The King's Bride

CHAPTER FIVE

SHE began a double life. By day she was the historian working seriously on the Voltavian archives. If she met Daniel in the presence of anyone else she would address him as ‘Your Majesty’ the first time, and ‘sir’ after that, as did his courtiers.

But at night she called him Daniel, and laughed as she melted in his arms. Their loving was passionate, and full of joy, and afterwards, as he lay sleeping in her arms-for he always slept first-she would hold him protectively and wonder if this was how Liz had felt with Alphonse. And then she knew that was impossible, because no woman in the world had felt the special joy that was hers.

After the first explosion he’d accepted the fact that she couldn’t produce Alphonse’s letters with wry humour. It delighted her that he had managed to laugh about it.

‘You got the better of me,’ he said without rancour. ‘But you wait and see. I’ll get even.’

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ she teased.

When she was there he could enjoy a family evening, and even displayed a talent for playing the piano that none of his children had known about before.

They confided this to her when Daniel was out of earshot. They revealed also, without exactly knowing they were doing so, that their mother had drummed into their head that he was their king first and their father second. With herself, she had stressed, it was the other way around.

Daniel might regard his late wife generously but Lizzie’s thoughts were less charitable. Serena had been so possessive about her children that she’d bolstered her own position at her husband’s expense, and everyone was suffering for it now.

Once, when the palace was quiet, he showed her where he lived, and she was struck by the contrast between the magnificent bedroom where the king officially slept and the little monastic cell where he actually passed his nights-those that he didn’t spend with her.

‘Who’s this?’ she asked, looking at a small painting on the wall. It showed a man in Voltavian military uniform, but with a gentle, unmilitary face, on the verge of a smile.

‘That’s my great-uncle, Carl. Alphonse’s younger brother. He was a dear fellow, everybody loved him. There’s a story that the only reason Alphonse married Princess Irma was to clear the way for Carl to marry the woman he loved. She was the daughter of a lawyer, respectable and a lady, but this was seventy years ago, when it was unthinkable for a prince to make such a marriage. And Carl was next in line to the throne, after Alphonse.

‘So Alphonse married and had a son, and then the way was clear for Carl. He renounced his rights of succession, married his lady, and they lived very happily for fifty years.’

‘What a charming story. And Alphonse really made a dutiful marriage just to help Carl?’

‘So they say. My grandfather would never confirm or deny

it. But Carl was very dear to him, and his happiest times were spent visiting the family. Mine too. They always seemed so happy. Carl was a wise man to marry where his heart led him.’

‘But he did it at someone else’s expense,’ Lizzie pointed out. ‘Your grandfather couldn’t have done the same. Nor could you.’

Daniel was studying the picture. ‘I think I could-now,’ he said. ‘I’ve made one state marriage, given my country three children. Next time I shall please myself.’

He wasn’t looking at her as he spoke-almost deliberately, it seemed to her. She drew a sharp breath at what he might be implying, but before she could reply a buzzer went to summon him to deal with an unexpected crisis. Lizzie had to leave and it was the following evening before she saw him.

He didn’t raise the matter again, and she wondered if she’d misunderstood him. Or perhaps he really had meant what she hoped, and then caution had checked him. The thought that they might actually be able to marry was too wonderful to be believed. She wouldn’t let herself dwell on it.

Their secret life was charmingly domestic, although Daniel observed that it sometimes made him feel like a character in a French farce. In the morning she was always the first up, slipping out to the sitting room where the newspapers had been quietly laid out by Frederick. Breakfast of rolls and orange juice was served in the same fashion, with Daniel discreetly out of sight behind the bedroom door. And if anyone noticed that Lizzie’s food consumption had recently doubled, nobody mentioned it.

They would enjoy breakfast together, lingering until the last moment, until he had to present himself to his court and she must go to the library, and they would look forward to

their meeting in the afternoon when they rode with his children.

The morning papers came in three languages, and while with Lizzie Daniel would particularly enjoy reading the English ones, giving some trenchant opinions on what he read there.

