The Property of a Lady - Elizabeth Adler [152]
The tall, regal-looking woman waiting in the shadows of the hall watched the little charade taking place outside. Her glance took in Missie and then dismissed her and moved on to the child. She caught her breath. Eddie had been right after all; the resemblance to Anouska Ivanoff was uncanny. She smiled. Her son had done well. In one move he had accomplished what they had been hoping for for years. She had no doubt that this was the Ivanoffs’ missing daughter, left for dead by the Russians in the forest four years ago. But now she was also Eddie Arnhaldt’s “daughter.”
Their plan was long-term. After all, the child was only six. But it would be worth the wait. She would instruct her lawyers to prepare their case, and when the girl was eighteen, she would be revealed as the Ivanoff heiress and the legitimate owner of the Rajasthan mines.
The new bride, Verity, was important for the moment because she would be needed as a witness—and they would not hesitate to use force if necessary to get her to tell them the truth. Meanwhile, Eddie would be a dutiful and indulgent father and naturally, when she was of age, Azaylee would assign the mines to him. By then she would be as true an Arnhaldt as they were. She would be married to her beloved grandson and Augie would inherit everything.
She swept forward to greet her new daughter-in-law, smiling coldly and offering her cheek for a kiss. “I hope you will be very happy here,” she said, her glance shifting quickly to Azaylee. “And you, child,” she said, allowing a little warmth to creep into her voice, “you have come to brighten up our days with your youth. Haus Arnhaldt welcomes you. And I want you to remember that from now on, this is your home.”
Düsseldorf
As each day dragged by Haus Arnhaldt felt more and more like a prison. Missie’s rooms were on the second floor opposite Eddie’s but he never came to see her. He was away most days at the Arnhaldt offices in Düsseldorf or at the plant at Essen and he was often away at weekends, hunting or attending parties without her. She suspected he was still seeing Gretel but she could not be sure, because she had not been out of Haus Arnhaldt and its grounds since they arrived two months ago. In fact, she had never seen him alone since that night on the Majestic, and she could not decide whether she was relieved or sad. After all, she was a bride. Even if things had started out badly because she was so ignorant, could they not at least make up and try again?
She decided to be as charming and sweet to Eddie as she could, dressing with great care every night for dinner in the vast, echoing gothic-paneled hall lighted by lugubrious antler’s-head sconces. But each night it was as if she were invisible. Manfred and a posse of servants served them silently, and Eddie and his mother, the Baroness Jutta, spoke only in German, of which she understood not a word. She might just as well have been a fly on the wall for all the notice either of them took of her. Aware of the curious glances of the servants, she ate her food quickly and excused herself as soon as possible.
She trailed up the wide oaken stairs and back down the gloomy corridors to her rooms in despair. If it was not that Azaylee was enjoying herself so much, she would simply have told Eddie she was leaving and that would be that.
And where would she go? she asked herself, staring out of the window and seeing only the dark woods in the distance. She was in Germany, she had no money of her own, Eddie never gave her any. Things were simply “provided”: Rich people had no need for money.
It was different for Azaylee. She had a light, sunny suite on the first floor, with a cozy bedroom specially decorated for her in fresh green-and-white cotton chintz, and an enormous playroom stacked with new toys and games. There was a schoolroom where a governess gave her German lessons daily and a bedroom and sitting room for Beulah where Missie joined them each day for five o’clock tea. It was the highlight of her dreary life and she looked forward to it. Between Azaylee’s riding