A Sacrifice for Love Page 3

  She was speaking to her firmly because she knew how hysterical Henriet could be.

  She was well aware that Prince Adolphus would do anything in his power to prevent there being any scandal or any opposition to the Emperor’s wishes.

  The two girls went into Henriet’s bedroom and she washed her face without sending for her lady’s maid, as they knew that servants always talked.

  Then she changed into one of her prettiest gowns and Caterina made her put on some of her mother’s most glamorous jewellery.

  “You have to look Regal and just remember that he represents Britain, a country which is now very important to this part of the world.”

  “So you have always said, but I have not listened,” Henriet moaned.

  “Well, you will have to listen now,” Caterina said, “and act your part until we can find some way out for you. I think if we pray hard enough we will succeed.”

  “I will pray, of course I will pray,” Henriet replied. “I pray endlessly that Fritz will love me and he does.”

  “Then you must pray that by some miracle you can be with him, but it is not going to be easy, dearest, to work a miracle. So the only course we can take at the moment is to pray for one.”

  “I will do that, I will pray all night that somehow I can escape the Duke and marry Fritz,” Henriet asserted.

  She spoke determinedly.

  Then Caterina put her fingers to her lips.

  “Be careful,” she cautioned. “If people hear you say that, you know as well as I do, it would be repeated all over the Palace.”

  Henriet gave a cry of horror as Caterina went on,

  “What you have to do is force yourself to smile and look pleased to see him. Then he will enjoy being here.”

  “If I could put poison in his food, I would do so!” Henriet declared.

  “You must not even think of such things in case he can read your thoughts,” Caterina said. “Just think about Fritz and remember that he is a soldier in your father’s Army and therefore particularly vulnerable.”

  There was silence and then Henriet said slowly,

  “You know I would do nothing to hurt him.”

  “As I have just warned you, if your father guesses that he has any affection for you or you for him, he will be posted away immediately.”

  Henriet gave a cry of sheer horror, but Caterina continued,

  “Whatever you do, you must be careful for the sake of the man you love. You must not for one moment let anyone except me know what you are feeling.”

  “Fritz has always been careful to avoid arousing any gossip in the Palace. That was, of course, before I was told about the Duke.”

  “Have you told Fritz?” Caterina asked.

  “I sent him a note at the same time as I sent you one,” Henriet replied. “But he has not been able to answer me, except by sending a large bouquet of flowers, which I know came from him, although there was no name with it.”

  “Then he is being very sensible,” Caterina replied approvingly, “and you have to be sensible too. What I will do, if it is possible, is to have a private conversation with Major Hofer myself. I can perhaps tell one of the equerries that I have a message for him from my father. There is no reason why Papa should not know him.”

  “That is a good idea,” Henriet said. “I think he did say once that he had met your father. It was at a shooting party or perhaps a race meeting.”

  “Then that makes it easy. You must just leave it for the moment in my hands and promise me that you will be as charming and nice to the Duke as if Fritz did not exist.”

  There was a short pause before Henriet replied,

  “I will try, I really will try. And, dearest Caterina, you must think of some magical way I can escape.”

  “First things first. Now we must go downstairs and wait to meet the Duke. Let me look at you.”

  She stood in front of her friend and looked carefully at her face.

  “I would know that you have been crying,” she said, “but I don’t think anyone else will. And if you smile you look very very pretty and that is what the Duke must see when he arrives.”

  “It’s going to be difficult when I want to spit at him and tell him to go back to where he comes from.”

  “Hush! Be careful!” Caterina admonished. “Don’t say such things even to me. It would be disastrous if the Duke or anyone else could read your thoughts.”

  “You are not suggesting he is as clever as you are?”

  “I have no idea. He may be a stupid Englishman, which I believe some of them are or he may be extremely clever and a diplomat and anxious that neither the Russians nor the Germans will gain the upper hand.”

  She saw by the expression in Henriet’s eyes that she was not concerned with the ambitions of either of these countries, only her own fate.

  “Now come along,” Caterina urged. “You know you can act as well as anyone on the stage when you want to. Remember the plays we used to perform as children to amuse your father and how much he enjoyed them. If you could act then, you can act now when your whole future happiness is at stake.”

  “I do know what you are saying to me,” Henriet sniffed, “and I promise I will do my best.”

  Caterina kissed her.

  “No one could ask for more,” she said.

  They opened the door and started to walk down the stairs.

  Even as they did so they saw below them in the hall a number of Officials hurrying towards the front door.

  And this could only mean that the Duke’s carriage, which had carried him from the ship, had arrived.

  As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Henriet’s father, Prince Adolphus, came into the hall from the other side of the Palace.

  “Oh, there you are, Henriet,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Caterina gave her friend a little push.

  She ran to her father’s side saying,

  “I was just coming to tell you, Papa, that Caterina has arrived to join me. I know you will be pleased that she is here on such an auspicious occasion.”

  “I am delighted,” Prince Adolphus said, holding out his hand to Caterina.

