He looked down at the paper she had handed him.
Then he stiffened and without saying any more, he opened the door.
The Throne Room was large and imposing and at a glance Latasha could easily appreciate why Prince Kraus had decided to receive the Russians here.
The throne was in the centre of a low platform and Prince Kraus was sitting on it.
There were draped curtains behind him.
Beside Prince Kraus stood the Lord Chamberlain, the Prime Minister and some Members of the Cabinet and three senior aides-de-camp were in attendance.
They were all facing the Russians.
There were about twelve stern-faced Russians and their leader was wearing a General’s uniform covered with decorations.
He was speaking in a gruff guttural voice to Prince Kraus.
In a loud stentorian voice that seemed to echo all around the Throne Room, the Major-domo announced,
“Lady Latasha Ling, daughter of the fifth Duke of Norlington and Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg, now requests an audience with Your Royal Highness.”
As he finished speaking the Russian General turned round.
Everyone’s eyes followed Latasha, as she moved slowly and deliberately across the Throne Room.
She walked up the steps that led onto the platform where Prince Kraus was sitting and went directly to him.
She did not curtsy as she had always done to him, but held out her hand.
Prince Kraus rose to his feet.
Although she did not look directly at him, she soon realised that he was staring at her.
He took her hand and raised it to his lips.
Latasha turned round.
She could see that the Russian General was gazing at her with undisguised astonishment.
Before anyone could say anything, Latasha asked,
“Do you speak English, General?”
The General shook his head.
“Then I will explain to you in your language,” she said in Russian, “that I am here because it is the suggestion of Her Imperial Majesty, Queen Victoria of Great Britain that I should marry His Royal Highness Prince Kraus of Oldessa.”
She turned to smile at Prince Kraus, as she added,
“However, we both wished to keep our engagement a secret until I discovered a little more about this beautiful country over which the Prince reigns.
“So I have not stayed here under my real name and we intended to keep Her Majesty’s project secret until my brother, the Duke, arrives in two or three days.
“With him will be a representative of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and he will be present when our marriage is solemnised.”
Then in a thick and harsh voice the Russian General demanded,
“Can you prove who you are, madam?”
“But of course I can. Here is my passport on which you will see, as you have just heard, that I am the sister of the present Duke of Norlington.”
She held out her passport.
As the General took it, she held up the book which was in her hand.
“This,” she proclaimed, “is the family tree of the Norlington’s and you will see quite clearly that my mother, Princess Beatrice, was a cousin of Francis Ferdinand, Duke of Saxe-Coburg, the uncle of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.”
The Russian General was defeated and he knew it.
He made no attempt to look at the book, but handed Latasha back her passport.
Then, with more dignity than Latasha expected, he bowed to her and Prince Kraus.
“I see, Your Royal Highness,” he said, speaking the language of Oldessa in a somewhat faulty way, “there has been some small misunderstanding. I can only apologise and wish Your Royal Highness every happiness.”
“I think that my people will be very happy,” Prince Kraus replied, “when they can fly the Union Jack beside our own flag. And I am most fortunate in having the most beautiful wife in the whole of the Balkans!”
The General did not answer him, but merely bowed stiffly again.
Turning round, he marched from the Throne Room followed by the Officers who had accompanied him.
Everyone recognised that he must be seen off the premises formally, so the Lord Chamberlain hurried after the Russians followed by several aides-de-camp.
There was an audible sigh of relief from the Prime Minister and the Members of the Oldessan Cabinet.
Then the Prime Minister walked forward to stretch out his hand to Prince Kraus.
“I have the singular honour of wishing Your Royal Highness every happiness,” he announced, “and this news will delight our people, who will, for the first time in several years, sleep soundly in their beds without being afraid.”
“I am well aware of that,” said Prince Kraus. “I can only say God has been very merciful and as Lady Latasha has told you our marriage will take place just as soon as her brother, the Duke of Norlington, arrives and with him whoever will represent Her Majesty Queen Victoria.”
“The people of Oldessa will be thrilled when I tell them the news,” added the Prime Minister. “I am going to issue the order now that every Church bell in the country rings a peal of joy and thankfulness that we are saved from the evil grasp of the Russians!”
He bowed to Prince Kraus and next to Latasha.
Then he walked to the door followed by the rest of his entourage.
As the last man left, obviously in a hurry to make sure the Russians had really gone, Prince Kraus spoke to the remaining aides-de-camp and they left too.
They closed the door behind them and Latasha then realised that she was alone in the Throne Room with Prince Kraus.
She had not dared to look at him while everything was taking place.
Now she was surprised to see an expression in his eyes that she did not understand.
For a moment there was complete silence between them.
Then Prince Kraus blurted out almost angrily,
“How could you have let me suffer all the fires of hell, because I thought I could never marry you?”
