Wanted a Royal Wife

by Barbara Cartland

  The air was very warm in this part of the world, she thought, and the plants that did not appear until the autumn in England would now just be coming into flower.

  She was not mistaken.

  The leaves of the feverfew were peeping from the stems.

  She found six feverfew plants, plucked a handful of leaves from them and told the Head Gardener,

  “I promise you that His Royal Highness will benefit from these leaves and therefore it is essential that he should have them every day.”

  “We’ll all do anything, my Lady, to help His Royal Highness back to health. I remembers him as a small boy, full of energy and stronger than any boy of his age and it’s so sad for us to see him as he is now.”

  “If you now do as I tell you,” explained Latasha, “he will be a different man in a very short time.”

  Carrying the small leaves in her hand she started to walk back to the Palace accompanied by the Head Gardner.

  As they stepped into the garden, Latasha looked up at the trees.

  Many were trees she had seldom seen in England.

  Then she gave a loud exclamation,

  “What is that tree?” she asked the Head Gardner.

  It was a large old-looking tree and its bright green leaves were strangely shaped. They were almost like small fans or an ornament on a woman’s gown.

  The Head Gardener smiled at her.

  “That be a tree that were brought here from China many years ago by His Royal Highness’s grandfather.”

  “China!” cried Latasha.

  “He were a most enthusiastic traveller and brought back many rare plants. Orchids were indeed his particular favourite, but also there were one or two strange trees just like that one.”

  “Do you know what it is called?”

  The Head Gardener smiled.

  “Ginkgo Biloba – and I have often laughed at a tree having such a strange name.”

  “I have heard of it and it is in fact a very wonderful tree. In ancient China it was used in temples and shrines and therefore considered almost holy.”

  “Well, I never hears that before, my Lady, but one lives and learns!”

  “What is important,” Latasha went on, “is that the leaves have great healing power. They give those who eat them strength and they live very much longer than is usual for human beings.”

  “Well I never did,” the Head Gardener muttered. “I always thought it were a pretty tree, but I wasn’t told all them things about it.”

  “Now what we need immediately are the youngest leaves which must be given to the chef every day. Also the seeds which have a waxy bloom the colour of silver apricot.”

  The Head Gardener stared at her in astonishment.

  “Are you saying, my Lady,” he enquired, “that His Royal Highness is going to eat the leaves of this tree too?”

  “He is going to eat not only the leaves but also the seeds. The chef will incorporate them into his food so that he will hardly taste them, but he will reap the advantage by swallowing them.”

  The Head Gardener looked at her in sheer disbelief.

  He obviously suspected that she was talking nonsense or pulling his leg.

  Then because he was impressed by the tree itself he thought maybe she was telling him something he had never come across before.

  Latasha showed him the correct size of the young leaves she especially wanted and then told him to search for the pollen grains.

  He promised he would do it himself and not trust it to any of the under-gardeners.

  “If it will really help His Royal Highness,” he said, “then your Ladyship knows I’ll do anything to help make him well.”

  “I remember hearing,” Latasha told him, “that more that three hundred and fifty years ago in China the leaves were recognised as having such an amazing effect on the human body.”

  She sighed before she continued,

  “My mother always longed for us to have a Ginkgo Biloba tree in our garden at home, but unfortunately we did not know anyone travelling to China who could bring one back home for us.”

  “This one here’s grown larger and stronger since it arrived,” the Head Gardener boasted proudly.

  “Now it will perform the miracles I have heard it can do and its first one will be to make His Royal Highness as strong and healthy as he used to be.”

  She picked a few of the young leaves and instructed the Head Gardener to pick some more.

  Then she ran back to the Palace.

  She did not look for Princess Amalie, but went at once to His Royal Highness’s apartments.

  The aide-de-camp outside the room guarded by the sentries looked at her in surprise.

  “I wish to see His Royal Highness immediately.”

  “His Royal Highness has not finished his breakfast, my Lady,” the aide-de-camp replied. “And he never sees anyone so early.”

  “Tell him please that I have to see him and it is of the utmost importance,” Latasha pleaded.

  Reluctantly the aide-de-camp disappeared into the room.

  Latasha waited impatiently outside the door, but did not have to wait long.

  The aide-de-camp returned looking shocked.

  “His Royal Highness will see you, my Lady, but he regrets that he is not yet dressed.”

  “That is not important.”

  The door was opened for her and Latasha walked straight in.

  Prince Kraus was sitting in an armchair and on the table at his side was his breakfast.

  He was wearing a red dressing gown and there was a silk scarf around his neck.

  He looked up as she came towards him and smiled.

  “I understand, Lady Gloria, that you wish to see me urgently.”

  “Very urgently indeed, Your Royal Highness, for I have found two miraculous plants in the garden, which will cure your aches and pains and make you well again.”

  “I only hope that is true, but I have to admit that I slept all night last night without waking.”

