‘No! No!’ Mistral said quickly in terror lest he might go back. ‘Only take me – away. Nothing matters now – If you had not come – ’

She could not complete the sentence. All too clearly she was aware of what would have happened if the Prince had not arrived at that very moment.

The Prince had wrapped her hand in his handkerchief, but already the blood was seeping through the white lawn.

‘I am afraid you have hurt yourself badly,’ he said. ‘You must not go on bleeding like this. My own Villa is not a hundred yards away. Would you mind if we stopped there and bandaged your hand properly?’

He spoke anxiously, for Mistral’s face was so white and it seemed as if she had already gone through so much that it would be dangerous for her to lose much blood.

‘Perhaps that would be best – if it is no – trouble,’ Mistral said, a little alarmed herself at the way the crimson patch on the handkerchief was growing larger every second.

The Prince rose, opened a small shutter near the roof of the carriage and shouted an order through it. He spoke in Russian and the coachman replied in the same language. Then he sat down again.

‘It won’t take us more than a few seconds,’ he said, ‘and then I will take you back to the Hotel. What happened?’

‘It was the – Rajah,’ Mistral murmured faintly.

‘I knew that,’ the Prince said. ‘I came out to the steps of the Restaurant des Fleurs with one of my guests. She wished to leave early and I had ordered my carriage for her. As we came through the door, I heard your aunt say angrily, “Do you think I will allow him to abduct my niece?” I saw a carriage driving away and I saw, too, who stood beside your aunt – one of the Rajah’s Aides-de-Camp. The man said something, I don’t know what, for I didn’t wait to hear. I ran down the steps, jumped into the carriage which was just coming up for my guest. I didn’t even offer her an explanation or make my apologies but just drove away to try to find you. I would have been at the Villa sooner, only my fool of a coachman did not know where the Rajah lived. We had to stop and ask someone. Thank God, I arrived in time.’

‘Yes, thank God!’ Mistral answered fervently.

As she spoke, the horses were drawn to a standstill.

‘Here is my Villa,’ the Prince said. ‘Be careful how you move that hand.’

‘Strangely enough it does not hurt me,’ Mistral said.

‘All the same it must be seen to,’ the Prince replied.

Very gently he helped her out of the carriage and led her through a small, well laid out garden and in through a door painted scarlet to match the shutters.