Laetitia drew in her breath.
“Do you know what the festivities are really for?”
“For King Viktor, I suppose,” her brother replied.
With what was a considerable effort, Laetitia managed to say,
“Cousin Augustina has asked him – here to arrange for him to marry Stephanie!”
She could hardly bear to look at the shock in her brother’s eyes and then the expression of pain that swept away his smile and made him in the passing of a second immeasurably older.
“Is that true?” he asked hoarsely.
“That is what Cousin Augustina has planned and Stephanie, as you can imagine, is desperately unhappy.”
“She told you that we love each other?”
“Yes, she came here in tears. But, Kyril, what is more important than anything else is that Cousin Augustina must not have the slightest idea that you love each other.”
“Damn her!” Kyril said violently. “She does not care about Stephanie’s feelings, she just wants her to be as powerful as she herself has always wanted to be!”
“Yes, I know,” Laetitia replied, “but, if she has the slightest idea that Stephanie loves you, Mama says you will be sent to Prussia.”
She saw the expression of horror on her brother’s face.
Then he said in a voice she had never heard him use before,
“If I cannot marry Stephanie, it does not matter where I go or what I do.”
Because she could not bear him to sound so despondent, Laetitia rose and took his hand in hers.
“Listen, Kyril,” she said, “I am going to try by every means in my power to prevent the King when he comes here from proposing to Stephanie. I am not quite – certain at the moment how I can do it, but I am – praying I shall be – successful.”
She paused before she added slowly,
“Then at least it will give both you and her time to – think of what can be – done in the future.”
“There is no future for us, I know that in my heart,” Kyril murmured.
“Cousin Louis told Stephanie that he would rather have you for his son-in-law than anybody he knew.”
Her brother looked at her in surprise.
Then he asked,
“Did he really say that?”
“Stephanie says so and, if we can prevent anyone more important asking to marry her, perhaps in time you will have a chance.”
“Not if Cousin Augustina has anything to do with it,” Kyril said bitterly. “She hates us all – Otto told me so – and I think she would rather Stephanie married a grizzly bear than me!”
“Surely you are prepared to – fight to make her your – wife?”
“I would fight for her and die for her,” Kyril answered. “I love her, Laetitia, as I could never love anybody else.”
“I know that.”
He paused before he added,
“Papa loved Mama in the same way. He said that from the first moment he saw her it was impossible ever again to see another woman’s face.”
“They were so blissfully happy,” Laetitia said, “even though we were very poor, but not as – poor as we are – now.”
Kyril did not answer and, after a moment, she said as if she must impress on him the danger,
‘Things will be worse, very much worse, if the Grand Duchess has the slightest suspicion of what you and Stephanie feel for each other. Oh, Kyril, for our sakes – as well as your own – please be – careful!”
“You know I will. But now I am back, you will have to help me, Laetitia.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“First of all I want to see Stephanie and alone.”
“That is going to be difficult.”
“Can you take her a message to ask her to meet me in the place we have met before and where we have never been discovered so far?”
“Oh, Kyril, where is it?”
There was a sudden twinkle in her brother’s eyes,
“I bet you could never guess.”
“Tell me.”
“On the roof of the Palace!”
“Kyril, what an extraordinary place to meet!”
“That is what anybody else would think,” he replied, “and that is why it’s safe.”
“But how do you get there?”
“I have climbed over that roof ever since I was a small boy,” he said, “just as we used to climb up Thor Castle. In fact the Palace is much easier.”
“And of course,” Laetitia added as if she was speaking to herself, “it is easier for Stephanie to leave her room and go upwards than it is to go down where she would be seen by the footmen on duty.”
“Exactly!” Kyril said. “So give her the message as soon as you can and don’t forget.”
“Of course I will,” Laetitia said, “but promise me by everything you hold sacred that you will be very careful.”
“I will be very very careful!” Kyril promised. “And now that I have told you my secret, tell me how you think you can prevent the King from proposing to Stephanie with Cousin Augustina putting the words into his mouth and doubtless holding a pistol to his head.”
“I cannot tell you that,” Laetitia said, “not because I wish to be secretive, but because, although I have a plan forming in my brain it is not yet complete, and, Kyril, I am terribly afraid of failing!”
Even as she spoke she thought of the Voivode and could almost hear him saying,
“The way will be shown to you.”
It was impossible to put what she was feeling into words, but she said again,
“Just trust me and pray, pray hard that I will be successful.”
Kyril put his arms around her and kissed her.
Then, as if he could not bear to talk about it anymore, he walked from the drawing room and she heard him going into the small kitchen to find Gertrude.
*
Laetitia looked at the clock and knew that she still had an hour before dinner.
This meant that she just had time to speak to Stephanie alone, because the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess would be in their bedrooms and Stephanie would be in hers.
The Grand Duchess always insisted that meals should be served with great pomp and ceremony as they had been in her father’s Palace.
