Crowned with Love

by Barbara Cartland

  It was what she might have expected.

  Then, as she looked at him, she was aware that it was not that he was so old which made him somehow repulsive, but that there was something hard, almost cruel, in the sharp line of his lips and the cold speculation in his eyes.

  She quickly made a speech in German that she had written out for her mother to approve and which she had learnt by heart.

  “I thank Your Majesty for your most kind and generous welcome. I am very happy to be here in your lovely country, where I hope to make my home and I am certain I will grow to love it in the same way as I love England.”

  If the King was pleased at her response, he did not say so. He merely introduced her rather sharply to the other men standing beside him on the platform.

  There were no women, Giona noticed, but there was the Prime Minister and many Ministers of State, besides half a dozen Generals and Councillors with heavy gold chains around their necks, which seemed to weigh them down.

  They all wished to say something pleasant to Giona, but the King was obviously very impatient.

  “Come along, come along!” he said in German, moving her forward. “Everything is late, although it could not be prevented and we must now make up for lost time.”

  Giona wondered what was the hurry, but there was no chance of asking questions before she found herself in an open Landau driving beside the King to the cheers of the populace that lined the streets.

  She waved at them, but noticed that the King made no effort from his side of the carriage to even raise his hand.

  Instead he sat rather stiffly staring at the crowd, as if he was looking for an assassin.

  There was certainly a great number of soldiers lining the route and the horses drove at a quick pace, which made Giona feel that the people, who must have waited for many hours to see her, were not getting their money’s worth.

  She was, however, too nervous to suggest to the King that they should go slower, but merely redoubled her efforts to wave as she passed, hoping they would see from her smile how gratified she was by their reception.

  As The Palace came in sight, the King spoke for the first time since they had left the station.

  “There is no need to overdo it! They wanted an English Queen and now they have one!”

  Giona looked at him in surprise and asked,

  “And did you not want one?”

  “Of course! Of course!” the King said sharply. “And I am very pleased to see you!”

  She thought, however, that he did not seem very enthusiastic and imagined that perhaps he was feeling embarrassed as she was.

  The Palace was a large building, erected several centuries earlier, standing high above the City in what Giona knew would be beautiful gardens.

  There was a long flight of steps up to the front door and, as she started up them on the red carpet, the King walked beside her in silence not offering her his arm as she would have expected in the circumstances.

  Just inside The Palace was standing another large group of people to be introduced, which the King did quickly, obviously wishing to waste no more time on pleasantries.

  Then they were in a large and very impressive anteroom that led into the dining room.

  “There is no time for titivating!” the King said quickly. “As everything has been delayed for two hours, you will eat as you are.”

  Because he spoke in such an authoritative tone, Giona longed to say that she would wish at least to remove her bonnet and wash her hands.

  But she had the feeling that he would be extremely annoyed if she said anything of the sort.

  As soon as the guests who had followed them from the Station arrived, they moved hurriedly into the dining room, where more guests were already waiting for them.

  There were no introductions, but they clapped as Giona appeared.

  She tried to smile and bow as she walked quickly beside the King to their seats at the top of the table.

  They sat down side by side and, after a Bishop had said Grace, the King asked,

  “What happened last night? I have every intention of finding the culprits and also punishing those whose duty it was to bring the train through the pass in safety. It is disgraceful, utterly disgraceful, that you should be greeted in such a manner the moment you arrive in this country!”

  “There is no real harm done,” Giona said, “and really, I think it would be a good idea to forget it.”

  “Forget it?” the King demanded sharply. “I have never heard such nonsense! If you give these people an inch, they will take a mile! They have been behaving outrageously lately and I will not stand for it! They are going to learn that I have no intention of putting up with their nonsense!”

  He spoke in a harsh authoritative voice that seemed to ring out round the table and for a moment there was silence as everybody near them looked at him apprehensively before the King went on,

  “God knows what will happen if we cannot step out of our own front doors without being attacked and having bombs thrown at us! It is up to those who guard us to see that such atrocities do not occur.”

  He glared at the General who was sitting three seats away from him at the table and, although he was a large rather impressive figure, Giona felt that he seemed to crumble before the King’s gaze and his red face visibly paled.

  “Are you listening to what I am saying, General?” the King demanded.

  “I assure Your Majesty that everything will be done to bring these malefactors to justice.”

  “So I should hope! So I should hope!” the King asserted. “The whole thing is completely disgraceful! Apart from anything else, it made us late for luncheon!”

  When the food did arrive, it was very heavy and, Giona thought, Germanic.

  There was a great amount of meat, which the King as well as his guests ate with relish, preceded by fish in pastry and followed by puddings covered with cream.

  What Giona enjoyed was the fish, which she guessed must have come from the silver river and the vegetables, which were different from anything she had eaten in England.

  She refused the wine, never when at home having been allowed to drink anything but water, except occasionally at Christmas or some other festival.

