“I find it so sad that we have seen so little of each other these past years.
But I feel we shall have so much to talk about if you come for a nice long stay after our daughters have set out for Larissa.
Please let me know when I can expect you.
I am sure a lot of the family whom you have not yet met will be delighted to make your acquaintance.”
“That is a very lovely letter, Mama, and now I shall feel a lot happier at leaving you. I am sure if you stay with the Dowager Duchess you will soon be invited by all the other relatives. In fact when I come home, I doubt if you will have any time for me at all!”
The Princess laughed.
“I shall always have time for you, my dearest, but it is very kind of the Duchess and I shall look forward to my stay with her.”
Because her mother’s clothes were becoming very shabby, Valona had insisted on buying a few new dresses for her at the same time as she was obtaining her own.
“The Duke said he would pay for yours, not mine,” her mother protested.
“I am quite certain he would be delighted for you to have two or three gowns, Mama, and if you are going to be difficult about it, I shall refuse to have the dresses we have ordered today.”
Princess Louise took much persuading, but finally she gave in.
She was well aware how rich the Duke was and she knew she would feel uncomfortable looking a dowdy poor relation at the parties the Dowager Duchess would give at Combe Hall.
*
The days seemed to flash by.
Valona finally said her farewells to Sir Mortimer.
“I have read your books from cover to cover,” she told him, “and thank you so much for lending them to me.”
“I have cleaned my revolver and it is now ready for you, Valona, and a good supply of bullets, although again I hope you will not need them.”
“I hope not too, but I am sure I am right in thinking one should always be prepared.”
She was remembering as she spoke what her father had often said,
“It was largely owing to lack of preparation, and in some ways sheer carelessness on the part of my people, that the revolution in Piracus was so successful.”
There had been no resistance and they had been so lucky to have been able to escape.
All the revolutionaries had despised the Piracusian Army and had not expected the Prince to oppose them in any effective way.
Valona packed the revolver in one of her trunks and sent up a prayer as she did so that it would not be needed.
‘I am sure that as there has been so much trouble in the Balkans already,’ she mused confidently, ‘that Larissa, as well as requesting protection from Great Britain, will be making some effort to protect itself.’
The Duke had arranged everything in minute detail and would send one of his carriages to collect Valona and her mother.
He had explained in his letter they were to meet at Combe House in Park Lane.
The battleship would be waiting in the Thames near the House of Commons.
For Valona it was all wildly exciting.
She was half-afraid when she went to bed the night before that something would happen to prevent her leaving.
When the morning came, the carriage arrived soon after breakfast.
All Valona’s luggage was piled into it and she and her mother drove off in considerable style waving goodbye to their elderly servant.
“You have explained to me, Mama,” said Valona as the horses drove through Windsor, “exactly what my duties are as a Lady-in-Waiting, but surely I shall not be the only one.”
“I think you are the only English one, my dearest. When she becomes Queen of Larissa, Lady Rose will be expected to have a number of Larissian ladies in attendance upon her. They might consider it to be offensive if she had more than one of her own nationality.”
“Oh, I see what you mean. So I shall not have to be on duty all the time.”
“I expect that you will sometimes have time to read a book or go for a good long walk in the garden. But in my experience of Royal households, there is always such a lot of protocol and bowing and curtsying that one never has a moment to oneself!”
“I expect I shall be able to steal some moments and I only hope they have a library. I have packed a number of books, but I could not bear having nothing to read.”
“I should speak to the Duke before you reach your destination,” her mother advised. “I expect, because he is such a charming young man, he will contrive some way of helping you.”
“I hope so,” Valona agreed doubtfully. “As well as books I shall want horses to ride.”
The Princess wondered if her daughter was asking too much, but at the same time she knew herself how dull and boring a Royal Court could be, especially when there was nothing in particular happening.
“As everything has been done in such a hurry,” she said, “because of the death of the Lady-in-Waiting, whose place you are taking, I am sure if you really want to come home soon, the Duke and I will be able to find someone to replace you.”
“That is a consolation for me, but I am really a little scared of departing into the unknown and having nothing to do.”
The Princess chuckled.
“You will find plenty to do, my dearest, and I look forward to your letters telling me you are overworked and longing to come home for a rest!”
Valona laughed as she was meant to and then she kissed her mother on the cheek.
“I do love you, Mama. We have always managed to laugh however difficult things have been.”
The Princess knew that their lives had really been a tremendous effort, especially after the loss of her husband.
At the same time Valona was just so full of life and energy.
It had always been easy for them to find something interesting to talk about or do, however little money they had.
When they arrived in Park Lane, Valona was very impressed by Combe House, which stood by itself with a large garden behind it.
The rooms seemed to her enormous after their tiny spaces at Hampton Court and all the Duke’s magnificent pictures and furniture made Valona gasp.
