“If Your Royal Highness should wish to go into the garden, please inform me and I’ll make sure that there’s no one watching who we don’t trust.”
“You don’t think there is likely to be anyone hostile or foreign in the garden?” asked Narina.
Paks made an expressive movement with his hands.
“One just never knows. In these days, Your Royal Highness, even the walls have ears. We has to be careful, very very careful, for His Royal Highness be our lifeline to happiness.”
The way he spoke to her with a strong accent made the words seem as unreal as everything else did to Narina.
She could hardly believe it was possible for her to be treated like a Princess and to be moving about in these beautiful rooms.
Now she was aware that they held a great number of treasures, which she decided she must inspect when she had the time.
As her breakfast was carried away, Paks came back to announce,
“His Royal Highness’s Lord Chamberlain requests an audience with Your Royal Highness.”
“Please ask him to come in.”
The Lord Chamberlain bowed deeply to her in the Royal manner and as Paks left the room, he came towards where Narina was sitting on the sofa.
“Are you all right?” he enquired.
“I am feeling that I am sitting in the clouds,” Narina answered, “and that this cannot be happening to me. At the same time it’s all very exciting.”
The Lord Chamberlain laughed and as he remained standing, Narina suggested,
“Please sit down, Lord Chamberlain.”
“I was waiting for you to invite me to do so.”
Narina gave a little gasp.
“Am I to play my part even when we are alone?”
“To be a good actor or actress, you have to act not only with your body but also with your mind. So you must think you are what you pretend to be, otherwise it might be easy for someone to discover that you are acting a part.”
Narina smiled.
“I understand, so please tell me more of what I have to do and I promise to try to be perfect in my part so that you never have to rebuke me.”
The Lord Chamberlain sat down.
“I am rather afraid, Your Royal Highness, that this afternoon you have to receive a group of women who come here every year as guests of the Mayor.”
Narina gasped.
“But I thought I just had to stay here reading a book until Louise and His Royal Highness return?”
“That is what we hoped you would be able to do, but unfortunately this appointment was made by one of my aides-de-camp who forgot to tell me about it. It is too late to cancel it now, as they will have already left their homes in the country and will be travelling for the City.”
Narina drew in her breath.
“Suppose I make a mistake?”
“I am quite sure you have often attended exactly the same type of occasion with your father.”
“Well, if you put it like that, I have,” she admitted.
“Then you know what to do and it really consists of listening, being sympathetic to their grievances, if any, and as far as you are concerned, doing nothing. I am told that you are fluent in German, so language will be no problem.”
“You are quite certain, Lord Chamberlain, that they will not realise that I am not who I pretend to be.”
“Why should they? Most of the ladies come from outside the City and have never seen you before. All you have to do is to behave as you would at home to people in your father’s flock who are on an outing.”
It was impossible for Narina not to laugh at what he was saying, because it was so true.
He bowed once again and left her.
Narina went to her room and stood at the window looking out towards the sea.
She was thinking how bizarre it all was.
In a twinkling of an eye she had been transmitted from her quiet home in Hertfordshire to this strange land, where the local people were striving against being overrun by their greedy and aggressive neighbour.
‘They are a small Principality,’ she mused, ‘and very vulnerable.
Is it really possible that the Union Jack in the shape of the wife of the ruling Prince can possibly save them?’
Then it was as if the answer to her question came to her straight from Heaven.
She realised that whatever the cost, Louise, and all those who were so proud of being British would stand and fight – they would defy the enemy and never give in.
Looking up at the sky as the sunshine was turning the garden into a fairyland of intense beauty, Narina prayed that she would play her part, however small, perfectly and without fault –
That God would give her the strength and resilience that Alexanderburg so desperately needed.
CHAPTER THREE
Dressed in one of Louise’s gowns and wearing one of her prettiest hats over her newly arranged hair, Narina walked slowly downstairs.
There she found an equerry waiting to escort her to the City Hall where the women were congregating.
The equerry was a young and rather good-looking man and he was obviously impressed by Princess Louise as he took Narina to be.
He sat in the seat of the carriage opposite to her and Narina thought he looked at her nervously.
“You must tell me all about the people who I will be meeting,” she asked, “and where they have come from. I forgot to ask the Lord Chamberlain to give me a list.”
“I have brought it with me just in case Your Royal Highness wanted it.”
“How clever of you! And you must remind me of the different places I have visited, just in case they mention somewhere where I have been, as they will be annoyed if I don’t remember it.”
The equerry laughed.
“It is rather difficult when there are so many small towns and villages in Alexanderburg. Also as I come from Vienna, I find it hard to remember the different names myself.”
“Then I just hope they will not notice how ignorant we both are!”