  She curtseyed and, as she rose, he bent down and kissed her.

  “It’s so good to see you,” he said. “And how is your father?”

  “Very well, and very busy,” she replied.

  Prince Adolphus laughed.

  “As we all are. I expect that you have been told by Henriet what is happening today.”

  “I have heard and I am very interested to see what your visitor is like. I expect he will have a great deal to tell us about what they are feeling in England at present.”

  He smiled.

  “I am as curious as you are. We will, however, have to be very tactful in the questions we ask him.”

  “Yes, or course,” Caterina agreed.

  While she was talking to the Prince, Henriet had managed to stand a little way behind him.

  As the carriage stopped outside the front door and an equerry went out, Prince Adolphus moved forward and Caterina took Henriet’s hand.

  She knew that her friend was trembling and her fingers tightened and then she said in a whisper that only Henriet could hear,

  “Remember, dearest, how much there is at stake.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Caterina saw the Duke step out from the carriage and, as Prince Adolphus walked forward with outstretched hand, she could see him clearly.

  He was certainly English, tall, broad-shouldered, fair-skinned and she had to admit very good-looking.

  But there was definitely something about him that was intimidating, although she was not sure what it was.

  He then walked into the hall and Prince Adolphus presented Henriet, who behaved beautifully.

  She even forced a smile to her lips as Caterina had told her to do.

  Next the Prince introduced his Lord Chamberlain and the Prime Minister and finally he came to Caterina.

  “Princess Caterina,” he declar
ed, “is the daughter of Prince Otto of Theiss. She is a dear friend of my daughter and we are happy to have her with us today.”

  The Duke took Caterina’s hand in his and, when she looked up at him, she had the strange feeling that he was questioning her.

  She could not explain to herself what the feeling was, but it was definitely there.

  She was anxious that, as she had implied jokingly to Henriet, he could read her thoughts.

  Then Prince Adolphus was about to take the Duke away to his private apartments, when he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should take Henriet with them.

  Then he saw her glancing towards Caterina.

  “We will meet later at luncheon,” he said. “In the meantime I have many matters to discuss with His Grace.”

  Caterina was aware that Henriet heaved a sigh of relief and, taking her by the hand, drew her into the garden.

  “If we want to talk,” she said, “this is where we will not be overheard.”

  There was an ornate stone seat by the fountain and they sat down on it.

  “He is frightening,” Henriet murmured, “terrifying, and I cannot and will not marry him!”

  “Now, dearest, you cannot judge someone you have only shaken by the hand,” Caterina told her.

  “I knew the moment I saw him that I hated him,” Henriet insisted. “I will not marry him, whatever Papa may say. I will not! I will not!”

  Henriet repeated the words frantically and Caterina recognised that she must soothe her.

  “I have not forgotten my promise,” she said. “And I have been thinking all the time about how you can avoid marrying him, but then you must play your part cleverly. If people find out what we are thinking, they would make sure that you and Fritz never met again.”

  Henriet was silent for a moment and then asked,

  “What are you planning and how can we escape? I saw Fritz last night and he knows – we have to.”

  “You saw him last night?” Caterina asked her in surprise. “But how and where?”

  “I am not going to tell you,” Henriet said, “because it’s a place that only we know where we are safe. But Fritz asked me to tell you that he is informing the General this morning that he has received news that his mother is very ill. He is therefore resigning from the Regiment and going to stay with her at the far end of the country. In fact it is miles and miles from here.”

  Caterina thought this a sensible move to make, but she could not help feeling that, wherever he went, Henriet would be prevented somehow from ever joining him.

  They sat for a while in silence before Caterina said,

  “I wanted to talk to your Fritz, so I am sorry he has gone away so far.”

  Henriet gave a little laugh.

  “Of course he has not really gone. He merely said so and he is actually near the Palace where no one would ever expect to find him. I am meeting him again tonight, so I can tell him exactly what is happening.”

  “Then I must see him too,” Caterina persisted. “It’s even more important to find out as soon as you have talked to the Duke when your marriage is planned to take place.”

  “Papa must give me time, but my lady’s maid told me this morning, and she always knows everything, that he has already ordered the wedding dress and there are seven seamstresses working day and night to make it for me.”

  “Your lady’s maid always knows everything?”

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you about Malca,” Henriet said. “As you well know, she adores me and has been with me ever since I was a baby. I had to tell her about Fritz, for otherwise she would have had a stroke if she had found my bed empty and I was not to be seen.”

  Caterina naturally knew that Malca was a middle-aged woman who had been Henriet’s Nanny and then when Henriet was too old to have one, Malca had refused to leave her.

  “I may be trained to look after small children,” she said, “but the Princess needs me and I will never leave her till I go to my grave.”

  The whole Palace had thought it very touching and so Malca had a special position in that, although she was a servant, she was allowed to do almost as she wished.

  Caterina therefore knew that it was perfectly safe for Henriet to confide in her and at least if she tried to do anything drastic like committing suicide, Malca, if no one else, would be able to control her.

