Leading Lady

by Jane Aiken Hodge

  ‘Ach, the poor fellow,’ said Fylde. ‘Let’s go back to bed, my queen.’

  ‘Frau Schmidt! It’s good to see you at last.’ Martha had been sitting alone, drafting and redrafting a reply to the Austrian demand, when the formidable old lady was announced. ‘How long have you been in Lissenberg? You should have let me know, come to the opera the other night.’

  ‘Good of you, but I am just this moment arrived.’ Frau Schmidt was as ramrod straight as ever, not a white hair out of place. ‘I have a message for you, highness. We won’t be interrupted?’ She took Martha’s arm and coaxed her gently towards the window, as far from the door as possible.

  ‘Not unless it’s a matter of urgency. But – a message, Frau Schmidt? From –’ She looked at her husband’s adoptive grandmother with wild surmise.

  ‘Yes, from Franz. He’s at my house, arrived after dark last night. Famished … filthy … exhausted …’

  ‘Franz?’ She knew the old lady for the most reliable of witnesses, still could hardly believe her ears. ‘I’ve been so worried about him; not a word for months … But, Frau Schmidt … Filthy? Exhausted? And – in Brundt?’

  ‘He wants you to come to him, help him. It’s an impossible situation. It certainly defeats me. He says no one must know he is here until you and he have decided what’s best to do.’

  ‘His brother is here.’

  ‘I heard. Gone to Gustavsberg. Let’s hope it keeps Prince Gustav occupied until we get things sorted out. But it’s you Franz wants, not his brother.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Impossible not to mind that Franz had gone to the old lady first, but she must not let it affect her. ‘Why would I be coming to Brundt?’ Practical as always, she was applying her mind to the immediate problem.

  ‘I thought of that. There’s been an accident in the mines, I am sorry to say. I brought you the news. You decided to pay a royal visit of condolence. A surprise visit. How soon can you leave?’

  ‘It’s as urgent as that? Well, of course it is. Returned in secret! I’ll give the orders; you can explain on the way. I’d best come alone, had I not? May I stay with you, Frau Schmidt?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Is there anything else I need to know, before I give my orders?’

  ‘I don’t think so. A fast carriage, not a state one; I’ll have mine follow behind. As it is we are likely to finish the journey in the dark, but that is the least of my worries.’

  Half an hour later, they were driving down the hill from the palace to Lissenberg and the road to Brundt. ‘You are well served,’ said the old lady. ‘Franz said you would be quick, but I hardly hoped for this. We should be there not long after nightfall.’

  ‘If we don’t lose a wheel. And now, explain. It’s Napoleon, of course.’

  ‘Yes. He’s kept Franz dangling at his side all summer, first at Paris, then Boulogne, then back in Paris again. You’ve heard, I have no doubt, about Minette de Beauharnais?’

  ‘Kind friends have told me.’

  ‘I was sure of it. Franz refused even to discuss it, found himself civilly prevented from leaving. One excuse after another … He must go with Napoleon to see his invasion fleet, recognise the importance of the alliance he was being offered … Then came the news of the Austro-Russian Treaty. Napoleon acted like lightning! Back to Paris, his armies marching at full speed across Europe, insisted that Franz go too, see his might at first hand. They were at Strasbourg a few days ago, met the Imperial Guard there. In the confusion, Franz managed to slip away. He had to pawn everything he had on him to pay for the journey. He came by the secret road, of course. Much quicker.’

  ‘The secret road?’

  ‘You don’t know? There’s a path across the mountains, north of Brundt, takes you down to a tributary of the Danube. Only an expert mountaineer can manage it, but Franz has walked it many times in the old days when he needed to come and go in secret. That’s why he came to me, as nearest. And now, you and he have to think of an explanation, he says, that will not involve a fatal public affront to Napoleon.’

  ‘My goodness, yes, I do see.’ It warmed Martha’s heart that Franz had had such a good reason for going first to Frau Schmidt in Brundt. ‘How many people know he is here?’

