‘Hey, I didn’t know there was a secret passage here,’ she said, waking up a little. ‘Anyone could come in without my knowing.’
‘Not if you slide the bolt across, like this,’ he said, showing her a small gilt bolt that was almost hidden in the rest of the giltwork. ‘There’s another one at the bottom, and once they’re shut you’re completely safe from intruders.’
She didn’t answer, only smiled at him in a way that threatened his good resolutions. He bid her a hurried goodnight, and quickly returned along the passage. As he went he heard the bolts slide across her door, and wondered if he’d just succumbed to a form of insanity. On the whole, he was inclined to believe that he had.
She breakfasted alone and went to the library as soon as she’d finished. Feltz wasn’t there. Instead she found a boy of about twelve, who rose as soon as he saw her.
‘Excuse me,’ he said with a small bow. ‘I was just leaving.’
He was so like Daniel that she had no trouble identifying him.
‘You must be Prince Felix,’ she said.
‘Please, I am simply Felix,’ he said, inclining his head again. He was like a little old man, she thought. It was charming, but it was also unnatural.
‘I know who you are,’ he went on. ‘You are the lady everyone is talking about.’
‘I didn’t know that.’
‘Only they do it very quietly. If anyone mentions you in front of my father he gets angry and tells them to be silent,’ the child confided. ‘But you won’t tell him I said that?’ he added quickly.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep mum,’ she promised.
He frowned. ‘Mum?’
‘It means keep quiet.’
He gave her a wide smile. ‘Thank you. May I join you in here? I promise not to trouble you.’
‘Of, course you can stay. But it’s summer. Shouldn’t you be outside? It’s the school holiday. But I don’t suppose you go to school.’
‘Oh yes, I go to a school here in the city. But I have a holiday assignment to complete.’
‘Don’t you get any fun?’
‘But of course.’ He seemed mildly shocked. ‘Each afternoon we go horse riding-’
‘We?’
‘My brother Sandor and my sister Elsa.’
‘You go riding together every afternoon? Without fail?’
‘Yes, and we enjoy it very much.’
‘Yes, but-’ To Lizzie it sounded regimented, however much they liked it, but she backed off from trying to explain to this grave child.
‘Do you enjoy riding, Miss Boothe?’
‘A lot.’
‘I’ll have the head groom find a suitable horse for you, and you can join us this afternoon. Goodbye until then.’ Despite his youth the boy’s manner was calmly authoritative, and she
was reminded uncannily of Daniel. This child was like him in more than looks.
She worked until one o’clock, when lunch was brought to her. Afterwards a footman came to inform her that the Crown Prince was waiting for her, and led her to the stables. Felix was there, with a younger boy with a cherubic face and a girl of about ten with the beginnings of beauty. They greeted Lizzie politely, and the girl showed her some hard hats, inviting her to take her pick.
The mare they’d chosen for her was a delight, a docile creature with gentle eyes and a silken mouth. When Lizzie had spent a few moments getting introduced they were off, with a groom riding just behind.
The palace grounds were huge, with the neat gardens giving way to a park where the atmosphere was more relaxed. They gathered speed and galloped in the direction of the water. It turned out to be a lake, with a tiny pebble beach, where they dismounted to let the horses drink. The children took it in turns to ask her courteous questions, and soon Lizzie began to find their perfect behaviour slightly oppressive. To lighten the atmosphere, she said,
‘I knew a lake like this when I was a child. It was in the local park and I used to compete with the boys in stone throwing. I could beat them too.’
‘Stone throwing?’ Felix echoed with a little frown.
‘Like this.’ She picked up a pebble, checked to see that there was no passing wildlife to be endangered, took careful aim, and sent the stone skimming across the surface of the water until it reached the other side.
‘Try it,’ she suggested.
Felix did so, but he couldn’t manage the flick of the wrist that causing the skimming action. He threw ‘straight’ and the stone dropped into the water with a miserable ‘plop’. Sandor had no better luck.
‘Now you,’ Lizzie said to Elsa.
‘Me?’
‘What they can do, you can do. And, if you’re like me, you can probably do it better.’
And she did. With sharper eyes than her brothers Elsa had noticed the crucial wrist movement, and with her first throw she made the stone bounce along the surface of the water. Not far, but enough to goad her brothers out of their perfect behaviour, Lizzie was glad to notice.
Sandor was the next to get the idea. Of the three he seemed the most naturally aggressive. He threw and threw, his face creased into a scowl that threatened a temper if he wasn’t acknowledged the winner. The gentle Felix did his best, but he was the first to stop when a duck suddenly appeared, followed by frantically paddling ducklings.
‘Wait,’ Lizzie said urgently. ‘You might hurt one of them.’
‘Let them get out of the way,’ Sandor blustered.
‘I said
Sandor threw her a black look but, reading the determination in her eyes, backed down. The other two children exchanged glances.
Lizzie had feared a tantrum from a child who was clearly used to getting his own way. But the next moment Sandor had shrugged the matter aside and was all smiles. He even began to clown, calling to the duck across the water,
‘Excuse me, dear madam, would you mind hurrying, please?’
The mother duck cast him a startled look and began paddling faster, which made them all burst out laughing, Sandor loudest of all.
‘Good afternoon.’
Nobody had known that Daniel was there, and at the sound of his voice they all swung around, their laughter fading to silence. Lizzie knew a stab of pity for him. It must be terrible for any man to know that his presence was a blight on his children.
And he did know. She could see it in his eyes, although his pleasant smile never wavered as they greeted him. He was their father, but first of all he was their king, and he was no more skilled than they at finding a way around that.
He asked about their ride and they responded with appropriate words. Lizzie did her best to help, praising the children as good hosts, he congratulated them, and they were all relieved when it was over.
The children continued their ride with the groom. Daniel looked at her, frowning.
‘How did you contrive to meet my children?’ he asked curtly. ‘They can’t tell you anything.’
Lizzie’s eyes flashed. ‘You’ve got a nerve, suggesting I wormed my way in. I didn’t “contrive” anything. I don’t stoop to those methods.’
‘Then how did you meet them?’
‘Felix was ahead of me in the library this morning. We introduced ourselves and he invited me to ride with them.’
He closed his eyes tiredly. ‘Forgive me. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m afraid I grow suspicious of everything. Ride with me.’
She mounted the mare and the two horses began to walk side by side.
‘Your children are charming,’ she ventured.