  “I will massage your head again in a few minutes,” suggested Latasha, “but first you must allow me to tell you what I have just found in your garden.”

  She spoke excitedly.

  Prince Kraus had an amused twinkle in his eyes as he encouraged her,

  “Go ahead, please.”

  “First of all,” she began, “Your Royal Highness has to eat these.”

  She held out her right hand on which there were six small leaves.

  “What are they?” he questioned.

  “They are called feverfew in England and they will cure your headaches and migraine almost at once, in fact, if you take these every day as I have ordered from your Head Gardener, you will not be troubled any longer.”

  “I am just longing to believe you, Lady Gloria, but I find it hard to think that what you are saying can come true so quickly.”

  “I promise you that I am not exaggerating,” Latasha insisted. “So please eat these before I tell you any more.”

  Prince Kraus took the small leaves from her and ate them one by one.

  “They taste rather like lettuce leaves,” he remarked.

  “They have the power to cure you of your migraine which lettuce leaves do not have,” retorted Latasha.

  “Now what is next?” he asked, looking at the other leaves she was holding.

  “I am just wondering, Your Royal Highness, how you could have a specimen of the oldest tree in the world, dating back for millions of years, in your garden without knowing it.”

  Prince Kraus stared at her.

  “Which tree are you talking about?”

  “The Ginkgo Biloba and I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it, but its leaves, as you can see here, are different from any others. My mother has spoken of them so often and their amazing properties.”

  He was still staring at her.

  “I know which tree you mean now. My grandfather brought it back with him from China. It has grown well in our garden, but we never thought it was of any partic
ular significance.”

  “Nor did your Head Gardener, but I told him that it was grown in ancient Chinese temples and shrines. It not only appeared in their literature for the very first time in the eleventh century but also in their paintings.”

  “This is certainly a great surprise to me. But why is it particularly significant?”

  “Because of its wonderful healing qualities. The Chinese believed it would make those who took it strong in body and brain.”

  Prince Kraus gave a little laugh.

  “This is really growing in my garden and I had no idea of it?”

  “Your Royal Highness should be eternally grateful to your dear grandfather. My mother always knew that the leaves from the Ginkgo Biloba help to carry the blood all over the body reaching the hands, feet and the heart.”

  “So, after all these many thousands of years, I am to consume the Ginkgo Biloba tree?”

  “You may be laughing at the idea at this moment,” answered Latasha, “but you will soon be grateful for what it will do for you. That is why I want you to send now for your chef and let me explain to him what you will require every day in your food.”

  She spoke firmly as if she was giving an order.

  Then she realised that his eyes were twinkling at her again.

  She looked at him and laughed.

  “It is all right. I know I am behaving like a very bossy nanny. But you have to get well. It’s ridiculous at your age not to be able to do all the things that men like your friend the Duke can do.”

  “You are right,” he agreed. “When I think of Harry taking those huge jumps he always enjoys, I am furious I can no longer do it myself.”

  “If you do what I ask of you,” Latasha said quietly, “I promise that in a few days you will feel the difference and in a few weeks you too will be jumping on one of your magnificent stallions I have just been riding.”

  “Do you swear to me, Lady Gloria, that this is not just some pie in the sky and I will not wake up to find I am feeling even worse than I have felt before?”

  “I think, if you are honest, you will admit that you feel so much better this morning, because you have slept so well without waking in the night.”

  “That is indeed true,” Prince Kraus agreed.

  “Well you have to trust me, Your Royal Highness. You let me massage the pain away last night and I want to massage your head again this morning before you start the day. But first we must speak to your chef.”

  Prince Kraus laughed.

  “I can see, Lady Gloria, that you are used to getting your own way!”

  “Only when it concerns those who cannot look after themselves.”

  “And you think that is something I cannot do?”

  “Not at the moment,” she answered, “and if there is anything I hate, it is to see a strong man struck down by illness when he can be easily cured by herbs and the many other amazing products of nature.”

  She was speaking seriously and once again she saw that Prince Kraus’s eyes were twinkling.

  “You are far too young and too beautiful to worry about other people. Why are you not, like most women do, thinking about yourself?”

  “I suppose it’s all my mother’s fault for having a famous herb garden, and for letting me help her to heal the people who came to visit her when every doctor had failed. They all went away well and happy because she knew what they really needed.”

  “Then I can only state that I am very grateful you have come here to Oldessa. If you can make me a complete man again, I will lay all my Kingdom at your feet.”

  “I might,” replied Latasha, “ask you for one of your magnificent horses, but only if you are well enough to race me in the same way I was racing with Prince Stefan a little while ago.”

  “That is indeed a challenge, Lady Gloria.”

  As he spoke, he rang the bell by his side.

  The door opened immediately and when an aide-decamp appeared, he ordered,

  “Tell the Head Chef I wish to speak to him now.”

  The aide-de-camp bowed and withdrew, looking at Latasha again with surprise in his eyes.

