Ruled by Love (12 page)

Zoleka looked towards the Count as they were both sharing the same thought.

How long would the transformation last?

As they went upstairs to bed, Udele repeated over and over again how much she had enjoyed herself.

She kissed Zoleka goodnight.

Then childlike she threw her arms round the Count.

“Thank you, thank you! I want to go on saying it a million times.”

He kissed her on the cheek and she ran off towards her bedroom.

Zoleka smiled at him.

“No one could be more grateful.”

“And I am very grateful to
you
,” replied the Count. “The dinner was superb and I expected it to be a failure.”

“We have a great many more nights to come when we must succeed as well. So the sooner we both retire to bed the better.”

“You are so right. Goodnight and God bless you.”

He walked into his room and Zoleka went into hers.

She was pondering at how very charming he was and how intelligent.

It seemed a pity that he was the youngest son, as he would not inherit his father's rank or the vast family estate, which would go to his elder brother.

‘I am sure he will find something interesting to do with his life,' Zoleka said to herself.

Marla helped her to undress and when she climbed into bed she fell asleep immediately.

*

She was woken the next morning by bright sunshine streaming into her room as Marla pulled back the curtains.

It seemed to her that she could not have slept more than an hour or so.

Stretching and yawning she suddenly remembered they had arranged with the Count to go riding, which was something she did not want to miss.

Udele must have felt exactly the same because she was dressed before Zoleka.

She waited and they walked downstairs together. The horses were outside, just as they had been the day before, but today not only was the Count waiting for them, but four Krnovian Officers.

The two Princesses called out “good morning.”

They mounted the horses the Count had chosen for them and they all set off.

Zoleka felt she was enjoying her morning ride even more than she had yesterday.

It was only when they all turned back for home that she found herself riding alone beside the Count with Udele well ahead of them with the Officers.

“Is there any more news?” Zoleka asked him in a low voice.

“Plenty and it is not good.”

“What has happened?”

“I sent my valet and another man from Vienna into the City again last night. And I gather from what they overheard there are a number of Prussians congregating on the Southern border.”

Zoleka gave a gasp as she was only too aware that the Southern border was only a few miles from the City and the Palace.

“Do you think they intend to come in imminently?” she asked in a whisper.

“I cannot imagine that they are there for any other reason,” replied the Count.

“What can we do?”

“That is what I am trying to figure out.”

“It might be a mistake to put a defensive ring round the City in case the people panic, but if we don't do so the Prussians may take over without any opposition.”

“You have your men, Franz, and I would suppose the Krnovian Army must be of
some
use.”

“I doubt it.”

“Then what can we do?”

“I think all that is left is to pray,” the Count replied surprisingly.

As if he could not bear to talk about it any more, he spurred his horse forward with Zoleka following him and there was no question of any further private conversation.

They reached the Palace and as she went in Zoleka felt more frightened than she had ever been in her whole life.

The morning had seemed to pass very slowly with Udele having no idea that anything could possibly spoil her happiness. She kept on talking excitedly about the ball and what more they could do to beautify the ballroom.

Zoleka could not bear to tell her that it was unlikely to ever take place.

Most of the dresses they had bought had arrived at the Palace the previous evening and the rest were delivered just before luncheon.

Udele had much to say about her new wardrobe and Zoleka had indeed intended to take her shopping again that afternoon.

There were still a great number of items she needed including colourful nightgowns and underclothes trimmed with lace.

Yet it was beginning to seem so unnecessary when they might have to run for their lives and leave everything behind.

However, there was no point in feeling so miserable until they had to be.

Zoleka forced herself to smile at Udele and respond to her excitement, so they went out shopping again.

On the way Zoleka could not prevent herself from stopping at the Parliament building where she asked if she could have a word with the Prime Minister.

She left Udele sitting in the carriage, telling her she would not be more than a few minutes and it would not be worth her while coming in with her.

Udele did not protest. It seemed that she was always amenable to anything that was suggested to her.

Zoleka was taken at once into the Prime Minister's private room and to her relief he was alone.

“I am very sorry to burst in and bother you, Prime Minister, but I had to ask if you had heard the news that the Count told me last night and if it is as bad as it sounds.”

The Prime Minister smiled at her.

“I heard your party last night was a great success.”

“It really was, but I am now wondering if there will ever be another one.”

The Prime Minister put out his hand to touch hers.

“I don't think things are quite as bad as all that, but I have mobilised what there is of our Army and the Count is sending a messenger home to ask his father for help.”

“For help! Surely that is a dangerous thing to do.”

She thought as she spoke that if the Prussians knew the Prime Minister had become aware of their intentions, they might strike even sooner.

The Prime Minister answered her,

“I promise you that we are not going to do anything stupid, nor will we be showing in any manner that we are apprehensive about the Prussians or that we anticipate they are planning any action against us.”

“You know of course that they have infiltrated into the City.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness, I have as many men as I can trust watching them. They report directly to me what they overhear and where secret meetings are taking place.”

Zoleka smiled at him.

“I can see I am being unnecessarily nervous, but it would really break my heart if Princess Udele, who is at the moment so very happy and thrilled with everything that is happening, finds herself without a country and with no one to support her but her father.”

“That is something I am determined to avoid. To be frank I am putting all my faith in the Count. I have never known a young man who is more intelligent and who has more resourceful ideas in an emergency.”

“Then we must trust that he will find some way of defending us. Forgive me for coming and worrying you.”

