Love and Apollo (10 page)

“I am not going to wish you every happiness,” the Duke replied, “because I think you have it already.  Let me know, if you can, where you are and what you are doing.  I shall be very careful that no one else has the slightest idea of what has happened to you.”

“Thank you, Arthur, I knew I could rely on you.”

Lady Rose kissed Valona saying,

“I am so happy!  I feel I am flying into the sky and it is impossible to remember what is happening on earth.  I am sure you understand.”

“Of course I do, Rose, and I know your happiness will increase day by day and year by year.  I am even more convinced of this prophecy than of the one that I gave you earlier.”

“But what you said then did come true.  Even now I cannot believe I am not dreaming.”

“I hope you will go on dreaming for ever!”

As they kissed each other, Lady Rose added,

“We will get together somehow as soon as we come back.  You have been the most amazing friend I have ever had and I am not going to lose you.”

Valona smiled.

She thought it might be difficult for them to meet again if she was in Larissa and Rose was in England.

The newly married couple climbed into the first carriage and Valona noticed that the pretty hat Lady Rose had worn was waiting for her on the small seat.

“Don't forget to take off your veil,” she whispered.

“I will try not to, Valona, but for the moment my head is in the clouds and I am finding it difficult to remember anything!”

The two girls kissed and the Marquis kissed Valona goodbye and thanked her again profusely for being so incredibly helpful.

They drove off and, having waved until they were out of sight, the Duke helped Valona into the other carriage.

Now as the horses started off, he commented,

“The sooner we sail on to Larissa the better.  I feel somewhat guilty that we have been delaying our arrival by stopping at the different ports on Gerald's insistence.”

There was silence for a minute and then Valona asked,

“Can I possibly do one thing that I want to do more than anything else?”

“What is that?”

“Could we possibly divert a little out of our way to Delos?”

She saw by the expression on the Duke's face that he did not understand what she was asking.

She explained quickly,

“Delos is the place where Apollo was born and is the most significant and exciting of all the Greek Islands.  I have never been there naturally and it is somewhere I have always longed to visit ever since I first learnt about Apollo when I was a small child.”

The Duke smiled.

“After your kindness in agreeing to take my sister's place, I can scarcely refuse any request that you make.  I will arrange with the Captain that you are able to set foot on the island if only for a very short time.”

“I would just love to explore the whole island, but I shall be so grateful if I could go ashore for a while.  It will be something for me to remember in the future.”

There was a distinct pause before she breathed the last words and he sensed that she was feeling fearful, even horror-struck, at the prospect of having to marry the King of Larissa.

He placed his hand over hers and turned to face her.

“I feel we have no right to impose this situation on you, but you see how happy you have made my sister and the man who is now her husband.  It would have been an unbelievably cruelty if after all these years, Gerald found himself free but unable to marry Rose.”

“I do understand,” sighed Valona.  “But I am afraid of being inadequate for the position you want me to take.”

“I assure you that you are so intelligent that no one could do it better than you, Valona.  As Gerald has told us, it may not be for too long and all you have to think about is that you are personally saving a small defenceless country from the yoke of Russia.”

“Do you really think it is as bad as everyone makes out, Cousin Arthur?”

“I have heard it is even worse.  The poor people in the Kingdoms and Principalities the Russians have already occupied are being treated like slaves and have no way of regaining their individual identity.”

Valona gave a deep sigh.

“I can appreciate how terrifying it is for them and I only hope you are right, that my bringing the protection of Great Britain to Larissa will not be in vain.”

“I am quite convinced that once you are established as Queen under British protection, the Russians will begin to withdraw.  The Larissians will then be given the unique opportunity to develop independently and will not become just another Russian dependency.”

“I do hope you are right,” Valona responded almost as if she was speaking to herself.

Because the Duke did not want her to be depressed, he talked of other matters until they were back at the port.

“I shall tell the Captain to put to sea immediately,” he said as they drew near to the battleship.

“What are you going to tell him about Rose and the Marquis?”

“I have been thinking about that problem.  I intend to tell him what Gerald has suggested I tell the King and the Court when we arrive at Larissa.”

“And what is that?” Valona asked a little nervously.

“He suggested we say that Rose was feeling ill and saw a doctor when we arrived in Athens.  He said it was essential that she should immediately go into hospital to be examined.  It was therefore impossible for her to sail with us as was intended.  As Gerald has been appointed by the Queen to look after her, he was obliged to stay with her.”

“That is very clever!” exclaimed Valona.

The Duke went on,

“It was hoped that the results of the examination, which was to take place tomorrow, would not be as serious as they feared, in which case they would follow us.”

The Duke paused as if he was thinking.

“For the moment, because of the serious condition of the King, which we heard about at the British Embassy, we thought it wise to go ahead and make the Russians in Larissa aware that the King's bride was only temporarily delayed.”

Valona was listening wide-eyed and she queried,

“You are not going to mention me?”

“I intend to inform the Captain confidentially that if my sister is as ill as feared and has to undergo an operation, you have volunteered, having the same Royal blood as her, to take her place.

“Naturally I shall ask him to swear that he will keep this suggestion a close secret in case it proves impossible for Rose to join us as we hoped.”

Valona gave another little sigh.

“It all sounds very complicated and I only hope the Captain believes you.”

She looked at the Duke a little anxiously before she added,

“You will have to tell a totally different story when we arrive.”

“I know, Valona, but there is no necessity for the Captain to know too much at this stage and when you do marry the King, he will just think that we have received bad news from Athens.”

