The Lord Chamberlain stared at the King.
He could hardly believe what he was hearing.
“What are you saying, Sire? I can hardly believe that what Your Majesty says is true.”
“The proof is right there on the chest of drawers. She thought I was fast asleep and added a substance to the sleeping draught I am supposed to drink at night. It has been analysed by Doctor Iccus, who says there is enough poison in it to kill a horse.”
He paused and then continued,
“I am not a horse and if I had taken it, as the Queen begged me to do, I should undoubtedly at this moment be
dead
.”
The Lord Chamberlain gave a loud exclamation of horror.
“Can this really be true?” he asked again, dazed by this turn of events.
“It certainly is. Luckily I noticed when the Queen left my room that my glass was fuller than previously, despite the fact that I had not drunk any of it. Frederik confirmed it for me.”
The Lord Chamberlain gave a deep sigh.
“I will carry out Your Majesty's instructions to the letter.”
“I apologise for them being unpleasant, but they are totally necessary. At the same time we do not need any scandal so the newspapers must not get to hear of it.”
He paused before he added,
“I have, in fact, just thought of a better idea.”
“What is that, Your Majesty?” the Lord Chamberlain enquired curiously.
“Just over the border into the Queen's country there is the Convent of the Blessed Virgin Mary. You will tell Her Majesty that I will announce she has retired there as it is where she wishes to spend the rest of her life.”
His face was grim, his eyes steely and cold as he went on,
“That is the message which will go out to the subjects of Valdina tomorrow, and if Her Majesty agrees to go quietly without any protestation, no one except you, Frederik and myself will know the truth.”
“I think it is an excellent idea, Your Majesty. The last thing we want is a scandal of a woman, even if she is a Queen, attempting to obtain the throne by such villainous and appalling actions!”
“I leave it in your capable hands. If you wake the Queen now, tell her you can arrange for her to go quietly without a Royal Escort to the Convent, otherwise she will go by
force
.”
The Lord Chamberlain gave another deep sigh.
“I am incredibly sorry, Your Majesty, that this has occurred, but I will carry out your instructions in full. I only hope that they will be accepted in a sensible manner and remain a secret to the world outside.”
“Thank you, Lord Chamberlain.”
The King lent back against his pillows and the Lord Chamberlain thought that the horror of what had occurred was extremely bad for him.
“Please take good care of His Majesty, Frederik,” the Lord Chamberlain urged him.
“That's what I intends to do, my Lord.”
Now the Lord Chamberlain, none too hurriedly, and feeling extremely apprehensive, knocked on the door of the Queen's bedroom.
CHAPTER SEVEN
There was a knock on Attila's window.
She opened the door to find Lamos outside.
“I've brought hot water, but the gentleman says you are not to hurry as he's gone swimming in the river.”
Attila smiled.
She thought it was just like Gesa to take advantage of the nearby river and so she did not dress herself until she heard him return on the other side of the wooden wall.
She wanted to see him and be with him as they had been last night.
Lamos had laid their breakfast out in the same place where they had eaten dinner and as Attila walked over she saw Gesa come round the corner of the carriage.
She waited for him and when he reached her it was impossible to do anything but gaze into each others' eyes.
“You are even lovelier,” he sighed, “than you were last night.”
Attila slipped her hands into his, unable to find any words to express her feelings.
They sat down and Kilkos came hurrying over with their breakfast that Lamos had just cooked for them.
Attila did not want to eat, but she made a supreme effort feeling that this, like everything that had happened, was a moment she really wanted to remember and savour in every detail.
Gesa did not speak but kept looking at her.
“Are we going riding?” she asked.
“It is what I would like to do, Lala, but at the same time I think it is more important for us to settle with your family when our marriage can take place.”
The way he spoke made Attila feel as if her heart was turning a dozen somersaults.
Then the myriad difficulties and problems waiting ahead for them seemed to rise up in front of her like a huge black cloud.
“Must we go so soon?” she asked him pleadingly.
“You know, Lala, that I want to stay here forever and you know I want to be by your side for always. How could I want anything else? But as we are both aware there are sure to be obstacles ahead and the sooner we face them the better.”
Attila wondered what
his
difficulties would be.
She felt that they could not compare with hers.
She wondered desperately whether it would be best to tell him now what was waiting for her at the Palace.
Or should she let him find out for himself when he met her father?
She could not risk losing these last few moments of happiness with Gesa and it would mean bringing up such a controversial subject that they could both be torn apart by it.
“I will do whatever you want,” she told him in a low voice. “At the same time it is
so
lovely and beautiful here.”
She looked out over the grassland as she spoke and a large flock of birds rose into the sky, which she knew the peasants would think a good omen.
She prayed that was what it would be for her.
“Nothing could be more beautiful than you,” Gesa was saying. “I still find it hard to believe you are real.”
Attila turned her face to look at him.
“I want to kiss you!” he exclaimed. “God knows I want to kiss you again as I did last night. But I think we must settle this matter of our marriage at once because I cannot wait for you without feeling I am going mad!”
âI must tell him that there will be great difficulties ahead for us,' Attila said to herself.
But she could not find the words.
Gesa pushed aside his plate.
“Come, I am feeling just like you. I can read your thoughts so I know that we both have to face the music. We will face it together and I will tell you one thing; under no circumstance will I give you up. You are mine, you are part of me and I have no wish to go on living without you.”
He said the words firmly and distinctly, almost as if he was not only addressing Attila but a large audience.
