The Queen Wins Read online

  She climbed up a few more steps and waved to the people below and on either side of her.

  “I am now going to have my tea,” she said. “But will you please come and see me another day? If you have anything of great importance to discuss with me, leave a note here at the Palace and I will try to get in touch with you as soon as possible.”

  Those sitting on the grass were for the moment too spellbound to open their mouths.

  Then, as Tarena started to walk up the rest of the steps, they all cheered.

  When she reached the top step, she turned round to wave and, as the crowd waved back at her, she went into the Palace.

  The Lord Chamberlain was waiting in the doorway.

  “Such an event has never happened before, Your Royal Highness,” he told her nervously. “The people have never been allowed inside the gates.”

  “Well, there has to be a first time for everything,” she answered. “I think you will agree they have behaved very well and they are already moving away quietly.”

  She looked back and the Lord Chamberlain noted that the women with children were going out through the gates into the road.

  As Tarena walked to the room where the guests were still enjoying refreshments, the Lord Chamberlain turned to Count Vladimir,

  “Is this one of your wild ideas?”

  “Not guilty, my Lord,” the Count replied. “It was entirely spontaneous and something Her Royal Highness had not even thought of doing when we disembarked.”

  “I don’t know what the world is coming to. I have certainly never seen anything like this before – ”

  The Count smiled.

  “I think you will see a great deal more of it in the future. If you ask me, she is going to save Karlova.”

  In the dining room, the guests, who had not realised what was happening outside, were laughing and talking amongst themselves and enjoying the champagne.

  At last the guests began to go and they were all determined to say something different to their new Queen.

  It was then the Earl said in a low voice to the Lord Chamberlain,

  “Where is Prince Igor? I had expected him to be here to greet us.”

  “It is what I expected too,” the Lord Chamberlain replied. “I sent a messenger to notify him three days ago of the time that the Battleship would arrive, but there has been no reply.”

  “It seems to me quite extraordinary and, if you will forgive me for saying so, extremely rude.” “I agree with you. I have never met Prince Igor, but I have heard he is a very peculiar man with ideas of his own.”

  The Lord Chamberlain paused for a moment before he added,

  “Because he lives quite some distance from here, he seldom comes to the City.”

  “I can understand that, but I gather you are very anxious to have the wedding and the Coronation as soon as possible.”

  “I think if you ask the Prime Minister, he is still determined that it should take place in two days time,” the Lord Chamberlain replied.

  The Earl frowned.

  He knew that Tarena was understandably anxious to get to know Prince Igor before they were married and he could imagine nothing that would upset her more than if the Prince arrived just before the wedding ceremony.

  She would then have no chance of first becoming friends as she wished to do.

  The Earl’s voice took on a distinctly sharp tone as he suggested to the Lord Chamberlain,

  “I think you should send a messenger to Prince Igor immediately to say my niece has arrived and it is essential that he should be here to meet her as soon as possible.”

  “I will do so, my Lord, but I hope you will believe me when I tell you that I did, in my last letter, make it very clear that he should be here to meet Her Royal Highness and then spend time with her before the actual ceremony took place.”

  “I am sure you have done your very best, but I am thinking of my niece’s feelings. She is extremely anxious to know her bridegroom before they are actually joined in Holy Matrimony.”

  “I can well understand and I will send a messenger on horseback to Prince Igor’s Palace. But I cannot help thinking he must be on his way here after what I wrote to him earlier.”

  It was an apology and the Earl could only accept that it was not the Lord Chamberlain’s fault.

  At the same time he felt that it was extraordinarily offensive of Prince Igor not to be present.

  He reflected yet again that it would be very difficult to persuade Tarena that she must marry a man she had not even met, if that was indeed still Prince Igor’s intention.

  Tarena had so many other things to think about that she had really forgotten about Prince Igor until she was changing for dinner.

  Then she asked her new Karlovan lady’s-maid if there was a big formal dinner party that evening.

  The lady’s maid replied,

  “Only those, Your Royal Highness, you arrived with and I think the Lord Chamberlain.”

  Then Tarena asked her,

  “Surely Prince Igor of Dubnik is now here in the Palace.”

  “I don’t think so, Your Royal Highness.” “Then find out for me,” Tarena insisted as she sat down at the dressing table.

  When she gazed at her face in the mirror, she could not help being aware that her eyes were shining and her lips were smiling.

  She knew that the events of the afternoon had taken the Prime Minister and his Cabinet completely by surprise and yet according to Count Vladimir what had happened had been a great success.

  She would respect his opinion rather than that of anyone else.

  They had been so close on the Battleship and had spent so much time together.

  She had sensed, although of course she had not said so, that he was anxious when they went down the gangway towards the platform on their arrival this morning.

  She too was nervous that the speech he had written for her would not be a success.

  But she had done things her own way.

