The King Without a Heart Page 5

  As she undressed she wished with all her heart that her father and mother were with her on the voyage.

  It would be to some country where her father knew there was a Monastery to visit where no Englishman had ever been or it might be to a town that had recently discovered treasures dating back to the early times of civilisation.

  There was always something new and something thrilling to arouse Lord Rupert’s attention and interest. It would make him determined, no matter how difficult the journey, that he would see it before anyone else did.

  ‘I must look out in Velidos for what is unusual, just as you would have done, Papa,’ mused Titania to herself as she undressed. ‘I hope to get the chance to see the King who sounds interesting, even though he is isolating himself from the modern world.’

  When she climbed into bed she thought of Mercury and she was certain that tomorrow morning he would be waiting for her and think it strange when she did not come to the stables at seven o’clock as she always did.

  She had explained to him why she had to go away and hoped that he understood.

  ‘There is no one else except Nanny and Mercury who belong to me now,’ she told herself. ‘And this ship is carrying me further and further away from them.’

  She felt the tears come into her eyes and with an almost superhuman effort she prevented herself from crying.

  ‘I will have to be brave,’ she lectured herself. ‘I have to explore a new country and somehow lead a new life despite Sophie, who will try to stop me from doing so and enjoying myself.’

  It was then that she remembered she had managed to obtain five hundred pounds to put into a bank in Velidos.

  She had not told her uncle the truth as to why she wanted the money. The real reason was that if she could not bear being alone in a strange land, she would be able to run away and return home.

  ‘It is just a precaution!’ she had told herself and at the same time she knew it was really a way out.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The sea in the Mediterranean was calm and blue.

  Nevertheless the Duchess said she preferred to remain in her cabin and Sophie said the same and it seemed extraordinary to Titania they should not want to look at the beauty all around them.

  There was the great Rock of Gibraltar, glimpses of the Northern coast of Africa, then the island of Malta and finally the many Greek islands in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern coastline of Greece.

  All of these sights thrilled Titania.

  Even while the ship was pitching and rolling in the Bay of Biscay, she had managed to attend her lessons with Darius.

  They had laughed when the books slipped off the table and found it amusing when it became so rough that it was easier to sit on the floor than on a chair.

  Darius was astonished how quickly Titania assimilated the Velidosian language and she seldom made a second mistake if he had corrected her.

  When he praised her, she admitted,

  “I am really a fraud, Darius, because I do know Greek and I find that nearly every other word of your language has a Greek origin.”

  “I know His Majesty will never believe it when I tell him that one member of the party from England can speak our language fluently,” Darius told her.

  “It is something the King wishes us to do?”

  “He considers it very important for Lady Sophie to be able to speak her husband’s language and, of course, he did not know that you would be aboard.”

  Titania thought that would not be of much interest to him anyway.

  Aloud she said,

  “I only hope we make a good impression when we do arrive.”

  “I can assure you, you will do so,” replied Darius.

  She smiled at him thinking how kind he was, but she was always apprehensive that her aunt would discover she was having lessons with him.

  Titania was quite certain that, if the Duchess learnt she was sitting for hours alone with a young man, she would put a stop to it immediately, but at that moment she was feeling far too ill to worry about anything.

  Sophie was in the same state and this enabled Titania to be with Darius almost the whole day.

  When their lessons were over they went out on deck. Darius managed to procure a mackintosh coat for her from one of the seamen and it covered her from top to toe.

  They watched the waves splashing over the bow of the ship, jumping to avoid those which would have soaked them to the skin if they had not been quick enough to get out of the way.

  It was all great fun and they laughed a lot and Titania was now a little less unhappy at leaving Mercury.

  She was, however, afraid that everything would be changed when they reached the Mediterranean.

  The two Ladies-in-Waiting crept into the Saloon for luncheon, looking very pale and still suffering from seasickness.

  “How is it possible,” the elderly Minister of State asked Titania, “that you enjoy the sea and are apparently stimulated by it rather than collapsing as your relations have done?”

  “I have led a very different life from theirs,” Titania told him. “I travelled with Papa and Mama when I was practically in the cradle. So I have become immune to all the difficulties and problems that other people endure when they leave solid English soil.”

  He laughed at her remark and the way he looked at her told Titania that he admired her. It gave her a happy feeling she had not enjoyed since she had gone to live with her uncle.

  Whilst they were passing along the Northern Coast of Africa, Titania was still having her lessons, which had now become conversations rather than bothering with grammar and the pronunciation of words.

  “Do you suppose,” Titania asked of Darius, “there would be any chance of our visiting Greece? I would so love to see again all the places I love so much that I feel I really belong to them.”

  Darius smiled.

  “I am glad you feel like that and it is certainly something which will please the King.”

  “Why particularly him?”

  “I thought you knew,” replied Darius, “that the King’s mother was Greek.”

  “No one told me that, but I did not think that Prince Frederick looked in the least like a Greek.”