The Grand Duke’s father on the other hand, when the family was alone, had preferred informal meals at which there was no protocol, no Ladies-in-Waiting and he could laugh with his wife and children.
And he knew that what was said at the table would not be repeated all over the Palace.
That was the way the present Grand Duke had been brought up and, when he married, he had at first protested at the long drawn-out formal meals with a servant behind every chair and the presence of aides-de-camp and Ladies-in-Waiting, who inevitably restricted their conversation.
But as always the Grand Duchess had her own way and she even insisted on wearing a tiara every night and that the Grand Duke should put on his decorations.
“It is so deadly boring,” Prince Paul had often complained, “that in future I shall make every excuse not to go to the Palace, unless I absolutely have to.”
But because he loved his cousin Louis, when the Grand Duke pleaded with him, he could not refuse.
Laetitia remembered how he would grumble when he had to put on his silk stockings and knee breeches and wear his ribbon of the Order of St. Michael across his white shirt and the glittering crosses on his evening coat.
“You look very smart, Papa,” she would say when he came downstairs to where the carriage was waiting outside the door of their house.
“If you want to know the truth, I am damned uncomfortable,” her father replied.
This made her mother exclaim,
“Really, Paul, you must not swear in front of the children!”
“They would swear if they were in my shoes,” Prince Paul replied and laughed.
Then, as he reached the hall, he would look at his wife with her tiara of sapphires and diamonds on her head and the sam
e stones around her neck and say,
“The only consolation I have is that you look lovely, darling, and the only mistake is that you should be a Grand Duchess rather than a certain lady whose name we must not mention in front of the children.”
Marie-Henriette, who was quite small at the time, had clapped her hands and cried,
“I know who you mean – Cousin Augustina! She is horrible and always tells me to shut up and go away.”
“Now you see what you have done?” Princess Olga exclaimed.
But Prince Paul had only laughed.
“One cannot hide the truth,” he said, “and I repeat, my darling, you should be a Grand Duchess or, better still, a Queen!”
He kissed his wife and, as he turned towards the door, had said,
“Goodbye, children! I would much rather be here with you than have to go to the Palace. But tomorrow, to make up for my discomfort, we will have a picnic in the garden and wear our oldest clothes.”
They had all cheered and waved as their father and mother had driven away and then started to chatter excitedly about what they would do the next evening.
‘We were so happy then,’ Laetitia thought, as she let herself out of the front door.
Then she went through the gate which led into the Palace garden and, just as Stephanie had done, hurried through the bushes until she reached the side of the Palace where there were no guards.
She was hoping fervently that the side-door would not be locked and to her relief she was able to let herself in without anybody being aware of it.
Then, going up the back staircases used only by the servants, she reached Stephanie’s bedroom without being seen by anybody.
She entered it and found, as she had hoped, that Stephanie was alone there except for her lady’s maid.
As she walked in, Stephanie gave an exclamation of pleasure.
“Laetitia, how lovely to see you! I was wondering how I could get in touch with you.”
Laetitia knew the reason was that she wanted to hear if Kyril had arrived and, as she kissed her cousin, she said,
“I have so much to tell you.”
Stephanie looked at her maid.
“Wait outside, Dorothya,” she said, “and warn us if anybody is coming. I want to talk to Her Highness and no one must know that she is here.”
Dorothya, who had been with Stephanie for years, smiled at Laetitia.
“It’s nice to see Your Highness,” she said, “and I hope that your honourable mother is well.”
“Quite well, thank you, Dorothya,” Laetitia replied.
The maid curtseyed, then went through the door and closed it behind her.
“Quickly, tell me what you have to say,” Stephanie said in a conspiratorial whisper. “And, if by any chance Dorothya warns us that Mama is approaching, you must hide in the wardrobe.”
Laetitia realised that she must be as quick as possible and she therefore said without wasting time,
“Kyril is back and is longing to see you. He says that he will meet you at your usual place tonight.”
Stephanie’s eyes lit up with excitement and she looked so pretty that it flashed through Laetitia’s mind that anybody would know she was in love.
“Now listen, Stephanie,” she said, “I have warned Kyril that he must be very very careful and that it would be disastrous if your mother had any idea of what you felt for each other.”
“I know that.”
“Mama told me today that she is sure that, if Cousin Augustina suspected that you were in love with Kyril, he would be sent to the Prussian Army Training School.”
Stephanie gave a loud cry.
“How could I bear that to happen to him? I know Papa thinks it is a ghastly place.”
“I think it would destroy Kyril,” Laetitia said. “So Stephanie, do remember you must hide your feelings. I really think it would be best not to protest when your mother says you are to marry the King!”
She saw Stephanie shiver as she cried,
“I cannot – marry him! I will – not! Oh, Laetitia – what am I to do?”
It was a cry that Laetitia had heard so often before that she merely said quickly,
“Don’t think about it! Forget it for the moment and just be happy because Kyril is back.”