  ‘No one but me.’ The old lady smiled and patted Martha’s hand. ‘Don’t forget, child, that your husband has a past as a desperate revolutionary. He’s had a secret way in and out of my house ever since he was a boy. And a hidden room where he used to hide his firebrand friends when they were in trouble with Prince Gustav in the bad old days. So now he’s trying the feel of solitary confinement for himself. I can tell you, he doesn’t much like it. He is going to be remarkably pleased to see you!’

  ‘It’s all extraordinary,’ said Martha. ‘But what in the world are we going to do?’

  ‘I am sure you and he will think of something,’ said the old lady comfortably. ‘And now, if you will excuse me, my dear, I think I will get some sleep. I didn’t get much last night, I can tell you, what with feeding the poor man and finding him clothes. He was in a bad state when he arrived. It’s snowed early in the mountains this year and I think he’d had a hard time of it, though of course he won’t admit it. I imagine he will have slept all day today, so I hope you will find him a little better. But he’s going to need some cherishing for a while, I think.’

  ‘Bless you, Frau Schmidt!’ Martha reached out a hand to take the old lady’s.

  ‘Franz!’

  ‘My dear!’ They were in each other’s arms, laughing a little, crying a little. ‘I’ve missed you so.’ Which of them said it?

  ‘You look worn out.’ Martha drew away a little to look at him. ‘Thin as a rail! But, thank God, you’re here. Will he be very angry?’

  ‘Napoleon? Bound to be, but it will be hard for him to show it, since I was never officially styled a prisoner. We have to think of some way of saving his face for him.’

  ‘Yes, I’d been thinking about that. And it’s easy, really. You got to Strasbourg in his train – you can’t have been at his side all the time?’

  ‘Oh, no, he had a million things to do, as you can imagine, organising that amazing march across Europe. I was just – watched over.’

  ‘Not closely enough, thank God.’ They were sitting side by side now, on the cot bed of the bleak little room where he had been hiding, and it was good beyond anything to feel his arm around her. ‘You heard, somehow, a rumour that all was not well here in Lissenberg. Strasbourg’s a great place for rumour, they say.’

  ‘Yes, indeed. So, what I did hear was wrong?’

  ‘No problem about that, I’m afraid. Has Frau Schmidt not told you?’

  ‘About my father? Yes, a little. He’s been stirring things up?’

  ‘I think so. And so does Ishmael Brodski. He came to see me the other day. To warn me.’ She told him quickly what Ishmael had said. ‘We are neither of us so popular as we were, you and I, but I think what brought you home must have been the rumours about me, don’t you? You’re laughing?’ It was good to hear it.

  ‘You’re wonderful, Martha. And you’re absolutely right, as usual. You’re suggesting that I got anxious about how you were managing here and came hurrying home to your side? Now that is something Napoleon would understand. He does rather think a woman’s place is in the bedroom. But why did I come in secret?’ He returned to the matter in hand.

  ‘Because it was the quickest way? No pomp, no ceremony, no delays?’

  ‘Yes.’ Doubtfully. ‘The thing is, I don’t much want the secret of the path blown. Now I’ve watched Napoleon at work, I think he’s quite capable of invading us by it. Using it to our disadvantage one way or other. It really is a secret, you see.’

  ‘And might come in useful again some time. Max is here, did Frau Schmidt tell you? He brought an ultimatum from the Austrians.’

  ‘She didn’t tell me that.’

  ‘She didn’t know. They want all our mineral exports. I take it that’s what Napoleon wants too. That’s what th
is is all about.’

  ‘I’m afraid so.’

  ‘I have it, I think!’ She had been exploring various possibilities as they talked. ‘Did Frau Schmidt tell you about the mine disaster?’

  ‘She said something about it.’

  ‘That’s my excuse for being here. I’m going to visit the survivors tomorrow. It will turn out that one of them has no one to look after him. I shall take pity on him, like the soft-hearted female that I am, and take him back with me to the palace for nursing. Heavily bandaged, of course.’

  ‘Head injuries! Yes. That gets me to the palace. And, from there? I can see by your wicked look that you have thought of something.’

  ‘Not yet, but I will!’

