Love and the Gods Read online

  The words seemed to come to him spontaneously, without his even thinking about them.

  “It is a gift from the Gods,” he went on, “and is life itself. That is why we must never abuse it or deliberately destroy anything so blessed.”

  Thalia drew in her breath.

  “I understand what you are saying and I promise you one thing, I will think very seriously before I try to kill myself again. I will attempt, as you have told me to do, to find a solution to my problem.”

  “That is all I ask,” the Duke smiled. “Now come along. I have seen what I came to see and more important, I have found you.”

  “I think that is a compliment, but you may wish in the future that you had gone away and ignored me.”

  She did not wait for his reply, but hurried down the stone steps ahead of him.

  Because she was so light and obviously athletic, she reached the bottom of the building before the Duke.

  As the Duke joined her, she enquired,

  “I have come away as you wanted me to. Are you quite certain you really wish to take me to the Palace?”

  “We are going for tea and after that I am leaving Athens and I know you will be in hands you can trust.”

  She did not answer, but walked beside him as they approached his waiting carriage.

  The driver was smartly dressed in the Royal Livery and the door of the carriage was decorated with the Royal Coat of Arms.

  Thalia glanced at it and then she stepped into the carriage without making any comment.

  The Duke climbed in too and, as they drove off, she queried,

  “Are you wise in asking me to meet the King and Queen? My uncle has been somewhat rude to them. As I have told you, he is very anxious to regain power in the country.”

  “He is obviously not going the right way about it, and to force you to marry a man who is old enough to be your grandfather is appalling.”

  “That is what I told him and I think my uncle has already made himself most unpleasant by disapproving of another King being chosen from abroad, rather than finding a relation of King Otho, such as himself.”

  The Duke could understand that this was something that might have been considered and yet he was certain that all the relations of King Otho had been deliberately ignored by the Greeks after they had deposed him as their King.

  That was why the Princess’s uncle was not now of any standing in the country.

  He remembered vaguely, when he thought about it, that Otho had married Princess Amalia of Oldenburg and she had made herself very unpopular by interfering with the Government.

  From what Thalia had said to him about her uncle it was likely that he had tried to do the same, which was why the Greek people had spurned him ever since King George had come to the throne.

  It did not take long for the carriage to carry them to the Palace and the Duke noticed that Thalia was feeling shy and nervous.

  “What I am going to suggest,” he said, “is that you wait for a few minutes in one of the drawing rooms while I talk to the King, and, I hope, to the Queen. Don’t be afraid and promise me you will not run away – ”

  There was a little pause before the Princess replied,

  “I promise you, but you understand that if they say they will have nothing to do with me, I will not return to my uncle and his Russian friend – and I may want to go back to the Parthenon.”

  “I should be very upset and angry if you did that. So promise me you will wait until I come back to you.”

  “I promise – ” Thalia looked up at the Duke.

  He thought there was something almost pathetic about her.

  She was so small and at the same time so beautiful and defenceless.

  Yet he knew, although she was behaving perfectly, that she was very frightened.

  “I will not be long, Thalia, so please be good and keep your word to me until I come back to you.”

  She gave him a smile that he thought cost an effort, but it seemed to illuminate her little face.

  Then he left her in the room.

  He went to look for the King and the Queen and he found them both in the King’s study.

  They were examining some papers while they sat on a sofa together and the King had his arm around his wife’s shoulder, cuddling up against him.

  They did not move as the Duke entered.

  He thought how lucky King George was to have a wife who made him so happy, yet, as he thought about it, it flashed through his mind that Thalia must be careful what she said about the Queen’s countrymen.

  “You are back earlier than we expected, David,” King George began.

  “I have something to tell you,” the Duke said sitting down in a chair facing them. “I have found someone who needs your help desperately.”

  “Who is that?” the Queen asked. “Surely you did not find anyone on the Parthenon.”

  “That is exactly where I did find her. A beautiful girl was about to throw herself over the edge and end her life. But I have persuaded her to live and have brought her here to the Palace.”

  Both the King and Queen stared at him.

  “Do you mean,” the King asked, “that the woman you are talking about was intending to kill herself? We had two people last month who jumped from the top, but they were both suffering from a terrible disease for which the doctors could find no cure.”

  “What I found there was a very young and beautiful Princess, Thalia Spiros, who tells me that her parents are dead and that her uncle, who is a relative of King Otho, is forcing her to marry someone she does not wish to marry.”

  The King gave an exclamation, but the Duke went on,

  “She was going to destroy herself rather than marry this man who I understand is over sixty years old and has already had two wives.”

  “Sixty!” the Queen cried. “How old is the girl?”

  “I did not ask her, but I imagine she is nineteen or twenty.”

  “Then, of course, it is disgraceful that she should be expected to marry an old man. No wonder the poor girl felt she would rather die.”

  “That is exactly what she said and I felt sure you would understand, ma’am.”