  She noticed that a number of different wines were served, which the guests drank with appreciation and their glasses were filled and refilled.

  The luncheon was long drawn out and continued as course succeeded course and one wine followed another, until Giona was sure that it must be teatime.

  Then there were speeches by the Prime Minister who welcomed her to Slavonia, the Lord Chief Justice and a number of other extremely dull gentlemen who apparently had no idea when it was a good thing to sit down.

  Naturally it was all in German and it was lucky, Giona thought, that she could understand that language. At the same time she had never thought of it at all as an attractive one.

  She wished that she could hear Slavonian, which she knew was very soft and graceful, with some words sounding poetical just in themselves.

  She was feeling rather exhausted when at last the luncheon came to an end and Lady Bowden came to her side to introduce her to some of the ladies, although there were not many of them, who had been in the luncheon party.

  At long last, when Giona thought that there was nothing left to say, she was allowed to go to her bedroom, where to her relief she found Mithra waiting for her.

  “You must be tired, Your Royal Highness,” the maid said solicitously.

  “I am indeed,” Giona replied. “I have never heard so many long speeches and so many words saying the same thing over and over again.”

  She laughed as she spoke and Mithra remarked,

  “It’s always the same. The Austrians and the Germans, they talk and they drink. Sometimes they sing, although not in The Palace!”

  Giona looked around at the room and thought that it was very ugly, but she supposed it was only temporary accommodation until she was married, when she would move into a mor
e important State bedroom.

  As if Mithra knew what she was thinking, she said,

  “Before I was here I believe The Palace was very lovely, but now the curtains over the beds have been taken away and many of the beautiful pictures are now stacked in the attics.”

  “Why is that?” Giona asked.

  “His Majesty thinks such frivolities are unnecessary and a waste of time.”

  Giona laughed.

  She already understood that it was time that mattered to the King.

  Slowly she took off her bonnet and the gown she had arrived in and Mithra suggested that she should have a rest before dinner.

  She found herself thinking of the King as a man and her husband and she knew that not only was he old, but as a man she found him repellent.

  He had not said one pleasant word to her since she had arrived and had merely been in a hurry to get through everything that appertained to her welcome.

  It struck her that he resented being pressured into marriage and, just as she had no wish to marry him, he had no wish to marry her.

  ‘Perhaps we will be able to go our separate ways,’ she told herself as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

  Then she saw the King’s thin rather cruel mouth and what seemed to her to be a hostile expression in his eyes and she was frightened.

  Frightened not only at the idea of him as her husband, but of something else – something she sensed but could not put into words.

  Something that was so vividly there that she was terrified of it.

  Chapter Five

  Giona looked at herself in the mirror and thought that no one could complain that she did not look attractive for what was to be an important public appearance.

  Her mother had chosen for her a pale yellow gown the colour of spring sunshine, which threw into prominence the soft gold of her hair and made her eyes seem more mystical than usual.

  The bonnet that went with it was trimmed with kingcups and she thought as Mithra handed her her gloves and a small satin bag that matched her gown that even the King must think that she looked nice.

  Just as she was about to go downstairs, there came a knock on the door and, when Mithra opened, it a footman announced,

  “Before Her Royal Highness joins His Majesty, Sir Edward Bowden would like to speak to her in an anteroom and I am waiting to escort Her Royal Highness there.”

  Giona could hear what was said and she hurried forward, saying,

  “I am ready.”

  The footman was a middle-aged man who she imagined must have been at The Palace for some years and she therefore asked him,

  “Have you seen many changes while you have been working here?”

  She spoke slowly in Slavonian and he paused before he replied,

  “I was here when I was a young man, Your Royal Highness, with the last King and The Palace was a very happy place in those days.”

  From the way he spoke, there was no need for him to say more and Giona walked beside him along the passages and down a magnificent double staircase that led to the marble hall.

  He took her into what was a small rather austere room that she guessed was mainly used for people waiting for an audience with the King.

  “Good morning, Your Excellency!” Giona said. “Are you coming with me this morning to the House of Parliament, where I understand His Majesty and I are to receive a magnificent Wedding gift from the Members?”

  “I shall be accompanying Your Royal Highness,” Sir Edward replied, “but first I have something of importance to say to you.”

  “What is it?” Giona enquired a little apprehensively.

  “Last night I was informed by His Majesty and several of his advisers that it would be best if you changed your name.”

  “Changed my name?” Giona exclaimed in astonishment.

  This was something that she had certainly not expected.

  Sir Edward looked uncomfortable.

  “His Majesty thinks that it would be more appropriate if, as their reigning Queen, you had a name that was more usual.”

  Giona stared at him for a moment and then she said,

  “I believe what His Majesty is really saying is that my name is Greek and therefore more likely to be appreciated by the Slavonians than by the Austrians.”

