Love and the Gods Read online

  “Of course I realise that, David, and I swear to you that I will be very careful, and Olga will be told nothing until the statue is actually found. What I am trying to think is where you can put it and where it will be safe until it is discovered as if accidentally.”

  The two men talked on until it was luncheon time.

  The Duke went to the private drawing room that the King and Queen used when they were alone.

  It was not even the dining room on the first floor, but a corner room in the Queen’s apartments looking East and West with a view of the gardens.

  The luncheon table was laid in the window and as a rule it was only for the King and Queen.

  However, the Duke learnt that occasionally a Lady-in-Waiting was invited, but very seldom were there any male guests.

  The footmen were in Greek national costume and, as the Duke entered, Queen Olga came in by another door.

  She gave a cry of surprise when she saw the Duke.

  “No one told me that you were here, David, and it is so lovely to see you again.”

  “And I am delighted to see you, ma’am.” She was looking exceedingly pretty and he thought, as he had indeed thought before, that King George was very lucky to have such a beautiful and charming wife with whom he was quite obviously deeply in love.

  They sat down with the Queen asking questions about England and rather curious as to where the Duke was going.

  “Constantinople to begin with, ma’am,” he replied. “And after that I am not quite certain.”

  “It is sure to be somewhere exciting and different from where you have ever been before,” the Queen said. “But we did not expect to see you here in the middle of the London Season.”

  The Duke was making excuses for leaving all the gaiety of London when the meal began with hors d’oeuvres and fresh butter and cheese from Tatoi.

  The King, he noticed, ate only rye bread and he had heard before that it was impossible to obtain this homely bread in Athens, as the Greeks ate nothing but white bread.

  However, His Majesty was not deprived, as a baker on a Danish warship made excellent rye bread and a loaf of it was sent every day to the Palace and in return the King sent a case of Greek wine for the Officers.

  After the hors d’oeuvres, there were two or three light French dishes, then fruit and desert.

  Wine, both red and white was offered to the Duke, but he was aware that it was seldom that the King took a glass.

  Instead he drank a whole bottle of mineral water and a cup of coffee which the Queen also enjoyed.

  The conversation was mostly on the developments that the King was organising in Greece.

  “I can see already that there are many more roads than when I was last here,” the Duke commented.

  The King, lighting a cigarette, gave a laugh.

  “It has been one of the most difficult things to do, but I am glad to say that we can now go quite a long way into the country by carriage. When I first came here, it was only on horseback or flat feet!”

  “Everyone in England is impressed by all you have achieved,” the Duke said. “And I am convinced that in a very short time you will find yourself having to cope with an enormous number of tourists.”

  The King gave a groan, but the Queen piped up,

  “We will be very glad to welcome them. They will bring money to Greece and that is a commodity we are still rather short of.”

  They talked and laughed until the King said he had something to show the Duke in his private sitting room, whilst the Queen added that there were people waiting to tell her their difficulties.

  “You are not to tire yourself out, darling,” the King cautioned her before he left her.

  The way he spoke and the warm expression in his eyes told the Duke without words that he was very much in love with his wife.

  When she responded by touching his cheek lightly with her hand and looking up at him in an adoring manner, the Duke could tell that they were undoubtedly one of the happiest couples he could possibly imagine.

  It passed through his mind that perhaps one day he would feel the same about someone.

  Then he told himself that it was a supreme blessing that happened only to those who were very privileged.

  If he had married any of the women who wanted to marry him, neither he nor they would now be feeling the same way about each other.

  When they went to the King’s private sitting room, the King closed the door and announced proudly,

  “I have solved our problem, David. It came to me over luncheon, and I know now where you can deposit the statue. I will draw a map to show you where the place is and I don’t think you will have any difficulty in finding it.”

  He took a sheet of paper from a drawer and picked up his pen.

  He drew a plan of the Island of Delos and showed the Duke where the new Temple was being built.

  “The men working on it are naturally sleeping in tents on the island. It would be a mistake for them to see your yacht anywhere near them.”

  The Duke nodded to show that he understood, as the King went on,

  “Behind the Temple there is a small space where it is planned to fly the flag of Greece or maybe some symbol of the God that will be seen by all those who pass by the island.

  “I remember when I first explored Delos and later chose that particular spot to build the Temple on, that there is a small bay directly behind it where there is a cave.”

  The Duke was now listening intently.

  “I was curious enough,” the King continued, “to look into the cave which goes back some way into the face of the cliff. I was somewhat surprised to find that it was in good condition and fortunately the winter storms had not affected it in any way.”

  “What you are suggesting, sir, is that I should put the statue of Apollo into this cave.”

  “You will find rocks inside you can rest it on and it would be best if it is not wrapped, but just left there as if it has been there over the ages and no one had been aware of it.”

  “I understand all that Your Majesty is saying, but it would not be wise to leave the statue there for long.”