‘You should see what they say here,’ he said one morning. ‘I know there isn’t a word of truth in it, but what can I-? Lizzie? My darling? What is it?’

She forced herself out of a sad dream and gave him a forced smile. ‘Nothing,’ she said.

‘Don’t say “nothing” when it makes you look like that.’

‘All right.’ She showed him what she’d been reading. The picture of a handsome young man, with a daredevil face, stared out from the paper. The caption read, Toby Wrenworth killed in motorcycle race.

Daniel felt as though something had struck him in the chest. He could barely force himself to ask, ‘He means something to you, this man?’

‘He did once. We were married for a couple of years.’

‘Married?’

‘I was eighteen and he was handsome and dashing. Auntie warned me against it, but I wouldn’t listen. I was so sure I could make him settle down. Of course he didn’t. He got bored and took off, and we were divorced. He was only happy taking insane risks. It was only a matter of time before this happened.’

‘Did you stay in touch?’

‘No. I haven’t spoken to him for years. It was all over long ago.’

‘But he’s remained in your heart?’ He was watching her face intently.

‘Not him so much as the memories of the happiness we shared. But it was a very short happiness. I was a stupid, ignorant girl or I’d have known I couldn’t change him.’

He wished he’d known that stupid, ignorant girl who’d given her whole heart to a man who hadn’t valued it. What had she been like in the flush of her first love? His longing to know that, to have been the man who inspired her first young passion, was so intense that for a moment he couldn’t speak.

‘Don’t,’ he said, tossing the paper aside and taking her face between his hands. ‘Forget him. Look at me.’

She did so, and tried to smile. But it was an unconvincing smile and she saw the shadow of fear cross his face.

‘It’s all right,’ she tried to reassure him. ‘I just need to be alone for a while.’

‘I have to go, but I’ll see you this afternoon-hell, no, I’ve got meetings all day, and tonight I have to attend the opera.’

‘Late tonight, then,’ she said.

She spent the day wandering alone in the woods, thinking about Toby. The boy she’d known had been gone even before his death; she could see that from the face in the paper. It was a hard-bitten man who looked out from the front page, and the text made it clear that he’d cared for nothing and nobody except riding his powerful machine in races. Somewhere in the background was a discarded girlfriend and two illegitimate children. The Dame had been right all along. All teeth and trousers. And selfish with it.

Toby had changed her, teaching her the value of keeping her heart to herself, and so, in his way, he’d helped to bring her to this point. She had a heart to give to the one man who mattered, because after that first fling she’d never wasted it

again. Her sadness was all for Toby, who’d loved life and lost it while she was preparing to move on to a new life.

It was nearly two in the morning before Daniel came to her, and she could see in his face that his day had been wretched. Years had left him skilled in concealing his feelings, but now they burst out in the first moment.

‘Tell me the worst,’ he said harshly. ‘You still love him, don’t you? You’ve been trying to put him behind you, but you can’t.’

‘Darling, that’s not true.’

‘I think it is. That’s why you play with men so easily-because you couldn’t have the one who mattered. But who do you make love with? When you lie in my arms whose face do you see?’

Suddenly she understood. ‘No, you’ve got it all wrong,’ she said, giving him a little shake. ‘It isn’t happening again, I promise. I’m not Serena, pining for another man.’

He gave a shaky laugh. ‘Am I that transparent?’

‘Just a little.’

‘I thought you were all mine. If I discovered that you weren’t, my life would be dark again. And that would be hard to bear when you’ve shown me the light.’

‘I am all yours,’ she promised. ‘I’ve been over Toby for years. It was just a shock to read about his death like that. I don’t dream of him. I dream of you.’

He relaxed in her arms and allowed himself to be reassured. Instead of taking him straight to bed Lizzie ordered a light meal and they sat and talked about nothing very much. It was being together that mattered, and when she could feel that he was calmer and happier, then she took him to bed and loved him tenderly.

