends, drawn together by the same sort of childhood background which is so very different from that in which French people are brought up. After we had known one another for about ten weeks, one night in June he suddenly asked me to run away with him.

  ‘Of course, I had known for some time that he was in love with me; but I had not realised the depths of his passion. His other love was the Navy, but he was quite prepared to send in his papers; so that we could start a new life, perhaps in the United States, and he was rich enough for us to have lived in comfort there. I must confess that I was tempted, because I had really come to care for him and knew him to be the faithful kind. But it would have meant the wrecking of his career, so instead I—don’t laugh Armand—I persuaded him to become my lover.’

  De Quesnoy closed his eyes. ‘You had to persuade him! Really the English are extraordinary! And how long did it last?’

  ‘Nearly two years. Until he left Paris to go to sea again.’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘I missed him sadly; but after a few months I also missed being made love to. I had an affaire with a German Prince; but that was a mistake. I won’t go into details but one night he behaved like an absolute brute. It brought back to me all the horror of my honeymoon and for a long time after that I was too scared to venture myself again with anyone else.’

  ‘My poor sweet. You seem to have had the most appalling luck.’

  ‘No, not really. That was over four years ago, and I have known several charming men since. Three were quite brief affaires, but two lasted for some time; and one of those was a most talented musician of whom I became extremely fond.’

  The Count nodded. ‘So you have had seven lovers in seven years, and as four of them were only flashes in the pan you can hardly be said to have become a Messalina. Tell me now about de Vendôme? He is a pleasant enough youngster but hardly one calculated to give an experienced woman much pleasure. That is unless her tastes had become so jaded that she required innocence to stimulate her passion. From what you have told me that cannot possibly be the case with you; so read me this riddle.’

  Angela smiled at him. ‘Seeing that you are up to your neck in this conspiracy to make him King, I should have thought that you would have already guessed it.’

  ‘No; I am completely puzzled. Unless it is that you have suddenly become ambitious and are counting on his making you a Duchess. He has all the right instincts about such matters and has already volunteered, onc
e he is on the throne, to make me a Marshal of France. I’ve no doubt that he would be delighted to follow the good old Bourbon tradition with regard to mistresses and, for your sake, decorate the horns you have given Syveton with a ducal coronet.’

  She shook her head. ‘That’s a poor guess. I’ve not the least desire to be a La Vallière or a Diane de Poitiers. In fact, though I hope that he will always remain my friend, once he is King I shall tell him as kindly as I can that he must find another mistress.’

  ‘That makes the matter all the more mysterious. Come Angela, please unravel for me this mystery.’

  ‘Very well then. Do you remember that just before you went abroad I told you how Gabriel had suggested to me that I could help him with his financial transactions if I would take a banker friend of his as my lover?’

  ‘Yes; and the very idea that he should ask you to prostitute yourself for him made me see red.’

  ‘Perhaps. But I think you put it too strongly. In France many women whose morals are lax, and who are themselves ambitious, help their husband’s careers in that way. Anyhow, I had not then taken a lover, I felt that I owed nothing to Gabriel and I did not find the man attractive; so I would not even consider it. But now things are very different. I made no attempt to hide from Gabriel my affaire with the sailor, and he knows that I have had other lovers since. So when he approached me on the same subject this summer I listened to what he had to say.’

  ‘Ah! Now I understand!’ exclaimed de Quesnoy, recalling his conversation with General Laveriac. ‘Syveton asked you to take our young man in hand, so that he should not fall into the clutches of some woman who might endanger the conspiracy.’

  ‘Exactly. And it was just as well that I did, as he was ripe for mischief. I expect you know a fellow student of his named Raoul Dampierre?’

  ‘Yes; a most amusing young rogue. De Vendôme has become much attached to him.’

  ‘Well, Dampierre is keeping a young woman in an apartment out at Versailles. She has a sister who lives with her and is no better than herself. On several occasions at the beginning of this term Dampierre took François with him to see these girls and, of course, the idea was that the sister should become our young friend’s mistress. It so happens that they are the daughters of a Socialist Deputy; so you see how dangerous such an association might have proved.’

  ‘I do, indeed.’

  ‘Fortunately, General Laveriac had been having François watched. It was after he had reported this to the Committee that Gabriel explained matters to me and asked me if I would save the situation. Of course, I already knew François as we had entertained him a number of times during the past year. I had found him very sympathetic and … well, I was not involved in any romantic attachment.’

  ‘So you sacrificed yourself on the altar of a great cause, and took over his education.’

  Angela laughed. ‘I suppose you could put it that way but it wasn’t a very great sacrifice. Only rather embarrassing to begin with. You see although, as he told me himself afterwards, he was just on the point of taking the plunge with the lady at Versailles, he hadn’t screwed up quite enough courage to do so. I have never before played the rôle of temptress, and I didn’t much enjoy doing so to an innocent. But I’m glad I did now, because he is a very sweet person, and he appeals to all my protective instincts.’

  They were silent for a moment, then the Count said: ‘Angela, does our situation this evening remind you of anything?’

  She nodded. ‘I think I can guess what you mean. You are thinking of that night years ago when you were expecting me to dine with you at the Ambassadeurs, and I played a trick on you by sending Madeleine de Frontignac in my place.’