  “I will certainly not do so and if you leave it there tonight, I will pay a visit tomorrow to the island, as I often do, to see how the work on the Temple is progressing.”

  He hesitated as if he was thinking it all out.

  “Perhaps I will have had a strange dream the night before that an artefact of great importance is in the cave – ”

  The Duke remembered that Greek people were very superstitious and a dream was always of great significance whether it was a good or bad one.

  “I think, sir, that is a very clever idea,” he replied. “The only difficulty is that I must not be seen depositing the statue.”

  “I have been thinking of that, David, and what I am sure would be a wise course would be for you to anchor tonight some distance away, just out of sight of the island. Then row the statue ashore from your yacht.”

  He thought for a moment before he continued,

  “If it is really late, I am quite sure the workers will all be fast asleep. There will be no one to see you except the moon and the stars.”

  “They could be dangerous if they are too bright.” King George laughed.

  “I think we must pray that the Gods will help us. Now that I live in Greece I realise that many strange and wonderful things do often happen here that do not happen in Denmark. So I do believe that they will help us.”

  The Duke smiled at him.

  “I am sure Your Majesty is right. Now I must leave at once ostensibly being anxious to sail to Constantinople as soon as possible and have no wish to stop on the way.”

  “Come and see us on your way back,” the King said. “I am sure by that time the whole of Greece will be thrilled and delighted by the miracle that has occurred.

  “Apollo will have come back to us, and the people will not for one moment suspect that you had anything to do with it.”

  “I sincerel
y hope not, sir.” The Duke rose to his feet and then remarked,

  “There is one thing I must do before I leave Athens and that is go to the top of the Parthenon. I remember when I was here last time I thought the view from the top was the most marvellous I have ever seen. I could not go away without seeing it again.”

  “Then, of course, that is what you must do, but you understand that it would be a mistake for anyone from the Palace to accompany you.”

  “Of course it would,” the Duke agreed. “And I will make it clear to everyone that this is just a fleeting visit on my way to Constantinople and I hope to have time on my way home to stay longer.”

  The King smiled at him.

  “There is one issue that is worrying me, David.”

  “What is that, sir?” the Duke enquired.

  “I feel I must,” the King said, “send Her Majesty something in return for the present she has sent me. It is so stupendous and utterly marvellous that there are no words with which I can express my thanks.”

  The Duke could understand his sentiment.

  At the same time he knew that actually the Queen had not given away anything that was of any use to her.

  In fact, as she had admitted, she had not even seen the statue of Apollo unwrapped – she only knew it was there in a remote room in Windsor Castle.

  “I think if Your Majesty writes a letter,” the Duke said, “and sends it to the Queen today or tomorrow that will be sufficient.”

  He knew as he spoke that because he was living in Greece, King George had become very generous-minded and it was always part of the Greeks’ nature to give if they received.

  People in other countries often accepted a present as a matter of course and then did not attempt to repay it in equal value.

  “I must think of something very special to send her in return,” the King mused. “While I am thinking, go and climb the Parthenon, but come back here for tea. After all there are many more subjects my wife and I want to talk to you about, which were impossible at luncheon while the servants were waiting on us.”

  The Duke laughed.

  No one knew better than he how the gossip that flowed round the Beau Monde in London originated from the servants. They listened to what was said in the dining room and inevitably it was passed on to the servants next door.

  “Very well, sir,” he agreed. “I will now pay my visit to the Parthenon and then return for tea.”

  “I will order a carriage for you, David, and I hope your legs will not suffer from the climb. It seems higher and harder to me every time I attempt it!”

  “I can rest them all the way to Constantinople,” the Duke replied. “But it is a perfect day for me to see Greece from the Parthenon and I only wish I could travel as far as I can see.”

  “I wish you were staying with us much longer,” the King sighed. “But I hope you will soon return and I know that you are wise in making this just a fleeting visit.”

  The carriage was ordered and the King came down to the courtyard where it was waiting for the Duke.

  “Take him as far as you can up to the gateway onto the Parthenon,” he instructed the driver of the carriage.

  “Be careful and come back safely,” the King said to the Duke “and if you wear yourself out or have a fall, we can always send a stretcher for you!”

  “I promise you that will not be necessary, sir!” The Duke stepped into the carriage and, as the King waved him goodbye, the horses set off down the hill.

  *

  The Duke was thinking that so far everything had gone according to plan and he was delighted with the way the King had co-operated in finding the right method for him to deliver the statue to the Island of Delos.

  He was sure that he and Jenkins could manage to row it ashore and in the darkness they could set it in the cave without anyone spying on them.

  He might have to ask Captain Holt to assist them, but it would be better if he could manage it without anyone except Jenkins being involved.

  He was certain it would be impossible to give the King anything more important to him than the statue and he had had no idea when he left London that the King was actually building a new Temple for Apollo on Delos.