  If she had hoped he would ask her to share his hiding-place for the night, she was to be disappointed. But it was inevitable that she must sleep in Frau Schmidt’s luxurious guest bedroom, enjoying the sense of being treated more like a member of the family than visiting royalty. Frau Schmidt had cheerfully taken on next day’s arrangements, and reported over an early breakfast that everything was in train. ‘The women of Brundt would do more than this for you. They don’t forget their friends. It’s not only the soup kitchen you set up for the women porters at Lissenberg. Even more than for that, I think they are grateful for the way you tried to get them the vote last year.’

  ‘I failed,’ said Martha.

  ‘But you’ll try again. They know that too. It may have made you enemies, that stand of yours; I’m afraid it has, but it’s solved our problems for us today. You’ll see, highness.’

  ‘I wish you would call me Martha.’

  ‘Best not, I think, my dear. A dangerous habit to get into. In fact, I had had it in mind to give you a small scolding while I have the chance, if you will bear with me …’

  ‘Of course. What am I doing wrong?’

  ‘You’re being too friendly, child. We Lissenbergers are a stiff-necked lot. If we are to be ruled, it must be by someone who behaves like a ruler. You and Franz are each as bad as the other. Hail-fellow-well-met to all your subjects! It won’t do, and I wish you would tell Franz when the moment is ripe. It’s playing into his father’s hands.’

  ‘They’d rather be ruled by a tyrant who fleeces them, and seduces their daughters, and behaves like a prince, than by a democrat who thinks of their best interests and shakes their hands?’

  ‘I’m very much afraid so.’ And then, with a smile. ‘The men, that is. Not the women, as you are going to see today.’

  It was an extraordinary morning. By the time they had finished breakfast, the street outside was thronged with women, calling for their princess. When Martha appeared, she was greeted with enthusiastic cheers, and her carriage had to proceed at a walking pace to accommodate the loving crowd that accompanied it. The houses of the men who had been injured at the mine were equally crowded with women who must be presented to their princess. It was all confusion, devotion, and even Martha was not quite sure which of the heavily shawled women who accompanied her carriage was in fact Franz, nor was she sure when he was whisked away to be wrapped in concealing bandages and smuggled into the coach.

  Chapter 5

  Martha had sent a rider ahead to arrange accommodation at the palace for her ‘patient’, and when the carriage drew up in the courtyard she was glad to see Anna in charge of a group of servants with a carrying chair. ‘Not a word now,’ she reminded her husband before the door was opened. ‘We are afraid the blow to your head may have affected your brain.’

  ‘It has my speech!’ He managed to mumble it through the bandages. ‘You’re sure Anna knows which rooms?’

  ‘I’ll make sure.’ She had been more shocked than surprised to learn that Prince Gustav’s suite of rooms, which she and Franz now occupied, had a secret stair and passageway communicating with another luxurious suite known as the Blue Rooms, in an opposite wing. She had objected, at first, to Franz’s suggestion that she have him put there, for ease of communication. ‘It must be an open enough secret by now, surely?’

  ‘Perhaps. But not one that you would be expected to know. Or I, for the matter of that.’

  Anna clearly knew. ‘You want him put in the Blue Suite, highness?’ She made it more than a question, as Franz let himself be eased into the carrying chair.

  ‘Yes, Anna, and I want you to look after him there. Come to me, please, as soon as he is settled and, for God’s sake, don’t touch the bandages or try to get him to talk. It was a terrible blow to the head. The doctors are anxious for his reason. Take good care of him,’ she turned to the men who were ready to lift the chair, ‘but don’t talk to him. He needs absolute rest, the doctor says. Don’t even try to put him to bed until I have seen him. Just leave him in the chair.’ The patient let out a groan. ‘Ah, the poor man! Come and see me as soon as you can, Anna.’

  The next problem was a doctor. She and Franz had discussed this the night before and come to no satisfactory conclusion. Much to their relief, Prince Gustav had taken his own doctor to Gustavsberg with him and they had not replaced him, sending to Lissenberg if one of the palace servants was ill. Who could she turn to now? Anyone who examined Franz must recognise him, and for once Frau Schmidt had had no suggestion to offer. And the only person she really trusted in the palace was Anna, who had been her ally back at the hostel the year before. She must wait and talk to her.

