An Adventure of Love Page 4

  It was difficult then for Zorina to think of anything but her mother’s unhappiness and also her own, for she had been extremely fond of her father.

  Now she tried to take in every detail of Windsor Castle.

  After they had been greeted by a Lady-in-Waiting, they were finally shown to their bedrooms.

  There they could wash and tidy themselves before being seen by the Queen, but Zorina was not as impressed as she should have been.

  She found herself wondering what Rudolf would have thought of Windsor Castle and she wished that they could look over it together.

  At last, when she had washed her face and hands and Nanny had tidied her hair, Zorina went to her mother’s room, which was next door, to see if she was ready.

  “I suppose really,” the Princess said as she entered, “we are expected to change after that long drive, but your gown looks very attractive, dearest, and is hardly creased.”

  “It is the best one I have, Mama. If the Queen does not like it, she can always give me another one!”

  The Princess gave a little cry and put her fingers to her lips.

  “For Goodness sake, Zorina, be careful what you say! I am sure even the walls have ears and the Queen would definitely not be amused by a remark like that.”

  “I am not likely to say it to the Queen,” Zorina replied. “Don’t look so worried, Mama. Just remember that Papa thought that you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life and our faces are far more important than the clothes we have on our rather ordinary bodies.”

  The Princess laughed as her daughter had meant her to do.

  “You are incorrigible, Zorina!” she exclaimed. “I cannot think of what more I can do for you.”

  “Just let me be myself, Mama and let’s enjoy the first visit we have paid here in six years and eat everything that is put in front of us!”

  The Princess laughed again.

  She walked from the bedroom towards the sitting room, where she knew that there would be somebody waiting for them.

  Zorina was thinking that, however many critical people there might be at Court, no one could look more regal or lovelier than her mother.

  It was true that Prince Paul had fallen in love with her the very first time he saw her. It was in a smart tent at Royal Ascot when he had been invited to luncheon by the Duke of Windermere.

  He had gone to the races because he was interested in the horses, but the moment he saw Lady Louise, he had found it impossible to think of anything but her.

  He had not lost his money on the horses but his heart.

  Because he was Royal, if only the younger son of King Minos, he was of a certain importance and he and Louise had both been terrified that they would not have permission to marry.

  Fortunately for them King Minos had too many political problems on his hands to be very much concerned with any family difficulties.

  At the time Queen Victoria herself was so deeply in love with Prince Albert that she was sympathetic and understanding when other people were in love too.

  She therefore agreed that the daughter of the Duke of Windermere, having a little Royal blood in her veins, could become the wife of Prince Paul.

  “We were so lucky, so very very lucky,” Princess Louise had said over and over again to Zorina. “I loved your father from the moment I saw him and he fell in love with me. If I had not been allowed to marry him, I would have wanted to die!”

  She had been thinking of herself and not her daughter as she spoke and she did not realise that in Zorina’s mind it was deeply engraved that she must fall in love as her mother and father had done.

  Any other kind of marriage, she thought to herself, would not only be humiliating but intolerable.

  It was something, however, that she felt too shy to say to her mother or indeed anyone else.

  As they walked along the corridor escorted by a Lady-in-Waiting and one of the Queen’s aides-de-camp to where Her Majesty was waiting, she told herself she was certain that the Queen was not concerned with her marriage.

  There must therefore be some other reason for her having sent for her and her mother so hurriedly and unexpectedly.

  There was a great fussing and whispering outside the Queen’s Room, then the aide-de-camp went in and a few minutes later he returned to say,

  “Her Majesty will receive Your Royal Highness.”

  Princess Louise walked ahead with Zorina following her and her first impression of the room was that she had never seen so many pictures and photographs on display. They were everywhere, on every piece of furniture and on the rich crimson flock of the walls.

  Zorina was to learn later that there were nearly two hundred and fifty of them and they were carried from Windsor to Balmoral and to Osborne every time the Queen moved.

  Her servants would often find her looking round at them as she played patience in the evenings by the light of two wax candles in the big chandeliers.

  In the daytime she picked over her other treasures with her fat heavily be-ringed fingers.

  There were bundles of letters, paperweights, inkstands, dead flowers, old penknives and sheets of music.

  Zorina could see Her Majesty’s Birthday Book lying prominently on a table full of the signatures of her visitors. The Queen took it with her wherever she went and the Princess had said laughingly that it was sometimes mistaken for a Bible.

  Zorina was aware of a small figure in black wearing a white cap seated at the far end of the room.

  Because the Queen was always spoken of in such awe and she had not seen her since she was twelve, she had imagined her to be a rather large overpowering woman.

  Instead she looked small and diminutive and somehow older than she had expected.

  She held out her hand as Princess Louise made a deep curtsey and then, having kissed the Queen’s hand, she kissed her cheek.

  “It is nice to see you, Louise. How are you?”

  “Very well, thank you, ma’am.”

  The Queen’s eyes then moved towards Zorina, who obediently curtseyed as her mother had done and kissed the Queen’s hand.

