“Danger?” Giona questioned.
“Not so much physically as politically.”
“Why? What is going on? Please tell me.”
“I dare not,” he said. “Quite frankly, Your Royal Highness, it is more than my life is worth. But because I admire you, may I say that I will do everything in my power to help you should the need arise and you can always count on me, although that is not saying very much.”
“To me it means a great deal!” Giona replied. “I am frightened, very frightened, of being alone in a strange country with no one I can speak to freely and frankly.”
“I should be very proud and honoured if you will do that,” Captain Darius said. “But, if they realised that we had had such a conversation as this, I should be instantly removed from my present post and it would be impossible for us ever to meet like this again.”
Giona drew in her breath.
“I understand and we must be very very careful, which is something that has never been necessary before in this house. When you come here next for our lessons, I will lock the door.”
The Captain’s smile seemed to illuminate his whole face.
“There speaks the practical Englishwoman!” he said. “I never thought of anything so simple as to ask you if we could lock the door!”
Giona laughed too.
Then she said,
“It sounds funny, but it is not really a laughing matter, is it?”
The Captain shook his head.
“No, but there is nothing I can do about it except to offer you my protection if it becomes necessary and to be careful meantime not to be sent away.”
“That is really important,” Giona agreed. “If I lose you, then I shall have no one!”
Captain Darius looked at her and there was an expression in his eyes that made her more apprehensive than she was already.
He was afraid for her, afraid of what lay ahead in the future and, although she longed to beg him to tell her what it was, she knew instinctively that it was something she must not do at the moment.
She had heard enough in her life about political intrigue in the Balkans to realise that there would be no scruples about eliminating anybody who constituted a danger of any sort.
She knew it would be a mistake to underestimate what were the obvious suspicions of the Germans who served the King and who would do everything, however ghastly, to prevent her from trying to withdraw from the marriage which was, in their consideration, vital to uphold the Throne.
It was difficult to put it clearly into words, but every night Giona would lie awake puzzling over what she sensed but could not substantiate and she was desperately afraid of what lay ahead of her once she had left England.
In the meantime Wedding presents were pouring in to their small house from all sorts of people who had never paid her the slightest attention before.
There were not only those who had been acquainted with her father but there were gifts from other Embassies and from a number of her relatives who had never troubled themselves with the impoverished Princess Louise and her two daughters.
“I doubt if you will get a better collection, Chloris,” Giona said to her sister.
“I should be astonished if I get half what you are receiving,” Chloris replied. “But after all, everyone wants to know a Queen! In fact they will all be expecting invitations to stay with you in your grand Palace!”
“I shall welcome them with open arms,” Giona said, “but I have a feeling that their Wedding presents are designed more to impress Queen Victoria than me. I expect she will want to hear who has been generous enough to ante up, so we had better make a list.”
This was certainly prophetic, for a few days later a note came from Windsor Castle to say that the Queen would like to know what presents Giona had received and to bring with her to luncheon at Windsor Castle any outstanding gift that would be likely to interest Her Majesty.
“The Queen is showing more interest in your marriage than I expected, dearest!” Princess Louise exclaimed.
“I think she has a feeling that I am a valuable weapon of defence between the Throne of Slavonia, as it is now, and a revolution.”
Giona was not certain exactly what she was saying. She was trying it out on her mother to see how much she knew and was not surprised when Princess Louise went very pale and said,
“Why should you say such things? Who has been talking to you about a revolution in Slavonia?”
Her reply made Giona realise that, if she was taken seriously, it might rebound on Captain Darius.
“I was only joking, Mama,” she said quickly. “You know how frequent revolutions are in the Balkans and it would be quite unnatural if Slavonia never had one.”
She had the feeling that her mother gave a little sigh of relief before she remarked,
“I think it is unlucky to joke in such a way. Revolutions are very frightening things, as your father would tell you if he was alive and I want you to reign over a peaceful country without there being any fear of your husband being deposed.”