  “If you want to meet Fritz,” Henriet was saying, “Malca will take you to her room and from there you can slip out the way I do and she will tell you where he is.”

  “I tell you what I will do,” Caterina replied. “I will say I have a headache and go to bed early, while you will doubtless have to stay in attendance on the Duke. Malca can then take me to Fritz.”

  “You are not to try to persuade him to stop loving me,” Henriet muttered darkly.

  Caterina smiled.

  “I know without your telling me that it would be a waste of time. And I would never be disloyal to you.”

  She paused for a moment and then added,

  “I want you to try to be practical, Henriet. It would save so much trouble if you could do as your father wants.”

  “Marry the Duke!” Henriet exclaimed and her voice rose to a scream. “Nothing will ever make me. Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! I expected he would look terrible and – when he stepped out of that carriage, to me it might have been the Devil himself!”

  Caterina realised that she had to calm her down.

  “Now listen, dearest, you are acting a part and it’s always wise to act it all the time. Not just when you think people are watching you.”

  “I know what you are saying to me, Caterina, and I am trying to do what you tell me. Equally I am terrified that somehow you will prevent me from running away with Fritz.”

  “I will never do that,” Caterina said, “and I promise I am trying to find a way for you to escape. But it still seems very very difficult.”

  It was impossible to say more because they saw an equerry coming across the lawn looking for them and, as he reached them, he bowed to Henriet and said,

  “His Royal Highness requests that you to go to his sitting room.”

  Caterina sensed that Henriet winced and she asked,

  “Can I come too? I am longing to meet the Duke.”

  “His Royal Highness asked only for the Princess,” the equerry answered, “but if Your Highness goes with her, I suppose there is nothing he can do about it.”

  Caterina laughed.

  “You are so right and that’s what I will do. Come on, Henriet, let’s do as your father wishes. As it is nearly time for luncheon, we will not have to be with him for very long.”

  She took Henriet’s hand as she spoke and realised that her friend was now trembling.

  As they started to walk across the lawn, she said in a whisper that only Henriet could hear,

  “Do smile, you have to look happy as if you are looking forward to your wedding.”

  “I want to scream, cry and run away!”

  “If you do that, it will be disastrous,” Caterina said. “So be very very careful.”

  It was impossible to say more as they had by now reached the front door of the Palace.

  The equerry was walking just ahead of them down the long passages that led to the Prince’s private rooms.

  As they entered, the two men were standing at the window each with a glass of champagne in his hand.

  The equerry led them in, but did not announce them and Prince Adolphus turned round with a smile.

  “Oh, here you are, Henriet,” he began, “and I might have guessed that Caterina would be with you.”

  “It’s lovely to have her here,” Henriet murmured.

  “Of course it is,” her father agreed, “and I am sure Caterina will help you, as your wedding will be somewhat of a rush.”

  “Why should it be so hurried?” Caterina asked, as Henriet did not reply.

  The Duke now spoke for the first time.

  “I promised Her Majesty Queen Victoria I would not be
away for long,” he replied. “As I expect you know, I have come in the fastest Ironclad that the British Navy possesses and it is required on other duties more important than conveying me and my bride.”

  It struck Caterina that she would like to see an Ironclad, as she had been told they were more up to date than any other Battleship in the world.

  But Henriet moved nearer to her father and asked.

  “Must everything really be done in such a hurry, Papa? My wedding is very special for me and I have to choose my bridesmaids.”

  Caterina thought that she was being rather clever and she quickly added to support her,

  “Of course I want to be one, Henriet.”

  “Then I am afraid that you are both going to be disappointed,” the Prince replied. “His Grace has informed me that he wishes to leave here in two days’ time, which means the marriage will have to be very simple, although, of course, it must be celebrated in the City to make our neighbours aware of its vital significance.”

  “I am sure you are extremely wise to make such arrangements,” the Duke said. “Her Majesty, I can indeed tell you, is exceedingly shocked, in fact horrified, at the behaviour of the Russians.”

  “I am afraid that they have already taken over many Principalities in the Balkans,” Prince Adolphus said, “and I am told that their Cossacks are creating chaos in Asia.”

  “The British Government has only just woken up to the realisation,” the Duke said, “that they are getting nearer and nearer to India and we are therefore strengthening our forces there.”

  “That is sensible of you,” the Prince added, “and I cannot adequately express how grateful we are in Austria that Her Majesty Queen Victoria is thinking of us too.”

  “I think she has always had a soft spot in her heart for this country,” the Duke smiled.

  Caterina was aware that Henriet’s hand in hers had tightened.

  “If you really intend,” she said, “that the wedding should happen in two days’ time, Henriet and I must start at once to buy all that she will require for her trousseau.”

  “It will be easy to buy anything that is necessary in London,” the Duke said. “Our shops are full of delightful gowns from Paris and, as His Royal Highness knows, we have the best tailors in the world.”