The Alps Obscure Read online

  “I think I must retire soon,” she said to Oliver. It wouldn’t be long before her tiredness grew too much for her to fight.

  “You do look tired.”

  She smiled at the observation. “Happily so,” she replied.

  “Then you must retire,” Mr. Coleridge said. “A young couple on their honeymoon should not spend their evenings entertaining lone travelers such as myself.”

  “Unfortunately, I am too weary to argue with you, Mr. Coleridge. The evening has been delightful, but we must bid you good evening.”

  “Of course. Good night. Hopefully, we’ll have a spectacular day tomorrow.”

  Truthfully, Clemmie felt she’d have a spectacular day no matter what the weather was like. A few days of rest after so much travel was the most welcoming thought she could think of.

  Chapter 3

  IT WASN’T BRILLIANT SUNSHINE when Clemmie woke the next morning, but it was brighter than the day before. Mist covered the valley, but she could see the hazy outlines of the village below. It did look romantic. The houses here were so different from what she was used to seeing at home. It hadn’t occurred to her before she’d left English shores that houses could be built differently, but they embraced wooden houses here with gabled roofs. The quantity of snow in the winters required such roofs, she understood.

  Oliver lay in bed behind her. Lying like that, warm with sleep, he looked so unguarded. A complete intimacy beyond anything she’d known before. It was lovely. So far, she liked married life quite a bit. She also liked the freedoms that came with being a wife—something she was just getting used to. She could be left on her own, even to wander down the street on her own. It was very liberating.

  Obviously, she’d longed for the freedom of being a married woman, and to have a household of her own. In all, she felt she’d been reasonably well prepared. Although she was going to miss her mother’s guidance, even if it felt overbearing at times. That was something she hadn’t expected either.

  But Oliver seemed to make a good husband. She was lucky in that regard. There had been a girl or two that she’d seen returning from their honeymoons with stiff smiles and lost expressions. Not all men made good husbands. She’d heard the stories.

  And Oliver was so handsome. Their children would be cherubs. To think she could be a mother later in the year. It would be close to Christmas time. It was too abstract to think.

  Oliver stirring drew her attention back to him. “Good morning,” she said.

  “Uh, I need a coffee. What’s the weather like?” he asked, sitting up quickly as if he realized where he was.

  “It’s better today. I can see the village. Barely. It’s still very misty.”

  “Maybe it will clear. I wonder if the glacier can be seen.”

  “It doesn’t look like we can see it from our window.”

  “I think the breakfast room. Come, let’s go to breakfast,” Oliver said and rose. Grabbing his clothes to dress by the fire. A maid had come in that morning to tend to the fire, so their room was nice and warm. The air had had a wet quality during the night that had dissipated with the fire.

  “Alright,” Clemmie said. “I’ll call for the maid.”

  Oliver was already dressed and was brushing his teeth. “I will see you downstairs when you’re finished. I’ll go downstairs to smoke, so I won’t disturb you.” It was considerate and she appreciated it. The smell of tobacco, although she liked it after supper, wasn’t something she was as attached to first thing in the morning. And she really didn’t want to have to open the windows. The heat from the fire would flee in seconds. It looked cold outside. There were even remnants of snow on the ground. Perhaps it never fully melted. The peaks of the mountains around them were still frosted with thick snow. It really was magnificently beautiful.

  It took a few moments before the maid came to help her dress. It felt a bit awkward being attended by girls she’d never met before, but that was simply part of traveling, and she didn’t want to insist on bringing a maid with her. This trip was just for her and Oliver, so she had to depend on the maids available in the hotels they stayed in.

  The girl was blond with freckles on her nose. She spoke in German, and Clemmie could direct the girl sufficiently as to which dress and how to set her hair. It wasn’t perhaps to the quality of a trained ladies’ maid, but it was decent enough.