“I am sure that is what I can look forward to,” Giona said lightly.
She told herself that she must be more careful in future. It was infuriating, however, to guess that her mother knew more than she would tell her, as did Captain Darius, while she was to be kept in ignorance, at any rate until the ring was on her finger and the crown on her head.
Queen Victoria gave her a long lecture on behaving with dignity once she became a Queen and how she should defer in all things to her husband’s wishes.
“You may find your husband, because he is Austrian, somewhat dictatorial, especially because he was brought up in Germany,” she said.
“Brought up in Germany, ma’am?” Giona interrupted. “Nobody told me that before.”
“Well, he was and he served as a soldier in the German Army before he had the opportunity of becoming King of Slavonia.”
“Please tell me more about him, ma’am,” Giona suggested.
“He has made a very good job of it,” the Queen said firmly. “His family was poor and he was the youngest son of his father, who was a Grand Duke. It was therefore a great opportunity for him to be made a Monarch in his own right.”
“I can see that,” Giona agreed.
“You must support him, dear child,” the Queen went on. “You must help him in every way you can, and remember, the Germans do not like to be argued with or challenged by their womenfolk.”
The Queen gave Giona a sharp look, as if she fancied she was inclined to be aggressive, and said,
“You must learn to be quiet, discreet and at times humble. It may not be easy, but I am quite sure that is what King Ferdinand will expect from his wife.”
The Queen was unaware that Giona had stiffened a little, as if she resented the idea of being so subservient.
Then because she had no wish for the Queen or anyone else to think that she was intensely curious about what was happening in Slavonia, she said,
“I will try to do as you tell me, ma’am. I know how happy you were in your marriage with Prince Albert.”
The Queen’s eyes softened.
“I was very very fortunate to be married to anyone so wonderful, so perfect in every way, and I hope you will be as happy with King Ferdinand.”
“That is what I hope too,” Giona said, “and thank you, ma’am, for your advice.”
She curtseyed, kissed the Queen’s hand and then her cheek.
Only when she had left The Palace did she say to her mother,
“I cannot think why the Germans should despise women to the point where they expect them to be nothing but doormats!”
Princess Louise looked startled.
“I am sure that Her Majesty did not mean you to think that.”
“What else am I expected to think?” Giona asked. “I cannot imagine what it would be like never to have a thought of my own, but have to agree with everything some old man has said as if it was Holy Writ, straight out of the Bible!”<
br />
The Princess gave a little cry.
“Giona, you are not to talk like that! It is very wrong! I am sure you will find that you and King Ferdinand have a great deal in common that you can talk about and discuss and he will listen to your opinions as you will listen to his.”
“Yes, of course, Mama,” Giona nodded.
The Princess was not aware as she spoke very softly that Giona was being sarcastic.
When, however, Giona went to her bedroom that night, she looked at her face in the mirror.
She looked very young with the soft curves of her cheeks and her eyes very large and questioning.
Then, as she looked at herself, she asked aloud, the words bursting from between her lips,
“How can I bear it? How can I face it alone and with nobody to help me? Oh, God, please find me a way out of this trap!”
Chapter Three
By the time they reached the Battleship at Tilbury, which was to carry them through the Mediterranean to the nearest Port to Dūric, Giona had begun to recover her spirits a little.
She had been desperately unhappy the night before they left, feeling that it was impossible for her to leave her mother, Chloris and everything she loved for a strange country and a strange husband, the idea of whom frightened her more every time she thought about him.
From the way the Slavonian Ambassador behaved, and also Captain Darius, she was quite certain that there were things being concealed from her which, when she learnt about them, would prove horrifying.
But, as there was nothing she could actually put her finger on, she could not voice her suspicions even to her mother.
Whenever she talked to Chloris, her sister was so relieved that she did not have to give up the man she loved for a Throne she did not want that she tried to make everything sound wonderful and predicted for Giona that it would all be a happy Fairytale once she reached Slavonia.