‘This is the way my dear Mama should be living,’ she mused to herself. ‘Only it should be a Palace.’
The Duke was waiting for them both in the drawing room with his sister, Lady Rose.
She was very pretty, Valona thought, and she took a liking to her from the moment Lady Rose thanked her for agreeing to come with her as Lady-in-Waiting.
“I think it is angelic of you,” she said. “It would be terrible if I had to be accompanied by some fussy old body, who never stopped telling me everything I did was wrong or someone who talked so much that I never got a word in edgeways!”
Valona giggled.
“I assure you that I shall never do either of those things.”
There was, however, little time to talk and the Duke kept saying they should go aboard.
Finally Valona said farewell to her mother and for a moment there was a suspicion of tears in the eyes of both of them.
“Take care of yourself, darling Mama, and if you need me, I promise I will come back at once.”
“I just want you to enjoy yourself and be a great success, my dearest.”
She kissed her daughter again and then she turned away so that she should not see the tears in her eyes.
They drove off and the Duke sat beside his sister with Valona on the other side of them.
As she said goodbye, Princess Louise did think that as Valona was so beautiful the Duke might be attracted to her.
Stranger things could happen in life, although more frequently in books, but she was aware that the Duke had looked at Valona admiringly and with satisfaction.
“Your daughter is very lovely,” he had said to her in an aside.
“I cannot tell you how grateful we are to you for the lovely clothes you have provided for her,” responded Princess Louise.
“Valona will cert
ainly carry the flag admirably.”
Princess Louise sighed.
“That is true, but she is very young and it is a great responsibility for a girl of that age.”
“Rose will look after her very well,” the Duke told her confidently, “so you are not to worry.”
She watched the carriage until it was out of sight, pondering somewhat wistfully how much she was going to miss Valona.
*
Lady Rose was rather quiet on the way to join the battleship.
Her brother was well aware why.
She was terrified that at the last moment something would prevent the Marquis from joining them.
He realised only too well how crafty his sister had been in pushing him into suggesting to the Queen that she should appoint the Marquis as her representative to Larissa.
He was pleased also that they had managed to avoid having to take a member of the Larissian Court with them.
The Marquis had made it clear that it would take too long to wait for them to return from Larissa to England, so they had next suggested that the Larissians might send a diplomat from Paris or Berlin.
The Marquis had then made a clever excuse that the battleship was not in the least commodious enough for too many guests, and it would be more pleasant for the English party to be free of pomp and ceremony until they actually reached Larissa.
They were piped aboard the battleship.
After shaking hands with the Captain and his fellow Officers, they went below.
As was usual, the Captain had given up his sleeping cabin as well as his day cabin to the most important guest aboard – Lady Rose.
As this battleship had been responsible for carrying Royalty on other State occasions, it was well furnished and comfortable.
When they were alone, after a Steward had brought them coffee, tea and sandwiches, the Duke turned to speak to the Marquis,
“I congratulate you, Gerald. I quite expected at the last moment we should have some dreary old Statesman or retired diplomat coming with us.”
“We very nearly had a whole tribe of them,” replied the Marquis. “But now we are, thank Heaven, on our own. So let’s try to forget for a few moments that all good things come to an end.”
He was looking at Lady Rose as he spoke and the expression in her eyes surprised Valona.
She thought the Marquis looked very handsome as he came aboard.
She found it rather surprising that there was not at least an older lady to accompany them. Her mother had expected there to be a husband and wife from the Palace entourage in Larissa and that they would be present to welcome them officially on behalf of the King.
The Marquis glanced over his shoulder in order to make sure that the door was closed and no one was listening.
“What I have arranged, Arthur, is for messages to be sent to me at every port at which we call.”
“Are we calling at any ports?” asked the Duke. “It is the first I have heard of it.”
“That is what I have arranged and I thought it rather bright of me. It will make the voyage take longer naturally and I am certain that Valona, if no one else, would like to have a look at Gibraltar, Marseilles, Naples and Athens.”
“I would love it,” cried Valona, before anyone else could speak. “All my life I have longed to visit all those places. Do you think we could possibly stop, if only for a few minutes, in Venice?”
“I have to admit I had missed that one out,” the Marquis laughed, “but it will certainly have to be included!”
He put out his hand towards Lady Rose.
“Tell me I have been clever.”
“Very clever,” she replied in a soft voice.
They were looking deeply into each other’s eyes.
And it suddenly struck Valona as extraordinary, but it seemed that they might be in love with each other.
‘I must be imagining it,’ she scolded herself.
At the same time, although she knew nothing about love, she was almost sure that it was what those two people were feeling.
Now they were all on board and the ship’s engines were turning.
H.M.S. Victorious was starting to move slowly and sedately up the centre of the River Thames.
