Free The Breadth of Heaven by Rosemary Pollock

prefer to dispense with the society of my friend, Colonel Zanin. And you, mademoiselle, you do not lift a finger to check her — you do not attempt to discourage her. You yourself, or so I am informed, booked the seats on the aircraft.” He laughed shortly and harshly. “A pair of irresponsible schoolgirls ... indulging in an undignified escapade while in charge of two small children!”
    He stopped his pacing up and down, and stood still, only two or three feet away from her. His eyes in his rather narrow face were hard and questioning, and he looked as if he were awaiting an explanation.
    Kathy stared back at him, blinking a little, and her own eyes felt prickly with fatigue. She wanted to tell him that she had tried ... that she had done her best to be calm and sensible, and prevent Natalia leaving Paris without her appointed escort, but somehow the words wouldn’t come. She wondered why the lines of books on the shelves in front of her seemed to be expanding and contracting, and why even the accusing black eyes staring so hard into her own didn’t seem to be so very distinct any more. As if from a long distance away, she heard her own voice saying:
    “I’m sorry ... I really am sorry, Your Highness ...”
    And then the world went dark, and she was spinning round, and falling ... falling ...
    When she awoke, she was lying on a crimson leather sofa, and someone was bending over her, pressing a glass to her lips. Whoever it was who held the glass they had evidently been trying to force its contents down her throat, and because she couldn’t be bothered to put up much in the way of opposition she swallowed some of the liquid—and immediately regretted it, for it burnt her throat and made her cough. Her eyes flew open, and she made an attempt to sit up, but instantly a firm hand was placed on her shoulder, and a quiet voice said:
    “No, you must not get up yet. Soon you will feel much better, but you must be still.”
    She looked up into the face of the man who was standing beside her, and saw that it was Leonid. Instantly, she made another effort to struggle up, and again he restrained her.
    “No, you must rest.” He shook his head at her, and his voice was quietly authoritative—the voice of a man who simply did not expect to be disobeyed. He sat down on the side of the sofa and lit a cigarette ... and inconsequentially Kathy thought that he must smoke a great deal more than was good for him.
    “Poor child!” he said suddenly, staring down at her. “Were you so very tired, or is it that you are afraid of me?”
    “I ... I was rather tired,” she confessed. Then: “Did I really faint?” she asked shyly. “I’m terribly sorry!”
    One of his hands moved slightly in a dismissing gesture.
    “It was not your fault.” He drew on his cigarette, and surveyed her thoughtfully over the top of it. “I should have seen that you had ‘had enough,’ as you would say.”
    For the first time since coming to herself, Kathy remembered exactly what had happened, and what Leonid had been saying to her during the last few moments before everything seemed to turn dark. A faint hint of colour entered her cheeks, and in a small voice she said painfully:
    “I really am sorry about ... about what happened. I know that I should have been able to talk the Princess out of leaving Paris without your friend, but—”
    “We will not discuss it any more. When I think about it, I see it is obvious that you could have done nothing. There is something which I have not yet asked you ... What is your age, Miss Grant?”
    “Twenty.” This time the flush was noticeable, and she wondered when he was going to tell her that his sister-in-law would no longer require her services.
    “Twenty!” he repeated quietly. “It is not very old. And Natalia is twenty-three ... a widow with two children. Could you handle her, do you think, mademoiselle ?”
    “I ... ” She hesitated. “I—I could have tried. But she is ... who she is,