  As that had been unmistakably satisfactory, it was something which made her no longer feel frightened of being in Karlova.

  Now she was feeling glad that she had come to take her father’s place.

  ‘I am sure Papa will help me,’ she thought. ‘The words seemed to come to my lips without having to think about them.’

  She had been very conscious that the men waiting in stony silence were just the type of people, who might be persuaded by the Russian agents to rebel against those in authority and let the enemy take over the City.

  Once they had done that, the Russians would gain possession of Karlova with virtually no resistance.

  She had not asked the Count how large the Army of Karlova was, but she was almost certain that there were not as many trained men as there should be.

  As she ruminated about her predicament, she then remembered once again that the Count’s father believed he had found gold in the mountains.

  She had read several books about those who had explored the world for rare minerals to satisfy the growing demands of the industrialised countries of Europe. She was well aware that in many mountains such as the Caucasus, there was not only gold but a great many other minerals of great value.

  ‘We will have to prospect in our mountains,’ she thought. ‘I wonder if Prince Igor will be interested in the discovery of saleable minerals, which could make Karlova rich and unafraid of the Russians.’

  But it was too soon to bring up the subject yet.

  However, it was at the back of her mind and again she had the feeling that her father was guiding her and telling her what she should do.

  ‘How I wish I could remember him,’ she mused. ‘If only he could have brought Mama here to Karlova with him instead of having to marry that Princess Catrina of Dubnik, we could all have lived here in this lovely Palace and been very very happy.’

  Even as she dreamed of this intriguing possibility, she was longing to explore the Palace closely and then she remembered that Prince Igor had not yet arrived.
/>   Tomorrow she would hear of the plans that had been made for her Coronation in the Cathedral and later for her wedding.

  ‘Perhaps something has happened to him and he will not turn up at all,’ she told herself with a glimmer of hope in her heart.

  The mere thought was intriguing, although it was against her better judgement even to dream that it had actually happened.

  Then she told herself that if he had been injured in an accident, the Lord Chamberlain would surely have been advised at once.

  He was in fact just showing her, by not being there to meet her, that to him she was of little or no significance.

  Tarena enjoyed a deliciously hot bath and then put on one of the prettiest gowns she and her uncle had bought in Bond Street.

  Then she walked slowly downstairs.

  There was a woman she had not encountered before waiting beside the Lord Chamberlain in the hall.

  He moved forward and announced with a flourish,

  “May I present, Your Royal Highness, La Comtesse de Sâvairé who is to be your Lady-in-Waiting.”

  The woman dropped a deep curtsy and Tarena held out her hand.

  “It is most kind of you, but I am afraid you will find me rather different from anyone else you have looked after.”

  “The Comtesse will help you to learn about what is expected in this country,” the Lord Chamberlain explained, “and what has happened in the past.”

  Tarena smiled at him.

  “What would be more helpful,” she replied, “is if I can give you new ideas and continue to do the unexpected in the future.”

  She knew at once by the expression in the Lord Chamberlain’s eyes that he was horrified that there should be any change.

  She wanted to laugh.

  Yet she walked sedately towards the room where they were to meet before dinner and the Comtesse followed her.

  She was reasonably pretty, but as dinner progressed Tarena thought she would not be very much help to her. Certainly not with the changes she intended to make in the routine of the Palace or the City.

  When dinner was over, an Officer appeared.

  He had come to report to the Count that the people were letting off fireworks in the main Square of the City and he wondered if a detachment of soldiers should go down to make sure that there was no trouble.

  “It’s a good idea,” the Count declared. “But I have a feeling that they are letting off fireworks simply because they are so pleased with all they have seen and heard about their new Queen. It’s certainly not as dangerous as if there were pistol shots!”

  The Officer smiled.

  “I thought, sir, I should let you know what was happening.”

  “I am delighted to hear it. And if you do go to the Square, you might suggest that some decorations should be put up on the roads and flags flying from the windows.”

  Tarena gave an exclamation.

  “Of course, that was what was missing! I never thought of it. Now I realise that there was not a flag to be seen when we drove up to the Palace. Nor were there any decorations on the houses or on the trees.”

  “I noticed it too,” said the Count. “I have been told that while I have been away Russian agents have infiltrated into the City and have tried to persuade the people that they would suffer under another King and Queen and would be far happier if they were under Russian rule.”

  Tarena gave a little cry of horror.

  “Has that already been happening?” she asked. “I believed that when my father was alive there was very little subversion and the Russians had left Karlova alone.”

  “They have most certainly worked very quickly and quietly, but there is no doubt they have been infiltrating in their usual underhand way into the poorer parts of the City and among the unemployed and disaffected.”

  Tarena was listening intently as the Count went on,

  “I am told they paint a picture of how rich everyone will be if they prefer Russian rule to that of the Royalty of past years.”

  “What can be done about it?” Tarena asked the Count nervously.

