His Majesty's Marriage

she opened them Daniel was standing there.

‘Still at work?’ he asked.

‘There’s so much to get through, and it’s all such good stuff,’ she said happily. ‘I can’t tear myself away.’

‘Don’t worry, it will still be here tomorrow. It’s time you stopped for the night.’

‘Good heavens! After midnight. I lost track of time. It’s fascinating, all those social reforms he promoted-’

‘Social reforms?’

‘Yes, I’m working on the fifties now. All those new laws-everyone thought the King was putting the brakes on, trying to maintain the status quo, but actually he was urging the Prime Minister on behind the scenes. He did so much good that he’s never been given the credit for-’

‘Or the blame if things had gone wrong,’ Daniel observed. ‘An appearance of political neutrality was useful to the King even then. But is that all you’ve been working on today? I thought you had other concerns.’

‘Oh, his love life’s interesting, of course,’ Lizzie agreed in a faintly dismissive tone that she’d calculated to a nicety, ‘but don’t let’s get it out of proportion. He was a fascinating man for many more reasons than that. I’ve been reading the cabinet papers for 1955, and guess what I found-here, look at this-’

He settled beside her and followed her pointing finger. ‘That’s misleading,’ he said when she’d explained what had attracted her attention. ‘My grandfather never meant it that way, but the Prime Minister explained it badly in cabinet, and once they’d seized the idea-’

He talked on, fetching more files for her. They argued. She talked about the lessons of history. He told her she didn’t know any history worth knowing. He accused her of jumping to conclusions, she accused him of having a narrow point of view. Lizzie grew heated, hammering home her point with a fierce enthusiasm that he would have called unfeminine but for the burning, beautiful light in her eyes.

‘No, listen,’ she said, interrupting him with a lack of protocol that would have made his courtiers faint, ‘you’ve got this wrong, and there’s a document in the Public Records Office that proves it.’

‘And what does a British office know about King Alphonse?’

‘It’s got all the cabinet records of that year, including his contacts with Sir Winston Churchill, and there’s a memo that says-’ She was away again, barely pausing for breath and not allowing him to get a word in edgeways for five minutes.

‘Is it my turn now?’ he asked at last.

‘You’re not listening to me.’

‘I’m not doing anything else,’ he said, exasperated to the point of raising his voice. ‘Now, look, read this again-’

They were still at it, hammer and tongs when the clock struck two, amazing them both.

‘Enough for tonight,’ he said.

‘Yes,’ she agreed. She was standing, but she sat abruptly, yawning and running her hands through her hair, which had grown untidy.

Daniel regarded her, remembering the perfectly groomed woman of the ball. Now her face was bare of make- up, her eyes were drooping and she was too weary to be putting out her charms to seduce him. And that made her more mysteriously seductive than ever. As king, Daniel was used to women being consciously alluring for his benefit, their attractions all for show and not a thought in their heads but expensive gifts for themselves or advancement for their husbands. One who discarded politeness to argue with him for the sake of intellectual truth, and whose mental activity had tired her to the point of vulnerability, was new to him. She was suddenly far more intriguing than any woman in the world, and he had an urge to kiss her that was almost overwhelming.

Gently he took her hands and drew her to her feet. She opened her eyes and looked at him vaguely. ‘Time to go to bed,’ she sighed.

The words could have been provocative, but there was nothing teasing in the way they were said, and that provoked him more than anything. He fought his desire down. Not now, but later, when the time was right. And he would personally see to it that there was a right time. Whatever other disputes were between them it was growing clearer by the minute that she had to be his. He’d seen her as a woman of the world, boldly challenging him with her sexual promise. Tonight she’d been an academic, driven by an obsession with knowledge. Now the eyes that looked sleepily into his were as innocent as a child’s. There had to be a way of reconciling those three aspects into the same woman.

Slipping an arm about her waist, he went to a concealed door that led into a bare wooden passage. It would take them directly to her room, and it was better that nobody saw them together like this.

At the door to her room he stopped and pushed her gently inside.

‘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.