The King Without a Heart (6 page)

“It is an honour and a privilege,” Darius replied.

To Titania's surprise he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“Good night, Miss Brooke. I am looking forward to our first lesson tomorrow.”

Titania left him, thinking he was very kind and friendly. If all the people in Velidos were like him, it might make life easier than she had expected it to be, but equally there were still Sophie and her aunt to cope with.

She went first to the cabin occupied by the Duchess.

“I have come to say good night, Aunt Louise,” ventured Titania, as she entered.

“You should have come to me earlier,” the Duchess told her sharply. “What have you been doing? I heard that dinner was over at least an hour ago.”

“I have been on deck.”

“Alone?”

“The Equerry spoke to me before I came below.”

“Now you will kindly behave yourself while I am tied to my bed and cannot keep an eye on you. If I find you flirting with that young man or anyone else, I will make you stay in your cabin and lock you in until we arrive. Is that clear?”

For one moment Titania wanted to tell her aunt she would not be spoken to in such a fashion.

As her father's daughter she knew how to behave herself properly, but then she knew only too well there was no point arguing with her aunt.

She merely responded,

“I assure you, Aunt Louise, that I know how to behave as I have been at sea many times with my father.”

At the mention of Lord Rupert, the Duchess sniffed, but did not say anything. She merely looked round the cabin as if she was trying to find something to find fault with.

Finally after a pause she said,

“Give me my glasses. They are on the dressing table and then you had better go to bed. I have told Martha when I wish to be woken tomorrow morning.”

Titania brought her aunt her glasses and walked towards the door.

“Good night, Aunt Louise. I hope you sleep well.”

The Duchess did not answer.

Titania left closing the door quietly behind her and then moved on to Sophie's cabin. Sophie had obviously enjoyed a good dinner and was in a better temper than she had been when they first came aboard.

“What is happening?” she asked Titania. “Did you have a dreary dinner with those awful old women?”

“It was not very exciting, as the three men talked amongst themselves and obviously did not intend a woman to join in.”

“Just what I expected,” grumbled Sophie. “It's going to be a very boring journey until I meet Frederick.” She paused for a moment and then asked,

“What is that Equerry like? He at least is young and not bad-looking.”

“I think he was sent,” answered Titania slowly, “so that he could teach you Velidosian before you arrive.”

“If that is what he has come for, he's going to be disappointed. I have no wish to learn their silly language and although I would not mind talking to him, Mama would be horrified at the idea of his sitting at my bedside.”

Titania laughed.

“I am afraid she would!”

“In which case he will have failed in his mission,” snorted Sophie. “As I have already said, I am not going to learn any language other than the ones I know already.”

Titania looked round the cabin. “Is there anything you want,” she asked, “because I am going to bed.”

“I expect I shall want a lot in the morning,” replied Sophie, “but I cannot think of anything now. As soon as you know I have been called, Titania, you had better come to see me. It would be a mistake for you to have nothing to do while we are at sea.”

“Yes, of course. Good night, Sophie, sleep well.”

Her cousin did not bother to reply and she walked to her cabin, which was quite comfortable and very much the same as Sophie's.

She felt that at least the Captain believed she was someone of importance whatever her relatives might think.

As she undressed she wished with all her heart that her father and mother were with her on the voyage.

It would be to some country where her father knew there was a Monastery to visit where no Englishman had ever been or it might be to a town that had recently discovered treasures dating back to the early times of civilisation.

There was always something new and something thrilling to arouse Lord Rupert's attention and interest. It would make him determined, no matter how difficult the journey, that he would see it before anyone else did.

‘I must look out in Velidos for what is unusual, just as you would have done, Papa,' mused Titania to herself as she undressed. ‘I hope to get the chance to see the King who sounds interesting, even though he is isolating himself from the modern world.'

When she climbed into bed she thought of Mercury and she was certain that tomorrow morning he would be waiting for her and think it strange when she did not come to the stables at seven o'clock as she always did.

She had explained to him why she had to go away and hoped that he understood.

‘There is no one else except Nanny and Mercury who belong to me now,' she told herself. ‘And this ship is carrying me further and further away from them.'

She felt the tears come into her eyes and with an almost superhuman effort she prevented herself from crying.

‘I will have to be brave,' she lectured herself. ‘I have to explore a new country and somehow lead a new life despite Sophie, who will try to stop me from doing so and enjoying myself.'

It was then that she remembered she had managed to obtain five hundred pounds to put into a bank in Velidos.

She had not told her uncle the truth as to why she wanted the money. The real reason was that if she could not bear being alone in a strange land, she would be able to run away and return home.

‘It is just a precaution!' she had told herself and at the same time she knew it was really a way out.

 The sea in the Mediterranean was calm and blue.

Nevertheless the Duchess said she preferred to remain in her cabin and Sophie said the same and it seemed extraordinary to Titania they should not want to look at the beauty all around them.

There was the great Rock of Gibraltar, glimpses of the Northern coast of Africa, then the island of Malta and finally the many Greek islands in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern coastline of Greece.

All of these sights thrilled Titania.

Even while the ship was pitching and rolling in the Bay of Biscay, she had managed to attend her lessons with Darius.

They had laughed when the books slipped off the table and found it amusing when it became so rough that it was easier to sit on the floor than on a chair.

Darius was astonished how quickly Titania assimilated the Velidosian language and she seldom made a second mistake if he had corrected her.

When he praised her, she admitted,

“I am really a fraud, Darius, because I do know Greek and I find that nearly every other word of your language has a Greek origin.”