As he spoke, he put out his arms and pulled her, not gently but roughly, against him.
Then he was kissing her.
Kissing her wildly as if he had been terrified that he might have lost her.
Latasha had never been kissed before.
She thought for a moment it was a different feeling from what she had expected.
Then she felt the magical ecstasy she had felt when she realised that she was in love with him.
It swept over her whole body.
It was so much more wonderful and more perfect than anything she had dreamt about.
‘I love you! I love you!’ she wanted to scream as he drew her closer and still closer.
He kissed her fiercely as if he could no longer control himself.
It was quite impossible for her to think, only to feel a wonder and a glory that carried Latasha up into the sky.
After what seemed to her a very long time, he raised his head.
“My darling, you have driven me almost mad,” he sighed. “Even now I can hardly believe you are real and I will not wake up to find this is a wonderful dream.”
“I just had to save you from the Russians,” Latasha murmured.
“Why did you not tell me before?” he demanded.
For a moment Latasha hesitated.
Then she said,
“I did not think you loved me and because I loved you so much, I thought it would be an unbearable agony if you married me only because I was Royal.”
Prince Kraus gave a strangled laugh.
“I fell in love with you from the first moment I saw you, and I knew after you had massaged my forehead that what I felt for you was different from anything I had ever known.”
“You love me – you really love me?” Latasha asked breathlessly.
“I have been going nearly crazy, trying to work out some way of forcing Stefan to take a Royal bride, so then I could marry you.”
Latasha s
tared at him.
“I don’t – understand.”
“It was the only way I could ever make you mine, my dearest darling. I have already written to Harry telling him to bring his sister Latasha here immediately. I thought that if she is as attractive as she was as a child, Stefan, who is always captivated by a new face, would undoubtedly fall in love with her. Then he could take over the country and I could marry you!”
Latasha looked at him in astonishment.
“You were prepared to give up Oldessa for me?”
“I would give up the whole world rather than lose you. I knew it was impossible to go on living without you. Thus it was the only solution I could find to the dreadful problem of how Oldessa would be able to wave the Union Jack and stay independent.”
Latasha sighed.
Then as he drew her close again, she asked him,
“How could I have possibly known? How could I have guessed that you loved me? I was so unhappy last night thinking that while I loved you with all my heart, you would never feel the same about me.”
“I love you more than I can ever put into words, my Latasha. I am going to spend the rest of my life making love to you, so that you will understand just what I feel for you.”
“Harry will have to tell the Queen that we are to be married. I expect that she will be annoyed that she did not think of us first!”
“It does not matter who thought about it or who did not. All that matters is you will be my wife and as quickly as possible. I am now going to send your brother a cable, and you shall help me word it, so that he understands we are patiently waiting for his arrival and the finest horses in my Kingdom are at his disposal.”
Latasha laughed.
“It will certainly bring Harry here swiftly if nothing else does!”
Then she gave a cry.
“You promised me you would rest before luncheon. Instead of which you have been worried by the Russians. We must go at once and tell Nanny and Amalie that they have gone. When I left them, they were terrified.”
“I was terrified too,” he admitted. “And when you swept in, I could not believe that what I was hearing was true.”
Latasha put her head on his shoulder.
“I had only just told Nanny that we are going home tomorrow, because I really believed that what you would suggest to me this afternoon might be something totally different.”
“How could you underestimate me and my love so completely?”
“You never showed me in any way that you loved me,” murmured Latasha.
“If I had touched you, I would have taken you into my arms and kissed you, as I am going to kiss you again now. But I had to think of a way of saving Oldessa and at the same time not losing you. That was something I knew I could never face. If you left me, I had no wish to go on living.”
There was a note of sincerity in his voice that was very moving.
Then Latasha gently suggested,
“Come and let’s have luncheon now. Then I insist on you resting afterwards.”
“Only if you rest with me, my darling, and we will plan our wedding. I know that everyone in the country will dance with such joy that we need no longer be afraid of the Russians. And they will be as thrilled as I am at having such a beautiful Princess to rule over them.”
“It all sounds so very exciting, but you are to come and sit down and eat your luncheon. Then I am going to massage your head so that you will go to sleep.”
“I refuse to sleep when I can be talking to you, my darling Latasha.”
“Until I become your wife I intend to be your nurse. Therefore you will have to do what I say.”
“We will soon see about that! I worship and adore you, my Latasha, but I still intend to be Master in my own house.”
He kissed her tenderly and then they walked arm in arm towards the closed door.
When the door opened, they could see almost every inhabitant in the Palace was gathered there.
A great cheer rang out.
The next moment Prince Kraus and Latasha were covered with flower petals.
After luncheon was finished and they were talking quietly in his room, an aide-de-camp came in.
