Ruled by Love (7 page)

“Come and look at my room and see if it is as nice as yours,” Udele suggested to Zoleka.

They walked through to the adjoining boudoir and Zoleka opened the door into the Lily room.

It was a very large room, just like hers, except that the covers and curtains were white and the gilded canopy over the top of the four-poster bed was carved to represent flowers and angels.

“I think you will love this room, Udele.”

“It is certainly much nicer than the room I have been sleeping in!”

The housekeeper was waiting to hear their approval of the rooms.

Zoleka said to her with a smile,

“Thank you very much for getting the rooms ready so quickly. Tomorrow the Princess and I would like plenty of flowers, I always feel lost without them.”

“I will see to it myself, Your Royal Highness,” the housekeeper replied.

Zoleka was about to return to her own room when Udele asked her,

“What are you going to wear tonight? I am afraid that I shall look very dull in comparison, as all my dresses are so old and shabby. I have not had anything new for a very long time.”

“We will go to the shops tomorrow. Meanwhile, as we are about the same size, I will lend you a dress to wear this evening – otherwise you might feel embarrassed.”

“If you are as smart as you look now, I should feel
very
embarrassed! I have nothing but the dull afternoon dresses I changed into for tea with my governess.”

“Come into my room and let me choose an evening gown for you,” suggested Zoleka.

She turned to the housekeeper.

“I would like you to come too, so that you can help Her Royal Highness into it.”

When Marla heard what was wanted, she produced a most attractive blue gown of Zoleka's, who often wore it when she dined alone with her father and wanted to look pretty but not over-dressed.

Udele was delighted with it.

“When you have put it on, come back and Marla will arrange your hair in a different way. Now you are so grown up, you will have to take a great deal of trouble over it, but I expect there is a good hairdresser in the City.”

“There is, and he has come to the Palace once or twice, but only to do the hair of some grand guest who was staying here.”

“We will send for him tomorrow and he must think out a new and smart way of arranging your hair.”

Her father had told Zoleka that Udele had Russian blood in her, and her rippling, glossy dark hair and large deep brown eyes reflected her heritage.

Her complexion was pale and clear and she looked very young.

However, Zoleka was certain that when Udele was dressed up and her hair well arranged she would appear not only more sophisticated, but also extremely beautiful.

She had not appreciated when she first met Udele how striking the contrast between them was.

Zoleka had inherited her mother's golden hair and blue eyes, as well as the pink and white complexion that is always associated with English beauties.

But what made her so very unusual was the sparkle in her eyes and the
joie-de-vivre
, which seemed to vibrate from her like a ray of sunshine.

Time was passing and she thought it would be very rude to be late for Prince Majmir.

She hurried over her bath and let Marla choose the gown she was to wear – it was a very pretty pink one and as it was pink it was a compliment to the Rose room.

She put on her pearl necklace and the two diamond bracelets her father had given her, twisting them on her wrist to remind her of his kindness and great love and to give her confidence for the evening ahead.

She thought when she looked in the mirror that she looked Regal enough and hoped that Prince Majmir would appreciate her.

Udele came running in through the boudoir to join her.

She was looking so totally different from the rather crushed and badly dressed schoolgirl of Zoleka's arrival.

“Look at me! Look at me!” she cried as she came into the room. “Do I not look smart?”

“You look very lovely, Udele, and that is how you will always have to look from this moment on.”

Udele put her head on one side.

“I doubt it, if I only have one dress to wear,” she quipped, stroking the soft fabric of her borrowed gown in wonder.

  “We are going shopping tomorrow and no one shall stop us, and then a real fairytale Princess will astonish and delight the whole of Krnov.”

Udele was amused by the idea.

When they walked down the stairs together, she was talking animatedly.

An
aide-de-camp
was waiting in the hall to escort them to Prince Majmir's private apartments.

He was elderly and Zoleka thought Anton had been quite right in thinking it would be a mistake to have him to dinner with them.

They walked slowly along numerous high-ceilinged corridors until they reached the end of the Palace, where the private apartments of the Prince were situated.

The
aide-de-camp
ushered them into an anteroom where the Count and Pieter Seitz were waiting. For the moment there was no sign of Prince Majmir.

The Count greeted them effusively.

“I was beginning to be afraid that I had lost you both, but now you appear like two angels from Heaven!”

“I am so glad we look like angels,” replied Zoleka. “Both Udele and I are hoping for compliments!”

The Count laughed.

“That is what I was just about to pay you. May I say I am very proud to be dining with two such beautiful young ladies?”

Zoleka realised that Udele was looking at him with wide eyes and she was quite certain that this was the first compliment the poor girl had ever received.

“You may,” Zoleka mock-curtsied to the Count and smiled at Udele to encourage her too to accept the compliment graciously.

Pieter was too much of the diplomat not to add his appreciation as well, so he bowed and kissed the hand of both the Princesses saying,

“I am most honoured to be here tonight at what I believe will be the beginning of a new chapter for Krnov. And who could make it all more memorable than two such lovely Princesses?”

As he finished speaking the door at the other end of the room opened.

Another
aide-de-camp
, even older than the one who originally escorted them into the Palace, announced,

“His Royal Highness is ready to receive his guests.”

Zoleka walked towards the door.

They had to cross a passage and into another room where Prince Majmir was waiting.

She was not sure what to expect, but as the door opened she was surprised to see a rather decrepit man in the centre of the room waiting to receive them.

His evening clothes did not seem to fit him and his hair, which was slightly grey, was unkempt.

Even before she reached him, Zoleka's instinct told her that there was something very wrong.