As they lay together afterwards he said, ‘If I’d known I was going to fall in love with you, I’d have run for my life.’

‘Love?’ she asked in a soft murmur. ‘Is this love?’

‘Don’t you feel that it is?’

‘Yes, I do.’ She buried her face against him, whispering, ‘And I’m so happy now.’

Next morning he had to leave her earlier than usual for a meeting with his Prime Minister. Before going he said, ‘Tonight will be special. I have a surprise for you.’

‘A surprise? Oh, tell me now,’ she begged eagerly.

‘Then it wouldn’t be a surprise. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s something that will mean a lot to you.’ He sighed, kissed her tenderly, and then again. ‘If I don’t leave you now I won’t be able to. Goodbye, my darling, until tonight.’

When he’d gone she had a bracing shower. As she was drying herself her phone rang. She answered eagerly, expecting to hear Daniel’s voice. But it was a stranger, and as she listened her smile faded.

She dressed quickly and called Daniel. ‘I have to leave, right now,’ she said.

‘You can’t leave me,’ he said, becoming imperious in a moment. ‘I won’t let you go, ever. Wait there.’ He hung up before she could reply.

He was with her in a moment. ‘What is this nonsense about leaving?’

‘I’ll come back when I can, but I have a sick friend who needs me. It’s Bess. I told you about her. She’s had a heart attack and the hospital sent for me. I’m all she has.’

‘Forgive me,’ he said at once. ‘I was being selfish. It’s so hard to part with you when I’ve only just discovered you. But you must go at once. My own plane will take you-’

‘No need, darling. There’s a flight in an hour, and if I go now I might just catch it.’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll call the airport. It won’t leave without you.’

She gave a shaky smile. ‘What it is to be a king.’

‘It’s only valuable to me if I can use it to make your life a little easier. But before you go there’s something I want to say-you must understand-’

She waited, but after hesitating for a long moment he sighed and said, ‘Never mind. This isn’t the moment. But remember that I love you whatever-whatever happens.’

‘Darling, whatever’s the matter?’

He put his arms about her. ‘Promise me that you’ll return. You won’t just abandon me.’

‘How could I do that when I love you so much? I’ll be thinking about you.’

‘And I,’ he said, ‘will start to think about you the moment we say goodbye. Wherever you are, whatever you do, my thoughts will be with you every moment until you return.’

Felix, Sandor and Elsa came down with her to the palace car that Daniel had commanded to take her to the airport. As it drove away she looked back to see them waving, their faces anxious. Raising her eyes a little, she could see Daniel motionless at an upstairs window.

Lizzie’s return to Voltavia was in stark contrast to her departure. Three days later she arrived without warning, stormed into her apartment and snatched up the telephone to call Daniel. The phone was answered by Frederick.

‘Kindly tell His Majesty that I want to see him.’

Frederick’s gasp was audible down the line. He knew, as everyone did, that Lizzie was privileged, but even she

couldn’t command the King with the snap of her fingers. He tried to explain this diplomatically, but she steamrollered over him.

‘Tell him I’ve got what he wants,’ she said sulphurously. ‘That’ll bring him.’

She hung up. At the other end of the line Frederick mopped his brow.

For the next few minutes Lizzie prowled her apartment like an angry lioness, wondering how her happiness could have turned to dust so quickly. Her visit to England had been marked by two discoveries, one of which had filled her with joy and wonder. The other had filled her with such profound bitterness that she wondered how she could bear to see Daniel again, ever.

But she would see him, one last time. She would give him the thing for which he had schemed and betrayed. Perhaps she would even manage to tell him what she thought of him, although it would be hard to put the depth of her misery into words. Then she would leave Voltavia and try to forget that Daniel existed.

She looked up sharply as the door opened. There he was, smiling as though nothing pleased him so much as the sight of her, although she had rudely summoned him in a way that would once have earned his displeasure. He came towards her, hands outstretched, eyes warm. Lizzie clenched her own hands, forcing herself to remember that this man had deceived her cruelly. Otherwise she might have thought he was regarding her with love.

