A Dangerous Disguise (3 page)

Ola gave a cry.

"Hush! Hush!" she exclaimed. "I don't want them to know I am here."

He raised his eyebrows.

"But why not?"

"Because if they find out," she explained, "They will insist on my undertaking a lot of duties, meeting people I don't want to meet, most of them from the Balkans. In which case I might as well have stayed where I was. I've come to see London, and while I'm here I want to meet only Londoners."

He laughed. He had an engaging twinkle in his eyes.

"I can see your point," he said. "Very well, I'll show you what I can of the Palace but you must be careful not to tell your friends, otherwise I'll be overwhelmed with people asking the same thing."

"Oh, that is so kind of you!" Ola exclaimed.

"Come along. I'm breaking all the rules on your behalf but never mind."

As they moved in the direction of the stairs Greta began to move with them, but Ola turned and said coolly,

"Lady Krasler, you have our permission to remain here."

"It might be more suitable if I – "

"Here, if you please."

"Don't worry," her escort said to Greta. "I'll take great care of her."

Greta flung her a look of indignation, but Ola refused to see it. She was determined to do this on her own.

He was, after all, an extremely good looking young man.

She took his arm and they began to mount a flight of broad stairs.

"I've not introduced myself yet," he said. "I'm the Duke of Camborne. I'm on duty here to attend to the visitors and, incidentally, to make sure that they don't take away any souvenirs."

"You can be certain they'll try," Ola replied. "After all, it's something they'll want to remember, and what could be better than one of the paintings or even a smaller object."

"I believe all the small objects have been moved out of reach," said the Duke, "and I suspect some of the pictures are firmly hammered into place."

"I am curious," Ola said, "to see if this Palace, of which I have heard so much, is as marvellous as people say."

"I only hope you won't be disappointed."

They had reached the top of the stairs by now. He took her into a room where the walls were hung with paintings, and told her the names of the artists – Rembrandt, Vermeer, Holbein.

Ola's head began to spin. So many masterpieces, all in one place and all owned by the Queen.

After a while the Duke asked,

"Have you really come all the way from the Balkans just to be here for Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee? Surely you have not travelled alone?"

"Alone apart from my lady-in-waiting, whom you saw downstairs. For once I wanted to be free to spend my time as I pleased, without having to think of etiquette every moment. And it's nice to be able to forget all the worries, as well."

"What worries does Oltenitza have?"

"The Russians. Everyone knows that they are trying to gobble up the whole of the Balkan principalities one by one. Only those to whom Her Majesty has been kind enough to give her protection, feel safe."

"Her Majesty has done her best," said the Duke. "She has already arranged a number of marriages. In fact they call her the 'Matchmaker of Europe.'"

"You must be very, very proud of her. I can assure you we in Oltenitza admire her greatly."

By this time they had moved into the Throne Room.

"Is this where the debutantes are presented?" Ola asked.

"That's right. And also high ranking foreign ladies. The seats on either side of the room are filled with the relations of the Ambassadors of the various countries.

"The young women themselves wait in a sitting-room until their names are called. Then they are led in by whoever is presenting them."

"It all sounds so exciting," Ola said, "and I would love to be presented myself."

"Of course you must be," the Duke replied. "I am sure Her Majesty would be delighted to invite you to Windsor Castle when all this excitement is over, if you remain in England for long."

"I will remain in England as long as I can," Ola told him. "I want to see your country as it is normally, and not just when it's celebrating a special occasion."

"I am afraid you might be disappointed with London and find it like every other capital city," the Duke said. Then he smiled. "All the same I would like to show you London at night. Perhaps you will dine with me."

Her heart beat with excitement. This was taking her gamble further than she had ever dreamed. Did she dare? Or was the risk too great?

"I would be delighted – " she said quickly.

"Would tonight be too soon? Or have you some other engagement?" enquired the Duke.