However, she swept dutifully to the floor into a low curtsy and Prince Majmir bowed to her in return.

“Welcome to Krnov. I very much hope Your Royal Highness will enjoy being here with us.”

“I am certain I shall. It is exceedingly gracious of Your Royal Highness to invite me to your Palace and I am delighted to be your guest.”

Then Zoleka presented the Count and she noticed that Prince Majmir was rather surprised to find he was one of the party.

To Pieter Seitz he appeared condescending as if he thought he was of no particular consequence.

It was then that Anton Bauer joined them.

As he seemed a little flustered, Zoleka guessed that he had been making adjustments to the dinner or perhaps rearranging the seating plan.

Dinner was to be served in Prince Majmir's private dining room next to the room where he had received them.

Neither room was at all impressive – there were no flowers in either and the silver on the dining room table was unpolished.

Zoleka was seated on Prince Majmir's right and his daughter on his left with the Count on the other side of her.

They were waited on by four servants, but the fare, Zoleka considered, was not particularly interesting.

She knew her father would not have thought it good enough for visiting Royalty or anyone else for that matter.

There was champagne, but she noticed that before it was served Prince Majmir was given a different drink that was not offered to the rest of the party.

She was wondering what it could possibly be as he quickly emptied his glass and then it was instantly refilled by a footman every time he drank from it.

As Prince Majmir had very little to contribute, the conversation might have been most dreary and boring, but the Count started to amuse them with many stories of the horses he had ridden at home and of races he had tried to arrange without success.

Zoleka realised that Udele was listening rapturously to the Count's tales.

She thought it must be the very first time the poor girl had been allowed to attend a dinner with a young and handsome man, so completely different from her elderly and dull governesses.

‘The Count is so right,' she mused, ‘we must cheer up the evenings in this dismal Palace or we will all begin to feel depressed.'

As Prince Majmir seemed to have nothing to say to her, Zoleka talked to the others and Pieter joined in with a number of extremely amusing anecdotes.

Course followed course each less imaginative than the last, but the champagne sparkled and on the whole, she thought, the conversation did too.

She politely addressed quite a number of remarks to Prince Majmir and yet because he was so slow in replying, it was usually the Count who answered first.

Finally they reached the last course and desert was being served. Turning politely to say a word to her host, Zoleka was aware that his eyes were closing.

She looked at him in astonishment and then to her even greater surprise Anton and the Count rose.

Almost before Zoleka realised what was happening they helped the Prince out of his chair and more or less carried him from the room.

She looked at Pieter for an explanation and he told her quietly,

“I had heard before we came here that this always happens in the evening.”

“You mean he is
drunk
?” she asked in a whisper.

“Continually.  Now you will surely understand why it is wiser not to dine with His Royal Highness.”

“I had no idea!” exclaimed Zoleka, “I never thought of anything like this happening.”

Some moments passed before the Count and Anton returned. They sat down as if nothing had happened and carried on the conversation from where they had left off.

She realised they were being most tactful and were determined to say nothing in front of the servants.

When dessert was finished, Zoleka turned to Anton.

“What is usual here? At home, because my mother was English, the ladies would leave the gentlemen to their port. But in other countries like France there are different ways of behaving.”

“As I personally don't care for port,” suggested the Count, “I think we should all adjourn to the sitting room where I am sure there will be coffee and liqueurs.”

Anton Bauer gave a laugh.

“That would be something unusual, but I will see to it. Princess Udele knows the way to the room which you will be using in the future.”

“Is that the one you showed me yesterday?” Udele asked him.

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

“Oh, that is good. It is a very nice room and I am sure our guests will like it.”

“Let's all come with you and see it for ourselves,” proposed Zoleka.

They walked back into the other part of the Palace and Udele led them into a room which she said was always used by guests.

It was a beautifully furnished room with many fine pictures on the walls and exquisitely carved gold mirrors, an amazing contrast to the dreary rooms occupied by Prince Majmir.

Zoleka looked at Anton for an explanation.

“These rooms were decorated for Princess Udele's mother just before she died. She had been complaining for a long time about the Palace looking dull and dismal, and finally Prince Majmir gave in and ordered the decoration of several rooms as a Christmas present.”

He gave a sigh before he continued,

“I have always considered it wrong that Her Royal Highness was not allowed to use them rather than the dull nursery upstairs.”

“Well, she will most certainly be using them now,” asserted Zoleka. “Is there a dining room?”

Anton smiled.

“Yes, there is a small dining room just as attractive as this room and beyond it is what I am sure Your Royal Highness will enjoy – a library.”

Zoleka's eyes lit up.

“I was just going to ask if there were books in the Palace. I specially would like to read a history of Krnov if you have one.”

“I am sure we have several and, of course, they are all at Your Royal Highness's disposal.”

Then the Count suggested,

“I think it is now too late to dance tonight, but I am going to insist that we have some music tomorrow. I have already heard from one of the Officers I have been talking to that there is an excellent pianist in the City and a small band, which can be hired whenever we require it.”

Zoleka laughed.

“You certainly waste no time!”

“I think it's a question of having no time to waste.”

She knew exactly what he meant.

However, she felt it would be a great mistake to talk openly of their fears about Krnov.

Anton next suggested they played a game of cards and a table was brought in with several packs of cards.

They played ridiculous rather childish games which made them all laugh.

Finally as the clock struck eleven, Zoleka said she thought it was time for them all to retire to bed.

“We have so much to do tomorrow and if the Count is going to keep us up late tomorrow evening we shall need our beauty sleep in advance.”

She rose to her feet.

While Udele was talking to the Count, Anton spoke to Zoleka in a low voice so that the others could not hear,