“It all seems so clever, but I can only hope that no one realises who Mr. and Mrs. Sharm really are.  It would be terribly bad luck if they met any friends when they were looking at the Pyramids.”

The Duke smiled.

“If they do, I should imagine Gerald with his fertile imagination will invent a marvellous explanation of where you and I are at that moment!”

Valona laughed.

“It all gets more and more convoluted.  My mother always said to me, when I was a little girl, ‘one lie leads to another lie,' and that is exactly what is happening now!”

“As long as they are all white lies because we are helping other people, I am not particularly perturbed about them.  The only thing which matters about a lie is not to be caught out!”

Because of the way he spoke Valona laughed again.

“We will both have to be extremely careful, Cousin Arthur.  You have not forgotten you promised that we shall stop at Delos?”

“I have been thinking about it and as I gave you my word, I will not go back on it.  But I am going to suggest to the Captain that, if we reach Delos after dark, you will go ashore first thing in the morning and then we must be on our way to Larissa as quickly as possible.”

Valona's eyes were shining.

“All I ask is just a few minutes on Delos.”

The Duke again sensed that she was so strongly looking forward to stepping onto the island of Delos that she had pushed out of her mind the situation waiting for her when they reached Larissa.

While they were having dinner, she talked of Athens and the history of Greece – a subject that the Duke had always been interested in himself.

He was not really surprised to find that because her father was Greek, that country had always meant more to her than anywhere else.

“I am incredibly grateful for being English and for Great Britain protecting my family when we were driven away from our home,” Valona told him.  “But I have never been able to think of myself as being entirely English and I may find it difficult once I am Queen of Larissa to behave exactly as they might expect an English lady to do.”

The Duke smiled at her.

“I don't think you need worry.  They will find you very beautiful and I would not expect the ordinary people of the country to know much about England anyway.

“At this precise moment they are more perturbed by Russia and the Russian way of life which is moving nearer and nearer to them.”

“It must be terrifying for all the Larissians.  Surely one of the European countries is strong enough to tell them they can go no further?”

“No European country wants a war at this moment and, to be honest, Russia does not want one either.  They would have seized Constantinople eight years ago in 1878 if Queen Victoria had not sent six battleships into the Dardanelles, which made the Grand Duke Nicholas turn back when he was only six miles from the City.”

“It sounds rather smug, but I am most thankful the Russians did not take Constantinople.”

“So was everyone else, but it was a near thing.”

Valona fell silent and the Duke reckoned that she was worrying about Larissa.

“You are not to worry yourself, Valona, for once you are established as Queen, the Russians will know there is nothing they can do about it and they will withdraw their agents.  It has happened before and it will happen again, as long as Queen Victoria can go on supplying enough of her relatives to play the part of Queen.”

“I fully understand how important it is,” murmured Valona in a small voice.  “But I never thought that it would involve me.”

“All I can say is that we have been extremely lucky that you were with us and that Gerald's wife has died now instead of a week later, when he would have lost Rose for ever!”

“I felt sure they would be together and I was right!”

When it was time for her to go to bed, she thanked God for hearing her prayers and helping them as He had.

At the same time she prayed earnestly for herself.

‘I certainly don't want to marry the King of Larissa.  Although they think that he is going to die, he might easily hang on for years.'

Then she thought how terrifying it would be if he did die and they expected her to take his place in ruling the country.

She would have no idea of how to even start.

How could she, having been brought up so simply in Hampton Court?

Then she began to believe that she was frightening herself unnecessarily.

The King had a son.

Surely he was old enough to play his part in ruling Larissa once they were freed from the Russians?

The whole story seemed to swirl around and around in Valona's head.

Although she tried, there seemed nothing simple or straightforward about it.

‘One thing I am quite determined on,' she thought to herself, ‘is that I shall ask Mama to come out and join me as soon as possible. She, at the very least, will know what I should do and how I should behave.'

She gave a deep sigh.

‘Until she arrives I am bound to make hundreds of mistakes and perhaps have all the courtiers in the Palace laughing at me or despising me.'

The more she thought about it, the more frightening it became.

Only when she climbed into bed did she remember that she was to be called very early.

She was to visit Delos and that was more exciting than anything else!

She had a feeling within herself that of all the Gods Apollo would help her.  He had always been the hero at the back of her mind ever since her childhood.

Her mother had told her all the stories of the Greek Gods and Goddesses and about the contribution the Greek dramatists and philosophers had made to world civilisation.

She had told Valona how the spirit of Apollo could still be sensed at Delphi in the beautiful valley beneath the shimmering cliffs and how he had arrived in the little town of Crisa in a ship guided by a dolphin.

He had sprung ashore and claimed possession of all the land which he could see and no one opposed him.

So often had Valona imagined Apollo standing in the sunshine with his arms outstretched, surrounded by olive trees.

She had grown up mesmerised by him.

She felt that he was in some way more important to her than any Christian Saint could be.

And it had always been her ambition to visit Delos where Apollo had been born and from there all the Greeks believed that his influence had spread across the world.

As Valona grew older, she learnt a great deal more about Apollo from the big library in Hampton Court Palace and from her conversations with Sir Mortimer.

It was he who told her that from Apollo had come all the things that men needed.

He was the first of the Gods that men could strive to resemble and from him came science, the sense of order and all that is adventurous and daring in man.

Valona had listened to Sir Mortimer wide-eyed.

Every word seemed more significant than anything she had learnt from her tutors and teachers.