‘You came back quickly,’ he said, ‘just as you promised. But whatever did you say to poor Frederick to put him in such a fret?’ She stared at him, bleak-eyed, and his smile died. ‘What is it, my darling?’

‘Don’t call me that,’ she said harshly. ‘You can stop the pretence. I know the truth now.’

‘Whatever do you mean?’

‘Did you think I wouldn’t find out that you had my house burgled?’

If she’d had any doubts his sharp intake of breath dispelled them. He was pale and startled, but he knew what she was taking about.

‘It’s true, then,’ she said bitterly. ‘You did it. You ordered it. And all the time you- Dear God!’ The last words were a cry of anguish.

‘Lizzie, please listen to me. It’s not as you think.’

She rounded on him. ‘Of course it is. It’s exactly as I think. I was a fool, but I’m not a fool any more, so don’t insult my intelligence.’

The sudden silence was harsh and ugly, unlike the sweet, companionable silences that had fallen between them so often.

‘How did you know?’ he asked at last, in a voice that seemed to come from a great distance.

‘Your operatives were very good, but not quite good enough. A few things were out of place. I noticed because I tend to keep things as my great-aunt left them. I didn’t believe it at first, but when I questioned my neighbours I learned a lot. Like that they entered by the front door. That’s why nobody was alarmed. They looked so respectable.’

Her eyes were very cold as she said, ‘I wondered how they got a key to my house. And then I remembered the ball, and how you danced me along the terrace, taking both my hands so that I had to leave my purse behind. You did the “heady passion” bit very well, I’ll give you that. And you judged the

time so well. Just long enough for someone to open my purse and take a wax impression of the key.’

She waited to see if he would answer, but he stood silent, looking at her with eyes full of pain.

‘But why?’ she said at last. ‘You could have asked me for those letters when we first met in London. You thought I was negotiating. So why not come right out with it there and then? Why invite me here at all?

‘That was the question I should have asked myself a long time ago, but I wasn’t thinking straight. And why? Because of all that romantic claptrap you showered on me. There wasn’t a word of truth in it. You just wanted me in a daze so that I didn’t know whether I was coming or going, because that way you could keep me here as long as it suited you. And I fell for it. Me, who prides herself on her cool, logical mind. I could laugh when I remember how I actually lectured you about the lessons of history, but I forgot the most important one, didn’t I? Put not your trust in princes!

‘And all the time I was here your people were going through my house. You didn’t want to buy, you wanted to steal.’

‘That’s not true,’ he said harshly. ‘I always meant to pay you for those letters, but I was afraid you might have copies, or keep some back.’

‘Oh, boy, you were really thorough, weren’t you? You even tried my bank. But I don’t have a safety deposit box, as I gather the manager told you. Of course, there are a lot more banks to try. Who knows what I might be hiding in some little out-of-the-way branch-?’

‘Stop!’ he said harshly. ‘I deserve all you say of me, but let me tell you the truth-’

‘You don’t deal in truth. You’re a king; you have other priorities. You as good as warned me about that, and I ignored it because-’ She choked suddenly. He reached for her but she turned away quickly, throwing up her hands. ‘Because I’m a fool.’

‘No, because you love me, as I love you.’

‘Oh, please!’ she cried. Then her manner changed, became formal. ‘Your Majesty can abandon those tactics now. They’ve served their purpose very nicely.’

‘That’s enough,’ he shouted, seizing her shoulders and giving her a little shake. She tried to pull away but he tightened his hands. ‘No, you’re going to listen to me. I may not deserve it, but you’re going to.’

She stood still in his hands, her eyes burning. ‘Get it over with, then. It’ll be a relief to us both to be done with this.’

‘Everything you say was true about me in the beginning. I didn’t treat you well. I mistrusted you, I deceived you, I lured you here and I had you burgled. I thought you were an adventuress and that was the only safe way to deal with you. I’m not proud of it, but I thought it was necessary.

