Love and Apollo Read online

  “I would just love to explore the whole island, but I shall be so grateful if I could go ashore for a while. It will be something for me to remember in the future.”

  There was a distinct pause before she breathed the last words and he sensed that she was feeling fearful, even horror-struck, at the prospect of having to marry the King of Larissa.

  He placed his hand over hers and turned to face her.

  “I feel we have no right to impose this situation on you, but you see how happy you have made my sister and the man who is now her husband. It would have been an unbelievably cruelty if after all these years, Gerald found himself free but unable to marry Rose.”

  “I do understand,” sighed Valona. “But I am afraid of being inadequate for the position you want me to take.”

  “I assure you that you are so intelligent that no one could do it better than you, Valona. As Gerald has told us, it may not be for too long and all you have to think about is that you are personally saving a small defenceless country from the yoke of Russia.”

  “Do you really think it is as bad as everyone makes out, Cousin Arthur?”

  “I have heard it is even worse. The poor people in the Kingdoms and Principalities the Russians have already occupied are being treated like slaves and have no way of regaining their individual identity.”

  Valona gave a deep sigh.

  “I can appreciate how terrifying it is for them and I only hope you are right, that my bringing the protection of Great Britain to Larissa will not be in vain.”

  “I am quite convinced that once you are established as Queen under British protection, the Russians will begin to withdraw. The Larissians will then be given the unique opportunity to develop independently and will not become just another Russian dependency.”

  “I do hope you are right,” Valona responded almost as if she was speaking to herself.

  Because the Duke did not want her to be depressed, he talked of other matters until they were back at the port.

  “I shall tell the Captain to put to sea immediately,” he said as they drew near to the battleship.

  “What are you going to tell him about Rose and the Marquis?”

  “I have been thinking about that problem. I intend to tell him what Gerald has suggested I tell the King and the Court when we arrive at Larissa.”

  “And what is that?” Valona asked a little nervously.

  “He suggested we say that Rose was feeling ill and saw a doctor when we arrived in Athens. He said it was essential that she should immediately go into hospital to be examined. It was therefore impossible for her to sail with us as was intended. As Gerald has been appointed by the Queen to look after her, he was obliged to stay with her.”

  “That is very clever!” exclaimed Valona.

  The Duke went on,

  “It was hoped that the results of the examination, which was to take place tomorrow, would not be as serious as they feared, in which case they would follow us.”

  The Duke paused as if he was thinking.

  “For the moment, because of the serious condition of the King, which we heard about at the British Embassy, we thought it wise to go ahead and make the Russians in Larissa aware that the King’s bride was only temporarily delayed.”

  Valona was listening wide-eyed and she queried,

  “You are not going to mention me?”

  “I intend to inform the Captain confidentially that if my sister is as ill as feared and has to undergo an operation, you have volunteered, having the same Royal blood as her, to take her place.

  “Naturally I shall ask him to swear that he will keep this suggestion a close secret in case it proves impossible for Rose to join us as we hoped.”

  Valona gave another little sigh.

  “It all sounds very complicated and I only hope the Captain believes you.”

  She looked at the Duke a little anxiously before she added,

  “You will have to tell a totally different story when we arrive.”

  “I know, Valona, but there is no necessity for the Captain to know too much at this stage and when you do marry the King, he will just think that we have received bad news from Athens.”

  “It all seems so clever, but I can only hope that no one realises who Mr. and Mrs. Sharm really are. It would be terribly bad luck if they met any friends when they were looking at the Pyramids.”

  The Duke smiled.

  “If they do, I should imagine Gerald with his fertile imagination will invent a marvellous explanation of where you and I are at that moment!”

  Valona laughed.

  “It all gets more and more convoluted. My mother always said to me, when I was a little girl, ‘one lie leads to another lie,’ and that is exactly what is happening now!”

  “As long as they are all white lies because we are helping other people, I am not particularly perturbed about them. The only thing which matters about a lie is not to be caught out!”

  Because of the way he spoke Valona laughed again.

  “We will both have to be extremely careful, Cousin Arthur. You have not forgotten you promised that we shall stop at Delos?”

  “I have been thinking about it and as I gave you my word, I will not go back on it. But I am going to suggest to the Captain that, if we reach Delos after dark, you will go ashore first thing in the morning and then we must be on our way to Larissa as quickly as possible.”

  Valona’s eyes were shining.

  “All I ask is just a few minutes on Delos.”

  The Duke again sensed that she was so strongly looking forward to stepping onto the island of Delos that she had pushed out of her mind the situation waiting for her when they reached Larissa.

  While they were having dinner, she talked of Athens and the history of Greece – a subject that the Duke had always been interested in himself.

  He was not really surprised to find that because her father was Greek, that country had always meant more to her than anywhere else.