She realised she had put the equerry at his ease and then she found herself immensely interested in the City.
She saw it was very pleasantly laid out and the trees bordering the streets gave it a most attractive appearance.
They passed by the Cathedral and Narina was just about to say she wished to visit it when she remembered that Louise would have been married there – and doubtless she had been there for other occasions such as Easter Day.
‘I must be so careful not to forget I am not myself,’ she reminded herself.
The City Hall was a very impressive building.
The Lord Mayor in full regalia met her and several Councillors and the women curtsied low while the men bowed over her hand.
Then she was taken to a huge hall that was literally packed with women.
The Lord Mayor made a long speech saying how grateful they all were to Princess Louise for attending their annual meeting.
From what he said Narina gathered that this was the Alexanderburg equivalent of the Mothers’ Union.
When the Lord Mayor finished speaking, he turned to Narina and enquired,
“I wonder, Your Royal Highness, if you would like to say a few words to the assembled ladies.”
“Of course I would,” replied Narina.
She was thankful as she rose to her feet that she had practised so much of the Alexanderburg language with the Baron on the Battleship.
She knew that she was almost word perfect.
Remembering that she was supposed to be Louise, she spoke of her happy childhood in England and how she had attended an English School.
“I know,” she insisted, “that His Royal Highness, my husband, is very anxious to improve our facilities for education here in Alexanderburg.
“But what you must do, and this bit is very important, is to make your children interested in learning even before they go to school.”
She told them about some of the lessons her father had taught her and how it was e
ssential for young children to learn to read as early as possible.
“I have always been so grateful that I can read book after book and find every single one entrancing. That is an education in itself and every child should begin by reading a simple fairy tale.”
She realised that the women were listening intently as she continued,
“I am sure that you will have lots of questions you would like to ask. Perhaps no one has the time in this busy country to answer you. Therefore do please ask me now and I will try to answer as best as I can.”
She saw that the Lord Mayor and the Councillors with him were astonished.
One woman asked Narina which fairy story she felt was best for children and another asked if it was a mistake for children to love their toys more than their parents.
Narina smiled at these questions.
“I think the truth is that a child wants a companion and if they do not have another child to play with they will begin to believe that their dolls and teddy bears are living persons – someone they can talk to and who will answer them in their own language.
“My advice to you is simple. If you want a child to be happy and if you can give it a new playmate by having another child as near its age as possible, then do so.”
There was laughter at this advice and she could see that the women were interested.
And so the questions came thick and fast.
Then, as the majority of the women in the hall had their children with them, Narina announced,
“Now I am coming down from the platform and I would like to see your children. I do think they have been very good whilst I have been speaking and that you have brought them all up exceedingly well.”
The women were delighted.
As she started to walk round, one of the babies who was very young and in its mother’s arms, started to cry.
The woman rocked the baby, rose from her seat and walked about with it, but still the baby cried.
It was then that Narina remembered something her mother had done once.
A child had cried at a meeting when her father was speaking and he was always irritated if he was interrupted so her mother took great pains to keep the children happy.
Narina turned to a Councillor standing beside her.
“Can you fetch me some honey?” she asked.
“Honey!” he exclaimed.
“Yes please, honey and a teaspoon.”
He sent a servant off to find the honey.
In a few moments the servant came hurrying back with a comb of honey on a plate and a small teaspoon.
Narina scooped up some of the honey that had run out of the comb and put it gently on the baby’s lips.
For a while he went on crying and then as he tasted the honey, he began to enjoy it.
He sucked away at what was already on his tongue until Narina placed more honey in his mouth.
“Now he will go to sleep,” she told his mother.
“I never thinks,” replied the woman, “of giving the baby honey.”
“Honey is quite wonderful for children. My mother always gave it to me when I was small. It is very useful if you are travelling and small children are upset by bumping over rough roads and therefore cry.”
There was a murmur of appreciation in the hall.
“Give them honey. I promise you, if they wake up in the night and it annoys your husband, give them a little honey to suck and they will soon go to sleep again. And if you are lucky, they will not wake up until the morning.”
There was another murmur of interest.
Just as she completed her tour around the room, the Lord Mayor announced that tea was ready and although it was a tight squeeze, he felt sure that everyone would find enough for themselves and their children to eat.
He took Narina into his private apartment where tea was served for her and the Councillors.
“I am very certain, Your Royal Highness,” the Lord Mayor said, “that all these women will have something to talk about until next year.”
Narina laughed.
“It always surprises me that people in the country, although they do keep bees, are not aware of the wonderful properties of honey. They make jam, which is not half as good for them as honey. Mohammed once said, ‘Honey is the food of the body and the soul’.”
