The Love Light of Apollo Read online

  She then looked at herself in the mirror somewhat despairingly.

  She was not aware that black in fact accentuated the transparency of her skin and made her hair appear even more golden than usual.

  ‘Do I really have to wear this bonnet with its crêpe veil?’ she asked herself.

  She knew the answer at once, ‘mourning is mourning’, especially when it had anything to do with Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

  Avila had just finished getting ready when a servant announced that His Royal Highness was downstairs.

  It was with difficulty that she managed to walk down slowly with what she hoped was dignity.

  The Prince was waiting for her in the drawing room and she could see at once that he had changed from the conventional clothes that he had worn in the morning.

  “I have only just been told by His Excellency ‒ that we are to stay ‒ with you tonight,” Avila managed to stammer and trying extra hard not to sound too enthusiastic. It is a lovely surprise that I am very much looking forward to.”

  “Not as much as I am,” the Prince answered. “The carriages are outside.”

  , “The carriages?” Avila questioned.

  “Lady Bedstone told me that she much preferred travelling in a closed carriage, while I thought that you would like to be able to see the wonderful countryside we shall be passing through.”

  “Of course I would,” Avila exclaimed.

  She spoke so fervently that she thought that perhaps she was being indiscreet.

  There was, she suspected, a twinkle in the Prince’s eyes.

  However, as she was in a hurry to get away, they went straight out to where the carriages were waiting.

  She found that the Prince had a smart grand chaise that he would be driving her in. And the sides of the chaise were emblazoned with his Royal Coat-of-Arms.

  It was not unlike the one that Prince Holden drove, but slightly more elaborate.

  It was also, Avila soon discovered, very comfortable and luxurious.

  The Prince helped her in and the Ambassador waved them goodbye.

  The chaise was drawn by two chestnut horses that were perfectly matched and she knew that they were very well-bred,

  They drew them out of Athens very quickly.

  To begin with they travelled almost in silence and, when there was no longer any traffic and the country in all its loveliness was on either side of them, Avila began,

  “I was wondering this morning what you had planned for me. I had no idea that it would be as exciting as this.”

  “That is what I want you to feel,” the Prince said. “I know how very little time we have.”

  He emphasised the word ‘we’.

  Avila then replied,

  “I feel perhaps that I should not have taken you away from your uncle’s funeral.”

  “I have left a number of relatives to act as hosts to the other mourners,” the Prince said. “I have so much to show you in so short a time that we must not miss a second of it.”

  “That is what I have been thinking,” Avila nodded.

  She was aware that the Prince was a very good driver and he had complete control over his two horses.

  She had never seen anything so lovely as when a little later they had the sea on one side of them and the land green with the leaves of Spring on the other.

  There were tall mountains in the far distance and there seemed to be very few inhabitants about.

  Avila thought that they were all alone in a magical world which belonged to the Gods of Greece.

  “Another time,” the Prince said, “I will take you to Delphi. But tomorrow I have another rather special place to show you, which I feel you will appreciate because you are Greek and because to Greeks it is the most sacred place in the world.”

  Avila looked at him in surprise wondering what he meant as then he added,

  “I shall keep it a secret until tomorrow. Today I want you to concentrate on me. We are now in my territory, which my family has reigned over for many generations.”

  It was certainly exceedingly beautiful with its lines of olive trees and distant mountains.

  It was nearly two hours before Avila saw a little ahead of them a large building that was gleaming white in the sunshine.

  For a moment she thought that it must be a Temple to one of the many Gods.

  Then, as the Prince drove nearer towards the large building she asked him,

  “Is this your house?”

  “Yes it is,” he replied, “and you will find it, in every way, very Greek.”

  “It looks like a Palace,” Avila said as they drew nearer and she saw how huge it was.

  “It was originally built as one,” the Prince explained. “We were Kings in Medieval times when Greece consisted of a number of small Kingdoms, which were usually at war with one another.”

  “And now?” Avila asked.

  “We would hope, if the Russians will leave us alone, to remain happily and prosperously united under our one King.”

  “I am sure that your Gods will help you to obtain your heart’s desire,” Avila murmured.

  “That is exactly what I am hoping they will do for me,” the Prince said quickly.

  There was a meaning in his voice that she could not misunderstand.

  She now blushed a little and deliberately looked ahead of her, hoping that he would not notice.

  “You are very lovely,” the Prince was saying to her softly. “But I am going to talk about that tomorrow!”

  Avila longed to know why he had to wait until tomorrow.

  But she recognised that it was a question that she could not ask him.

  They were now drawing nearer and nearer to the beautiful house that lay just ahead of them and with its Ionic columns and exquisite proportions it looked even more like a Temple to the Gods than when she had first seen it.

  The Prince drew his horses to a standstill with a flourish.

  Servants came tumbling out of the front door of the house to greet them.

  And Lady Bedstone was not far behind.