  “He has no Greek blood in him.”

  “I don’t understand.” Titania looked puzzled.

  “It’s quite easy really,” Darius told her. “King Stelos, who was the present King’s father, married a Greek Princess. She was very lovely and they were blissfully happy, but sadly when their son, Alexius, was only three years old when she died.”

  Titania was listening and found it fascinating what Darius was telling her and thought it was important information that her uncle should have told her and Sophie before they left for the journey.

  “Under pressure from the Prime Minister and the Cabinet,” continued Darius, “King Stelos married again and this time it was a German Princess who, from what I have seen from her portraits was not at all beautiful and like so many Germans very bossy.”

  Titania now realised why she had not liked Prince Frederick and thought he gave himself unwarranted airs.

  As his mother had been German she could understand why he boasted about his achievements and he treated everyone he met as if he was very much their superior.

  “I think,” Darius was saying, “that our present King had an unhappy childhood and that could account for the fact that he now does what he wants to do regardless of what his Cabinet says.”

  “I am sure they are always telling him that he must make public appearances and speeches,” said Titania. “It is what some Royalty enjoy, but I have always thought it could become very tiresome.”

  Darius did not answer and after a moment she added,

  “At the same time if his people need him, then he should try to help them.” Darius chuckled.

  “Now you are being very English and playing mother to the poor little countries like ours, which you have taken under your protection. You are also determined that we should make the
best of ourselves.”

  “Is that what you think the English do?”

  “I have seen them doing it,” replied Darius, “and, as you know, no one does it better than your Queen Victoria!”

  “I have heard her called the Matchmaker of Europe,” remarked Titania. “I suppose in the same way, because she is so old and so important, she does seem to some countries like a Mother Superior.”

  “That is exactly the right word for it,” agreed Darius and they both laughed.

  *

  The Battleship passed Sicily and was drawing nearer to Greece.

  At last the Duchess and Sophie aroused themselves to dress and appear at luncheon. It was then, for the first time, that they asked the Ladies-in-Waiting to tell them about the arrangements for the wedding.

  The Minister of State explained who would be meeting them on their arrival.

  “There will of course be His Royal Highness Prince Frederick,” he told Sophie, “the Prime Minister, the Lord Chamberlain and members of the Council.”

  After a pause he continued,

  “There will be two speeches and, Lady Sophie, you will be presented with a bouquet by a child dressed in our national costume.”

  “I hope I do not have to say anything,” enquired Sophie, looking worried.

  “It would be very much appreciated if you could say a few words,” the Minister of State answered. “I am sure that if I write them down you would find them quite easy to pronounce.”

  “If I speak, I speak in English,” stated Sophie, tossing her head. “And if people cannot understand me it is their own fault.”

  The Minister of State looked somewhat disconcerted and Darius offered,

  “Do let me help you, my Lady, at least to say thank you in Velidosian.”

  Sophie hesitated and then because Darius was a good-looking young man she suggested,

  “Let us go and sit in a shady place on deck and I will try to learn just two or three words of your language, although actually I think it quite unnecessary.”

  “I am sure if you will do so,” said Darius tactfully, “you will delight our people. And you do realise, my Lady, there will be very large crowds to see you arrive and to cheer you all the way to the Palace.”

  This made Sophie think about her appearance.

  Titania was made to unpack a great number of different hats and dresses as now Sophie was determined to look outstanding when she arrived at the port.

  It was planned that the ship should appear at exactly eleven o’clock. Allowing time for it to dock and the gangways to be let down, the welcome should commence at half past eleven.

  The Duchess was equally concerned with her own appearance and made nearly as much fuss about it as Sophie.

  Nobody gave a thought to what Titania would be wearing for the occasion, but she was thankful that Nanny had insisted on her buying a few pretty and expensive dresses from London.

  “First impressions are always important,” her mother had once told her.

  Titania therefore put on her best afternoon gown and her prettiest hat trimmed with flowers.

  “Do I look alright, Martha?” she asked the Duchess’s maid, knowing no one else would be in the slightest interested.

  “If you asks me,” replied Martha, “you look too pretty, Miss Titania, for it to please her Ladyship.”

  Titania smiled.

  “She is quite safe, Martha. I am certainly not in a position to steal her thunder!”

  “Now you try and enjoy yourself,” said Martha in a motherly tone, “now you’re in a new country. It’s a real shame the way they treats you at the Hall and I promised Nanny I’d look after you. So if you’re in trouble, you come to me.”

  Titania was very touched as she had never thought that Martha took any notice of her. She was always in attendance on her aunt and she had hardly ever spoken to her.

  “That is most kind of you, Martha, and as you can guess, I miss Nanny terribly.”

  “I knows she’ll be missing you too, but equally she’ll want you to have a good time. You’re too young to be bothering about other people’s importance and the way they grab at everything for themselves. It’s something your father and mother never did.”

  “Thank you for all you have said, Martha. I shall be sorry when you go back to England with Aunt Louise.”