  Then, as she rose, the Queen said,

  “You may sit down.”

  Princess Louise took the chair nearest to her and Zorina sat a little further away.

  They waited in what Zorina thought was a deliberately planned awe-inspiring silence.

  “I have asked you here,” the Queen began at last, “to tell you that I have decided to give my approval to Victoria Mary marrying King Otto of Leothia!”

  Princess Louise gave a little gasp and Zorina felt as if she had been turned to stone.

  “That is – very gracious of you – ma’am,” Princess Louise managed to stammer with some difficulty.

  “I thought, Louise, that you would be pleased,” the Queen commented. “After all with so much unrest in so many countries, it is difficult to find a reigning King who is not already married.”

  “I thought – ” Princess Louise began hesitatingly.

  “ – that he was married,” the Queen finished. “That was true until two years ago when his wife, a pleasant woman, died.”

  The Queen fixed her eyes on Zorina as she went on,

  “His Majesty is now asking for an English wife, as he feels, quite rightly, that to be associated with our nation will strengthen his position in Europe at a time when it is very necessary.”

  “I am afraid, ma’am,” Princess Louise admitted, “that I am not quite certain where Leothia is.”

  “I am sure that your husband would have had no difficulty in locating it,” the Queen said scathingly. “Leothia is a small but politically important country bordering on Austria to the North, Serbia to the West, Romania to the East, and it just touches Bulgaria to the South.”

  “Yes – of course – I remember it now,” Princess Louise agreed hastily.

  “Its importance to us in England lies in the fact that it serves as a ‘buffer’ between the countries I have just mentioned and will prevent the
m, or so I can only hope, from attacking each other.”

  “You – don’t think – ma’am,” Princess Louise said tentatively, “that Victoria Mary is a little – young for King Otto – who I now recall has a – grown-up family.”

  “I do not consider that age has anything to do with it,” the Queen replied sharply. “Victoria Mary comes from a respectable English family that has Royal connections and your late-lamented husband had a lineage that we are well aware goes back into antiquity.”

  “Of which he was – very proud, ma’am.”

  “And quite rightly,” the Queen said, “but now that Parnassos has lost its Monarchy, you must realise that it is unfortunately of little consequence in preserving the Balance of Power in Europe.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the Princess replied meekly.

  “In response to His Majesty King Otto’s request,” the Queen continued, “I looked around at what English Princesses were available and there is nobody at the moment except for Victoria Mary. I am sure, Louise, you could not wish for a better marriage for your only child.”

  “No, of course not, ma’am.”

  “You are aware that she will become a reigning Queen over a very attractive country?”

  “I do understand that, ma’am,” Princess Louise said, “and I am very grateful.”

  “And you, Victoria Mary,” the Queen asked pointedly. “I hope you too are grateful?”

  “I was just wondering, ma’am,” Zorina replied, “how old King Otto is. Mama said that he has a grown-up family.”

  The Queen glared at her as if she thought the question impertinent before she answered somewhat grudgingly,

  “I suppose that His Majesty must be nearing sixty, but his age is unimportant. He is a King, Victoria Mary, and you will be his Queen. And that should be sufficient for any young girl!”

  Zorina did not speak and the Queen said in an even sharper tone as if she felt thwarted,

  “I feel it would be a mistake for there to be another Queen Victoria in Europe at the moment and I believe you have another name.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Princess Louise replied. “‘Zorina’ is what my daughter is always called by the family.”

  The Queen raised her eyebrows as if she thought that it was slightly flamboyant, perhaps theatrical.

  Then she said,

  “It is, I suppose, suitable for Leothia. So, Victoria Mary, in future you will be known by your third name and at least it will be original amongst the Thrones of Europe.”

  “Thank – you, ma’am.”

  Zorina did not sound very grateful and Princess Louise added gushingly,

  “I cannot begin to thank you, ma’am, for all your kindness. It will be wonderful for Zorina at such an early age to be a Queen and I know it will make her happy to keep her own name, which was specially chosen for her by her father.”

  “Then that is settled!” the Queen asserted. “And now – ”

  Before she could go any further, Zorina asked in a hesitant voice,

  “Please – ma’am, when am I to – meet – the King?”

  She was thinking frantically that, if she disliked him, she might find some means of escaping from the marriage.

  “His Majesty, not unnaturally,” the Queen answered, “finds it impossible to make the journey to England himself. He has sent his son as his representative, whom you will meet tonight at dinner.”

  “I would have liked to have met His Majesty himself,” Zorina persisted, “before the arrangements for the Wedding are made.”

  “That is completely out of the question!” the Queen said in an exasperated tone. “I have already arranged that you and your mother will leave for Leothia in three weeks’ time.”

  Zorina gave a gasp of horror.

  “In – three – weeks, ma’am?”

  As if the Princess realised from the sound of her daughter’s voice that she was about to be difficult, she intervened,

  “I am sure, ma’am, that Zorina is thinking of her trousseau. Three weeks will not give us time to make any gowns and we do not have the money to buy anything that is expensive.”