  By the time Avila had taken off her bonnet and tidied her hair, her Lady-in-Waiting and her lady’s maid had come upstairs.

  “I hope the journey was not too tiring for you,” Avila addressed Lady Bedstone.

  “To be honest, ma’am,” Lady Bedstone replied, “I slept most of the way. The carriage was so comfortable that it really lulled me into a deep sleep.”

  She yawned before she asked,

  “I hope Your Royal Highness will understand that now we have arrived I would like to rest. Then I will not be too tired to come down to dinner.”

  “Yes, of course,” Avila agreed. “As soon as you are unpacked, I should then get into bed. I am sure if you would like a cup of tea someone will bring it to you.”

  She saw the relief on the old lady’s face and hurried downstairs.

  The Prince was alone in one of the most beautiful rooms that she had ever seen.

  The rooms at Windsor Castle were filled with a clutter of small tables, objets d’art and endless photographs.

  The lovely drawing room contained all the most essential furniture and three outstanding pictures. It was in fact a picture or even a poem in itself.

  “This is the loveliest room I have ever seen,” Avila exclaimed.

  “That is what I hoped you would think,” the Prince answered. “And it is, as I expected, a frame for you and your beauty.”

  “That is the nicest compliment I have ever had,” Avila smiled.

  “I can think of a number of others,” the Prince replied. “As I have supplied you with an English tea, I shall be disappointed if you don’t enjoy it.”

  At his suggestion she poured out two cups of tea for them both.

  He took the cup from her, but he did not drink it.

  Instead he sat down in a nearby chair looking at her in a way which made her feel shy.

  “How can you be anything at the moment,” the Prince asked, “but ‘Athene, the Goddess
of the Household’?”

  Avila laughed.

  You are well aware,” she answered, “ that Athene had dark hair and, so I suspect, did all the other Goddesses. So I don’t really fit in.”

  “‘Athene was the Goddess of all things fair’,” the Prince then quoted, “and, as she like Apollo, was enveloped with Light, I imagine your golden hair would have been appropriate for those who wanted to sculpt her.”

  “I doubt it,” Avila replied, “and I suppose we shall never know the truth of what exactly they did look like.”

  The Prince threw up his hands.

  “A million or more statues have been made of Athene! But, of course, in a way you are right. It is only when I can see her living and breathing that I am now aware of how beautiful she is.”

  Avila understood what he was implying.

  Somehow, because they were speaking Greek, his compliments were not as embarrassing as they would have been in English.

  “You said you had brought me here to see your house,” she said quickly, “Now tell me exactly when it was built and who designed it so perfectly that it appears to be a Temple?”

  The Prince answered her questions.

  Then when they had finished their tea, he took her on a tour round the house.

  He showed her the many rooms which were exquisitely furnished and the sunken bath which was still intact.

  He claimed that he intended to use it when it had been completely restored to its former beauty.

  Then, when the sun was sinking in the sky. they went out into the garden.

  In the distance Avila could see the deep blue of the sea and the vague outline of several Islands.

  “You must tell me about these Islands,” she suggested.

  “That is something I shall be doing tomorrow,” the Prince replied.

  “It is something you have been saying all day and I am wondering why tomorrow will be any different from today.”

  “That is a question I can only answer tomorrow,” he responded with a smile.

  She laughed.

  “Now you are being mysterious. I am not sure if it is a game you are playing to amuse yourself or whether there really is something mysterious about what we shall do tomorrow.”

  “I am afraid you will just have to wait and see,” the Prince answered enigmatically.

  Avila laughed again.

  “I suppose it is because we are in Greece. We seem to be talking in a strange manner, as if we were imitating the Sages and all those great men who lived and wrote in Athens.”

  “How could we do better?” .the Prince answered. “As Sophocles said, ‘Many marvels there are, but none so marvellous as man’.”

  “My mother has often quoted it to me,” Avila said, “but I thought it was extremely unfair and typically male that he did not mention women.”

  The Prince chuckled.

  “I think that he was well aware that sooner or later women would push themselves to the front and affirm that they were more marvellous than men!”

  He paused for a moment for reflection and then went on,

  “At the same time Sophocles and every other deep thinker worshipped Athene as well as the other Goddesses of Mount Olympus.”

  “It is an odd thing,” Avila said, “that ever since I have been in Greece I have realised that it is difficult to have a conversation that the ancient Gods and Goddesses are not included in.”

  “I thought you would understand that they are included because you are aware, as I am, that they are still here amongst us.”

  Avila looked at him.

  “Do you really believe that? Do you think they are on Mount Olympus at this moment, laughing at us?”

  “I don’t know whether it is Olympus or anywhere else in Greece,” the Prince said. “But I am very sure as you are, if you will allow yourself to admit it, that the Gods and Goddesses are still alive and still leading us in their own way to the full understanding of life which they possess.”

  The way he spoke was very moving and Avila clasped her hands together.