  “You have made exactly the right beginning. The Russians must have felt very frustrated when they heard what occurred this afternoon at the Port.”

  “You really think it will make a difference?”

  “A very great difference,” he replied. “You have started off on the right foot. What you really have to do now is to forge ahead in your own inimitable way without any interference from any of us.”

  “That sounds exactly what I want,” Tarena agreed. “But I cannot do it without your help, Count Vladimir.”

  “And you know you only have to ask,” the Count said in a low voice.

  Tarena smiled at him.

  Then she was aware of the Comtesse watching her from across the table.

  Quite suddenly she knew the woman was hostile.

  She did not know why she felt this way.

  She could only sense it, just as she had often felt vibrations emanating from her uncle’s acquaintances.

  She had known instantly when, although some were flattering him, they really had no regard for him.

  ‘There is something about her,’ she told herself. ‘When I am alone with the Count, I must ask him who appointed the Comtesse and why she was chosen.’

  “You are very silent, Tarena,” her uncle said to her unexpectedly. “Are you feeling tired?”

  “I am both tired and relaxed, so I hope no one will think it rude of me if I retire fairly early. We will have a long day tomorrow.”

  “I am only too willing to agree with you,” the Earl responded.

  “Of course you must,” the Comtesse came in, “and, if you are wise, you will rest tomorrow and not go into the City or bother with the people who will doubtless come knocking at the door after you have encouraged them in a way that has never happened before.”

  Tarena was silent for a moment and then she turned to the Lord Chamberlain,

  “Will you please make it absolutely clear that if anyone wants to meet me I will see them immediately?”

  He hesitated before acknowledging the instruction and Tarena continued,

  “I think it is very important now I have arrived to let the people know that I am available to them to listen to all their troubles and sorrows.

  “And of course to try to make things better for the poorer people, who I understand do not have good schools, nor is there a hospital available for them.”

  “Oh, there is a hospital of some sort,” the Lord Chamberlain bumbled. “But it’s not in the City.”

  “I was told it is ten miles away. If you have a sick child, you can hardly carry it ten miles before it receives the attention it needs.”

  The Lord Chamberlain stared at her.

  “Is Your Royal Highness really telling us that we need to build a hospital here in the Capital?”

  “If you don’t have one at the moment, I think it’s extraordinary that you have not realised before that there must be a hospital nearby for people to go to when they or their children are ill.”

  She was fully aware as she was speaking that the Lord Chamberlain was again absolutely astonished.

  It was quite obvious he had thought that she was only a young girl and it would be left to her husband to make changes if there were to be any at all.

  He certainly did not expect that the moment Tarena arrived that she would be thinking about improvements.

  “You will have to talk to the Prime Minister,” he said. “But I think you will find, Your Royal Highness, that such ideas, which I know are put forward in all countries, are usually just a flash in the pan and fade away when the cost is reckoned and there is no money to meet them.”

  ”Are you telling me in a polite way that Karlova is bankrupt?” Tarena asked only slightly aggressively.

  The Lord Chamberlain could not have been more surprised if she had shouted at him.

  “No, no, of course not. I did not mean anything of the sort. I merely implied that the popula
ce, or rather the poorer people in the City, are never satisfied with anything they receive. They always want more. We first have to concentrate on the celebrations of Your Royal Highness’s wedding and Coronation and forget those who are never happy however much you pander to them.”

  It was quite a speech and everyone at the table was listening to it.

  Then Tarena countered quietly,

  “I understand, my Lord, what you are saying. And naturally I am completely and absolutely convinced that every great City should boast a modern hospital.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The next morning Tarena woke early and thought over everything that had happened the day before.

  She was happier because in some ways it had all gone far better than she had anticipated.

  Equally she was intelligent enough to realise that an enormous number of difficulties still lay ahead.

  She had taken breakfast in the boudoir next door.

  Then she was informed that the Count would like to see her.

  She had dressed before breakfast and had quickly arranged her hair just in case it had become untidy whilst she was eating.

  Then she called out for the Count to come in.

  He was smiling as he walked towards her.

  “I might have known,” he sighed, “that you would be up and ready, because we have a great deal to do.”

  “I am aware of that, Count Vladimir. What do we do first?”

  “I think that first of all you should pay a visit to the Cathedral where you are to be married in the morning of the day after tomorrow.”

  Tarena gave a little exclamation.

  “How can I possibly be married as quickly as that when I have not yet met Prince Igor?”

  There was silence for a moment before the Count replied,

  “I think it is best to be frank and tell you that the Prince is apparently somewhat reluctant to marry you, but a marriage must take place.”

  “Why so quickly?” The Count walked towards the window so that he had his back to her.

  She knew without his saying anything that he was debating with himself whether he should tell her the truth or not.

  “I suppose,” she said in a small voice, “the Russian situation is now worse than you expected.”