  But he knew by the history of the Island that there had been many Temples erected from time to time only to be violated, torn down or burnt.

  Yet the worship of Apollo had remained, just as the Goddess Athena was still worshipped in the Parthenon.

  The ‘Virgin’s Chamber’, as it was called, had been built on the site of earlier Temples dedicated to the worship of the virgin Goddess.

  The Duke had learnt when he was still at school, that it was under construction for more than nine years and it was built entirely of Pentelic marble.

  He had travelled all over the world and never seen anything to equal it.

  And he knew for his own satisfaction he could not visit Greece without visiting the Parthenon again.

  He had been taught that the design for it was drawn up by the architect Ictinus and Pheidias, the great sculptor of the age, was entrusted with its decoration.

  These two geniuses had created a wonder that was unique to Greece and which, the Duke felt, was a perfect home for a Goddess of Olympus.

  As he drove down the hill, he was thinking that the Gods were still inspiring individuals and it was hard not to believe in them even now.

  Surely in some esoteric manner it must have been the Gods themselves who had told King George to build a new Temple for Apollo on Delos.

  And was it the Gods who had whispered to Queen Victoria that the statue that had lain hidden for so long in a back room at Windsor Castle was now wanted desperately in Greece?

  It all seemed to the Duke to fit in so well with the stories that he had loved reading as a boy.

  Perhaps now it was his interest in the Gods that had made him feel that no woman he had met was the perfect female he desired for his wife.

  He wished he had time to go to Mount Olympus as he believed that, if he was to sit there in the sunshine and pray, the Gods would help him in his own life.

  He hoped and prayed that one day he would be as happy as it was abundantly obvious that King George and Queen Olga were.

  He had not missed the gentle and loving way she spoke to him at luncheon and he knew without being told that she was always thinking of her husband and giving him, if she could, everything he desired.

  Equally he realised that no one could have played a better part than she had in their joint conquest of Greece.

  Not by force, but by love and understanding.

  The Greek people were warm-hearted yet idealistic, when it came to those who ruled over them.

  They had found Queen Olga exactly the Queen they needed, as she cared for the people and the people cared for her.

  The Greeks loved and honoured their Queen Olga and the Duke had learned that there was a special day when their affection reached its highest point.

  That was July 22nd in the year that followed their marriage.

  It was on that day that the thundering salutes from the guns of the Capital and from the warships in the Gulf of Salamis proclaimed that the succession was assured.

  A Crown Prince had been born.

  Now at last, after waiting for so long, the Greeks possessed a Prince born in Greece, who would one day be their first truly Greek King for many centuries.

  He would be a Greek by birth, by religion and by education.

  When the Duke thought about it, he found himself envying King George.

  His happiness which came from his wife and infant son was what every man really desired in his heart, but was not often privileged to find.

  It was obvious that the two of them talked together, laughed together and ruled together.

  That, the Duke thought, was what he really wanted, although he had not until now actually put it into words.

  In saying he would not marry, he was trying to save himself from a great disappointment, as nothing could be worse than
to find that his love for his wife and hers for him had vanished.

  Even if they had children, it would be nothing but a misery and a resentment that he had lost their sublime love that the Greeks understood better than any people in the world.

  The Duke looked at the men and women he was passing on the road.

  He thought perhaps each one of them was happy because, as well as being very devout Christians, they lived under the protection and inspiration of their ancient Gods.

  ‘Is it what I would find if I married a Greek girl?’ the Duke asked himself and then he laughed because he knew he was assuming two much.

  Yet whatever nationality his wife was, it was the deep love that the Greeks felt that he wanted to feel for her and her to feel for him.

  He could hardly imagine that what he was thinking would not be understood by any of the Englishwomen who had begged him to make them his wife.

  At the back of his mind, he had always known that what he really craved was a love that came not only from the heart, but from something higher and more glorious.

  ‘Perhaps it will never ever happen to me,’ the Duke thought again.

  Then he saw the Parthenon looming up in front of him and it was a shrine that had inspired the hearts and souls of the people of Greece for countless generations.

  Perhaps, just as the Parthenon had suffered many vicissitudes in the course of its history, so maybe he had to go through many strange changes of fortune before he too found his heart’s desire.

  The Parthenon over the centuries had been not only a centre of worship but a National treasury. It held gold as well as priceless ornaments.

  It stood as a symbol of Athenian imperialistic pride and the treasure house of Athenian democracy and yet as history progressed, the Parthenon was transformed.

  In the Christian era it became a Church dedicated to the Holy Virgin and it was later converted into a Turkish mosque with a minaret attached.

  Finally, it became the main ammunition dump on the citadel defended by the Ottoman Turks against the Venetians.

  Yet despite all these changes it had remained secure in the hearts of the Greeks.

  The carriage came to a standstill.