“Forgive me bothering Your Royal Highness,” he said, “but there is a huge crowd outside the Palace calling for you and the Lord Chamberlain thinks that Your Royal Highness should make an appearance.”
Prince Kraus laughed.
“The story has already reached the City!”
Latasha quickly tidied up her hair, which had been disarranged by his kisses.
Then they walked upstairs to the first floor window of the Palace.
When the enormous crowd gathering beneath saw them, they went mad and the cheers were deafening.
Hats, handkerchiefs and anything else to hand were flung into the air.
Latasha and Prince Kraus waved in reply until their arms ached.
After twenty minutes they were back in the Palace, but they were obliged to appear four more times before the crowd gradually and happily dispersed.
*
The wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Kraus of Oldessa and Lady Latasha Ling of Great Britain was the most spectacular and glamorous event that had ever taken place in any country of the Balkans.
Latasha was given away by her brother, the Duke of Norlington.
A very overexcited Princess Amalie was the Chief Bridesmaid. She was followed by ten small bridesmaids from the most distinguished families in the country.
Every Church in Oldessa was splendidly decorated in cascades of flowers as well as the great City Cathedral where Latasha and Prince Kraus were married.
Huge throngs of citizens crowded the streets of the City.
The Archbishop of Oldessa performed the marriage and Latasha found the Service deeply moving.
After she became Prince Kraus’s wife, he crowned her with an ancient golden crown that had been worn by every Oldessan Princess for many centuries.
She could see by the love in his eyes how much it all meant to him.
‘I will always love him and look after him until we both die,’ Latasha vowed silently.
When the wedding was over, dancing and singing went on all night.
The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Marquis of Salisbury, had arrived promptly with the Duke to represent Queen Victoria.
He brought with him a present from Her Majesty and a letter in her own hand wishing them every happiness and peace in their country for the rest of their lives.
Latasha thought that there were almost more Union Jacks to be seen than the striped yellow and green flag of Oldessa.
The flowers that were thrown into the open carriage in which they were driven away from the Cathedral almost enveloped them in petals of every colour.
It was not only a brilliantly happy occasion for the people of Oldessa.
It was also a formidable warning to the Russians to stop intimidating the Balkans and stay away.
Latasha had discovered something most important in the few days before she was married.
It was that now he was well again Prince Kraus had every intention of making his country a model to all his neighbours.
And that in future Oldessans would be extremely prosperous went without saying.
Latasha recognised that the people themselves were happy and that they had almost everything they required was an example to other Principalities.
Some of the Balkan States were not as fortunate in their Rulers and they were not fully exploiting all that was waiting to be discovered in their mountains, their cascading rivers and in the soil itself.
“I have very big plans for Oldessa. I always have had,” Prince Kraus said to Latasha. “And now, my darling, since I have you, it is going to be very much easier than it would have been.”
“I do so want to help you, my Prince, and it will be wonderful if we can work together,” sighed Latasha.
“After tomorrow,” he had said the night before the wedding, “we w
ill not be two people but one and I have no use for my throne if you do not sit beside me.”
It was thrilling for Latasha to realise that she had found a man who appreciated not only her looks but also her brain.
Prince Kraus had already asked her for her advice on everything he was planning.
Latasha was intelligent and she knew that anything she suggested was exactly what he wanted to hear.
When the Duke arrived, he was delighted to find his sister was so happy – and that his friend Kraus was riding as well as he ever did.
“If it had not been for your sister,” Prince Kraus told him, “I don’t think I would ever have been able to mount a horse again.”
“That would have been a major disaster,” the Duke had replied, “especially as your horses are so outstanding. But what am I to give you as a wedding present?”
“You are giving me the greatest happiness anyone could ask for in this world, Harry, but I thought it would be rather amusing if you entered some of your horses from England in a race held on our Racecourse.”
The Duke looked surprised.
“It will help to make it an international affair,” he explained, “and not confined entirely to Oldessa.”
“That is an excellent idea!” the Duke exclaimed.
“It will unite a great number of Principalities,” he continued, “and if they are friendly with each other, it will make it more difficult for the Czar to force them under Russian rule.”
“Of course it will, Kraus, and nothing brings men of different nationalities together better than horses.”
“That is exactly what I feel as well, Harry, and of course we will have support from Austria and Hungary.”
“We used to dream of something like this when we were at Oxford,” the Duke now remarked, “but somehow I could never think of you running an international Racecourse!”
“That is what I intend to have among a great many other projects here in Oldessa and I am sure long before the Racecourse is finished Latasha will have a thousand other ideas that I will want to put into operation.”
The Duke put his hand on Prince Kraus’s shoulder.
“I cannot think of anyone I would rather have as a brother-in-law than you, Kraus, and it seems almost as if this was planned from the moment we met.”
“God has been so very good to me, Harry, and as Latasha saved my life, it is now hers for ever.”
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