  She spoke sharply and Sir Edward glanced over his shoulder before he replied,

  “I was afraid that Your Royal Highness might be a little upset at his suggestion, but His Majesty is very eager that you should be married to him with a name that he is familiar with.”

  Giona did not speak and Sir Edward went on,

  “He has made several suggestions. Matilda, which was the name of his mother, Wilhelmina, for which he says he has always had a fondness or perhaps Gertrude.”

  Giona drew in her breath.

  Then she said,

  “My name was chosen for me by my father and mother when I was christened and, as my father was Greek, it is something I am very proud of. Will you inform His Majesty that I would never think of taking another name, which is certainly something that my father would not have wished me to do, were he alive.”

  Sir Edward sighed.

  “His Majesty will be very – disappointed.”

  He hesitated before the last word and Giona knew that he was going to say ‘displeased’.

  She suddenly felt a pride that she had not known she possessed make her determined that she would not be overwhelmed or trodden on by the King and that the first step he appeared to be taking was to put pressure on her to lose her identity.

  “My name is Giona,” she said firmly, “and that is how I shall be married. If the King does not welcome it, I feel that the people of Slavonia will.”

  She knew by the expression on Sir Edward’s face that this was the last thing that the King would be concerned with.

  Because she had no wish to argue any further, she turned towards the door, saying,

  “I feel that His Majesty will be waiting for me and, as Your Excellency knows, I must not be late!”

  Before Sir Edward could speak, she walked out into the hall where, as she expected, an aide-de-camp was waiting to escort her to the King.

  When they reached him, Giona curtseyed and he said quite genially,

  “Good morning! You are punctual, which is a good thing, because we have a great deal to do and the carriage is waiting.”

  He did not pause for her reply, but walked ahead of her back into the hall and out through the front door.

  She could not help thinking that, disagreeable though he was, he at least looked magnificent in his uniform blazing with decorations, a blue ribbon across one shoulder and the same plumed hat that he had worn to meet her at the Station.

  She did not miss the fact that there seemed to be a great number of soldiers lining the route from The Palace to the gates and there was a troop of Cavalry to ride in front and another behind the carriage in which they were to be conveyed.

  She was not, however, to be alone with the King, for sitting opposite them was an Officer, almost as resplendent as the King himself and a fat dumpy German woman whom Giona had already learnt last night was to be one of her two Ladies-in-Waiting.

  This one was a Baroness and the other a Countess, both grey-haired and nearing or over fifty.

  She felt that somebody might have thought that it would be more pleasant for her to have at least one of them nearer her own age.

  The King made it quite clear that both the Baroness and the Countess would teach her the formalities of Court life and Giona was sure that they would be like Governesses, ready to find fault with everything she did.

  The Baroness was obviously terrified of the King and, although Giona was polite enough to wish her ‘good morning’ and say how much she was looking forward to the drive to the House of Parliament, the woman was too nervous to answer her except in monosyllables.

  She therefore gave her attention to the crowd they were passing through, who had started cheering as soon as they
left The Palace gates.

  Again Giona was aware that the soldiers guarding the route were very close to each other and, what was more, they faced the crowds with their backs to the Royal Carriage, which meant that they were watching for any likely assailant amongst the populace.

  However, everybody seemed to be in a happy mood, the sun was shining, the trees were in bloom and the children, many of whom were seated on their fathers’ shoulders, were waving small paper Union Jacks.

  Giona waved back, aware that once again the King was sitting stiffly at her side, making no effort to acknowledge the cheers.

  The horses were drawing them as quickly as they had when they brought her from the Station and after they had passed down one wide avenue and were turning into another, Giona said to the King,

  “Surely it is unnecessary to move so swiftly? These people must have waited a long time to see us and yet we pass them in a flash.”

  “We have no time to hang about,” the King replied. “Besides, it might be dangerous.”

  “Do you really think they might throw a bomb or try to shoot at us with so many soldiers lining the route?” Giona asked.

  She spoke lightly, but the King was scowling as he answered,

  “There is no point in taking unnecessary risks.”

  The way he spoke made Giona turn once again with relief to the people who were cheering them.

  They passed into a large, impressive square and ahead of her she saw the House of Parliament.

  It was a finely designed building of grey stone and in front of it was a formal garden with a wide central path carpeted in red over which she and the King were to walk when they left the Royal Carriage.

  There were spectators on either side of the path being held back by a barrier of soldiers so tall that Giona felt that it must be impossible for the people to see anything over their shoulders.

  She smiled and waved her hand in response to their cheers, aware that the King had, the moment he stepped out of the carriage, set off quickly towards the steps leading into the Parliament building.

  She could see the Prime Minister at the top of the stairs waiting with the Members of his Cabinet.

  Giona was having difficulty in keeping up with the King, when a small child, a little boy of perhaps three years of age, slipped between two of the soldiers watching the crowd and ran towards her.