A Duke in Danger by Barbara Cartland Read Free Book Online

he walked slowly back down the Library, thinking as he did so how badly kept it was and that there was undoubtedly a great deal of dust on all of the books.
    The silver grate was almost black and obviously had not been polished for a long time.
    He went out again into the passage which led to the Hall. There was still no-one to be seen.
    He opened the door of the Blue Drawing-Room, only to see that, like the first room he had entered, it was shuttered and there were covers over the furniture, and again there was that musty smell.
    “What the Devil is happening?” he asked himself.
    He was just about to walk on farther when he saw a man coming slowly towards him from beyond the Dining-Hall.
    The Duke turned and walked back, realising as he drew closer that the man had white hair and was moving slowly because he was old. He thought, although he was not sure, that he recognised his face.
    Then, as they met halfway down the corridor, the man peered up at him as if he found it hard to see him.
    “Good-day, Your Grace.”
    “What is your name?” the Duke asked. “I seem to remember you.”
    “Walton, Your Grace.”
    “Yes, of course. You were the Butler here when I was a small boy.”
    “That’s true, Master Ivar ... I mean Your Grace,” the old man said. “I were first footman when you came as a child, and then Butler when you stayed ’ere with your mother and father. A fine, upstanding lad you was, too.”
    He spoke with warmth in his voice as old people do when they reminisce over the past, and the Duke said:
    “I am glad to meet you again, Walton, but you must tell me what is happening. There was no-one in the Hall when I arrived.”
    There was just a faint note of rebuke in his voice, and Walton replied:
    “We weren’t expecting Your Grace.”
    “Yes, I know that,” the Duke said. “And I know the war has made a great difference to everything in England, but I did not anticipate finding all the rooms shut up.”
    “There were nothing else we could do, Your Grace.”
    “Why not?” the Duke enquired. “Surely you have servants enough to clean them?”
    “No, Your Grace.”
    The Duke stared at the old man and then said: “Perhaps it would be best for me to have an explanation from whoever is in charge here. I imagine that is Lady Alvina.”
    “Yes, Your Grace. Lady Alvina’s been looking after everything since His Grace died.”
    The Duke now regretted having caused her to run away so hastily, and he said:
    “Well, Walton, as Lady Alvina seems to have disappeared for the moment, perhaps you had better tell me what I should know.”
    As he spoke he realised that he could hardly stand talking in the passage, so he said:
    “Which rooms is Her Ladyship using besides the Library?”
    “The Library’s usually shut, Your Grace,” Walton said slowly. “Her Ladyship was dusting it as she was trying to find a book she wanted.”
    The Duke thought that would account for the dust and the way his cousin had been dressed.
    “Where can I sit?” he asked.
    His voice sharpened a little because he was feeling frustrated by the way every question he asked seemed to lead him nowhere.
    “Her Ladyship’s using the Breakfast-Room, Your Grace,” the Butler replied. “It’s the only room we’ve open at the moment.”
    The old man preceded him very slowly to the small room which faced South where the Duke remembered breakfasting last time he had stayed at the Castle.
    Only the gentlemen used to come down to breakfast, while the ladies had preferred to stay in the bedrooms or their Boudoirs and had not appeared until much later in the morning.
    As Walton opened the door, he recognised the attractive squared room that overlooked the lake.
    He remembered that the early-morning rays of the sun used to shine through the windows on the long sideboard laden with silver entree-dishes kept warm with a lighted candle beneath each.
    There had been at least a dozen different foods to choose from.
    There had been a large