  The hall was cold in comparison as Clemmie left her room. Darker too as there was only one window at the very end of the hallway. At the stairway, she met a man she hadn’t seen before and smiled guardedly when she saw him. Dark hair and pale skin. Handsome. About thirty if she were to guess. With a quick bow, he urged her to take the stairs before him.

  Downstairs, she found Oliver in the salon, talking to Mr. Coleridge again. They seemed to have hit it off. “Ah, there you are. I am famished. Would you care to join us, Mr. Coleridge?” Oliver asked.

  “That would be a pleasure. A hearty breakfast before I set off.”

  “Are you leaving today?” Clemmie asked.

  “I am indeed. Both myself and my horses are sufficiently rested, so I venture north. One cannot be waylaid too long. I have a lecture I must make my way back to, else I would stay a bit longer.”

  Tapping his pipe on the edge of the glass ashtray, he discarded the burning tobacco and put away the pipe in his inside pocket.

  “This is a very curious area,” he continued as they walked into the breakfast room, which was more informal than the dining room. But the windows revealed the glacier beyond. It was astoundingly large

  “Oh,” Clemmie said, not having realized it would be quite so substantial. It was grayish white and rough in texture, hints of blues and greens in the crevasses.

  “Our understanding is that it’s around twenty thousand years old,” Mr. Coleridge said.

  “Truly?” Clemmie asked, unable to fathom such a long period of time.

  They found a seat close to the windows. The food was served on side tables in buffet style, but Clemmie was too distracted by the glacier to think of food right now. Oliver didn’t have the same awe, and had taken himself off to peruse the side tables.

  “Well, it surpasses Rome.”

  “Is that what you study, Mr. Coleridge?” Clemmie asked. “The Roman Empire?”

  “It is. But it is a largely unstudied history in the Alps. We knew the Romans were here, of course. In fact, a regiment was permanently stationed here, to protect the empire against the marauding Gauls. The Tropaeum Alpium was erected more toward the French side of the Alps to celebrate their victory over this area.”

  “Fascinating,” Clemmie said. In truth, she wasn’t particularly fascinated by Romans, but she liked it when people had passions, and the way their faces lit up when they spoke about it.

  “There are stories about them in this part of the Alps too. In fact, there is a legend of a battalion getting lost in the area during bad weather, and never being found. If I were an adventurous sort, I would go in search for them. Perhaps that is what Mr. Schonberg is here to search for? It would be quite a find if they were to be covered. Some say the glacier swallowed them.”

  Mr. Weber was roaming with a coffee pot and approached. “It is said they haunt the valley,” he said with a wink. “Some swear they can hear them marching on a dark misty day. It is said it was the mist that swallowed them.”

  “How awful,” Clemmie uttered.

  “Utter nonsense, of course. But it is true that they got lost somewhere here and were never seen again. Most likely they tried to cross the glacier and fell into a crevasse.”

  “That can happen, and they haven’t been the only ones,” Weber said. “The glacier is very dangerous and venturing onto it should only be attempted with an experienced guide.”

  “I think I will stay off it entirely.”

  “There’s a viewing platform just up the mountain. It provides the most wonderful view of the entire glacier. Well worth a visit.”

  “That sounds like something we could attempt,” Oliver
said, returning with two plates of cheese, toast and cold meats. “If the weather clears up, we should find it.”

  “At midday, the weather is likely to clear,” Mr. Weber said. “We may even see some sun today.”

  “Then perhaps it will be the perfect day for me to continue my journey,” Mr. Coleridge said.

  “And it has been a pleasure to have you,” Mr. Weber said before continuing with his coffee pot to the other tables.

  “It is new, this hotel, but I think I’ll try to stop here when I return come autumn.” They ate for a while in silence. “I suppose it’s time to get going. It’s been a pleasure to meet you both. I hope you have an inspiring time in Italy, as I’m sure you will. You’ll have a marvelous time, and it’s a good time of year to go. Not too hot. You don’t want to spend your entire time in Italy hiding from the sun.”

