The King Without a Heart Read online

  He had therefore temporarily spared Darius who was his most important Equerry.

  Darius would now be entering the Cathedral, Titania was told, with Kastri, his vis-à-vis, the other personal Equerry to the King.

  Sophie had been asked if she would like child bridesmaids to follow her up the aisle, but had refused immediately.

  “Children are always a nuisance in Church,” she had said, “and I have no wish to have them distracting the attention of the congregation away from me.”

  Titania knew that the mothers of the children must have already made their dresses and they would be looking forward to their little ones taking part in the ceremony. They would obviously be very disappointed, but that did not seem to worry Sophie.

  She complained about her bouquet under her breath to Titania and then swept into the glass coach that was waiting for her at the back of the Palace.

  If she had gone out of the front entrance, she would have had to walk down the steps and this she had refused to do.

  “I don’t mind climbing up the steps once we are married,” Titania heard her tell Prince Frederick, “but I am not going down alone with no one to support me.”

  “You will have the Lord Chamberlain,” Prince Frederick had answered, looking surprised. “I will go on your arm or nobody’s,” asserted Sophie, tossing her head.

  At first Titania thought Prince Frederick was rather pleased with the compliment, but his lips tightened as if his impulse was to tell Sophie she was to do as she was told.

  Titania could not help reflecting that he would find Sophie very difficult to manage once they were married and then she told herself that Germans usually had quiet placid wives and she suspected that was what Prince Frederick expected Sophie to be.

  As soon as Sophie had driven away in her fairy-tale coach, Titania climbed into the next one and smiled at the elderly Ladies-in-Waiting who were obviously agitated.

  Apparently Sophie had told them rather rudely that she did not want then to intrude on her and at the reception that would follow the ceremony and in the Cathedral they were to keep in the background.

  This was the way she always talked to Titania, but the Ladies-in-Waiting, however, were flustered and felt insulted by Sophie’s peremptory edict.

  The sun was now shining brightly and the route to the Cathedral, which was partly the same as their route from the port, was very beautiful.

  The same crowds of people were there waving flags and staring at the bridal procession.

  As the procession was moving rather slowly, Titania had a chance to look over the heads of the crowd at the shops behind them and was surprised, as she had been told this was the main road of the City, how few shops there were and they seemed to display very inferior articles for sale.

  Titania knew Sophie would be disappointed if she could not go shopping as it was something she really enjoyed.

  In fact she had said to Titania only yesterday,

  “As soon as we have time and I don’t have some doleful collection of women calling on me, we will go shopping. I am sure there will be exciting things for us to buy.”

  Titania knew it was not a question of us.

  She had no intention of spending what money she had brought with her on frivolities as it was there in case she needed to run away or had some really sensible reason for spending it.

  But she thought it would be interesting to visit the local shops, as in many Balkan countries, the women spun, sewed or knitted delightful garments to be sold to tourists.

  ‘I must take Nanny back some really nice gift,’ resolved Titania, ‘but there is no one else who will expect me to bring them anything.’

  Then she wondered miserably how soon it would be before she could go back to England. She so wanted to ride Mercury and have Nanny to look after her again.

  Sophie had, of course, been allotted a lady’s-maid from the Palace staff, but as she could not communicate with her or give her any orders, Titania had to be with her all the time.

  On the way to the Cathedral Titania found herself sighing.

  While it was a new experience to go to a Royal Wedding, there would doubtless be an enormous amount of work for her to do afterwards.

  The Cathedral was very imposing, in fact far finer than Titania had predicted and it was packed with what she knew must be the elite of Velidos, whilst outside there was a huge crowd of ordinary people who had come to watch and applaud.

  They cheered Sophie as soon as she appeared and Titania thought that at least would delight her cousin.

  There were some steps up to the Cathedral and Sophie walked up them slowly so that the crowd could see her elaborate wedding gown. There was a diamond tiara on her head and her veil had been chosen so as not to obscure her gown in any way.

  Titania and the Ladies-in-Waiting followed slowly and they discreetly did not attempt to climb the steps until Sophie had actually entered the West door.

  They were seated in one of the Royal pews and Titania had a good view of the Cathedral as well as the marriage ceremony.

  The King had already arrived and was seated on what looked like a throne, surrounded by Bishops and other dignitaries of the Church.

  Titania thought his appearance was most impressive.

  ‘He certainly looks a King,’ she mused, ‘even if he does not behave like one.’

  The Marriage Service had been chosen, she had been informed, by Prince Frederick himself.

  It took a very long time and was very spectacular and when finally the bride and bridegroom had been blessed by the Archbishop, there was a fanfare of trumpets.

  Titania was affected by the singing of the choir and by the sincerity with which the Archbishop took the Service.

  She only wished that Sophie could understand everything that was said, especially the few quiet words the Archbishop addressed to her and Prince Frederick before he finally married them.

