The Queen Wins Read online

  He laughed again.

  “Now you must not say things like that or they will undoubtedly take offence. Tell me about your wedding dress.”

  “It is absolutely fantastic. It had really been a show gown to attract people into the shop and was not actually for sale. They were reluctant to let me have it. But I knew it would look very glamorous in the Cathedral – if indeed there is one in Karlova.”

  “Of course there is one. And I intend to marry you with everything possible to make it the most memorable day of your life.”

  “I will be thinking how glad I am that it is you, Uncle Richard, who is marrying me and not some strange Priest I have never seen before.”

  “He will doubtless be an Archbishop, who will think I am being very pushy in joining you to your husband when it should really be his job.”

  “It is quite easy,” Tarena exclaimed. “Tell him, if I don’t have you to marry me, I will not be married at all!”

  The Earl held up his hands.

  “Now that is just the sort of comment you must never make. Remember, Tarena, Queens are always very dignified and give an impression of extreme grandeur.”

  Tarena made a face.

  “You know I will never be like that. I just want to be myself. If I have to sit all day on a golden throne while people curtsy in front of me, I shall run away and come back to you in England!”

  He knew that she was just teasing.

  However, he was feeling somewhat worried that she would find it boring being Queen to some strange man she did not love.

  There could be the extreme loneliness her mother had felt when her beloved Ivan had left her.

  ‘There must be some young people in Karlova with whom she can laugh and play as she should do at her age,’ he thought to himself. ‘She should not be forced to take on the heavy and often exceedingly dreary affairs of State.’

  There was nothing he could do but pray.

  He hoped to find some sympathetic Karlovans who would understand Tarena’s difficulties before he had to leave her and return to England.

  *

  At the moment, however, they were being heavily pressed by the Ambassador to leave as quickly as possible.

  He was so agitated that the Earl was convinced that the situation was far worse that he had told Her Majesty.

  When he questioned the Ambassador, he confided,

  “We have had a great deal of difficulty, as you may not know in England, over who should reign on the throne of Bulgaria.”

  “I did realise that there was some trouble,” the Earl replied, “but I understood that you had found a suitable candidate.”

  The Ambassador gave a somewhat forced laugh.

  “The Bulgarian Assembly,” he said, “invited Prince Waldemar of Denmark, a brother of the Czarina of Russia and the Princess of Wales to take the Crown, but the Czar vetoed the suggestion.”

  “I did hear that.” “King Charles of Romania was approached, but he also retreated before Russia’s scowls.” “What happened then?” “Finally, we were all startled and astonished when twenty-seven year old Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, a Cousin of Queen Victoria, accepted the throne.”

  “Now you are bringing it back to me. I understand he is a very strange man.”

  “Very strange indeed, my Lord,” the Ambassador replied. “He wears bracelets and powders his face and sleeps in pink nightgowns trimmed with Valenciennes lace. His nerves are so finely strung that he consults only ladies’ doctors.”

  “Good Heavens!” the Earl exclaimed. “I had no idea of all this.”

  “As no one else seems willing to run the risk of being assassinated by the wily Russians, Prince Stambulov accepted him because he is both rich and well-born.” The Earl threw up his hands and sighed,

  “Money always turns the balance.”

  “That is true, my Lord. His mother doted on him and always believed that one day he would wear a crown and therefore, as you can well understand, he accepted the throne without demur.”

  “What did Queen Victoria say about it?”

  “She was dismayed as she had always thought that Alexander of Battenburg might return.” “So King Ferdinand is now firmly established in Bulgaria?” The Ambassador laughed.

  “There is no doubt that the rough Bulgarians who appeared in Tirnovo to watch the Prince take the oath were astonished by his appearance. His hands and wrists were covered in many rings and bracelets. His long robe made of purple velvet and ermine was easily grand enough for an Emperor and his hair smelt of pomade.”

  The Earl laughed as if he could not help it.

  He remembered now hearing that King Ferdinand had a small pointed beard, piercing blue eyes and a huge nose that soon became the delight of caricaturists.

  So Bulgaria was now settled, but there was little doubt that, while Karlova was for the moment without a King, the Russians would attempt to take the country over.

  The Earl kept his worries to himself.

  But he found it difficult to sleep the night before they were to board the Battleship.

  The Royal Sovereign was coming up the Thames to pick them up by the House of Commons.

  When the Earl knelt to pray, he was wondering if in his anxiety to help ‘Ivan’s people,’ he was now sending his beloved niece, Tarena, to a horrible death.

  *

  The next morning there was much amusement over the large amount of luggage Tarena was to take aboard the Battleship.

  She travelled in a closed carriage with her uncle and the Ambassador and behind them came two large vans piled with trunks and hat-boxes.

  The Battleship seemed larger and more imposing than Tarena had expected and when she first saw it, she whispered to her uncle,

  “Now I really do feel grand. It’s the most beautiful ship I have ever imagined.”

  “Her Majesty the Queen is really determined you will make an impressive arrival,” the Ambassador told her.

  “How could I do anything else on a ship I see is called The Royal Sovereign?”

