A Royal Rebuke Read online

  “Do you think that we should be afraid of what they might do in Zararis before we even arrive there?”

  “I hope they will do nothing,” Lord Victor said. “But at the same time it will be wise as we are British to keep our eyes and ears open. If we see anything that you think odd or if you hear anything that might be dangerous you must tell me immediately.”

  “Of course I will. When you have left me and gone home, what should I do then?”

  It was a very sensible question and Lord Victor thought carefully before he replied.

  “I will look around when we arrive and see if there is anyone I can trust.”

  “It would be easier if you stayed yourself,” the Princess suggested.

  “That sounds very pleasant, ma’am, but I have so much to do at home in England.”

  “With lovely ladies?”

  Now they were back where they had begun and he said,

  “That is a question you must not ask me. It is definitely indiscreet.”

  “Why? I am very interested. As soon as I saw you, I thought that you were not only handsome and young, which is such a change from the other men, but also I could trust you.”

  “That is a very nice thing to say,” Lord Victor answered, “and I am very flattered. I hope you will always trust me. But at the same time I promise to try and find you someone you can trust in the same way when I have left.”

  “Suppose you do not find anyone,” the Princess queried.

  “There must be lots of men in Zararis,” Lord Victor answered. “They cannot all be old and decrepit or slightly crooked.”

  “I suppose not,” the Princess agreed, “but I just wish this voyage could go on and on and we could go all round the world and back again before we stop.”

  “That is something people have wished since the beginning of time,” Lord Victor said, “but it’s only very occasionally that they find it possible to reach the horizon and find there is another horizon ahead and so on without giving up the chase.”

  The Princess did not speak and, as if he wished to elaborate his theme, he continued,

  “It is the same when anyone climbs a mountain only to find that there is yet another mountain beyond it and another beyond that – ”

  He then went on,

  “Very few people achieve what they set out to find in the world. It’s the effort that counts and an effort that we all have to make.”

  He thought as he spoke that it was something he had not worked out for himself before now and it was the Princess who had made him think differently to the way he had thought in the past.

  He looked at her.

  When she was looking serious, she was even lovelier than when she was laughing.

  ‘How can anything so exquisite be wasted on an old man who would not appreciate her,’ he asked himself almost angrily.

  Then he was determined not to be personally involved in this drama.

  He had been unwillingly pushed into what could only be a passing interlude in his life.

  He was well aware that if he became too involved with the Princess it would be hard to tear himself away.

  It would be difficult to leave her to the people who did not understand her and with whom he could see that she had very little in common.

  ‘She is so lovely, so unspoilt and so innocent,’ he thought. ‘So she should not be involved in what will undoubtedly bring her nothing but disappointment and distress.’

  Then a thought flashed through his mind and he felt that he must be mad.

  Here he was pitying and worrying over a young woman of no particular importance who was going to be crowned a Queen.

  Although she would rule over a very small country, it was an important one in British eyes.

  A great number of other people would also think it significant and he should be congratulating her and telling her how lucky she was.

  That was what the great majority of people in England would do if they were in his place.

  Yet he knew that if he faced the truth the Princess Sydella would be like a bird caught in a cage from which she could never escape.

  People could stare at her and admire her, but she could never spread her wings, never fly high into the sky and never have any real freedom.

  ‘It is wrong and against nature,’ Lord Victor told himself.

  Then he heard Princess Sydella’s soft voice asking,

  “Why are you looking – angry – what have I said to – upset you?”

  “It is nothing you have said,” Lord Victor replied quickly. “It is something I was thinking about that I disapproved of.”

  “Was it because I am being sent to Zararis to – marry the – King?”

  ‘She is far too perceptive,’ he thought, ‘and at the same time too sensitive.’

  He knew that what was lying ahead of her was something entirely alien to her character and to her personality.

  There was nothing he could do about it, absolutely nothing.

  Except just watch the prison walls close on something small and exquisite, which should be blossoming in the sunshine.

  When they went down below, they found that there was no one in their cabin.

  When tea was brought by a Steward, the Princess poured it out.

  They talked of other subjects than those that had concerned them on deck until they were joined by the Ambassador. He too had spent most of the time crossing the Bay of Biscay in his cabin.

  It had only been the Princess and Lord Victor who had braved the elements and they laughed as the waves soaked them as they tried to walk precariously round the deck.

  “The worst is over,” the Ambassador said without much elation in his voice. “From now on it will be calmer and there is no need for anyone to be seasick.”

  He was obviously speaking for himself and Lord Victor had the suspicion that he had been prostrate like the Ladies-in-Waiting while it had been so rough.

  He had always been a good sailor and the Princess had been delighted to find that she was one as well.

  “Papa always said that women were a nuisance at sea because they were sick and made a fuss about it. I was not sick and I did not make a fuss, did I?” she asked.