“You promised to help me and prevent the King from – proposing to me.”
“That is what I am trying to do.”
“But we have only two more days. He will be here on Thursday.”
“Yes, I know,” Laetitia said, “but, please, Stephanie, for the moment just think and pray that it will not be as bad as you anticipate. At the same time remember that you and Kyril, if you meet secretly, are doing something that is very very dangerous.”
“I promise I will remember,” Stephanie replied, “and I am praying, Laetitia, as you told me to do, praying for hours every night and every moment of the day that Kyril and I can be together.”
“Just go on praying and somehow a miracle will happen and your wish will come true.”
Stephanie’s face lit up again.
Then she put her arms round Laetitia and kissed her.
“I love you!” she said. “All I want is to be your sister-in-law.”
The way she spoke brought a lump to Laetitia’s throat.
Then she said,
“I must go! If anybody tells your mother I am here, she might be suspicious.”
“No one saw you arrive?” Stephanie asked anxiously.
“I don’t think so, but in this place the walls have eyes as well as ears!”
As she spoke, she realised that Stephanie was not listening.
“If I am going to see Kyril,” she said, “I am going to put on one of my prettiest gowns.”
“If you are going to change you had better hurry,” Laetitia replied. “It would be a mistake to be late for dinner and annoy your mother.”
“Yes, of course.”
Laetitia opened the door.
Dorothya was outside keeping guard.
“Thank you, Dorothya,” Laetitia said softly, as she passed her.
Dorothya dropped her a little curtsey and went back into the bedroom as Laetitia crept down the stairs.
She reached the garden door and the only danger now was that she might be seen when she crossed into the bushes.
Fortunately very few rooms on that side of the Palace were occupied and she moved rapidly.
She did not look back, hoping that, if anybody saw her, they would think she was one of the servants having perhaps an illicit meeting with one of the gardeners or sentries.
When she was out of sight of the highest windows in the Palace, she ran and by the time she reached the courtyard and their own front door she was breathless.
She entered the house to find Kyril waiting for her.
“It’s all right,” she gasped, “I have seen her and she is very excited at the thought of seeing you again.”
“You warned her to be careful?”
“Yes, of course, and she knows even better than we do how vindictive Cousin Augustina would be if she had the slightest suspicion that there is anything new in your relationship.”
Kyril gave a sigh of relief.
He had had his bath and was in his shirtsleeves.
He put his arms around his sister and hugged her.
“Thank you, dearest of sisters,” he sighed. “I had no right to ask you to go into the lion’s den, but I am very grateful.”
The ‘lion’s den’ was an apt description, Laetitia thought, when she reached her own room. Equally the Grand Duchess was even more dangerous than any lion could be.
Laetitia knew that she would be increasingly worried all the time Kyril was at home in case through one indiscreet word or one intercepted look the Grand Duchess should become suspicious.
‘Please, God, keep him safe,’ she prayed.
She was still praying when the evening, which had been one of laughter and happiness, was over.
She knew, when Kyril h
ad said that he was retiring to bed early, exactly where he was going and she only hoped that her mother had no idea of it.
She heard him slip out of the house and knew that he was making his way, as she had done, through the bushes towards the Palace.
There was a moon that night and, if he was not careful, it would be easy for anyone to see him climbing the walls of the Palace and he might even be shot by a zealous sentry.
Then she told herself reassuringly that nothing ever happened in Ovenstadt.
As far as she knew, there were no revolutionaries or troublemakers like those Princess Aspasia had described in Zvotana and in consequence those who guarded the Grand Duke had become very slack.
When they were not expecting to be observed, the sentries on the gates would talk to each other or even lean against the railings and put down their rifles instead of carrying them on their shoulders.
They would also chat good-humouredly to anyone going in or out and, because they knew Laetitia and Marie-Henriette, they were disappointed when they did not stop to gossip.
Last week they had wanted to talk about the King’s visit and the Regiments which were being recalled to the Capital to line the route and provide an impressive Guard of Honour when His Majesty arrived.
“That means a lot of spit and polish for us, Your Highness,” one of the sentries complained. “We’re kept at it night and day!”
“Think how smart you will look,” Laetitia told him, “and how much the girls will be admiring you.”
“As long as my girl don’t admire anyone more than me ’twill be all right!” the sentry answered. “I don’t fancy too much competition!”
Laetitia had laughed at him and, when she had gone on to the front of the Palace with a note from her mother accepting an invitation she had received for the State luncheon and the ball, she thought it was undoubtedly the sort of conversation the Grand Duchess would have frowned upon.
As they had expected, they had received only the minimum number of invitations to which as a family they had a right.
Princess Olga had been invited to the luncheon which would be given immediately upon the King’s arrival, but Laetitia and Marie-Henriette were excluded from that and had only been invited to the State ball.
Princes and Princesses: Favourite Royal Romances Page 95