  The Earl was deeply impressed by the Battleship as well when they went aboard.

  They met the Ambassador’s wife, who was charged with chaperoning Tarena to Karlova and a Baroness who was to be her Lady-in-Waiting until she appointed her own after her arrival.

  They curtsied to Tarena, which was something she had not anticipated.

  Then a young man dressed very smartly in military uniform came forward and saluted the Ambassador.

  “Oh, here you are, Count,” called the Ambassador. “I am waiting to introduce you to the Princess.”

  He then moved across the cabin to where Tarena was talking animatedly to the Ambassador’s wife.

  “I would like, Your Royal Highness,” he said, “to present to you Count Vladimir Sazon, who is in charge of the soldiers who are escorting you on the voyage.”

  Tarena turned round and saw that the newcomer was a tall very good-looking young man.

  She held out her hand to him and he bowed over it respectfully.

  And then she asked him,

  “Did the Ambassador say that your name is Sazon? Then surely you must be of the same blood as my family?”

  “It is something I am most honoured to be, Your Royal Highness,” he responded. “I am a cousin, though distant, of His Majesty, your father, who I greatly admired and who was kind enough to give me my appointment of command of the Palace guard.”

  “Then you knew my father?” Tarena exclaimed. “As I expect you know, I have not seen him since I was only a child when he left England behind to become the King of Karlova.”

  “There is so much I can tell Your Royal Highness about His Majesty. He was loved by everyone in Karlova, as I am sure you yourself will be.”

  Tarena smiled at him.

  “I can only hope your prophecy will come true.”

  “I was just thinking,” said the Ambassador, “that as Count Sazon is a relation of Your Royal Highness, it is he who should teach you our language while we a
re travelling to Karlova. I daresay you will find it rather difficult, but it is important for you to speak to our people in their own tongue.”

  “I have thought of that already,” Tarena answered. “I have read that the language of Karlova is a mixture of Greek and German and I already know Greek. Thus it will not be as difficult for me as it might be for someone else.”

  “I can be a hard taskmaster, Your Royal Highness,” the Count smiled. “I know how important it is for you to understand what is being said and I myself have struggled away with many different languages since I was appointed to the Palace.”

  “Then you must help me to be fluent in Karlovan, Count Vladimir.” “As soon as the ship moves,” the Count promised, “we will start talking to each other and to the others aboard in the language of Karlova. I have always thought it more attractive than other Balkan languages.”

  “Wonderful,” Tarena exclaimed.

  “I promise Your Royal Highness that, by the time we arrive, you will speak fluently so that everyone can understand you.”

  “Now I think you are boasting for both of you,” the Earl came in. “At the same time I am delighted to know that my niece will have such a determined teacher.”

  They were seen off by the Marquis of Salisbury and a number of other Statesmen. When he said goodbye to Tarena, he added,

  “I want to thank you more than I can put into words for undertaking this task. I was almost in despair about what I could do for Karlova when I met your uncle at his father’s funeral and learnt of your existence.”

  “As most people dislike funerals,” Tarena replied, “I am sure you have been rewarded for being so kind as to attend my grandfather’s.”

  “Actually our families have known each other for a long time,” the Marquis smiled. “He spoilt me by letting me ride on his horses in steeplechases and point-to-points. When I won, it was entirely due to his generosity.”

  Tarena laughed.

  “I do hope, my Lord, when my mission to Karlova is so important, that I don’t disappoint you.”

  “I sincerely think you are going to be superb!” The Marquis raised her hand to kiss it.

  Then, as he turned to leave, he put his hand on the Count’s shoulder.

  “Please look after this beautiful Princess and don’t let anyone hurt or upset her.”

  “You can trust me, my Lord,” the Count replied. “And I am perfectly prepared to dedicate my life to anyone so beautiful.”

  The Marquis chuckled at this, but the Earl, who was listening, thought that it was a great advantage to have so pleasant a young man on the Battleship with them.

  It might at least distract Tarena from her fears of what lay ahead.

  Her first request was to explore the ship and the Count took her below to shake hands with the ten men who were her bodyguard.

  She was introduced by the Captain of The Royal Sovereign to the members of his crew and they were all delighted to meet her.

  She guessed that it was unusual for passengers on one of Her Majesty’s Battleships to meet the entire crew.

  Unusual too, as she had done, to invite the Captain and his Officers to dine with her. The Captain was delighted at her invitation.

  And when they sat down to dinner, joined by the Count and the other members of the party, it was a most jovial evening.

  The Earl had been afraid that Tarena might have felt miserable at leaving England.

  They were, however, all laughing as they steamed down the Thames.

  By the time The Royal Sovereign had reached the English Channel, Tarena was beginning to feel rather more relaxed and that she was starting a new exciting adventure.

  *

  When she woke the next morning and found a note under her door, she realised how efficient the Count was.

  In flowery language, which she felt he wrote with a twinkle in his eye, he informed her that lessons began at nine-thirty precisely.

  Pupils are asked not to be late unless they are overcome by seasickness!