  “You were splendid,” Lord Victor smiled.

  He spoke quite casually and saw her eyes light up.

  Then he told himself that he must be very careful not to make her too interested in him and so she must not depend on him so that it would be even harder for her when he left.

  Because the Ambassador settled down in a comfortable chair in the cabin and clearly obviously had no intention of leaving, the Princess said,

  “I must have a breath of fresh air before it gets dark, so please, Lord Victor, come with me.”

  He thought that it was a mistake, but without seeming rude there was nothing he could do but accept.

  He helped the Princess into her coat that she had been wearing before.

  As they went up the companionway, he said,

  “I think perhaps we are being rather impolite in leaving the Ambassador alone.”

  “If we stay, he will only lecture me more than he has already today and if anything would put me off Zararis, it is hearing about it for hours on end.”

  “I sympathise with you,” Lord Victor said, “but at the same time the more you can learn about the country the better. As I have already said, we both have to be on our guard.”

  “It will be fun doing that with you,” the Princess remarked pointedly.

  She moved a little closer to him as he spoke and he had the feeling that she wanted to hold his hand.

  Quickly he thrust his in his pocket saying,

  “Be careful that you don’t slip on the wet deck. Are you quite certain you are warm enough, ma’am?”

  “Quite certain,” the Princess answered. “But I think it is very kind of you to think of me and to be concerned in case I catch a chill.”

  “I cannot allow you to arrive coughing and spluttering,” Lord Victor said.
/>   The Princess laughed.

  “That will certainly be very unromantic.”

  She spoke without thinking and then her expression changed and she added rather dismally,

  “There will be nothing very romantic anyway about my wedding to the King, will there?”

  “You cannot say that until you have met His Majesty,” Lord Victor replied. “After all he sounds old to you, but some men are still young at that age.”

  There was silence and then he asked,

  “Surely they brought you a portrait or a miniature of the King?”

  “I did ask if I could see one,” the Princess replied, “but they told me that he had always refused to be painted. So perhaps he is very ugly or there is something wrong with him.”

  “Now you are just being imaginative,” Lord Victor said hastily.

  Equally he thought it ridiculous that everything was so badly organised.

  Surely, if they were prepared to bring out a girl of eighteen to marry a man of sixty-five, they should try to make him sound at the very least somewhat attractive for her.

  The Princess was walking along with her head bent.

  “What do you think would happen,” she quizzed Lord Victor, “if at the last moment I said ‘no, I will not marry the King and I want to go home’?”

  “You could not do anything like that, ma’am. You will not only be letting down yourself and your family but the Queen and the whole British Empire.”

  He thought that she would take his point seriously, but to his surprise she laughed.

  “Now you are making me out to be very important, which is something I have not felt despite all the curtseying and bowing I have already received.”

  “Just remember you are important,” Lord Victor said. “You cannot do anything outrageous that will have the whole Empire screaming at you and perhaps end up being imprisoned in the Tower of London.”

  He was speaking lightly and she laughed again.

  “That would certainly cause a commotion, but I am sure that those dear old yeomen would be very kind to me. At least I would be nearer home than if I was in Zararis.”

  “You must not think like that. You must concentrate on the fact that you have been asked, and it is indeed a great compliment, to sit on the throne of a country that is vital to the balance of power in Europe.”

  The Princess held up her hand.

  “Now please don’t start,” she asserted. “I have heard all this over and over again. I know that what I have to do is more or less to keep the peace in the world, instead I just want to be me.”

  She paused for a moment and then said in a different voice,

  “I wish that, instead of travelling on and on to what is awaiting me at the end of this tiresome voyage on a Battleship, that you and I were galloping on Grandpapa’s horses over the fields in England.”

  “I would like that too,” Lord Victor said. “But it cannot happen and so it’s no use thinking about it.”

  “It is easy for you to say that, because you just have to deposit me on the counter, so to speak. Then you can go back to your friends and your lovely ladies and all the things that you really enjoy.”

  “I know, I know,” Lord Victor said. “It is very hard for you. But life is never the bed of roses they pretend it is, although surprising things can happen when we least expect them.”

  “What else could happen to me?” Princess Sydella asked. “I was surprised when they told me that I had to marry the King of Zararis. The only surprise now would be if he suddenly changed into a young man or when we arrive we find that the Palace has been blown up and the Russians have taken over.”

  “You are not to talk like that,” Lord Victor said almost angrily, “it is unlucky and also wrong that you should be thinking about these things instead of the good that you can do for the people who need you and want you.”

  He spoke sternly because he was becoming increasingly worried by the way she was thinking.

  When she turned away from him, he thought that he had been perhaps rather cruel.

  They reached a sheltered part of the deck and the Princess was now standing protected from the wind and the waves with her back to Lord Victor.