  She could tell by the expression on her cousin’s face that she was very proud to be Prince Frederick’s wife, just as he was exceedingly proud of himself.

  It took a long time for all the principals to leave the Cathedral.

  Titania and the Ladies-in-Waiting had to wait at the bottom of the steps and it took nearly a quarter of an hour before their carriage was able to reach them.

  Whilst she was waiting she looked at the people in the crowd and thought again how poorly dressed and how ragged many of the children appeared.

  The women seemed harassed as if they were worrying about their families and she thought that quite a number of people looked as if they did not have enough to eat.

  ‘Surely the King could do something about this,’ she thought, as she wondered if she talked to Sophie whether she would understand what was required, but she accepted, however, that this was a hopeless idea.

  Not only would Sophie refuse to listen, but she would say firmly that she had no intention of worrying herself about the common people and that if they worked hard enough they should be able to feed themselves.

  As Titania drove back towards the Palace she was treated to another glimpse of the snow-peaked mountains.

  ‘It is such a pretty country,’ she pondered, ‘surely someone should try to make it prosperous.’

  She recognised at once that the someone was the King.

  Yet if all she had heard about him was the truth, he was interested only in the past and not the present.

  And another aspect of her situation she found very depressing was that there was no bookcase in the boudoir, which opened out of her bedroom and she had thought at first it was rather exciting to have a sitting room all to herself, but then she realised that unless she was writing a letter, there was nothing else for her to do.

  ‘There must be books somewhere in the Palace,’ she reasoned.

  She had asked the aide-de-camp who was sitting next to her at dinner if there was a library.

  “We do have a very large and very important library,” he replied, “but I doubt if you will ever se
e it.”

  “Why ever not?” asked Titania in surprise.

  “Because His Majesty works in the library,” answered the aide-de-camp. “He likes to keep his reference books all around him and that of course means that no one must disturb him.”

  “But surely there are books elsewhere in the Palace.”

  “I cannot think of any at the moment,” the aide-decamp told her, “but I will try to find out for you. You sound as if you are an avid reader.”

  “I love books,” enthused Titania.

  At the same time she thought if she could not read there would be very little to do, except of course to listen to Sophie’s endless complaints and to try to cheer up the fraught Ladies-in-Waiting.

  She thought of the enormous number of books her father had kept at home and they would have been hers if her uncle had not sold them all with the house, although she had to admit that the library at Starbrooke Hall was very comprehensive.

  She thought now that if the worst came to the worst she would have to buy books in Velidos, even if it meant spending some of her precious money.

  Amid the cheers, waving of flags and throwing of flowers by the children, the procession eventually reached the steps of the Palace.

  Now holding on to Prince Frederick’s arm Sophie was only too pleased to walk up the steps and they stopped halfway to turn and wave to the crowds before reaching the top.

  The other carriages coming from the Cathedral drove round to the back of the Palace and there was, much to Titania’s surprise, no sign of the King in the procession.

  She learnt later that he had left the Cathedral by a side door and had then been taken back to the Palace by a different route where there were no crowds.

  ‘I expect,’ Titania thought, ‘he does not want to steal any of the glamour and applause from his brother.’

  Equally she could not help wondering if there was a different reason and perhaps the King was bored by all this fuss and excitement over a wedding.

  Titania reasoned to herself that this could be true.

  The bridal couple, having arrived at the Palace, processed straight into the Throne Room to receive their guests, but there was still no sign of the King.

  Titania watched her cousin shaking hands with hundreds of people before moving into the great Banqueting Hall.

  Prince Frederick cut the cake with his sword and everyone drank their health.

  Titania had learned, although the rest of the guests were unaware of any such arrangements, that the bride and bridegroom were not going away on a honeymoon.

  As Sophie had just spent a long time at sea, she had no wish to board a ship again and the Prince was anxious for her to stay in the City and be seen on a great number of different occasions.

  When Titania looked at the programme, she thought it seemed rather boring, but she was sure that Sophie would enjoy being the most important person present.

  After the wedding-breakfast was over Prince Frederick made yet another much shorter speech and then the bride and bridegroom bid everyone farewell and retired to their own suite, where they were to be left strictly alone and not disturbed by anyone in the Palace.

  Titania, of course, was required to help Sophie change from her wedding dress into a different gown.

  “Everyone admired you, Sophie,” she said as she took off her tiara, “and you must have felt proud to be of such importance to so many people.”

  “I thought my bouquet should have been larger,” moaned Sophie, “and if I had realised I was to wear my own tiara, I would have brought one of Mama’s larger ones.”

  “Did you expect Prince Frederick to give you one of the Crown Jewels?”

  “Why not? I am one of the Royal family now and, as there is no Queen, undoubtedly the First Lady in the land is me.”

  She said it so proudly that Titania was quite certain that Prince Frederick had put the idea into her head, as she would not have thought of such an idea herself.

  “Of course,” continued Sophie, “you must be aware that Frederick should really be King instead of his brother, who behaves as if he is a monk or a recluse.”

