Bride to the King Read online

  Zosina looked at her young sister in astonishment and asked,

  “Why do you say that about me?”

  Katalin laughed.

  “As a matter of fact I did not think all that up about you, although it’s true. It was what I heard Frau Weber say when she was talking to Papa’s secretary.”

  “Frau Weber!” Zosina exclaimed.

  Now she understood where Katalin got her ideas, because that particular Governess had been very different from all the rest.

  A lady who had fallen on hard times, she had come to the Palace with an introduction from the Queen Mother. She had been an extremely intelligent, brilliant woman, whose husband had been in the Diplomatic Service. When he died, she had been left with very little money and what Zosina realised later was a broken heart.

  The Queen Mother who had always helped everybody who turned to her in trouble, had thought that it would take her mind off what she had lost if she had young people around her.

  As her granddaughters were in the process of inevitable change of Governesses, it had been easy for Frau Weber to fill the post.

  Zosina realised at once how different her intellect and her ability to teach was from that of any Governess they had had before and she felt herself respond to Frau Weber like a flower opening towards the sun.

  However, her joy in being with somebody who could tell her so much that she wanted to know and guide her in a way she had never experienced before was short-lived.

  An old friend of Frau Weber’s husband came to Lützelstein on a diplomatic visit with the Prime Minister of Belgium and had renewed his acquaintance with the widow of his old friend.

  When he left two weeks later, Zosina learned in consternation that Frau Weber was to be married again. “Then you will leave us!” she cried.

  “I am afraid so,” Frau Weber replied, “but I know I shall be happy with someone I have known for a great number of years.”

  The Archduchess had been extremely annoyed that as a Governess Frau Weber had made so short a stay in the Palace.

  “It is most inconvenient and very bad for the girls to have so many changes,” she had said tartly to the Archduke.

  “We can hardly expect the poor woman to give up a chance of marriage for the doubtful privilege of staying here with us,” he replied.

  “I find people’s selfishness and lack of consideration for others is very prevalent these days,” his wife retorted.

  It was Zosina who had cried when Frau Weber had left and she knew, as soon as she saw the woman who was to take her place, that she would never again find a Governess who understood how important knowledge was or how to impart it.

  Thinking of her now, she said reminiscently,

  “I wish I could talk to Frau Weber about my marriage.”

  “She is living in Belgium,” Katalin said practically.

  “Yes, I know it’s impossible,” Zosina replied, “but it would be pleasant to talk to somebody who understood.”

  “I understand,” Katalin said. “You just have to believe it will all come right, and it will! Thinking what you want is magic. You don’t have to rub an Aladdin’s lamp or wave a special wand. You just have to focus your brain.”

  “Now who on earth told you that?” Zosina asked.

  “I cannot remember, but I have always known it. I expect really it’s the same as prayer. You want and want and want until suddenly it’s there!”

  Zosina suddenly put her arms around her small sister and pulled her close.

  “Oh, Katalin, I shall miss you so!” she sighed. “You always make even the most impossible things seem as if one can achieve them.”

  “One can! This is the whole point!” Katalin said. “Do you remember how Papa would not let us go to the horse show? Then suddenly he changed his mind. Well, I did that!”

  “What do you mean?” Zosina asked.

  “I willed and willed and willed him when I knew he was asleep at night or when I knew he was alone downstairs without anybody to disturb him and quite suddenly he said, ‘why should you not go? It will do you good to see some decent horseflesh!’ So we went!”

  Zosina laughed.

  “Oh, Katalin, you make everything seem so easy! What shall I will for myself?”

  “A husband who loves you!” Katalin replied without a pause.

  Zosina laughed again.

  It was in fact Katalin who made everything seem an adventure, even the moment when the Royal train steamed out of the station leaving three rather forlorn little faces waving goodbye from the platform.

  “Goodbye, dearest Grandmama!” they had all said to the Queen Mother, then hugged Zosina.

  “You will have a lovely time,” Theone prophesied.

  “I wish I was you,” Helsa chipped in enviously.

  But Katalin with her arms round Zosina’s neck had whispered,

  “Will – and it will all come right. Will all the time you are there and I shall be willing too.”

  “I will do that,” Zosina promised. “I do wish you were coming with me.”

  “I will send my thoughts to you every night,” Katalin promised. “They will wing their way over the mountains and you will find them sitting beside you on your pillow.”

  “I shall be looking for them. So don’t forget.”

  “I will not,” Katalin asserted.

  She waved from the window not only to her sisters but to the crowds of officials and their wives who were there to bid the Queen Mother farewell on what they all knew was a very important journey.

  As the Royal train was spectacular and, since the Archduke had been confined to the Palace, very rarely used, crowds outside the station had come to watch it pass.

  As she thought the people would be pleased, Zosina stood at the window waving until her grandmother told her to sit beside her so that they could talk.

  “I have hardly had a chance to see you, dearest child,” she began, “and I must say you look very lovely in that pretty gown. I am so glad you chose pink to arrive in. It’s always, I think, such a happy colour.”