"Tonight would be very pleasant. But can you change your plans so close to the festivities? I'm sure you're very busy."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness, I am very busy, but I can assure you that when I want something I invariably get it, because I'm so determined. Now, I'm determined to give you dinner and for you to tell me more about yourself."

A little tremor went through her. Talking about herself would be dangerous, she knew.

But then her head went up. What was an adventure without risk?

"I shall be happy to do so," she said.

As they continued walking through the Palace the Duke said,

"I want to know how you are brave enough to come here almost alone, with only one lady-in-waiting to keep you safe."

"But I'm quite safe," Ola said, laughing. "I can look after myself. In Oltenitza the ladies are taught to be very strong. We ride hard and learn to shoot."

The shooting was true for Ola. Papa had taught her, and praised her straight aim.

"You can shoot?" he asked, amused.

"Why do you laugh? I'm an excellent shot. I can hit a bull's eye at fifty paces – at least – that is – no, take no notice of me."

"Why not? I'm interested in a lady who can shoot so well."

But Ola had recollected that gentlemen scorned ladies who were good at masculine pursuits, and the last thing that a clever woman did was to announce the fact.

"But I cannot shoot at all," she laughed. "I was just boasting. Tell me some more about London, you must know it very well."

"I can hardly call myself a Londoner," the Duke said.

"But I'll try to make sure you enjoy England and not just London."

"I would love to see more of England."

"Tonight I'll take you to a quiet place for dinner, where we can escape the festivities for a while. In my opinion they can sometimes be overdone, and last too long."

"That's exactly what I feel about anything which is royal," Ola agreed. "Every ceremony is dragged out until you feel you want to run away, and be alone."

"I should think someone as beautiful as you must find it hard to be alone," the Duke said.

Ola laughed.

"Thank you for the compliment, but I like my own company. Then I can dream of all the marvellous things I might do if I were free."

"What would the marvellous things be?" he enquired, smiling.

"I will make a list and tell you tonight," Ola said.

As they walked downstairs at the end of the tour the Duke said,

"I am sorry but I must leave you now. I have to be on duty at a grand luncheon Her Majesty is giving for overseas visitors. Of course, you should really be one of them."

"No! No!" Ola exclaimed. "I have to go to too many of that sort of function."

"But are you quite certain I shouldn't contact your Ambassador?"

"I should very much dislike it if you did that," Ola replied with perfect truth. "He'll want to move me into the Embassy."

"Very well, I'll respect your wishes. But do you mean that you don't intend to meet Her Majesty at all? Is there nothing that you wish to say to her?"

"Nothing except my greetings that I have already delivered with my gift," said Ola. "I should like to see her, of course, but only from a distance – perhaps when she is out riding in her carriage. If you can tell me when she means to do that, I shall be glad."

"Very well, if I hear news of such an event, I will let you know. But I must warn you that this happens very rarely. Her Majesty lives mostly in seclusion, and it is rare for her to be as accessible as she has become during the Jubilee celebrations. She likes to spend more time at Frogmore just now."

"Frogmore?"

"It's near Windsor. Her husband, the late Prince Albert was buried there, and although he has been dead for over twenty-five years she feels his loss particularly at this time.

"She should have celebrated her Jubilee with him at her side, and it breaks her heart that she cannot. So she stays at Frogmore and then takes the train to London, and travels by carriage to Buckingham Palace."

"But is it an open carriage, so that she can be seen?" Old asked eagerly.

"Sometimes. It depends if she is tired. And of course she will travel in an open carriage to Westminster Abbey for the service of thanksgiving."

"Thank you. Somehow I shall contrive to see her. I must."

"If it's so important, let me take you to her."

"No," she said quickly. "It must be from a distance. I can't explain. I have a reason but – I can't tell you what it is."

"Very well, as you wish. Now, about tonight. At which hotel are you staying?"

"The Imperial."

"One of the best hotels in London. I'll be there at a quarter to eight."

"I'll be waiting for you," she told him, "and I'm known for being very punctual."

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the Duke said suddenly,

"You must promise me not to vanish."

