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Chapter seven

A Prince to the Rescue

Francis continued staring at the diamond. He was still in shock a few minutes later when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw an elegantly dressed man standing next to his table.

The stranger sat down next to him and whispered in his ear, ‘Close the box and put it back into your pocket. Try to stop looking so surprised and make everyone think that you know me. I fear you must be an amateur.’

Francis looked at the man and saw that he was smiling. He had a friendly face. ‘Please, tell me who you are and what this means,’ said Francis.

‘Very well, but first you must tell me who you are and what you are doing with the Rajah’s Diamond,’ answered the man.

‘The Rajah’s Diamond,’ repeated Francis.

‘Yes, that’s what you were holding. I know because I saw it at Sir Thomas Vandeleur’s house many times,’ said the man.

Francis was silent for a moment. He could not believe the famous Rajah’s Diamond was in his pocket. He also could not believe that this amazing diamond belonged to his real father. Finally something about the man’s friendly face made Francis believe he was an honest man. He decided to tell the man the whole story of how he got the diamond. After he finished, the man said, ‘Now I know all about you, but you don’t even know who I am yet!’ He called a waiter to their table.

‘Will you be so kind as to tell this young man my name, please,’ the man asked.

‘Certainly, sir,’ said the waiter. Turning to Francis he said, ‘You have the honour of sharing the same table with His Highness Prince Florizel of Bohemia.’

‘And now that you know who I am, I think you can trust me with the diamond,’ said the prince smiling.

Without saying a word, Francis took the diamond out of his pocket again and gave it to the prince.

‘You did the right thing, Francis. I see that you are a good person. You’ll see that I can help you get out of this difficult situation. Now come with me,’ said the prince.

The two men left the cafe and the prince showed Francis to his carriage. Then the prince said, ‘My driver will take you to my mansion just outside Paris. There you can wait for my return. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything. You’ll marry Miss Vandeleur, at last!’

As his carriage drove away, the prince made his way to John Vandeleur’s house. As he knocked on the door, the Prince thought, ‘I’m going to teach John Vandeleur a lesson he’ll never forget!’

John Vandeleur himself opened the door. He looked very angry, but tried not to show it.

‘What a pleasure it is to see Your Highness! Please come in,’ said John Vandeleur.

He showed the prince into the living room. Miss Vandeleur was sitting on a sofa. She looked very sad. Mr Rolles was sitting on another sofa and seemed to be very confused.

The prince turned to John Vandeleur and said, ‘I’m here on business. You will do as I say or things will be worse for you. At the earliest date your daughter will marry Francis Vandeleur, your brother’s son and my friend. And you will give him a dowry often thousand pounds.’

‘Believe me, I didn’t know the young man was your friend. I’m sorry if I offended him,’ answered John Vandeleur.

The prince knew John Vandeleur was not sorry at all. All he was interested in was his brother’s diamond.

‘Now you know he’s my friend and you will do as I say. I’m going to go now. Mr Rolles, you’re coming with me,’ said the Prince.

A moment later, John Vandeleur left the house too. He looked very angry as he almost ran down the street towards the police station.