  “You look lovely in your favourite blue, Grandmama,” Zosina answered.

  The Queen Mother looked pleased.

  She was still beautiful, although the once glorious red of her hair was now distinctly grey and her face, which had made a whole generation of artists want to paint her, was lined with age.

  But her features and bone structure were still fine and she had a grace that was ageless and a smile that Zosina thought was irresistible.

  “Now dearest,” her grandmother was saying, “I expect your father has told you how important this visit is to our country and to Dórsia.”

  “Yes, he has told me that, Grandmama,” Zosina answered.

  There was something in her tone of voice that made her grandmother look at her sharply.

  “I have a feeling, dear child, you are not as happy about the arrangements as you should be.”

  “I am trying to be happy about them, Grandmama, but I should like to have some say in my marriage, although I daresay it’s very stupid of me even to think such a thing.”

  “It’s not stupid,” the Queen Mother said, “it is very natural and I do understand that you are feeling anxious and perhaps a little afraid.”

  “I knew you would understand, Grandmama.”

  “I often think it’s a very barbaric custom that two people, simply because it’s politically expedient, should be married off without their being allowed to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to such an arrangement.”

  Zosina looked at her grandmother. Then she said, “Did that happen to you, Grandmama?”

  The Queen Mother smiled.

  “I was very fortunate, Zosina. Very very fortunate! Have you never been told what happened where my marriage was concerned?”

  “No, Grandmama.”

  Zosina saw the smile in the Queen Mother’s eyes and on her lips as she went on,

  “Your grandfather, who was then the Crown Prince of Lützelstein, came to stay with m
y father because it had been suggested that he should marry my elder sister.”

  Zosina’s eyes widened, but she did not say anything.

  “I was only sixteen at the time,” the Queen Mother continued, “and very excited to hear that we were to have a Crown Prince as a very special guest.”

  She paused for a moment, as if she was recalling what had happened.

  “It was naughty of me, but I was determined to see him before anybody else did. So I rode from my father’s Palace down the route to a point that I knew the Prince must pass when he entered the country.”

  “What happened, Grandmama ?” Zosina enquired.

  “I bypassed the welcoming parade of soldiers lining the streets by approaching the border from a different direction,” the Queen Mother answered. “I had learned that the Royal party from Lützelstein, who had been travelling for several days were to stop at a certain inn just inside my father’s Kingdom for refreshment and to tidy up and make themselves look presentable before they entered our Capital in state.”

  Zosina was entranced by the story, sitting forward on the seat, her eyes on her grandmother’s face.

  “I often wonder now how I had the temerity to do anything so outrageous,” the Queen Mother said, “but I waited by some trees until I saw the Prince and his entourage come out of the inn. They were laughing and talking and their horses all stood waiting to be mounted.”

  “Then what did you do?” “I rode down to them at a gallop. I remember I was wearing a green velvet habit with a little tricorn hat, which I thought very becoming, with green feathers in it. I pulled my horse up right in front of the Prince. ‘Welcome, Sire!’ I said and he stared at me in astonishment.”

  “It must have been a surprise!” Zosina cried.

  “It was!” the Queen Mother laughed. “Then I made my horse go down on his knees as I had trained him to do and bow his head, while I sat in the saddle holding my whip in a theatrical posture like a circus performer!”

  Zosina was delighted.

  “Oh, Grandmama! They must have thought it fantastic!” “It was fantastic!” her grandmother said with a smile. “Your grandfather fell in love with me on the spot! He invited me to ride with him back to my father’s Palace.” “And did you?”

  “No. I was far too sensible to do that. I knew what a lot of trouble I would be in. I rode back alone, except of course, for the groom who was waiting for me by the trees.”

  “And what happened after that?” Zosina wanted to know.

  “When he reached the Palace, my sister was waiting for him and he said to my father, ‘I understand Your Majesty has another daughter?’ ‘Yes,’ my father replied, ‘but she is too young to take part in our celebrations to commemorate Your Royal Highness’s visit.’ ‘Will she not think it rather unfair to be left out of the celebrations?’ your grandfather persisted.”

  “So you were allowed to take part,” Zosina asked.

  “My father and mother were extremely annoyed,” the Queen Mother replied, “but at the Crown Prince’s insistence, I came down to dinner. I remember how exciting it was and even more exciting when before the Prince left, he told my father that it was I he wished to marry.”

  “Oh, Grandmama, it’s the most thrilling story I have ever heard!” Zosina exclaimed. “Why have I never been told it before?”

  “I think,” her grandmother replied, “your mother thought it might put the wrong sort of ideas into your head.”

  “It’s the kind of story Katalin would love,” Zosina said. “I do wish I could tell her.”

  “Katalin knows already.” As Zosina looked at her in surprise, she explained, “Apparently she heard her nurse gossiping about what had happened and she asked me to tell her the true story.” “So you told her.”

  “Yes, I told her, but I made her promise to keep it a secret. I had to respect your mother’s wishes in the matter.” “I am so glad you have told me now,” Zosina sighed, “and perhaps – ”

  She had no need to finish the sentence.