  “You make everything I find so difficult sound so very simple,” she said. “Yet I suppose, when I leave, it will all be difficult again.”

  “Must you leave?” the Prince asked.

  Because it was an unexpected question, she turned to look at him.

  “I have to go home, as you know, the day after tomorrow and I shall not have seen even a quarter of what I really want to see.”

  “I asked you quite simply,” the Prince persisted, “if you must go.”

  Avila was about to say that she wanted to stay more than she had wanted anything in her whole life.

  Then she remembered that she was not just unimportant Avila Grandell but Her Royal Highness Princess Marigold.

  What was more she was secretly engaged to Prince Holden.

  For a moment she could not find the right words to answer the Prince’s question.

  When she did not do so, he suddenly turned.

  “I think it must be nearly time for us to dress for dinner. I have ordered a very special meal for you tonight that I hope you will enjoy. It may be selfish of me, but I have not invited anyone to meet you.”

  He spoke in rather a hard voice as if he was sweeping away the almost dreamy manner in which they had been talking.

  Now they were walking back into the house and the shadows from the setting sun were growing longer.

  ‘Perhaps he is hurt because I am not responding to him as I should be,’ Avila thought to herself.

  She felt a sudden pain in her heart because in some way that she could not explain he had gone away from her.

  When they entered the house, he took her to the foot of the stairs.

  He did not seem to notice when she looked up at him pleadingly.

  “Thank you. Thank you very ‒ much for showing me your garden beautiful ‒ house and garden.”

  “I am so delighted,” the Prince said, “that it pleases Your Royal Highness.”

  He spoke in what she felt was the conventional way a Statesman would have addressed her.

  Then as she started to climb the stairs. he walked away from her.

  ‘What have ‒ I said? What have I done?’ Avila asked herself frantically.

  He had changed so suddenly and all in a second.

  The caressing way he had spoken to her before had gone.

  As she reached her bedroom, her maid was not there and she was alone.

  She went to the window.

  Looking out she could see the sea in the distance as she had seen it from the garden.

  The olive trees were in blossom as were the flowers brilliantly enchanting by the house.

  The sun was now sinking and yet its rays were still and the sky behind it was turning a soft crimson.

  It was all breathtakingly beautiful.

  But for the moment all Avila could only see was the Prince walking away from her.

  ‘After tomorrow I shall never see him again,’ she told herself

  Her whole body seemed to cry out with the cruelty and unfairness of it all.

  The maid came into the room and suggested that Avila should rest in her bed whilst she prepared her bath.

  It was then brought into the room and, when the hot water had been carried upstairs and poured into it, it was scented with the oil of lilies.

  Avila thought, as she stepped into it, of the sunken bath downstairs.

  One day the Prince would bathe as his ancestors had bathed and she was sure that, when he was doing so, he would look like the statues of Apollo that her mother had shown her over many years.

  She had thought from the first moment she saw him that he resembled Apollo.

  Princess Marigold had provided her, among the clothes that she had brought with her, with some very pretty evening gowns.

  They were, of course, black, but they had been made by someone with imagination as the lace was unlined and the tulle transparent.

  When she was dressed, the gown seemed to her
to be rather low in the front.

  However it also left her arms and shoulders bare so she did not mind the rest of it being in black.

  It had not struck her until now that Princess Marigold, if she had been here, would have brought some jewellery with her.

  As her engagement to Prince Holden was a secret, the Princess had not been wearing a ring when they changed places in The Traveller’s Rest.

  Avila was quite sure that Prince Darius had no idea that Princess Marigold was secretly engaged.

  At the same time to make her impersonation more convincing she felt that she should wear something round her neck.

  As she looked at herself in the mirror, she knew that she wanted the Prince to admire her.

  She wanted him to go on paying her the compliments which made her feel shy and were a music that she had never listened to before.

  There was a knock on the door and the Greek maid went to answer it.

  Avila heard a manservant saying,

  “With His Royal Highness’s compliments.”

  The maid came back to her carrying some flowers in her hand.

  Looking at them Avila realised, though it seemed impossible, that the Prince had known what she would want.

  What the maid held in her hand was a necklace made of small white flowers.

  It was so delicately arranged and the flowers were so small that they might easily have been precious stones. Instead they had real petals and tiny leaves.

  When she put it round her neck Avila saw that it was exactly what she wanted.

  It made her look both correctly dressed and really beautiful.

  There was a small bunch of the same flowers for the back of her head and the maid then pinned them in place.

  When Avila looked in the mirror for a second time, she knew that she had never looked so lovely before.

  Feeling a little self-conscious, but really excited, she went down the stairs.

  When she walked into the drawing room, it was to find that the Prince was there alone.

  Slowly, because she knew that he was watching her, she moved slowly towards him.

  It was impossible to look into his eyes until she was actually standing in front of him and then, because he did not speak, she looked at him questioningly.

  For a moment there was silence then he said very softly,