“I think that we should go on deck now,” the Duke suggested to Valona. “You will have a very good view of the Houses of Parliament before we move down the river.”
She followed him eagerly.
Out on deck he pointed out the important sights as they passed them.
Next she realised that Lady Rose and the Marquis had not come with them.
She sighed, as it was thrilling to be on a battleship and to be seeing London from an entirely new and different angle.
She thought it was such a pity that Lady Rose was missing it.
However, she was very content to be with the Duke who she found knew a great deal about history.
He told her about the building of London and how it had changed down the centuries.
“I do wish Mama could see what you are showing me now!” exclaimed Valona.
“I tell you what we will do. When we come back from Larissa, perhaps in six months or even a year’s time, we will take your mother in my yacht down the Thames as we are proceeding now.”
Valona clasped her hands together.
“What a wonderful idea! You are so kind to us and Mama would enjoy it all so much.”
“You are not to worry about her. I am sure she will be quite happy staying with my mother and the gardens are looking at their best at this time of the year.”
“I know that you must have asked your mother to invite Mama to Combe House, Cousin Arthur, and I am so very grateful to you. Otherwise I would have been worried that she would be lonely without me.”
“I had thought about it, Valona, and I am only so ashamed as one of the family that we have neglected your dear mother for so long. It slipped my mind that we were related and now you must help me make up for it.”
“I am only too willing to do whatever you want and please say that you like my dress and hat, all of which you paid for.”
The Duke chuckled.
“I can see that like all women you would like to be flattered. Actually I am not flattering you, but telling you the truth when I say that you are exactly the right person to impress the Russians that the British are all powerful!”
Valona smiled.
“I don’t think I am capable of that, but at least no one will patronise me because I look threadbare!”
“It is something which will never occur again,” the Duke promised. “I have already apologised that you have been neglected.”
“We have been extremely happy at Hampton Court. There are such kind people living there and they all came yesterday afternoon to wish me goodbye and said such nice things about me to my Mama that I was almost sorry to be leaving.”
“And what do you feel about it now?”
“This is the most fantastic thing I have ever done,” answered Valona, “even in my dreams.”
“I saw you looking very animated when my friend the Marquis told us we were stopping at a number of ports on our way to Larissa, so I would imagine that you long to be a traveller.”
“So far I have only been able to travel in my mind and through the books I have read. Now I am really going to see the great Rock of Gibraltar and the canals of Venice! I feel sure that once again I am dreaming!”
“I only hope you will not be disappointed, Valona, if one sets one’s expectations too high, there is always the chance that you wish the reality could have been a little bit better.”
Valona laughed.
“Now you are being cynical. I am sure that none of us have any doubts that this magical ship will carry us into an enchanted fairyland!”
The Duke was silent for a minute before he replied,
“That is what we hope Larissa will be like after we have arrived there. Despite what Gerald might desire, we must not linger too long on the voyage.”
“W
hy do you say that?”
The Duke hesitated for just a moment as he thought it might be mistake to tell her the truth and then he said,
“I think, Valona, you are old enough to understand the Russian intentions in the Balkans and it will not please them that the King of Larissa is marrying again, although he is no longer a young man, and above all to an English bride related to Queen Victoria.”
“He already has a son, I hear.”
“One child is not enough for a safe dynasty.”
The Duke spoke in a low voice almost as if he was talking to himself.
“If Larissa is really in such danger,” Valona asked him, “why do you allow your sister to go there?”
The Duke smiled a little wryly.
“It is what the Queen desires and it is very difficult to oppose Her Majesty when she has made up her mind!”
“I appreciate that and I was rather frightened that she might send for me and, when she had seen me, decide that I was too young.”
The Duke laughed.
“You must be clairvoyant. That is just what I was scared of too. So in case the Queen said that she wanted to see you first, I quickly told her that you were away from home visiting one of your relatives.
“That was a lie!”
“A white lie, shall we say, Valona, but I think if she had seen you, she might well have insisted on Rose being accompanied by some aged crone who would have found fault with everything we did from the moment we left.”
“That would have been dreadful. And thank you, thank you, Cousin Arthur, for being so clever even if it was a lie.”
“A white lie,” insisted the Duke, “and it is certainly permissible if it is helping someone else.”
As they steamed past the ancient Tower of London and then the dockyards, the Duke told Valona something of their long and interesting history.
A little later it was time for luncheon, so they went down to the Saloon.
As they entered Valona could see that the Marquis and Lady Rose were deep in conversation with each other.
They did not seem to be particularly happy and he was holding her hand in his.
It then struck Valona that perhaps the Marquis had wanted to marry Lady Rose and she had been obliged to refuse him because she was to marry the King.
‘If it was me,’ Valona thought, ‘and I was in love with anyone half as good-looking as the Marquis, I would refuse the King whatever Her Majesty might say about it!’
Love and Apollo Page 4