She spoke as she would have spoken to her father and then she saw surprise in the Lord Mayor’s eyes.
Only then did she remember that Louise, much as she loved her, was not as well read as she was.
Tactfully she changed the subject to ask what was happening in the City.
There was a moment’s hesitation before the Lord Mayor replied,
“Everything is pretty quiet, Your Royal Highness, but I have a suspicion that there are intruders from outside who join the men in the evening when work is done. From all I hear they are trying to unsettle them in various subtle ways that is impossible for us to control.”
“Then what is the answer?” enquired Narina.
“I think that what Your Royal Highness has done this afternoon has been of great help. The women are very delighted with you. It will give them much to talk about and they will not be so attentive to their husbands tonight.”
“Are you suggesting, Lord Mayor, that the people are being made to feel misgoverned and oppressed?”
“Only in certain districts at the moment, but we are always afraid that the situation might grow worse as it has in other Balkan countries.”
“What I feel is important,” asserted Narina, “is that they should see much more of my husband and me in the future. I had the feeling when I was talking to the women just now that either most of them were newcomers to the country or else I had missed them on past occasions when I have appeared in public.”
“You were unable to grace this meeting last year. And also the previous year, which was just after you were married, as you were away on your honeymoon.”
“That, naturally, was a good excuse for not being present, but before I leave I would like once again to talk to the women who are having tea in the other room.”
The Lord Mayor was obviously surprised.
“I think we are asking too much of you, Your Royal Highness.”
“Not at all. I talked, as you saw, to a great number of them, but I did not reach them all and some may feel neglected.”
Despite the Lord Mayor’s rather feeble protest, she insisted on doing as she wished.
She walked into where the women were finishing their tea and some of them were already putting coats on their small children.
Before the Lord Mayor was aware of what she was intending to do, Narina stood up on one of the chairs.
The women looked up in anticipation as she raised her voice and began,
“I have come back not only to say goodbye to you but because I have an idea that I think you will all enjoy. In two months’ time, when the weather will be warmer, will you try to come back again? But before you do so will you please send in a drawing or a toy that your children have made themselves.
“There will be a good number of prizes, including for the funniest exhibit and the most imaginative, as well as for those which are outstandingly clever.”
“I am sure that the Lord Mayor will give us a date before you leave and the exhibition will, I am quite certain, be of considerable interest to the many tourists who will be visiting Alexanderburg in July and August.”
There was a distinct gasp of excitement and then all the women started to clap and cheer.
Narina’s idea had very obviously appealed to their imagination and they were thrilled at the idea of showing how clever their children were.
Helped by the Lord Mayor, she slipped down from the chair and started talking to them individually.
“That be something so new, Your Royal Highness,” one woman said, “and as I’ve five children, they’ll all be hoping they can win a prize!”
“I hope they will too and I promise you there will be plenty of prizes. In fact my
husband and I will work out exactly how many different ways they can compete so that no one is left out.”
She shook hands with one mother after another.
When finally she left long after the Lord Mayor had expected her to do so, they all cheered her, not only in the City Hall but outside as she stepped into her carriage.
Then they waved until she was out of sight.
When she was alone with the equerry, he said,
“If you will excuse me, Your Royal Highness, that was an absolutely brilliant idea of yours. I have often felt that the women are neglected and forgotten.”
“I think if nothing else it will give them something new to talk about,” added Narina.
“And I am certain there will be a big rush for honey after all Your Royal Highness has said. Actually the honey in this country is exceptionally good.”
“I look forward to enjoying it myself.”
She realised that she had spoken as if she had not tasted Alexanderburg honey before.
Quickly, to cover up what she knew was a definite faux pas, she added,
“I think in the Palace the cooks believe that honey is too simple and do not provide it as much as I would like. They prefer to send it up for only breakfast.”
She was speaking as her mother might have spoken.
Then she thought that perhaps the women she had just left might think it rather strange that while she was so interested in children, she still had none of her own.
Almost instinctively she found herself praying that Prince Rudolf’s trip to Constantinople would be successful and that there would soon be an heir to the throne.
As they neared the Palace, the equerry piped up,
“Would it be forward of me, Your Royal Highness, to say how much I have admired you this afternoon? And how impressed I was with the way you handled not only the women but also the Lord Mayor?”
Narina gave a little laugh.
“Did I handle him?” she quizzed.
“Your Royal Highness did indeed. He is so much a stickler for everything being done exactly as it has always been done before. I saw his surprise when you insisted on going into the ladies’ tea room.”
“I can see that he is rather a fuddy-duddy. We shall have to teach him that the Palace requires everything to be new and exciting for those we reign over.”
The Gates of Paradise Page 5