  He had a strange feeling that she was fighting against her tears, so he said quickly,

  “Forgive me, I should not have spoken to Your Royal Highness like that, but I was really worrying about you in case some of your ridiculous ideas came true.”

  “You were – worrying – about me?”

  “Of course I am,” he answered. “You are so young and I realise that they are asking almost the impossible for someone who is quite unprepared for what lies ahead.”

  His voice softened as he went on,

  “Because you are very courageous and at the same time very conscious of what other people feel, I know that when we reach Zararis you will be a great success and the people will love you.”

  “How can you be – sure of – that?” the Princess murmured.

  “I think both you and I have feelings that we cannot explain, but we know the truth,” Lord Victor replied. “You know that what I am telling you is something that you will respond because it is good and because it is right. Tell me that is true.”

  “I – will – try,” Princess Sydella said.

  She turned round suddenly.

  Lord Victor could see there were tears in her eyes and one had even run down her cheek.

  “Please – help me,” she pleaded. “There is no one else who – understands except – you, I am so – very much alone.”

  “Of course I will help you,” he smiled. “Trust me and forgive me for what I have just said.”

  He put out his hands without thinking and took both of hers.

  For a moment he just held them and then he bent his head and kissed one hand and then the other.

  “You will succeed,” he declared very quietly, “I am sure of it.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Alexander rose from the table where they had been working.

  He bowed to the Princess and then to Lord Victor.

  “Very good!” he said. “Very good today. Am most honoured and proud you do so well.”

  He then left the cabin and Lord Victor remarked,

  “He is right. Do you realise that in just over ten days we really have progressed a long way in this appallingly difficult language?”

  “That is true,” the Princess said. “But I don’t like Alexander. He has hard eyes.”

  Lord Victor smiled and, almost without thinking, stated,

  “While your eyes are soft and very beautiful!”

  The Princess looked surprised at the compliment, but he went on as if he was talking to himself,

  “If we could stop at Athens, I would take you to the Acropolis and compare you to a Greek Goddess!”

  “I would love that,” the Princess sighed.

  “But as it is impossible,” Lord Victor went on in a rather hard voice, “we must just carry on with our lessons until we arrive in Zararis.”

  The Princess was still standing at the table and he made a movement as if he would go towards the door.

  She was looking down at the notes that she had made while Alexander was teaching them and then softly she said in a low voice,

  “It has been such – fun because we are – doing this – together. It will be very different when I am – a Queen and I have a feeling – that the only people I will have to – talk to will be like – Mr. Orestes.”

  Mr. Orestes was the Statesman representing the Prime Minister of Zararis, who had been exceedingly boring at breakfast on the first day.

  Once, however, the sea began to get rough, he had disappeared from sight, like the two Ladies-in-Waiting and the Ambassador.

  All three of them had remained in their cabins until the ship had passed through the Bay of Biscay.

  The sea had in fact been very turbulent, but at the same time the sun was shining and the Princess had enjoyed watching the waves.

&n
bsp; When they broke over the bow of the ship, she clapped her hands and laughed and she and Lord Victor had only been able to snatch a little exercise when it was momentarily calmer.

  When they reached the Mediterranean, the two Baronesses reappeared.

  They looked white and shaken and moaned that they had suffered from severe seasickness all the time they had been absent.

  Mr. Orestes on reappearing had not admitted to being ill. He merely announced that he had been working on a report he was making on Princess Sydella’s Royal blood.

  When he told them this, the Princess said,

  “I am very flattered that you should take so much trouble, Mr. Orestes, but is it really so necessary?”

  “Very necessary indeed, Your Royal Highness!” he replied in a serious tone. “The people of Zararis will wish to know exactly how close is your connection with Her Majesty Queen Victoria.”

  He made the last words sound like a trumpet call and Lord Victor could not refrain from saying,

  “You will find a great number of people in England have traces of Royal blood in their Family Tree. I, for instance, can claim a relationship to King Charles II, but only through a woman called Nell Gwyn, who started life by selling oranges at the Drury Lane Theatre in London.”

  The Princess laughed and suggested,

  “I must send you an orange as a birthday present.”

  Mr. Orestes, however, seemed interested.

  “Is what you have just said really true?” he asked.

  “It is quite true,” Lord Victor insisted. “King Charles made the son he had by Nell Gwyn the Duke of St. Albans and my mother is the aunt of his descendant, the present Duke.”

  “Then, of course,” the Princess chimed in, “because you are also a Godson of the Queen, Her Majesty will have to find a throne for you.”

  Lord Victor held up his hands in horror.

  “I hope not,” he said. “I wish to enjoy myself and I can assure Mr. Orestes that no one in England is the slightest bit interested in my few drops of Royal blood!”

  Mr. Orestes was now making notes.

  Only when they left the cabin did the Princess say,

  “Was it true what you told him? He will now spend hours in trying to trace you back to King Charles!”