  She spoke scornfully.

  “He looks very different from what I had expected ,” admitted Titania, “and he is certainly very handsome.”

  “I don’t admire him at all,” scoffed Sophie, “and, if you ask me, the best thing he could do would be to abdicate in favour of Frederick!”

  Titania felt that this was a dangerous way of talking and she hoped it was the sort of remark that Sophie would say only to her and to no one else.

  She was just about to ask her cousin to be careful with her words when Sophie changed the subject.

  “I intend to get hold of some of the Royal Jewels,” she said. “I have heard they are fantastic. But Frederick told me that when he suggested it to the King, he said they should only be worn by the Queen and, of course, I am not that – yet.”

  It struck Titania as rather a strange comment to make.

  She could understand, however, that Sophie resented that the King had paid her so little attention and he certainly should have attended the wedding celebrations after they had returned to the Palace.

  Sophie disappeared into Prince Frederick’s suite and Titania found herself alone.

  Once again she longed for a book to read and she knew it was no use looking in her boudoir. She had also searched the much larger and more impressive room which adjoined Sophie’s bedroom and again there was no bookcase.

  Finally when it was time for dinner, she walked downstairs.

  She found the two Ladies-in-Waiting and the Lord Chamberlain in one of the smaller dining rooms, but there was no sign of Darius, who she guessed would be in attendance with the King.

  The Prime Minister and the other dignitaries from the City had all left and she ate a rather solemn dinner with very little conversation.

  Titania was glad when eventually she could retire upstairs to bed.

  It took her a little time to get to sleep and she dreamed that she was back at Starbrooke riding Mercury over the fields.

  *

  She woke early and after a long night’s sleep she had no wish to stay in bed as she was used to riding Mercury at seven o’clock in the morning.

  She wondered now if she could find the Royal stables and see what kind of horses the King owned, but she quickly realised if she did so without being escorted by an aide-decamp, it would be deemed a breach of protocol and she would certainly be reproved by the Ladies-in-Waiting.

  So she walked downstairs and as she entered the hall, she saw a postman handing over a large amount of letters and parcels to one of the footmen.

  Titania thought the parcels were undoubtedly presents for Sophie, but she wondered if there might be a letter for her.

  There had not been one from Nanny when she arrived which had rather surprised her.

  She waited until the postman had left and as the footman put the parcels and letters down on a table, she walked towards him.

  “Good morning,” Titania greeted him speaking in his language. “I wonder if there is a letter for me from England.”

  The young footman smiled at her.

  “Let me have a look,” he said, addressing her by a word which she knew meant, ‘my Lady’.”

  Because she was impatient, he did not seem to mind when she turned over some of the letters and at last she noticed one with an English stamp. It was addressed to her and she picked it up and showed it to the footman.

  Then she walked out of the door into the gardens at the back of the Palace which she had not yet seen and found them to be very exotic with a profusion of flowers everywhere.

  There were almonds and many other fruit trees in blossom and huge flowerbeds of Madonna lilies as white as the peaks of the mountains Titania could see through the trees and there was an exquisite sculpted fountain playing in the centre of the lawn.

  When Titania walked on a little further, she found to her surprise a terrace and steps leadin
g down to a small lake. She guessed it had been constructed at the same time as the Palace and it too was very beautiful.

  She sat down on a marble seat beside the lake and opened her letter.

  It was from Nanny and Titania had been so longing to hear from her as it would tell her news about Mercury.

  She read what Nanny had written and read it again and then she put her hands up to her face and started to cry. She could not help it nor could she stop the tears from running down her cheeks.

  She felt as if the sky had crashed down on her head and that the whole world surrounding her had become darkened.

  Then unexpectedly a man’s voice behind her asked,

  “What has upset you? Why are you crying?”

  She thought it was Darius and without answering she picked up the letter which lay in her lap, turned and handed it to him.

  She covered her face again and tried to control her tears.

  She became aware that Darius had sat down beside her and was reading the letter. Titania felt as if the words were burning in front of her eyes. Nanny had written,

  “My Dearest Miss Titania, I have been to see Mercury every day as I promised you I would. He misses you very much, as I do, and the stable boys tell me that at seven o’clock every morning he’s waiting at the door of his stall expecting you to come in from the yard.

  They’re exercising him as you’d want them to do, but at the same time he won’t eat his food and has got a little thin. He’s so pleased to see me and nuzzles against me, but he wants to be with you.

  Now I have some bad news although I don’t want to upset you. His Grace sent for me last night and said that now you’ve gone abroad there’s really not enough work for me to do at the Hall. He therefore suggested I should find other employment and he gave me a month in which to do so.

  You knows as well as I do, dearest, that I’ve never been with anyone except you and your dear mother, and I don’t know how to begin to serve anyone else.

  I’d go to my own family, but I’ve lost touch with them these past years and have no idea where I can find them.