  The sea, as they sailed down the English Channel, was quite calm.

  When Tarena joined the Count on deck, the sun was shining and the huge Battleship, she thought, seemed to be moving swiftly and smoothly towards an El Dorado.

  Tarena had put on one of the simple but very pretty dresses she had thought would be appropriate to wear on board ship.

  Because she had thought it unnecessary, there was nothing covering her long auburn hair which caught the sunshine as she walked towards the Count.

  He had arranged two chairs and a small table in a corner of the deck and, as she sat down, Tarena enquired,

  “Do I also have to write?”

  “Of course. I have already put down a list of verbs for you to memorise and as your teacher I would naturally expect you to be word perfect tomorrow morning!”

  “I thought I was going to be able to enjoy a rest on board this ship,” Tarena countered teasingly. “But I now foresee it’s going to be hard work until we reach Port.”

  “It will not be as bad as that,” the Count replied, “and I have a feeling that Your Royal Highness is going to be very quick at picking up the language that as you rightly said is a mixture of other languages of which you already have quite a knowledge.”

  “I know enough to be able to read books in Greek and most other European languages. I hope because my father was, I understand, a brilliant linguist, that I will be the same.”

  “Of course you will and your father was, without exception, the cleverest and most interesting man I have ever met.”

  “Do tell me more about him – ”

  He answered her without warning in her father’s language and to her joy she found she could understand most of what he said.

  When she stopped him and made him explain to her again in Greek or German what he had said, she knew it was a lesson she would not easily forget.

  Tarena enjoyed the Count’s tuition so much that it went on until luncheon time.

  When the Earl came to tell them that luncheon was ready, he asked the Count how they had progressed.

  “I can see that in a day or so I will no longer be required as a teacher,” the Count replied. “I only hope I will not be confined to Barracks and forgotten until we step ashore!”

  “Of course that will not happen! cried Tarena. “I have a great deal to ask you about Karlova, which will take you the whole voyage to answer.”

  “I am only too willing to oblige,” said the Count. “But now I admit to feeling hungry and naturally thirsty.”

  They were laughing as they walked to the Captain’s cabin and, as Tarena was such an important passenger, he had made way for her.

  It was a very large room with, in one corner, as was traditional, a four-poster bed and on the other side there was sufficient space to entertain a large number of people.

  They would eat at the long table or recline on a wide sofa or sit in comfortable armchairs.

  In contrast, as the Captain told Tarena, the rest of the ship was overcrowded.

  As well as Tarena’s entourage, there was the crew and the bodyguard.

  The midshipmen were having to sleep on the floor in one of the cabins and, as they were young boys, when they stopped at Gibraltar, Tarena insisted on buying large boxes of sweetmeats for them as well as more sophisticated presents for the Captain and his Officers.

  “You will spoil them for other visitors who are not so generous,” the Count suggested. “Equally I can assure you that they are worshipping at Your Royal Highness’s feet which is undoubtedly what everyone else in Karlova will do when we arrive.”

  “You must write me a speech which I can make at a suitable opportunity,” Tarena said, “saying how pleased I am to be where my father has been before me and hoping they will love me as much as they loved him.”

  “I think you can say that without my writing it for you. If people really think I have taught you to speak the language in such a short time, I will be tempted to give up the Army to take on pupils
and charge them a huge fee for teaching them!”

  Tarena laughed.

  “I am sure you enjoy the Army far too much!”

  “What I think we should do when we move out of here,” said the Count, looking round at Gibraltar, “is to have some exercise. I have bought a deck tennis set that has just been invented for use on board ship. I am certain you would excel at it, Your Royal Highness.”

  As Tarena played extremely good lawn tennis, she found she could make the Count work very hard to be able to beat her at deck tennis.

  In fact when she did beat him, she clapped her hands with delight.

  “It’s the first time, I assure you,” he sighed, “I have ever been beaten by a woman. It’s a failure that will not occur again!”

  “Well, I am determined it will,” Tarena boasted. “Therefore we will both have to exert ourselves.”

  The sea had been rough in the Bay of Biscay as they sailed through, but Tarena had not been upset.

  However, the Ambassador’s wife and the Baroness retired to their cabins and were not seen again until they reached Gibraltar.

  “Everything will be much smoother from now on,” the Count promised. “So I suppose you will have to spend some of your time with the ladies and I will not be able to have as much of you as I have had recently.”

  “I have no intention of talking, except, of course, politely in the morning and evening to the Ambassador’s wife and the Baroness. I want to take more and more exercise and, if we cannot play deck tennis, then I will race you round the deck.”

  “I think that would be rather undignified. Much as I would love to see you running, I think it would be better if we exercised ourselves by dancing.”

  Tarena’s eyes lit up.

  “What a wonderful idea!” she exclaimed excitedly. “But what music is there to dance to?”

  “I have discovered that two of my men earn money, when they are not on duty, by playing for people to dance in the village they come from.”

  “What do they play?” Tarena asked.

  “One of them plays the piano and, if there is not one on board, which I think there is, he has a guitar and the other has a violin.”