The organ was played by someone they could not see and the King’s private Chaplain performed the Service with just two acolytes to assist him.
Dressed in the same gown in which Queen Olga herself had been married and wearing her veil, Thalia looked indescribably glorious.
As lovely, the Duke thought, as an angel who had stepped down from Heaven.
The wreath on her head was made of white orchids and so was the bouquet she carried. And the Duke knew that they came from the greenhouses the Queen had had built in the Palace garden.
When the Service was finished, the King and the Duke talked together.
While the Queen helped Thalia to change into a ‘going away’ dress, there was a hat trimmed with flowers to match it.
She looked ethereal when she came down the stairs to the drawing room.
The King and Queen drank their health.
Then they drove back to the yacht after thanking their Majesties a thousand times for their kindness.
“I assure you it has been very exciting for us too,” King George enthused, as they waved goodbye. “Olga is jealous of you going on your honeymoon, so I have had to promise her that we will go on another one ourselves at the end of next week!”
He looked very happy about it and both the Duke and Thalia knew that their love was as real as their own.
*
Thalia held the Duke’s hand as they drove back to the yacht.
There they saw The Mermaid decorated with flags and flowers.
They were not surprised when they went into the Master cabin to find that the Queen had sent a profusion of different flowers for that room as well.
As The Mermaid moved slowly out of the harbour, the Duke put his arms round his wife and sighed,
“I love you, Thalia, and now no one can take you away from me. You are mine, not only in this world, but for all Eternity.”
“Oh, darling, wonderful David. I am so happy and I feel it cannot be true and I am really back standing on top of the Parthenon waiting to jump and escape for ever from everything that terrified me.”
“You will never be frightened again,” the Duke said, “and, my precious, now you are mine I can tell you far better than I have been able yet to do, how much you mean to me.”
As the yacht moved away from Athens and down the Aegean Sea, the Duke held his wife closer still.
They realised that they were completely alone and no one would disturb them.
Very gently the Duke took off the hat the Queen had given Thalia.
Then he undid the dress that was only slightly too large but very becoming.
As they sank down on the large bed surrounded by flowers that scented the air, Thalia whispered,
“I love you, I love you so much, David. Why are there no other words to express the way I feel for you?”
“It is much easier to say it without words,” the Duke replied and his voice was very deep.
As he spoke, he first kissed her lips, her neck, then her breast.
“You are all mine, absolutely and completely mine, my darling Thalia. I was quite certain you did not exist except perhaps on Olympus.”
“I was frightened of all men – until I met you.” She was speaking softly.
Her voice was a little shaky because the Duke’s kisses were exciting her.
It was in a way she had never been excited before.
She could not explain it, even to herself.
“I love you and I adore you!” she struggled to say between his kisses.
Then, as the Duke made her his, they both knew that it was Apollo who had opened the doors of Heaven for them.
As they passed through, they found the perfect love that could only come from God and the Love that was to be theirs not only in this world but for Eternity and beyond.
* * *
Where to buy other titles in this series
The Barbara Cartland Pink collection is available for download at the following online bookshops :-
www.barnesandnoble.com - epub format for the Nook eReader
www.whsmith.co.uk - epub format for the Smiths/Kobo eReader
www.firstyfish.com - epub format
ebookstore.sony.com - epub format for Sony eReaders
www.amazon.co.uk - For UK Kindle users
www.amazon.com - For international Kindle users
itunes.apple.com - for Apple iOS users
www.barbaracartland.com - Printed paperbacks
Love and the Gods Page 14