  “Well you remember what I’ve said to you,” continued Martha, “and don’t you go making yourself too unhappy because you’re in a strange country. It’s something your father always enjoyed, although His Grace had a lot of disagreeable things to say about him, because he was travelling round the world instead of staying at home with them lot.”

  “To Papa it was always an adventure,” admitted Titania, “and that was what Nanny said I was to make it.”

  “Well you never knows what might turn up. Perhaps, although you don’t think so now, it’ll prove to be a blessing in disguise.”

  “I do hope so and thank you for saying all those kind words to me.”

  She left the cabin and had no idea that when she was gone Martha shook her head.

  ‘It’s a crying shame,’ she said to herself, ‘the way His Grace and her Ladyship treats Miss Titania. But with her looks she should find someone special to comfort her.’

  The next morning everyone was up early making ready for their arrival.

  The Duchess was giving her daughter instructions as well as finding fault with Titania simply because she felt disagreeable at being out of bed.

  Sophie changed her hat half a dozen times.

  “I am sure everyone will think you look wonderful,”

  Titania told her to cheer her up.

  “It’s Frederick I am worrying about,” answered Sophie. “After all there must have been dozens of other women longing to marry him and, as Papa says, there are not many young and handsome Crown Princes lying about! Actually, I am rather lucky to have found one.”

  Titania had heard stories at Starbrooke that Prince Frederick had originally asked Queen Victoria for an English Princess and the Queen had thought it somewhat presumptuous of him.

  “I find it difficult,” she had said to the Duke, who was in attendance, “to find enough Princesses for reigning Monarchs in Europe and a Crown Prince cannot expect, when his brother is so young, ever to be King.”

  “That is perfectly true, ma’am,” commented the Duke.

  He had then paused before he had added somewhat nervously,

  “May I remind you, ma’am, that my daughter Sophie is eighteen and is to be presented to Your Majesty this Season.”

  The Queen had stared at him,

  “But of course, Duke, you are absolutely right. Prince Frederick would be very lucky to marry into your family, which is one of the oldest in England and I hear that your daughter is very attractive.”

  Titania had learnt what had been said from Nanny, who had been told it by Martha as she had heard the Duke telling his wife the story when he returned home.

  They had forgotten that Martha was in the room, or what was more likely, Titania thought, had imagined as so many employers did that their servants were blind, deaf and dumb.

  The story had of course quickly gone round all the senior servants of the household, who thought that Lady Sophie was very fortunate to make such a brilliant marriage.

  Only Titania thought that it was rather sad with Sophie being just second fiddle for a Crown Prince who could not catch a Princess.

  Prince Frederick, dressed in a spectacular uniform covered in medals, was waiting for them when the ship came into port.

  He was the first person to step aboard and Sophie was waiting for him in the Saloon.

  For a few minutes they were allowed to be alone and then they were joined by the Minister of State, the Ladies-in-Waiting and Darius.

  The Duchess made an almost dramatic appearance just before they were to go ashore and Titania was allowed to walk behind her.

  Prince Frederick kissed the Duchess’s hand and gave Titania a slight
nod as she curtsied to him.

  Then he helped Sophie down the gangway to where the Prime Minister and other dignitaries were waiting to greet her. Only they were allowed near the dais where Sophie was being received.

  When they started to drive towards the Palace in open carriages, Titania could see a little of the City for the first time and the people who lived in it.

  It was as beautiful as had she expected and the streets were lined with trees in blossom.

  The crowds around them were waving the flags of Velidos and the Union Jack and there were children with posies of flowers who ran to give them to Sophie. When the carriages did not move slowly enough, they threw their flowers after them.

  The procession was led by a troop of Cavalry and a band on horseback.

  It was certainly all very dramatic and Titania was certain it had all been carefully arranged by Prince Frederick himself.

  She expected the Palace to look attractive, but it was in fact outstandingly beautiful. It was situated on one side of the City halfway up a small hill and there was a long flight of steps up to it with fountains on either side.

  What Titania had not expected but could now see in the distance were lofty mountains, their peaks still white with the snows of winter.

  She did not know why, but she had expected Velidos to be a flat country and now she could see the mountains, she realised the country would be even more appealing than she had anticipated.

  There was also a profusion of flowers in the Palace gardens and as the trees on the route were in blossom it made the whole drive seem enchanting, especially with the music coming softly from the band riding ahead.

  Sophie was in the first carriage with the Crown Prince, the Prime Minister and the Lord Chamberlain, while the Duchess travelled in the second carriage with two dignitaries and the Minister of State who had travelled with them from England.

  Titania was left with Darius and the two Ladies-in-Waiting.

  “Now,” said Darius to her, “you are seeing Velidos at its best. There are, I am afraid to say, very much poorer parts of the City and the people find it hard to scrape a living.”

  “Surely there are products that you make here which could be sold to other countries,” asked Titania.