  In the meantime she busied herself with the messages that had come in while she had been away; only a night, but it seemed much longer. Count Tafur had gone on a sightseeing trip to Brundt and would be away several days; Lodge and Playfair had called to take their leave before going to Gustavsberg; she was happy to have missed them. And an Austrian messenger had arrived asking for Prince Maximilian and been sent on to Gustavsberg. She was sorry not to have seen him, and it reminded her that she must send for Max.

  But here at last was Anna, looking both puzzled and anxious. ‘Who is it, highness?’

  ‘You don’t know?’

  ‘Well.’ Doubtfully. ‘There’s something about him … And you taking such care … Highness, it’s not Prince Maximilian? Prince Gustav hasn’t …?’ She left the sentence unfinished, hurried on. ‘I didn’t say anything to the men, of course. Or to him.’

  ‘Thank you, Anna. No. You’re close! It’s my husband; it’s the prince. He’s not hurt,’ she hurried on to add. ‘He came back in secret. To Frau Schmidt. We don’t want it known how he got here. We have to work something out. You’ll help, won’t you?’

  ‘You know I will! Oh, highness, I am so glad he is back safe.’

  ‘So am I! He is going to arrive, officially, tomorrow, but in the meantime where am I to find a doctor to help me? He has to be seen by a doctor tonight or people are bound to suspect something.’

  ‘Yes, I do see that. But they’re such gossips, doctors. House to house, a word here, a word there. And anything that happens here at the palace is news. But, of course! How could I be so stupid? The Holy Fathers!’

  ‘The Trappists?’ She remembered that she and Franz had received a deputation from this silent order after their coronation the year before. There had been some problem about their land, which Franz had settled in their favour. ‘Have they a doctor?’

  ‘Yes, a new young one. They found him at their gate, one morning this spring, soon after the road was open. He was starving, threadbare … Never told them where he came from, but of course they took him in, fed him up, and found he was a doctor. A good one, they say. He’s not taken the vow of silence, not been admitted to the order, but you know what they are like, highness, those Trappists. They won’t gossip.’

  ‘They certainly won’t.’ They seemed strange enough allies. She had never, herself, quite understood the idea of withdrawing from the world.

  ‘And they are the nearest,’ Anna pointed out. ‘Except for the hostel doctor, and we certainly don’t want him. That’s a gossip if ever there was one. You should just hear the things he is saying about Lady Cristabel.’ She stopped, shocked at wh
at she had said.

  ‘I would much rather not, Anna.’ But ought she to ask what they were? Not now, at all events. She made up her mind. ‘Yes, do, please, send for the young doctor, Anna. I’ll see him first. It’s a chance I think we have to take. If I decide I can’t trust him, I’ll just have to think of an excuse to send him away again. Take some frivolous female dislike to him, do you think?’

  ‘It would be most unlike you, highness. Mind you,’ the shared crisis had taken Anna back to the old confidential terms, ‘I sometimes think you might be better loved if you did behave a bit more like a silly woman.’ And then, blushing furiously. ‘Forgive me; I didn’t mean …’

  ‘I’m afraid I know just what you mean. I had a scolding from Frau Schmidt yesterday … but what are we doing? Gossiping ourselves. Send for the doctor, Anna. Say it’s urgent.’

  ‘Any message from the palace is urgent. What about the arrangements for tomorrow?’

  ‘I think they must wait until I have seen the doctor, found out if he will help. Because, if he will, it might solve another problem – how to explain the wounded man’s disappearing. We’ll send him to the Holy Fathers.’

  The monks had established themselves some years before in a ruined farm a little higher up the mountain than the palace. The farm had been too high up and too small to pay its way and when the last owner had died without heirs, it had begun gradually to crumble its way back to nature. When the little group of refugee monks had moved in, no one had come forward to object, and, ten years later, it had been one of Prince Franz’s first decisions to legitimise their tenancy. Once again, no one had protested. The little farm was invisible from the road that led over the mountains to Lake Constance, and the silent fathers were only remembered when one of them appeared in Lissenberg market to sell the produce they were now getting from their unfruitful soil, and buy manufactured goods in exchange.