  It was quite obvious he had not expected that Prince Kraus would have been willing to see her at such an early hour and he was surely even more surprised that, after some considerable time had passed, she was still there.

  The Head Chef was a man of about thirty.

  Latasha had already learnt that he had been trained in France.

  “He has some French blood in him,” Prince Kraus explained, “and when I realised how ambitious he was to produce new dishes, I sent him off to do a year’s training under one of the most famous chefs in Paris.”

  “My father said the best food in the world comes from France,” said Latasha, “and he always insisted we had a Frenchman in charge of the kitchen at home.”

  As she was speaking, she was afraid that she might have made a blunder.

  He might remember that this was true of his friend Harry’s house as he had often stayed there when they were both at Oxford.

  Fortunately, however, the Head Chef came in at that precise moment.

  The Prince explained to him Lady Gloria’s delight in finding there was a Ginkgo Biloba tree in the garden.

  The Head Chef listened attentively.

  Latasha appreciated that he was not like many chefs who were so puffed up with their own importance that they did not want to learn anything new.

  She told him, as she had told Prince Kraus, of the Ginkgo Biloba’s reputation in China.

  She showed him the leaves and he agreed it would be easy to incorporate them and the seeds in food without anyone being aware of it.

  He would also mix them into a salad for the Prince to consume.

  “It’s so difficult, my Lady,” he sighed. “His Royal Highness is eating very little at the moment. I try to tempt him with dishes that have a very delicious flavour to them.”

  “I thought you would do so anyway, but I think you will find that His Royal Highness will be enjoying his food very shortly.”

  She gave the Head Chef the leaves she had picked from the Ginkgo Biloba tree and told him that the Head Gardener would make sure that he was supplied with as many leaves as he could use.

  “I don’t need to tell you,” she then insisted, “that it is always important when using herbs to prevent pain or increase the nutrition in food, that they should be as fresh as possible.”

  “I understand, my Lady,” he replied. “I can assure you everything that comes into my kitchen is as fresh as it’s humanly possible to find.”

  “One more requirement. His Royal Highness is to eat two extra large spoonfuls of honey every morning and evening.”

  “I will get as fat as a pig!” he expostulated.

  “You can well afford to put on at least two stone,” commented Latasha.

  “Our Oldessan honey is especially good,” the Head Chef came in. “His Royal Highness will surely enjoy the sweetness of it.”

  “What more can you ask?” enquired Latasha.

  She was laughing and Prince Kraus laughed too.

  “I give in,” he exclaimed. “Nanny always knows best!”

  “I will prove it to you in two weeks.”

  “That is a challenge!”

  “It may cost you a horse,” Latasha reminded him.

  “Or something even more precious – ”

  She wondered what Prince Kraus meant.

  The Head Chef was looking a little uneasy during this exchange.

  “I am much looking forward to luncheon today,” Latasha now said to him, “and I would like to tell you how much I enjoyed your delicious dishes last night at dinner.”

  Obviously delighted with her compliment, the Head Chef bowed his way to the door.

  Latasha looked at Prince Kraus.

  “Would you like me to massage your head now, Your Royal Highness” she asked, “or have you had enough of me?”

  “You know it would be quite impossible for me to say anything
but how grateful I am for the trouble you are taking over me, Lady Gloria. Although my head is not aching, I would like my brain to be made a little clearer than it is at present.”

  Latasha rose and walked behind his chair.

  He lent back and she then placed her fingers gently on his forehead, as she had done last night.

  Then she began to move them slowly but firmly.

  As she did so, she felt a strange feeling rise within herself – something she had never felt before.

  She did not understand what it was or why it was there.

  She only knew that she wanted with all her heart to make Prince Kraus strong and well again as he must have been when he and Harry were so happy together all those years ago.

  “You are not to send me to sleep,” he admonished her a few minutes later.

  “I will try not to, but last night you were very tired and in pain and it was better to make you unconscious.”

  “I found it very difficult to believe, when I awoke this morning, that I had not moved from where you left me. I would like to believe that you were watching over me all night – ”

  Latasha gave a little laugh.

  “Your Guardian Angel does that job for you. I am quite certain that it is why I am here and I have been sent from Heaven to save you from yourself.”

  She was speaking lightly, but the Prince remarked seriously,

  “You are right. Only God knows what will happen to our country in the future if I cannot save it.”

  “I am sure you will do so. It is something you must believe in, just as you believe that what I am doing to you will make you well.”

  “That is easy, Lady Gloria. I do believe in you and I trust you. May I say you are so different from anyone else I have ever met in my whole life?”

  Latasha did not answer.

  She merely continued to massage his head for about a further ten minutes.

  Then she said,

  “I am sure that you will find it easier to think more clearly, especially as the feverfew will now be working.”

  “My head does feel lighter and clearer than it has for a long time. When will you come and see me again?”

  “I am going to give your sister an English lesson while we are exploring the Palace, but I know we would both enjoy having luncheon with you, if that is possible.”