  “Thank you,” Oliver said and rose to shake his hand. “It’s been a pleasure. Happy journey. I hope your travels are smooth.”

  “Mrs. Rowland,” Mr. Coleridge said with a quick bow before he walked out of the room. It felt strange that he was leaving when they’d just met him.

  Oliver sat back down again and stared out the window. “Perhaps we should go for a tramp up the valley with that German gentleman.”

  “I think I’ll leave you to contemplate such ventures,” Clemmie said with a smile, “but you could ask.”

  Chapter 4

  AFTER BREAKFAST, CLEMMIE took a moment to peruse the library, which had books in several different languages. Having selected an Italian one, she wondered if she should start trying to learn the language. Between her German and French, perhaps she could figure out the structure of it. A tutor would be marvelous, but that would have to wait until they reached Venice. Or were they going to Florence first? Clemmie didn’t know the plan in detail.

  A noise drew her attention and she saw Oliver pop his head inside the door. “There you are,” he said as he approached. “I found Mr. Schonberg, and he’s happy for me to accompany him. Turns out his English isn’t that terrible. Not perfect, but it’s perfectly easy to understand him.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Clemmie said, feeling a little slighted as they wouldn’t be going to the viewing platform as she’d hoped. On the other hand, it was marvelous that Oliver got to accompany an experienced tramper to explore the area. It would be too much for her. “I hope you have a lovely time.”

  “I’m sure I will,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “Why don’t you rest today? I know the journey has been difficult for you.”

  “Yes, of course,” she said with a smile. It was clear he was excited about the prospect of venturing through such rough terrain. “Be careful.”

  “Never fear,” he said with a broad smile. That smile was the one she loved the most. It showed he was truly excited about something, and she’d seen it directed to her a few times. Alright, maybe there was a little irrational jealousy that traipsing up a mountain received similar excitement. “Found anything?”

  “I thought I might try my hand at Italian.”

  “Brilliant idea. You seem to have a knack for languages. I cannot profess to be as skilled as you.”

  Clemmie blushed at the compliment, and it made her more determined to learn. Impressing him by learning Italian was definitely something she could do. Then she could interact with people in shops and restaurants when they couldn’t speak English. It made her more determined. She would search through the shelf, perhaps to seek a book for younger readers. They were always better for starting a new language as they used the simplest possible words, to establish the basics. Then she could go from there. Perhaps there was a bookseller in the village. An Italian to English lexicon would be brilliant.

  It was still strange to think she could just go, without a maid or anyone’s approval. Well, Oliver’s, but she doubted he would disapprove. It was encouraging that he placed trust in her. She wouldn’t do anything to make him doubt he could.

  “I will change into more sturdy clothes, I think,” Oliver said.

  “It’s misty, so I think wool might be best.”

  “Yes,” he mumbled as he started to leave. Then he turned. “See you this afternoon. I shall conquer.”

  Clemmie smiled as she watched him leave, then returned to perusing the books, picking out a few she would look through. Firstly, she needed to establish basic syntax. Perhaps she should go get her journal, so she could write out the things she learned. It tended to help.

  For a while, she was too distracted by reading the sentences, trying to determine the meaning and sentence structure. The basics were discernable, although some of the vocabulary was more opaque. That would be remedied by a good lexicon. Maybe she should ask Mr. Weber if there was a bookseller in the village.

  Looking up, she saw that an hour had passed. Oliver would be out there traversing the mountain. Had Mrs. Schonberg joined them? Surely not. Such activities were not for young women from well-to-do families. In all honesty, Clemmie had never really traversed anything rougher than parklands, and that was strictly on nice, sunny summer days.

  Rising from her seat, she walked out of the library into the main lobby. People were sitting by the fire, and she could see a few others milling around. In a way, she was quite sorry Mr. Coleridge had left. It was nice to have a familiar face, and she doubted he’d have gone tramping around a mountain. He’d seemed more of a man to study things from the comforts of his favorite chair.