  The Princess spoke humbly.

  At the same time she was very much aware that Zorina was vibrating almost violently against the haste that everything was being done in.

  “I had already intended, if you had given me a chance to speak of it,” the Queen replied, “to give Zorina her trousseau as a Wedding present.”

  “That is very kind of you, ma’am.”

  “It is what I have done, as you should be aware, Louise, for a number of other brides and I think it more appropriate in your case than a piece of jewellery when there will doubtless be a large collection of jewels waiting for Zorina in Leothia.”

  “I can only say thank you, thank you very very much, ma’am!” the Princess murmured.

  “As to all this nonsense from Zorina about meeting the King before all the arrangements are made,” Queen Victoria continued, “this request is completely and absolutely impossible.”

  She gave Zorina a scathing look before she went on,

  “What you should do is to go down on your knees and be grateful that you have been chosen not only for such a responsible position but also to be an Ambassador for your country.”

  She paused for a moment to cough and then resumed,

  “You will see to it that the British are respected and admired in Leothia as they are in other countries where we have given our support and where I have provided members of my own family to be the Consorts of reigning Monarchs.”

  The note of satisfaction in the Queen’s voice was very noticeable.

  And then she added,

  “I will have, Zorina, a private talk with you before you leave to make quite sure that you are fully aware of what is expected of you as Queen of Leothia. Now I must rest before I receive the Prime Minister who, I understand, is waiting to see me.”

  “Yes, of course, ma’am,” Princess Louise replied, rising to her feet. “And thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and consideration.”

  She curtseyed as she spoke and again kissed the Queen’s hand and her cheek and Zorina followed her.

  Only as she touched the Queen’s hand with her lips did the Queen say,

  “You are a pretty child, but it is more important to have brains and I shall expect you to use your intelligence when you reach Leothia. Do you understand?”

  “Yes – ma’am.”

  Zorina backed away from the Queen as her mother was doing.

  As they left the room, she noticed that the Lady-in-Waiting and the aide-de-camp who were standing outside looked at her with curiosity.

  She was sure that they were aware of what had taken place in the Queen’s Room and, now that she was to be a Queen, they were regarding her in a new and very different light.

  It was not until much later that she was able to tell her mother what she was thinking.

  The Lady-in-Waiting, who went with them down the corridor, then took them to a sitting room, where tea was waiting.

  There they were joined by another Lady-in-Waiting and an elderly Courtier, who Zorina learned was the Master of the Queen’s Household.

  They talked to Princess Louise, while ignoring Zorina, as she expected.

  Yet she was aware that there were calculating glances in her direction and she was being more or less ‘sized-up’ by the two Ladies-in-Waiting.

  Only when Princess Louise said that she would like to rest before dinner and she thought that Zorina should do the same, did they go to their bedrooms.

  As Zorina went into her mother’s room and closed the door, she exclaimed,

  “It’s ridiculous, Mama! How can I possibly marry a man who is – nearly sixty? He is older than Papa – would now be!”

  The Princess looked round to be quite certain that the door was closed before she said,

  “I know it seems rather frightening, dearest, but think what it will mean to you.”

  “That is what I
am thinking, Mama. Which is why you have to tell the Queen that I will not do it!”

  “Zorina! Zorina!” the Princess pleaded. “How can you be so foolish and so stupid? You will be a Queen! Think what it will mean to be respected, admired and to be able to live in the luxury that we have been unable to have ever since Papa died.”

  “B-but – Mama – he will be my – husband!”

  Zorina could not say anything more.

  She was thinking that old though the King was, he would want to kiss her and perhaps touch her. The idea made her shudder with horror.

  She wanted to be married, of course, she did, but to a young man, someone like Rudolf.

  She saw his handsome face in front of her eyes and she could hear his deep voice telling her how beautiful she was.

  This was what she wanted to hear and she wanted to know that the man she married excited her as she had been this morning when she knew that she would see Rudolf again.

  “I cannot – do it, Mama!”

  Princess Louise gave a cry of horror.

  “But you must, Zorina, you must! Can you not understand? If you refuse to do as the Queen commands, she may ostracise us and even turn us out of our apartment at Hampton Court Palace. Then we will have nowhere to go.”

  “You cannot mean that, Mama.”

  “She could turn us out in the street tomorrow,” Princess Louise said. “We would then have to go crawling to my brother, your Uncle Lionel, who told me in a letter last week that he is having to sell land because he is so hard up.”

  Zorina did not reply.

  She then sat down on the edge of her mother’s bed, feeling suddenly very weak as if she could not stand up any longer.

  She realised as she did so that she was facing the inevitable and that there was nothing she could do about it.

  The Queen had given her orders and, whatever she may feel about them, she had to obey.

  chapter three

  Dressing for dinner, Zorina was still wondering if there was any way that she could tell Rudolf why she was unable to meet him tomorrow morning.

  She imagined him arriving early at Hampton Court Palace and then he would be looking out of the window as he was doing the first time that she had bumped into him.