Fire Below (24 page)

This was open and in order, as though we had but left it that morning and now had returned from fishing some distant stream, for Jameson was a good servant and had left undone nothing which might in his eyes contribute to our relief. The rooms were ready and lighted and gay with flowers, the table was laid for dinner beneath the limes, and he was waiting as usual to usher us out of the car.

So we came back with the guest we had gone out to seek nine days before.

And that is all my tale.

When I sought for the artist-spy whom Grieg had employed I found that he had left Littai the day we came back. I can only suppose that he thought his work was accomplished, for no telegram was sent him to bid him return.

What priest it was that married Marya to Grieg we never knew, but I am inclined to think that he belonged to no parish, but was some hedge-priest or other that Grieg had found. Be that as it may, so far as I know, the fellow held his tongue, and, indeed, if he had spoken, nobody would have listened, for Andrew’s wits were failing and the register was gone.

That she should now marry George was only logical, and though, because of her mourning, the engagement was not announced, it was an open secret that they would be joined together before the winter was out.

This meant that she would leave Vigil for good and all, and since my wife now shrank from so much as treading the ground of which her cousin was lord, it seemed unlikely that, so long as he lived, Leonie and I would ever revisit the country of which she was still the Grand Duchess, in which she was so much beloved. For this I now was sorry as never before, for I had not known how much she meant to the people, and to disregard such a friendship seemed graceless indeed. Yet, there was nothing to be done, and I cannot pretend that I myself would have cared to enter the country again. Stream and forest, high hill and pasture, city and peeping farm – for me the place stank of its ruler and all his works; and, as I have said, it is to me a mystery how that fine gentleman, Sully, can continue to do his duty on the steps of so degraded a throne.

Though we seldom speak of them, the burden of those nine days will stay with me while I live.

While I live, I shall see the garden of Marya’s house, and the Prince white-faced and trembling against the green; I shall smell the reek of the circus, and see the Jew standing in the horse lines, drooping his faithless eyes; I shall see the police-office at Sallust and the faces of the men about me, and shall hear the noisy slam of the door of Grieg’s car; I shall see that deadly spinney and the furtive flash of the coachwork and hear the roar of Grieg’s pistol directly ahead; I shall feel the thrash of the mill-race upon my back, and see standing out of the darkness the sheaf of foam; I shall see the flame of the shot that took Lelia’s life and Grieg’s hands slipping from the girder from which he fell…

And that out of the stress and tumult of which these things were part will rise up for me two figures – the one so close upon the other that sometimes they seem one flesh. Both came for my sake to share the peril in which they were sure I stood; and one of them was taken, and the other left. That ever a man was more honoured I cannot believe; and though it will always seem shocking that so lovely a life should have been given for mine, I cannot forget that if I had died in the mountains, Leonie would have had no one to save her from the power of the dog. So Lelia passed over the river to save us both, and if ever the trumpets sounded, I think they sounded for her as she came to the other side. For her ways were as lovely as she was, and she was of good report.

(in order of first publication)

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

(in order of first publication)

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

(in order of first publication)

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

(in order of first publication)

Published by House of Stratus

Adèle & Co This is the first full-length novel featuring Yates’ finest comic creation, Bertram ‘Berry’ Pleydell. The popular character of Adéle is based on the author’s first wife, Bettine, a highly gregarious American dancer and actress. Written in response to massive public demand for the Berry stories, this is regarded as one of Yates’ best books. Amongst the madcap escapades of the Pleydell clan as they career about the French countryside you will find ‘crime, criminals, and some of the funniest writing in the English language’.

And Berry Came Too Eight stories in which we encounter ‘the hair-raising adventures and idiotic situations of the Pleydell family’ ( Punch ). Along with John Buchan and ‘Sapper’, Yates dominated the adventure book market of the inter-war years, and Berry is regarded as one of British comic writing’s finest creations, including Tom Sharpe amongst his fans. Read these and weep (with laughter).

As Berry & I Were Saying Reprinted four times in three months, this semi-autobiographical novel is a humorous account of the author’s hazardous experiences in France, at the end of the World War II. Darker and less frivolous than some of Yates’ earlier books, he describes it as ‘really my own memoir put into the mouths of Berry and Boy’, and at the time of publication it already had a nostalgic feel. A great hit with the public and a ‘scrapbook of the Edwardian age as it was seen by the upper-middle classes’.

B-Berry & I Look Back This is Yates’ final book, a semi-autobiographical novel spanning a lifetime of events from the sinking of the Titanic to the notorious Tichborne murder case. It opens with Berry, one of British comic writing’s finest creations, at his funniest, and is a companion volume to As Berry and I Were Saying . Pure, vintageYates.

Berry & Co This collection of short stories featuring ‘Berry’ Pleydell and his chaotic entourage established Dornford Yates’ reputation as one of the best comic writers in a generation, and made him hugely popular. The German caricatures in the book carried such a sting that when France was invaded in 1939 Yates, who was living near the Pyrenées, was put on the wanted list and had to flee.

The Berry Scene These stories, written by huge popular demand, give us classic Berry Pleydell – Yates’ finest comic character – at the top of his form. The first story sees Berry capturing a German spy at a village cricket match in 1914, and things get more bizarre from then on. A self-consciously nostalgic work harking back to more decorous days, here are tense plotting and high farce of the best kind.

Blind Corner This is Yates’ first thriller: a tautly plotted page-turner featuring the crime-busting adventures of suave Richard Chandos. Chandos is thrown out of Oxford for ‘beating up some Communists’, and on return from vacation in Biarritz he witnesses a murder. Teaming up at his London club with friend Jonathan Mansel, a stratagem is devised to catch the killer. The novel has compelling sequels: Blood Royal, An Eye For a Tooth, Fire Below and Perishable Goods .

Blood Royal At his chivalrous, rakish best in a story of mistaken identity, kidnapping, and old-world romance, Richard Chandos takes us on a romp through Europe in the company of a host of unforgettable characters. This fine thriller can be read alone or as part of a series with Blind Corner, An Eye For a Tooth, Fire Below and Perishable Goods .

Brother of Daphne Daphne is ‘well-born, elegant, beautiful, and not especially bright’. In this, Yates’ earliest collection of stories, we meet the Pleydell clan and encounter their high-spirited comic adventures. It is a world of Edwardian gentility and accomplished farce that brought the author instant fame when the stories appeared in Windsor Magazine .

Cost Price A story from Dornford Yates’ later career, of stolen treasure, set against a backdrop of World War II: adventure, a travelling circus and much more besides. Lots of favourite Yates characters are here, as well as some new ones, like the Portuguese mule in trousers, and a few striking villains. This is the legendary Chandos’ final fictional appearance. A tense, assured plot and vintage comedy from a master of the genre.