  “I am incredibly grateful for being English and for Great Britain protecting my family when we were driven away from our home,” Valona told him. “But I have never been able to think of myself as being entirely English and I may find it difficult once I am Queen of Larissa to behave exactly as they might expect an English lady to do.”

  The Duke smiled at her.

  “I don’t think you need worry. They will find you very beautiful and I would not expect the ordinary people of the country to know much about England anyway.

  “At this precise moment they are more perturbed by Russia and the Russian way of life which is moving nearer and nearer to them.”

  “It must be terrifying for all the Larissians. Surely one of the European countries is strong enough to tell them they can go no further?”

  “No European country wants a war at this moment and, to be honest, Russia does not want one either. They would have seized Constantinople eight years ago in 1878 if Queen Victoria had not sent six battleships into the Dardanelles, which made the Grand Duke Nicholas turn back when he was only six miles from the City.”

  “It sounds rather smug, but I am most thankful the Russians did not take Constantinople.”

  “So was everyone else, but it was a near thing.”

  Valona fell silent and the Duke reckoned that she was worrying about Larissa.

  “You are not to worry yourself, Valona, for once you are established as Queen, the Russians will know there is nothing they can do about it and they will withdraw their agents. It has happened before and it will happen again, as long as Queen Victoria can go on supplying enough of her relatives to play the part of Queen.”

  “I fully understand how important it is,” murmured Valona in a small voice. “But I never thought that it would involve me.”

  “All I can say is that we have been extremely lucky that you were with us and that Gerald’s wife has died now instead of a week later, when he would have lost Rose for ever!”

  “I felt sure they would be together and
I was right!”

  When it was time for her to go to bed, she thanked God for hearing her prayers and helping them as He had.

  At the same time she prayed earnestly for herself.

  ‘I certainly don’t want to marry the King of Larissa. Although they think that he is going to die, he might easily hang on for years.’

  Then she thought how terrifying it would be if he did die and they expected her to take his place in ruling the country.

  She would have no idea of how to even start.

  How could she, having been brought up so simply in Hampton Court?

  Then she began to believe that she was frightening herself unnecessarily.

  The King had a son.

  Surely he was old enough to play his part in ruling Larissa once they were freed from the Russians?

  The whole story seemed to swirl around and around in Valona’s head.

  Although she tried, there seemed nothing simple or straightforward about it.

  ‘One thing I am quite determined on,’ she thought to herself, ‘is that I shall ask Mama to come out and join me as soon as possible. She, at the very least, will know what I should do and how I should behave.’

  She gave a deep sigh.

  ‘Until she arrives I am bound to make hundreds of mistakes and perhaps have all the courtiers in the Palace laughing at me or despising me.’

  The more she thought about it, the more frightening it became.

  Only when she climbed into bed did she remember that she was to be called very early.

  She was to visit Delos and that was more exciting than anything else!

  She had a feeling within herself that of all the Gods Apollo would help her. He had always been the hero at the back of her mind ever since her childhood.

  Her mother had told her all the stories of the Greek Gods and Goddesses and about the contribution the Greek dramatists and philosophers had made to world civilisation.

  She had told Valona how the spirit of Apollo could still be sensed at Delphi in the beautiful valley beneath the shimmering cliffs and how he had arrived in the little town of Crisa in a ship guided by a dolphin.

  He had sprung ashore and claimed possession of all the land which he could see and no one opposed him.

  So often had Valona imagined Apollo standing in the sunshine with his arms outstretched, surrounded by olive trees.

  She had grown up mesmerised by him.

  She felt that he was in some way more important to her than any Christian Saint could be.

  And it had always been her ambition to visit Delos where Apollo had been born and from there all the Greeks believed that his influence had spread across the world.

  As Valona grew older, she learnt a great deal more about Apollo from the big library in Hampton Court Palace and from her conversations with Sir Mortimer.

  It was he who told her that from Apollo had come all the things that men needed.

  He was the first of the Gods that men could strive to resemble and from him came science, the sense of order and all that is adventurous and daring in man.

  Valona had listened to Sir Mortimer wide-eyed.

  Every word seemed more significant than anything she had learnt from her tutors and teachers.

  “Apollo was the sunlight of the human mind,” Sir Mortimer said not once but many times, “and one day he will be acknowledged for all he has given to mankind and to everyone who has learnt so much from him.”

  Now she was to visit the island dedicated to Apollo and feel the wonder and glory of him.

  She had been told that the unique enchantment of Delos still existed, which seemed incredible after the passing of so many years.

  No one was allowed to be born or to die on what was known as The Virgin Island.

  It remained the Virgin still.

  Sir Mortimer had said,

  “Divine light falls over it.”

  Before Valona finally fell into a deep sleep, she told herself that it was the Divine Light of Apollo, which would help her through the ordeal that awaited her in Larissa.

  If that Divine Light was with her, she would no longer need to be afraid.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Valona heard a knock at her door.