"Why should I vanish?"

"Because you are so unique. I'm afraid that, just as you appeared unexpectedly, so you'll vanish and I'll think I've been dreaming."

"I promise you not to vanish - until after tonight."

Ola held out her hand and he took it in both of his.

"It has been a great joy to meet you," he told her. "I'll be counting the hours until I see you again."

"And so will I," she said, meaning it.

As 'Lady Krasler' rose to her feet in readiness, the Duke murmured,

"Will your dragon feel it necessary to accompany you tonight?"

"I'm sure she will," said Ola. "But I shall not feel it at all necessary."

"Just the two of us then?"

"Just the two of us," she said, aware that her heart was beating a little faster at the thought.

As she drove off the Duke bowed to her from the steps of the Palace and she waved her hand to him.

"Oh, that was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me," she said ecstatically.

"Hmm!" said Greta, regarding her with suspicion.

"Oh, Greta don't be cross with me. It was such fun. And tonight he's taking me to dinner." Seeing rebellion in her companion's eye she said quickly, "Just the two of us."

"Shame on you. You've barely met him."

"Listen, we have a lot of work to do," Ola said, not answering her directly. "First, we have to buy you a new hat."

"But you won the bet."

"Yes, but I'm going to buy a lot of new clothes this afternoon, so you must have something too."

"You've got lots of clothes."

"But I've realised that they're all hopelessly out of fashion. None of my dresses have bustles."

"Bustles are out of fashion."

"But they came back, and now they're simply enormous. Haven't you seen the women at the hotel, and walking along the streets? They make me feel so dowdy."

Greta was forced to concede the point.

"But how can we obtain fashionable clothes at a moment's notice?" she objected. "It takes several days for a dress maker to complete a garment. I shall seek advice at the hotel."

Luck was with them. At the reception desk they found an extremely genteel lady who informed them that for those who needed fashionable attire quickly a visit to Regent Street was the only answer.

Arriving in Regent Street was like arriving in heaven. Dress shops, hat shops, glove shops. Shops that sold items of 'delicacy'. They visited one of these first, and purchased white silk petticoats, and several pairs of drawers that came below Ola's knees and were trimmed with the prettiest lace and coloured ribbon.

Corsets too were daintily trimmed, and tightened her waist almost to nothing. Finally there was the bustle, a light wire mesh cage which was fixed around the waist with strings and protruded at the back, so that the skirt was draped over it.

There were shoes to be bought, and hats. As she had promised, Ola purchased a hat for Greta, who was so delighted that she ceased predicting dire consequences if Ola dined alone with a man.

As last there was the evening gown. It came down to a choice between a brilliant creation in deep blue silk gauze, or a frothy confection in gold satin. Ola insisted on buying the latter, from an instinctive feeling that the Duke would like gold.

She caught Greta regarding her suspiciously, almost as though she could read her thoughts. To distract her, Ola purchased two dresses for Greta as well, explaining that her chief lady-in-waiting must be well dressed.

"So I've been promoted to chief lady-in-waiting, have I?" asked Greta. She tried to sound grim, but the two silk garments had pleased her.

They returned to the hotel in triumph. Ola spent the next three hours taking a nap before rising to take a refreshing bath. Greta had arranged for a light meal that she insisted Ola should eat.

"But I'm going to have dinner," Ola protested.

"You'll have something first," Greta said, adding darkly, "he may ply you with strong drink."

She had been heating the curling tongs, and as soon as Ola was dressed she got to work, arranging her auburn hair in an elaborate style.

They spent some time considering jewellery, and finally decided on a ruby and gold necklace that Ola's mother had brought with her from Coburg. It had a slightly exotic, un-English appearance that she felt would help her 'Balkan' pose. Matching ear-rings and bracelet completed the effect.

When everything was finished she stood and looked at herself in the long mirror, and could hardly believe that this was herself.

This woman was beautiful. She was assured, imperious, magnificent. She was a Princess.