  “Did she tell you the name of the man he wanted her to marry?” the King asked.

  “She did. He is called Prince Federovski.”

  Queen Olga gave a little cry.

  “Oh, I know him. He is a horrible and disgusting man. He was invited to one of my father’s parties in St. Petersburg and behaved abominably. My father swore that he would never invite him again.”

  “Then you will understand that this young girl is horrified at being forced to become his third wife.”

  “Of course I do,” the Queen agreed. “What have you done with her, David?”

  “She is waiting in one of the drawing rooms.”

  “Then I will go and talk to her at once,” the Queen said, “and we will do everything we can to persuade her not to kill herself. Are you sure that is what she was going to do?”

  “She was standing on the very edge of the parapet and she protested when I pulled her to safety.”

  The Queen gave an exclamation and hurried from the room, but the King, however, did not move.

  “It is so like you, David,” he said, “to be aware of a situation like this long before it reaches my ears.”

  The Duke chuckled.

  “I had no intention of getting involved in anything when I left you, sir, but when I saw this incredibly pretty girl obviously preparing to throw herself off the parapet, there was nothing I could do but prevent it.”

  “Of course, but you can easily understand that the situation is very difficult, as I have always avoided King Otho’s relatives. They naturally resent my taking Otho’s place and so have made themselves unpleasant in a great number of ways.”

  “I suppose that was inevitable. This man who is so anxious to become more powerful in Greece is obviously someone with whom you are not likely to be friendly.”

  “I have just prete
nded they are not there. I must be honest and say that after my first year on the throne they more or less accepted the fact that I had won and there was no more argument about it.”

  “I can well see your difficulty now in helping the Princess, but at the same time she cannot be allowed to kill herself rather than marry that Russian.”

  “No, of course not,” the King agreed. “But now it is teatime. Oh, by the way, I have something I wish you to take back with you.”

  “What is that?” the Duke asked.

  “I have been wondering what present I can give to Queen Victoria,” he said, “and I feel it is wrong, when she has been so kind to me, to leave her with an empty space that must have been occupied by the statue of Apollo.”

  The Duke was about to speak, but then he thought it would be a mistake.

  There was no reason for the King to know that the statue of Apollo had never occupied an important place in Windsor Castle or that it had been shut away in a room unpacked where it was never seen.

  In fact, as far as the people in Windsor Castle were concerned, it did not even exist.

  Instead he asked,

  “What have you decided to give Her Majesty, sir?”

  “I know well that the British people admire statues and carvings, which is why one of them abducted Apollo in the first place.”

  They were walking along the passage and the Duke nodded but did not interrupt.

  The King went on,

  “We have in fact a surplus of statues of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. The sculptors of every generation have always tried to make a really perfect statue of her. In my opinion they have usually failed.

  The King laughed before he added,

  “Like love itself, she is elusive!”

  “There I agree with you,” the Duke concurred.

  “What I have for you to take home,” the King said, “is an exceptionally well carved sculpture of the Goddess. They are getting ready to pack it up for you.”

  “I am sure Her Majesty will be delighted, sir.” He was thinking as he spoke that it would doubtless go into a storeroom and be forgotten, perhaps for a hundred years.

  By this time they had reached the drawing room.

  As it was empty, the King suggested,

  “I expect Olga must have taken the Princess into the room where we are having tea and we will find them there.”

  It was only a short distance away and the King was right.

  The Queen and Princess Thalia were sitting at a table by the window which was loaded with every type of cake, scone and sandwich for tea.

  The Princess was introduced to the King and the Duke thought her curtsy was very graceful.

  “I know you are in trouble,” the King began, “but let us enjoy our tea before we talk about it.”

  He turned to the Duke,

  “I want you, David, to have a look at the Aphrodite statue I have been telling you about before it is packed and put on the carriage that will drive you to your yacht.”

  “Of course, I am very anxious to see it,” the Duke replied politely.

  Then the Queen asked him whether he took milk in his tea and the subject was dropped.

  In fact tea was quite an entertaining meal.

  Thalia told them about the difficulties she had had with her father’s family since his death. The Duke thought it was very astute of her to make it sound amusing rather than miserable, but equally he was aware that she was forcing herself to be brave.

  She must have suffered a great deal when she lost both parents and was forced into living with her uncle.

  She was, the Duke thought, very tactful in saying little about the Russian monster whom her uncle wanted her to marry.

  He felt that few girls of her age would have been so sensitive about the Queen’s feelings where Russians were concerned.

  She merely complained at how old he was, rather than that she instinctively found him totally repulsive and horrible.

  “We will certainly see what we can do for you,” the Queen promised.

  Then inevitably they talked about the innovations the King had introduced in Athens.

  Tea took longer than the Duke had expected and so he glanced out of the window and remarked,

  “I think as the afternoon is getting on I should be going back to my yacht.”