  She realised that it was the Duke’s valet telling her that it was time for her to get up.

  She pulled back the curtains over the portholes and saw that the sun had just risen – it was very early indeed.

  She knew the Duke was worried about not wasting time and reaching Larissa as soon as possible.

  But he was allowing her to visit Delos.

  She dressed herself in a few minutes, not taking any notice of her hair that hung loosely over her shoulders.

  Then in flat-heeled shoes she ran out of her cabin and up on deck, where she saw that they were anchored in a small bay.

  There was a seaman to help her down a rope ladder into a small boat where two more seamen were waiting to row her to the shore.

  It was only a short distance to Delos and apart from bidding her “good morning,” they did not speak.

  They ran the boat up the beach and helped her out.

  She hurried up a narrow path that led to the top of a low cliff.

  She had read in one book that the small mysterious island of Delos lay very low in the water, as the author had said, ‘with only the small hill of Cynthus to hold it from floating away.’

  It took Valona a few seconds to reach the top of the cliff and then she found herself standing as she had longed to on the island of Delos.

  As she had expected the island was a mass of spring flowers. Anemones flooded the meadows that were filled with many gleaming columns and ruins of what had once been temples.

  Looking ahead of her Valona was still.

  Now she could feel the wind blowing softly around her and was filled with a sense of enchantment she had always known she would find in Delos.

  A dozen books had told her that a heavenly light always fell over the island and Apollo’s presence could positively be felt.

  As she stood there she could see the light flashing against white marble, which lay visibly among the flowers.

  Over the whole island the air seemed to be like a dancing quivering flame.

  She could not explain it, yet it was there just as she had expected it to be.

  Although she felt she must be imagining it, she was aware of the light glittering and shining high up in the air.

  There seemed to be a mysterious quivering, a low beating of silver wings and the whirl of silver wheels.

  She walked a little further along the meadow.

  As she did so, she felt the shimmering presence of Apollo himself.

  It was as though she could see him with her own eyes, and he was looking unbelievably handsome.

  Behind him lay the many white Temples built in his honour.

  As Valona moved very slowly over the anemones, she found herself remembering what she had read.

  How the Goddess Leto had given birth beside the wheel-shaped lake to Apollo, the fairest of the immortals, and his twin sister Artemis and how the whole earth had rejoiced.

  To celebrate the birth of Apollo, ‘the islands of the Cyclades wheeled round in Holy joy.’

  Strange perfumes had wafted over the island and white swans suddenly appeared on the lake.

  Apollo had found his rightful home here and ruled the world from Delos, which he had conquered by the power of his beauty.

  For a moment Valona could not see ahead of her.

  She knew that there was hardly a square inch of the island that did not lie under the shadow of countless broken columns.

  No one lived on the island – the only inhabitants were the grey speckled lizards that sheltered underneath the stones.

  Yet in the expectant quietness of the scene around her, she became acutely conscious of the presence of some unexplained mystery.

  She remembered that in 426 BC General Nicias had decreed that Apollo was not being worshipped properly
as a God should.

  He had led a large delegation from Athens to purify the island and there had been countless feasts, games and sacrifices. The General had presented Apollo with an enormous bronze palm tree and then ordered a huge statue of Apollo to be erected on Delos to the glory and beauty of the God.

  Never had so many precious gifts been offered to a God and when he returned to Athens, General Nicias hoped that after all he had done he would now bask in the God’s favour.

  But the Athenian invasion of Sicily that he commanded ended in disaster in 413 BC and Nicias was captured and savagely put to death.

  The bronze palm tree fell over in a wild storm and the broken pieces which fell near the sacred lake lay there for two thousand years.

  Then the island was explored by the English in the reign of Charles I and the French came collecting pieces of the statues and other precious souvenirs.

  The great statue of Apollo, which had fallen to the ground, was gradually broken up and pieces were carried away to England and France.

  Much of the statue, Valona knew, remained on Delos, but it lay too far for her to go and see it.

  Yet she was aware that it was still there and was, according to all she had read, filled with a tremendous power.

  One visitor to the statue had written,

  “It was splendid in its loneliness, its perfect beauty and its terrible power.”

  Valona was a long way from it, but as she stood looking towards the East, she could feel the magic of the young God once thirty feet high.

  In her mind she could see him with his parted lips, his uplifted hands and his eyes gazing out to sea.

  More than two thousand years had passed since Apollo’s statue had been erected on the island, yet she knew in her heart that time had in no way weakened him.

  It was then that she began praying to Apollo with all her heart and soul.

  She asked him to bring her true the love she longed for.

  As the God of Light and Love, Apollo represented the fulfilment of dreams to all who worshipped him.

  ‘Help me, please help me!’ she begged. ‘The love I seek is the same love you give to the world and it is even more powerful than anything else mankind could possess.’