  ‘That’s it. And tonight our positions are reversed. You were expecting de Vendôme to dine with you here and I have played a trick on you by turning up in his place. Don’t you think—’

  Raising a slender hand that sparkled with diamonds, she checked him. ‘No Armand, no. You have no need to remind me of what happened between you and Madeleine afterwards. I have no intention of allowing the parallel to go any further.’

  Standing up, he went round behind the end of the sofa and bent above her. Intrigued as he had been by their conversation, for more than two hours he had had to use the greatest restraint to prevent himself from suddenly advancing on her and taking her in his arms. Once more the scent she wore and the sight of her bare shoulders, upon which he was now looking down, drove him nearly to distraction.

  ‘Angela!’ he pleaded. ‘Angela, my dear. From the moment these candles were lit I have known again the magic of your eyes. They stir me to the depths of my being. They draw me to you like lodestones. More than ever before I long to feel my lips on yours. You can no longer plead fear or ignorance of love. I—’

  ‘Stop!’ she cried. ‘I beg you to say no more. It’s no use going on. I mustn’t let you. I can’t—’

  ‘You can; and you will.’ His normally well-modulated voice took on a husky note. ‘After all these years we are together again. I have never craved for anything so much as for this moment. I want you desperately, and I’ll not let you deny me.’

  Stooping, he threw his arms round her shoulders, grasped her wrists, and buried his face in the tender flesh at the base of her neck.

  13

  ‘LONG LIVE THE KING!’

  With a violent movement Angela broke his hold, sprang to her feet, then turned and faced him. The sofa was now between them. She was trembling slightly; but her brown eyes held no anger, only determination, as she said:

  ‘I am not made of stone either; but I’ll not do as you wish. I warned you before we came up here that it would be for supper only.’

  ‘I know it. But when you said that we were standing in the dark and had not exchanged a word for close on seven years.’

  ‘What difference does that make?’

  ‘Why, that in such circumstances you cannot regard my implied promise not to make love to you as binding. Now we have talked again and I’ve seen how more than ever beautiful you have become, my old passion for you has returned with redoubled ardour. We are alone here, I’d not be human if I didn’t seize upon this God-given chance to—’

  ‘Armand!’ she cut him short. ‘It is true that by allowing you to come up here I have placed myself virtually at your mercy; but I know you too well to believe that you would attempt to take by force what I am unwilling to give.’

  His grey eyes flashed. ‘Mort de Diable! I’m mighty tempted to. Some women prefer to be taken by assault, and I believe you must be one of them.’

  ‘I am not!’ Her breath was coming quickly, but she strove to control it, and hurried on: ‘The very thought of such a thing conjures up again the horror of my honeymoon with Gabriel. If you tried I’d fight you tooth and nail; and all you would succeed in doing would be to end the friendship of a lifetime.’

  ‘But why? Why? Why?’ he cried desperately. ‘I was your first love! You can’t deny it! Before I went abroad you had decided to give yourself to me. I love you now no whit less than I loved you then. What is there to stop our becoming lovers? Surely it cannot be that you have fallen in love with this stupid boy?’

  ‘No, I don’t love him. But I am his mistress. As I have just told you, Armand, while you have been away I have had several lovers. But that does not mean that I am a wanton. I regard promiscuity as degrading. For men, I know that it is different. But no woman can slip out of one man’s bed into another’s overnight, then back again into that of the first without losing her self-respect. I have never yet been on with a new love before I have decided to finish with the old; and I never will. If I let you make love to me tonight I must write to François in the morning and tell him that I have finished with him. Now that I have made him into a man he will be easy game for the first pretty woman who sets her cap at him; and you know what that might lead to. Please, please, Armand, try to understand.’

  De Quesnoy’s hands dropped helplessly to his sides. After a moment he nodded. ‘Aga
inst what you say there is no argument. If it were possible I would love you all the more for your high principles. It seems then, that since we are both caught up in this conspiracy we must see it through to the end. But what then? What of the future?’

  Her breathing eased, and she smiled again. ‘For a while the rôles we must play will keep us apart. But you mean more to me than any man I have ever known. Nothing now will make me change in that, so I’ll give you a solemn promise. I will become your mistress the night that François is proclaimed King of France.’

  Five minutes later de Quesnoy re-locked the door in the garden wall behind him. His brain was still whirling. Up till this evening he had thought of Angela as a girl—lovely and well educated but with an immature mind prejudiced by fear; now she was a woman of the world—gracious, generous-hearted and in the full splendour of her magnificent beauty; but still unattainable. And that despite the fact that she loved him. His sense of frustration was almost unbearable. Yet he knew she had been right to say him nay. Even had she been willing to forgo her principles for his sake, they could not have become lovers for only a single night. Once broken, the dam so long between them must open the flood gates of an overwhelming passion, and de Vendôme would have been swept away by it like a whisp of straw. Angela could never again have accepted his caresses and he, de Quesnoy, would not have allowed her even to think of it. Had all the crowns of Europe been at stake he would not have shared her with any man.

  Now, he could only pray that before many months were past the conspiracy would reach maturity, and endeavour to possess his soul in patience until he could claim the glorious promise she had made him.

  From the summer on, unrealised by all but its organisers, the conspiracy had gradually been taking shape. De Vendôme had first been brought to the attention of the general public as a competitor in the annual Concours Hippique, held in the Grand Palais. He had won second prize for display riding and come third in the jumping.