‘I was wrong. I came to realise that you weren’t as I’d thought. I called my people in London and pulled them off the job.’

‘Except that they’d already been through my house by then.’

‘Unfortunately, yes. I did what I could. I was in love with you by that time. I tried to tell you about this the day you left, to prepare you. But I lost my nerve. I prayed that you’d never find out how I’d behaved, and that you and I could make a new and honest beginning.’

‘But you planned to hide the truth about what you’d done. How honest is that?’

‘Not very,’ he admitted. ‘But I was afraid. I couldn’t face the thought of losing you.’

She didn’t relent. ‘The King is never afraid,’ she said. ‘You should remember that.’

‘I’m afraid now,’ he said quietly. ‘More afraid than I’ve ever been in my life. At one time I couldn’t have admitted to fear, but now I can. You did that for me. Now I see us drawing further apart and I don’t know how to stop it.’

‘There is no way to stop it,’ she said wretchedly. ‘And I don’t want to.’

‘Don’t say that.’ In an instant his fingers were over her lips, trying to silence the terrible words. But she shook herself free.

‘It’s too late,’ she said fiercely. ‘And you don’t have to bother any more because I’ve got what you wanted. Here!’ Near her on the floor stood a large canvas bag with two leather handles. She dumped it on the table between them and pulled it open to reveal the contents. Daniel stared at the mountain of papers within. ‘There they are,’ Lizzie said. ‘Take them, and then we need never see each other again.’

‘What-are these?’

‘Alphonse’s letters.’

‘You had them all the time?’

‘No. Only since yesterday. “Liz” gave them to me.’

‘But she’s been dead for years.’

‘No. Dame Elizabeth has been dead for years, but she wasn’t “Liz”. We’ve all been barking up the wrong tree. It was Bess all the time.

‘Her name is Elizabeth too, and people used to call her Liz for short. But Auntie ordered her to change it, because it was confusing to have a Liz and a Lizzie. So she became Bess,

and of course I never knew her as anything else. But your grandfather did. She was always “Liz” to him. Look.’

She opened her purse and took out a picture. It was about ten years old, an amateurish family shot, showing the teenage Lizzie with the actress, standing haughtily, every inch the grande dame. Standing just behind them was a thin little woman with slightly untidy hair. Her dress was nondescript, her face was bare, its only adornment a cheerful smile. Daniel stared at her in disbelief.

‘But she’s-’

‘Exactly,’ Lizzie said. ‘She’s nothing to look at. Not beautiful or glamorous, not a titled lady or a star, not at all the sort of woman you’d expect to be a king’s mistress. And she was his mistress. His letters leave no doubt of it.

‘She was a servant, illegitimate, and in his world she’d have been called a nobody. But she has a great, generous spirit, and she was the love of his life.

‘She’s kept her secret all these years. But now she’s dying, and when she had that attack she called me home so that she could give me these. She said I could do whatever I liked with them. So here they are. Take them, and forget I exist. You’ve got all you ever really wanted from me.’

In a daze Daniel began to draw the letters out, recognising his grandfather’s handwriting even though there was something subtly different about it. It was larger, freer, and Alphonse, a man of few words, had covered endless sheets of paper, as though pouring out a soul.

Daniel went through one letter after another, glancing at each briefly, just long enough to still the last of his doubts.

‘What did she say when she gave them to you?’ he asked.

When there was no reply he looked up and found himself alone. Lizzie had gone.

Hurriedly he went out into the corridor, but it too was empty. A dreadful suspicion sent him to the window. She must have had a cab waiting all the time, he realised. All that could be seen of it now was the rear vanishing down the long avenue, until it reached the huge wrought-iron gates.

There was still time to stop her. All he had to do was call the gatekeeper. He reached for the telephone, but then checked himself. The habit of command was strong, but right now a command would lose him everything. Whatever he might say, she did not want to hear.

He stayed motionless, undecided, and as he watched the iron gates opened, the car went through, turned and vanished from sight.