  “I know what you are thinking – that perhaps King Gyórgy will fall in love with you the moment he sees you, as happened to me,” the Queen Mother said. “Oh, my dear, I do hope so!”

  “But suppose I don’t fall in love with him?”

  “Never think negatively,” the Queen Mother advised. “Be positive that you will fall in love and that is what I am quite certain will happen.”

  She did not wait for Zosina’s reply, but put her hand against her granddaughter’s cheek.

  “You are very lovely, my child,” she said, “and you will find a pretty face is a tremendous help in life and in getting your own way.”

  Zosina laughed.

  “Katalin told me I needed willpower to get what I wanted and now you tell me it is being pretty.”

  “A combination of the two would be irresistible!” the Queen Mother said firmly, “so you have no need to worry, my dearest.”

  There was not much chance of a further talk with her grandmother because, when they crossed the border from Lützelstein into Dórsia, the train stopped at every station so that the Queen Mother could receive addresses of welcome from the local Mayors.

  When they continued their journey, there were crowds to wave and cheer when she and Zosina appeared at the windows of their carriage.

  “The people are very pleased to see you, Grandmama,” Zosina said.

  “And to see you,” her grandmother added.

  Zosina looked at her with a startled expression.

  “Are you saying they know already that I am to marry their King?”

  “I am quite certain the whole of Dórsia is speculating as to why you have come and drawing their own conclusions. In fact, if you had listened to that last address, which was an extremely dull one, the Mayor kept harping on the great possibilities that may come from this ‘auspicious visit’!”

  The way her grandmother spoke, which was a combination of irony and amusement, made Zosina laugh.

  “Oh, Grandmama,” she said, “you make everything so much fun! I love being with you. I only wish that you rather than I was marrying the King of Dórsia!”

  “There is a slight discrepancy in age to be considered,” the Queen Mother remarked, “and, as you well know, dearest, if it was not the King of Dórsia, it would be the King of somewhere else or perhaps someone far less important.”

  “That is what Helsa is afraid she will get,” Zosina grinned.

  “We will do our best to find her a reigning Monarch,” the Queen Mother said, “but they are rather few and far between unless she has a partiality for one in the German Federation.”

  “None of us want that,” Zosina objected.

  “No, indeed. Those small Courts are very stiff and starchy and one cannot breathe without offending protocol in one way or another. I am sure you girls would all hate it! I must say the visits I have paid there with your grandfather would have been absolutely intolerable if we had not been able to laugh when we were alone about everything that happened.”

  “Grandpapa must have been so glad he was able to marry you,” Zosina said. “Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had not been brave enough to go and meet him in such a manner?”

  “Yes, I have often thought about it. Someone else would have been Queen of Lützelstein and perhaps, dearest, you would not all be so charming and so vital without my Hungarian blood in you.”

  “I have often thought that and I am sure it is why we all ride so well.”

  “Hungarians are born equestrians,” the Queen Mother said. “I often teased your grandfather and said it was not me he fell in love with, but my horse, especially as he could do such splendid tricks.”

  “And what did Grandpapa reply?” Zosina asked.

  The Queen Mother’s eyes were very soft before she said,

  “You are too young for me to tell you that, but one day you will learn what a man says when he tells you what is in his heart.”

  There were more stations, more crowds a
nd the country with its mountains, its valleys, its distant snowy peaks and its silver rivers had made Zosina know that the Ambassador had been right when he said it was one of the most beautiful places one could imagine.

  There were lakes and castles, which made her think of the warring history of the early Dórsians and then, as the countryside became more populous, she knew that they were coming into the Capital.

  She felt her heart begin to beat in a manner that told her she was frightened and, as the Ladies-in-Waiting began to fuss round the Queen Mother giving her her gloves, her handbag, asking if she needed a mirror, Zosina thought almost for the first time of her own appearance.

  She knew her pink gown was exceedingly becoming, but somehow she suddenly felt gauche and insignificant beside the majesty and elegance of her grandmother.

  ‘I must not make any mistakes,’ she said frantically to herself.

  Then the train began to slow down and she saw that they were moving slowly into position at what appeared to be a crowded platform.

  “Are you ready, my dearest?” the Queen Mother asked. “I will alight first and you follow behind me. The King and I expect too the Regent will be waiting directly opposite the carriage door.”

  Zosina wanted to reply, but her voice seemed to be strangled in her throat.

  The train came to a standstill.

  The Ladies-in-Waiting rose to their feet and Zosina saw the Royal Party and several other gentlemen accompanying them pass in front of the window and knew that they would be waiting at the door of the carriage.

  Without hurrying, arranging her skirt to her satisfaction, the Queen Mother stood for a moment determined, Zosina thought, to give a touch of drama to the moment when they would appear.

  Then slowly, smiling her beguiling smile, she walked to the door of the carriage.

  Zosina felt as if her feet had suddenly been rooted to the ground and it was with considerable effort that she made them obey her and move too.

  The Queen Mother assisted by willing hands stepped down onto the platform, then, almost without realising it, Zosina found herself behind her and a second later she heard a man’s voice say,