Then before she could even move, he turned and walked away, whistling, as he did so, for Zeus.
The stallion came trotting up to him and Attila went back to the carriage.
Lamos had the horses between the shafts and she walked to his side and said to him in a low voice,
“Listen to me, Lamos!”
“I am listening,” he answered.
“We are now going back to Valdina and I want you to take us to Father Jozsef's house. I am intending to leave Mr. Gesa with you there while I go and see my father.”
She glanced back to see if he was approaching.
“Mr. Gesa has no idea who I am and you are still not to tell him.”
“I'll keep my mouth shut and so will Kilkos.”
“I shall not be away for long, but he is not to know where I have gone. I have to see His Majesty alone first.”
“I understand,” said Lamos. “Leave the gentleman to us. We will make him comfortable.”
“Thank you, Lamos. I knew you would help me.”
Attila whistled for Samson who came galloping to her at once. She felt he knew he was going home, back to his own stable, and was looking forward to it.
Lamos saddled and bridled him and Attila collected a few items she had left inside the carriage.
When she went back to Samson, Gesa was already mounted on Zeus who was behaving rather obstreperously.
Lamos helped Attila onto the saddle, hurried back to the carriage and climbed up onto the box.
As Attila joined Gesa, their horses both broke into a gallop and they rode off together over the grassland leaving the carriage moving slowly along the river bank.
They had gone quite far before the horses slowed to a trot.
Then Gesa enquired playfully,
“Has that blown away the cobwebs?”
“I felt as if we were galloping to the very end of the world!” answered Attila.
“That is just what I intend to do with you,” he said. “When we are married we are going to explore all the places that fascinate us both. Anything I do with you will be more thrilling and more exciting than anything I have ever done before in my life.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” asked Attila.
“I think you already know the answer. I am convinced that we have met before and been together in many, many lives. Our souls know each other. I knew when I left you last night that we will be married in no more than two or three days!”
Attila gave a little cry.
“No one could be married as quickly as that!”
“Except us! You will find out, my lovely one, that when I want something as desperately as I want you, I always get my own way.”
“That is just what I want you to have,” murmured Attila.
But she was still frightened.
They turned back towards the carriage, which was only a dot in the distance, but it did not take them long to reach it.
Now Attila could see the first towers and spires of the City of Valdina and as they journeyed on they passed one or two peasants' cottages.
The mountains on the other side of the river were very familiar â she had climbed them all with her father.
As they drove nearer still to the Palace she felt her heart soar. There was the high peak she could see from her bedroom, which had always been a symbol of inspiration to her.
When she had been a little girl her mother had said,
“You must always strive in life to reach the top of the mountain and not be content with sitting at the bottom.”
At the time she could not quite understand what her mother meant.
As she grew older she realised that, as Father Jozsef had once said, she must raise her eyes to the stars.
“If you seek the best in life,” he told her, “then you must look up towards the sky. For that is where we believe Heaven to be and which gives us the inspiration we need because we live on earth.”
She thought now of all the things she had desired in her life, some of which she had already attained.
What she wanted now was not only more important but greater and so high that it was almost out of her reach.
Gesa had spoken very little since they had turned their horses towards Valdina and she thought that perhaps he was praying, as she was, that everything would turn out for the best and that they really could marry each other as soon as possible.
She looked up at the peak of the mountain.
âAm I asking too much?' she sighed from her heart.
Then as she prayed the sunshine seemed to glitter for a moment on the peak.
She felt it was an answer to the one question that seemed to consume her.
It took them a little less than two more hours to reach the outskirts of the City.
Lamos turned his horses towards the little valley in which Father Jozsef's small house was situated.
When it first came into sight with the spire of the Chapel rising above it, Gesa spoke after what had seemed a long silence.
“Is that your house?” he enquired.
Attila shook her head.
“No, it belongs to Father Jozsef who, as you know, died when I was at the Shrine.”
“Why are we going there?”
Attila felt herself trembling because what lay ahead was going to be so very difficult.
“I want you to stay in Father Jozsef's house, while I go first to speak to my father.”
“Do you live nearby?”
“Just a short distance, which will not take me long,” replied Attila.
She swallowed and went on,
“I want first to tell Papa that Father Jozsef has died and second how kind you have been in bringing me home. It might have been much more difficult if I had been alone with the servants.”
She thought what she was saying sounded sensible and it would be difficult for Gesa to refute it.
She sensed that he was debating whether he would insist on accompanying her to her father.
Then he said,
“Very well, my darling, if that is what you want to do. But do not be long and if you disappear back into the Heaven from which you have just come, you can be quite certain I will follow you!”
“I am certainly not going to disappear. I want to be with you. Oh, Gesa I love you, you know that. But â there may be â difficulties.”
She stumbled over the last few words and Gesa said almost fiercely,
“Whatever they are and however impossible they may seem, we
will
surmount them.”
He paused for a moment before he continued,
“We also have the real answer to anyone who tries to prevent our marriage.”
“What is that?” asked Attila wide-eyed.
“It is quite simple. We love each other and it is a love which is unconquerable and irresistible. No one shall take it from us.”
Attila put out her hand towards him.
“That is just what I feel and what I too believe. Oh, Gesa, I am praying to Father Jozsef and to God to help us.”
Gesa reached out and touched her hand.
Their horses were too far apart for him to kiss her as she longed for him to do.
They rode on and a few moments later Lamos drew the carriage up outside the door of Father Jozsef's small but very attractive house.
Gesa's eyes were twinkling when he looked at it.