  A wail broke through and the outer door to the hotel slammed open. A woman Clemmie vaguely remember fell onto the floor. “Help me!” she called, before scrambling up and rushing further inside, looking utterly terrified. “Something was chasing me.” She spoke in German, and Clemmie doubted she understood for a moment.

  “What do you mean?” Clemmie asked, but the woman rushed past her toward Mr. Weber.

  “I could hear them. In the mist. I hear them. I swear. I’m not making this up. They were in the mist.”

  “There is no mist today,” Mr. Weber said, looking utterly confused.

  Maybe Clemmie was misunderstanding.

  “I felt them tug on my hair, on my dress. They wanted to hurt me.” Tears streaked down her pale face, where brown strands of hair stuck to her neck as if they were wet. Her hair was messy as if she’d been through an ordeal, and her hands were dirty.

  “Who?”

  “The ghosts.”

  Clemmie blinked. Ghosts?

  “I almost fell. Hands pushed me. I was so close to the edge and they pushed. I had to fight for my very survival.”

  “Who?” Mr. Weber asked again.

  “They wanted me dead. Such malice. I have never felt anything like it.”

  “Klaus,” Mr. Weber called. “A brandy, quick.”

  The woman stumbled, but Mr. Weber caught her and led her over to a chair.

  “I’ve never been so terrified,” she sobbed. A glass of brandy was given to her, but her fingers shook so harshly the liquid spilled. Mr. Weber tried to steady her as she took a sip.

  “You’re very cold. The fire will warm you.”

  “What’s happened, Miss Marnier?” a woman said, having appeared from the hall, and then Countess von Rothbach behind her.

  “What is this?” the countess demanded, looking harshly at the assembled party. Miss Marnier sobbed more harshly.

  “They spoke words I didn’t understand,” Miss Marnier continued.

  “Robbers?” the countess demanded.

  “There are no robbers in these parts,” Mr. Weber said, slightly offended by the comment.

  “There are always robbers,” the countess countered with a stern look. “Miss Juno, get my smelling salts.”

  The young woman rushed off, and it had been good instinct, because Miss Marnier fainted. Mr. Weber was trying to balance the brandy and the young woman. Clemmie took the glass of brandy out of his hand, so he could steady Miss Marnier better.

  There was an awkward silence for a moment.

  “A search party needs
to be sent out for these men,” the countess stated.

  “The young woman said they were ghosts,” a man with an American accent said. Clemmie hadn’t noticed him before.

  “She’s clearly overwrought and doesn’t know what she saw. She’s an easily frightened woman anyway, who suffers from flights of fancy. The district needs to be searched.”

  “I will send for the doctor,” Mr. Weber said quietly.

  “I’m sure that’s not necessary. She will revive,” the countess said, seeing Miss Juno return with a small silver bottle. Leaning down, she opened the stopper under Miss Marnier’s nose, who quickened with the noxious scent. “See, all is well. We must settle her nerves. I have some laudanum.”

  Miss Marnier started weeping again, but she was calmer. “They spoke like priests do,” she said.

  “You mean Latin?” Clemmie asked, but Miss Marnier was too distracted with her own shock to respond. Meanwhile, Miss Juno helped her rise and they unsteadily walk toward the hallway leading to the rooms.

  “There seemed to be some well-educated robbers in the district,” the American said, and Clemmie felt the comment was unhelpful. Lots of people spoke Latin, but yes, it was the purview of the educated. Priests, doctors and botanists. This was very curious.

  It was all very strange.

  Oliver was out there. The thought came screaming into her head and she rushed to the door to look out the glass window, but saw nothing out there. The day was overcast, but it wasn’t misty as it had been the day before.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t see Oliver anywhere, but then there wasn’t much to see other than the road. The breakfast room had a better view, so she rushed there. If there were robbers out there, Oliver could run afoul of them.

  The vast view of the glacier stretched out in front of her, but as hard as she searched, she couldn’t find the figures of Oliver and Mr. Schonberg anywhere.