  “Yes, of course,” the King agreed. “But I don’t expect you will want to go too far before you anchor for the night. As you well know the Aegean Sea can be very unpleasant if a storm suddenly blows up.”

  “Before you leave us,” the Queen added quickly, “you must see the children. I meant to show them to you after luncheon, but actually they had gone to the far end of the garden before you left for the Parthenon. But now they are in the nursery and I do want you to see them both, so that you can tell Queen Victoria about them when you reach home.”

  “Of course, I will be delighted to meet them.”

  “Then I will show you and the Princess, if she is interested, the statue of Aphrodite that you are taking back with you to England,” the King suggested.

  The Duke realised that he was to be very careful not to mention the statue of Apollo while Thalia was there.

  It was important that she, like everyone else, should have no idea that the statue of Aphrodite was a ‘quid pro quo’.

  They walked along the passage and then the King stopped at a door.

  “The statue is being packed up here,” he said. “So it will be easier to put on your carriage when you leave. I told them to wait until you had seen it before they finally wrapped it up. I don’t suppose you will want to undo it again before you reach Windsor Castle.”

  “No, of course not, sir,” the Duke agreed.

  They went into the room.

  The Duke saw in front of him in the bright sunlight coming through the window a really beautiful statue of the Goddess of Love.

  She was kneeling or rather sitting back on her heels and her fingers were pressed together as if in prayer and it was, he thought, about a hundred years old and must have been created by one of the great sculptors of the time.

  She certainly looked exquisite and the passing years had damaged her only very slightly.

  As a present it was indeed an extremely generous and undoubtedly valuable one.

  “It’s fabulous, absolutely glorious,” Thalia cried. The King was looking towards the Duke, who after a moment turned and asked,

  “Can you really part with it?”

  “I would not wish to give Her Majesty anything but the best,” the King replied. “But as I told you we have almost a superfluity of this particular Goddess and she will not be missed. I like to think of her beautifying Windsor Castle.”

  The Duke sincerely hoped that was what Aphrodite would do, but she might end up being pushed away into what were known as the ‘lumber-rooms’!

  But he could only repeat again how delighted Her Majesty would be with this superb gift. “The statue will be well packed, as you can see,” the King pointed out.

  He indicated a number of blankets on the ground, but they were not as good, the Duke thought, as the red ones he and Jenkins had wrapped over Apollo.

  But they were brightly coloured and he knew they were the work of the women of Greece in their cottages.

  “I promise you that I will take great care of the Goddess, sir.”

  The King smiled.

  “Now come and see the children or they will have gone to bed,” the Queen suggested.

  She led the way to the door and the Duke followed.

  It was only when they reached the nurseries did he realise that Thalia was not with them.

  He supposed she had stayed behind with the King for a further inspection of the Goddess of Love.

  ‘Perhaps she will think of posing for a statue of the Goddess herself,’ the Duke thought.

  Then he found it impossible to think about anything but the two small children the Queen was showing him so proudly.

  Constantine at two was a very
attractive little boy and he held out his arms to his mother, pressing his latest toy into her hands.

  George was in his nurse’s arms and the Duke could see that he was a stalwart child, who would doubtless grow into a tall athletic man like his father.

  “You are so lucky to have two such beautiful sons,” he complimented the Queen.

  She smiled at him.

  “You have no idea how proud George is of them or how much fuss the Greeks make of them. They always talk as if Constantine will be on the throne in a few years time and George the year after that!”

  “I feel sure that you intend to keep your husband alive until he is at least a hundred!”

  “Not quite as old as that,” the Queen retorted, “but we do enjoy being here and it is marvellous for him to be able to develop and enrich Greece, which certainly needed it when he first arrived.”

  “I think His Majesty has been wonderful,” the Duke remarked.

  “I must show you the swings we have put into the gardens for the children and also a special pool where they can paddle and where they will later be taught to swim.”

  Because she was so enthusiastic, the Duke did not demur when she took him through the nursery window into the garden.

  ‘After all,’ he told himself, ‘I am in no hurry and we certainly cannot place the statue of Apollo on Delos until after midnight.’

  He therefore appreciated what the Queen called her nursery garden and thought it was very astute of them to make a special place where the children could play without coming to any harm.

  “Of course the garden was in a hopeless condition when we came here,” the Queen was saying. “George left it entirely in my hands and I must show you the beautiful flowers I have been cultivating in the greenhouses.”

  There was a great deal of garden to see.

  The greenhouses, he had to admit, were growing every sort of orchid known to man.

  “I love flowers,” the Queen asserted positively. “If I have a daughter, I feel sure she will be as beautiful as these roses.”

  “If she is as beautiful as Your Majesty,” the Duke said gallantly, “no one could ask for more.”

  The Queen smiled.

  “Those are the sort of lovely words George says to me. As you must be aware, we are very very happy.”