“I know His Majesty will never believe it when I tell him that one member of the party from England can speak our language fluently,” Darius told her.

“It is something the King wishes us to do?”

“He considers it very important for Lady Sophie to be able to speak her husband's language and, of course, he did not know that you would be aboard.”

Titania thought that would not be of much interest to him anyway.

Aloud she said,

“I only hope we make a good impression when we do arrive.”

“I can assure you, you will do so,” replied Darius.

She smiled at him thinking how kind he was, but she was always apprehensive that her aunt would discover she was having lessons with him.

Titania was quite certain that, if the Duchess learnt she was sitting for hours alone with a young man, she would put a stop to it immediately, but at that moment she was feeling far too ill to worry about anything.

Sophie was in the same state and this enabled Titania to be with Darius almost the whole day.

When their lessons were over they went out on deck. Darius managed to procure a mackintosh coat for her from one of the seamen and it covered her from top to toe.

They watched the waves splashing over the bow of the ship, jumping to avoid those which would have soaked them to the skin if they had not been quick enough to get out of the way.

It was all great fun and they laughed a lot and Titania was now a little less unhappy at leaving Mercury.

She was, however, afraid that everything would be changed when they reached the Mediterranean.

The two Ladies-in-Waiting crept into the Saloon for luncheon, looking very pale and still suffering from seasickness.

“How is it possible,” the elderly Minister of State asked Titania, “that you enjoy the sea and are apparently stimulated by it rather than collapsing as your relations have done?”

“I have led a very different life from theirs,” Titania told him. “I travelled with Papa and Mama when I was practically in the cradle. So I have become immune to all the difficulties and problems that other people endure when they leave solid English soil.”

He laughed at her remark and the way he looked at her told Titania that he admired her. It gave her a happy feeling she had not enjoyed since she had gone to live with her uncle.

Whilst they were passing along the Northern Coast of Africa, Titania was still having her lessons, which had now become conversations rather than bothering with grammar and the pronunciation of words.

“Do you suppose,” Titania asked of Darius, “there would be any chance of our visiting Greece? I would so love to see again all the places I love so much that I feel I really belong to them.”

Darius smiled.

“I am glad you feel like that and it is certainly something which will please the King.”

“Why particularly him?”

“I thought you knew,” replied Darius, “that the King's mother was Greek.”

“No one told me that, but I did not think that Prince Frederick looked in the least like a Greek.”

“He has no Greek blood in him.”

“I don't understand.” Titania looked puzzled.

“It's quite easy really,” Darius told her. “King Stelos, who was the present King's father, married a Greek Princess. She was very lovely and they were blissfully happy, but sadly when their son, Alexius, was only three years old when she died.”

Titania was listening and found it fascinating what Darius was telling her and thought it was important information that her uncle should have told her and Sophie before they left for the journey.

“Under pressure from the Prime Minister and the Cabinet,” continued Darius, “King Stelos married again and this time it was a German Princess who, from what I have seen from her portraits was not at all beautiful and like so many Germans very bossy.”

Titania now realised why she had not liked Prince Frederick and thought he gave himself unwarranted airs.

As his mother had been German she could understand why he boasted about his achievements and he treated everyone he met as if he was very much their superior.

“I think,” Darius was saying, “that our present King had an unhappy childhood and that could account for the fact that he now does what he wants to do regardless of what his Cabinet says.”

“I am sure they are always telling him that he must make public appearances and speeches,” said Titania. “It is what some Royalty enjoy, but I have always thought it could become very tiresome.”

Darius did not answer and after a moment she added,

“At the same time if his people need him, then he should try to help them.” Darius chuckled.

“Now you are being very English and playing mother to the poor little countries like ours, which you have taken under your protection. You are also determined that we should make the best of ourselves.”

“Is that what you think the English do?”

“I have seen them doing it,” replied Darius, “and, as you know, no one does it better than your Queen Victoria!”

“I have heard her called the
Matchmaker of Europe
,” remarked Titania. “I suppose in the same way, because she is so old and so important, she does seem to some countries like a
Mother Superior
.”

“That is exactly the right word for it,” agreed Darius and they both laughed.

*

 The Battleship passed Sicily and was drawing nearer to Greece.

At last the Duchess and Sophie aroused themselves to dress and appear at luncheon. It was then, for the first time, that they asked the Ladies-in-Waiting to tell them about the arrangements for the wedding.

The Minister of State explained who would be meeting them on their arrival.

“There will of course be His Royal Highness Prince Frederick,” he told Sophie, “the Prime Minister, the Lord Chamberlain and members of the Council.”

After a pause he continued,

“There will be two speeches and, Lady Sophie, you will be presented with a bouquet by a child dressed in our national costume.”

“I hope I do not have to say anything,” enquired Sophie, looking worried.

“It would be very much appreciated if you could say a few words,” the Minister of State answered. “I am sure that if I write them down you would find them quite easy to pronounce.”

“If I speak, I speak in English,” stated Sophie, tossing her head. “And if people cannot understand me it is their own fault.”

The Minister of State looked somewhat disconcerted and Darius offered,

“Do let me help you, my Lady, at least to say thank you in Velidosian.”

Sophie hesitated and then because Darius was a good-looking young man she suggested,

“Let us go and sit in a shady place on deck and I will try to learn just two or three words of your language, although actually I think it quite unnecessary.”

“I am sure if you will do so,” said Darius tactfully, “you will delight our people. And you do realise, my Lady, there will be very large crowds to see you arrive and to cheer you all the way to the Palace.”