“You are welcome to come at any time, Your Royal Highness. In fact, I was hoping you would do so.”

The Prime Minister rose as he spoke.

“Go on with the excellent work you are doing at the Palace and make our Princess Udele into a beauty. I can assure you everyone is talking about her.”

“That is exactly what I want to achieve.”

The Prime Minister bowed to her, kissed her hand and escorted her to the door.

She expected to find Udele waiting in the carriage, but to her surprise she was outside on the grass lawn that encircled the Parliament building.

She was surrounded by a crowd of children.

She was talking to them all and two little girls were showing her how well they were able to skip, while a small boy was turning somersaults.

Most of the children had their mothers with them, watching what was happening and obviously delighted that their children should interest the Princess.

When Zoleka and the Prime Minister joined them, Udele enthused eagerly,

“Look how clever this little boy is and the girls tell me they can skip a hundred times without stopping!”

She spoke with much excitement in her voice and the Prime Minister said to her,

“I hear Your Royal Highness can ride better than anyone expected and that you are taking part in a race.”

“Is the race really going to be run?” she asked. “If it is, it will be something that has never happened before in Krnov.”

“You are introducing us to so many new things,” the Prime Minister remarked.

Udele laughed.

“You must thank Princess Zoleka and Count Franz for that idea.”

“I am thanking them both and I am glad to see you are making yourself known to our citizens.”

He looked around at the children who had stopped playing to stare at him and Zoleka.

“This lady is your Princess,” he told them and their mothers, “and as we are so happy to have her here with us, I suggest you give her a cheer and wave to her when she drives away.”

The children cheered a little shyly at first and then as Udele climbed into the carriage, they cheered loudly.

They waved and waved as she drove away until she was out of sight.

Udele looked at Zoleka.

“Was it wrong of me to get out of the carriage?”

“No, exactly right, and what you must do whenever you can. Even when I was quite young I always talked to the people who came to the Palace and if I was with Mama in a town, people used to cheer and wave like the children did just now when we were driving through the streets.”

“They don't do that to me.”

“But they will in future, Udele. You have to show them that you care about them and that they matter to you.”

“They do! Of course they do! But as I was never allowed to pay a visit to the City, I never had a chance of seeing or meeting anyone.”

“You are going to have plenty of chances now.”

Zoleka hoped as she spoke that it was the truth.

They bought a great number of items to the delight of the shopkeepers including some very pretty high-heeled shoes.

As they drove back to the Palace, Zoleka wondered what had been happening while they had been away at the shops and she could only hope that everything had been quiet and peaceful.

Udele now ran upstairs in order to take off her hat and handed her purchases to her new lady's maid, who had been engaged for her by the housekeeper.

Zoleka as well took off her hat and put it down on a chair and then she walked out through a side door into the garden.

She was feeling, just like her mother had felt when she was worried, that there was nothing more soothing than the beauty of flowers, the soft fall of water in a fountain and the birds fluttering in the trees.

She walked across the lawn.

Among the shrubs there was a small cascade falling from the trees behind the Palace. It flowed down through the garden and into the park that surrounded the buildings.

Zoleka stood gazing at the cascade for a long time.

Then she decided she must go back and give Udele her tea.

She only hoped that the Count would come and join them so that she could learn the up-to-date news.

She turned back towards the Palace and as she did so she saw a man coming across the lawn towards her.

She thought for a moment that it must be one of the Officers who had been riding with them earlier in the day.

As he drew nearer she realised that she had not seen him before anywhere.

He was an exceptionally good-looking man, broad shouldered and taller than most of the men in Krnov.

Zoleka wondered who he could possibly be, as she stood waiting for him to reach her.

She noticed that he was not wearing a hat.

He came nearer still.

She was thinking that he was undoubtedly one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.

He had a square forehead and outstanding features.

She could not tell what nationality he might be.

He was certainly not Krnovian, nor did he resemble the men of her father's Kingdom.

The stranger reached Zoleka, smiled and held out his hand.

“I am wondering,” he began, “if you are Princess Udele or Princess Zoleka.”

He was speaking in Krnovian, but Zoleka was quite sure it was not his mother tongue.

“I was speculating as I saw you approach as to who you were. I am, in fact, Princess Zoleka.”

The stranger had taken hold of her hand.

As he touched her she sensed instinctively that he was somehow very different from anyone she had ever met before in her entire life.

She had an overpowering feeling that this moment was of supreme importance.

“Please allow me to introduce myself,” the stranger began. “My name is Vaslov and I come from Cieszyn.”

“Prince Vaslov!” she exclaimed. “But what are you doing here?”

“I had an idea that I was wanted. I also heard that you were holding a race meeting very shortly.”

“How could you possibly have already heard the news? Did my father tell you by any chance?”

She thought even as she suggested this that it was impossible. The information she had sent on to her father with Pieter Seitz could not have reached Cieszyn so quickly.

“Your father informed me a little while ago that he was very worried about Krnov, so I have therefore, shall I say, kept a close eye on the country.”

Zoleka drew in her breath.

“Then you do realise,” she whispered, “how serious things have become here.”

“They are very serious indeed,” he said gravely, concern written all over his handsome features. “I hear that you have brought a so-called Count with you, and I hope that you will approve of what I am prepared to arrange with him as soon as I can meet him.”

“Oh, please tell me what that is! The Count is very worried, as I am, and we have been wondering frantically what we can do.”