Giona, however, was far too intelligent to be deceived.
Because she had adored her father and had attached herself to him in a way he found very touching, he had talked to her, even when she was quite small, as if she was grown-up.
Since he was a very clever and perceptive man, she had learnt from him a great deal about people and had developed his natural ability to like and understand them.
She had thought things over and, knowing that there was nothing she could do to prevent herself from being married to the King and placed on the Throne of Slavonia, she decided that if it was within her power, she would embellish the position and do what she could to help everybody she came into contact with.
But all the time she had the sneaking suspicion that it was not going to be easy and that there was, in fact, although no one would admit it, something strange and perhaps intimidating about the King himself.
It was no use searching through her father’s history books for information that she already possessed and she longed for somebody, preferably Captain Darius, to be frank and tell her exactly what was waiting for her when she arrived in the country she was to rule over.
But she knew that Captain Darius had spoken the truth when he had said that, if the Ambassador or anyone else had the slightest idea that he was doing anything but teaching her the Slavonian language, he would not only be dismissed, but very probably, although it seemed incredible, lose his life.
She was well aware how ruthless the Germans could be when they were up against any type of opposition.
Although the King was Austrian, she had thought it very revealing that he had been brought up in Germany.
By very discreet questioning she learnt that, although there were a number of Austrians at Court, there were far more Germans and that almost all the Officers in the Slavonian Army were of German origin.
One comfort was that she could not only speak German perfectly but she was now also becoming proficient in Slavonian.
She was, however, careful not to enthuse about it too much to the Ambassador, who always questioned her whenever he saw her as to how she was progressing with her studies.
She knew perceptively that he was hoping that the answer was not too well.
“It is surprising, Your Royal Highness,” he said, “that you have time, when you are so busy with your trousseau, to continue these lessons which I feel must tax your strength when you have so much else to do.”
“I find them interesting, Your Excellency,” Giona replied, “and, as you know, my father was very absorbed in the history of the Balkans and I know that he would not wish me to be ignorant where Slavonia is concerned. There must, of course, be many books in the country that have not yet been translated into other languages.”
The Ambassador gave a laugh with no humour in it.
“Books?” he questioned. “I doubt if there is anything that you would find particularly interesting considering the Slavonians themselves are an uneducated and, in my opinion, uncivilised lot!”
Giona did not reply. She knew that what he had just said was untrue.
She had already learned from Captain Darius that Slavonian poets had already been acclaimed in other countries.
Also they had a culture of their own which, although recently it had been suppressed, was very intriguing to scholars of every nation.
She had challenged him about the word ‘suppress’.
“Are you telling me,” she had enquired, “that your artistic people, like your writers and artists, are not encouraged?”
Captain Darius had lowered his voice before he replied,
“They are not only discouraged, Your Royal Highness, but wherever it is possible they are prevented from selling their work, whether it is a picture, a book or a poem, outside the country.”
“I don’t believe it!” Giona exclaimed.
But she sensed that Captain Darius was speaking the truth and not exaggerating.
*
The three weeks she had been granted to collect her trousseau were coming to an end and the Ambassador was now taking charge and being overbearing and bossy.
He made Giona feel like a raw recruit being marched up and down a Barrack square.
“It’s intolerable, Mama!” she protested to her mother.
Princess Louise merely replied,
“Please, darling, don’t antagonise him. I agree that he is very difficult and a rather tiresome man, but in future you will have to learn to be diplomatic with him and all people like him. It would be a great mistake for you to have adverse reports sent about you to His Majesty.”
“If the King and everybody else in Slavonia is going to behave like the Ambassador,” Giona replied, “I shall come home by the next ship. I just know I could not bear it!”
Princess Louise had given a cry of horror.
“Please, Giona, don’t talk like that! I know, dearest, it will be very difficult for you, after you have been so happy and free, to acclimatise yourself to the restrictions and the repressions of a Court, but it is what every Royal personage has to endure and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“Papa used to say how happy he was when he was a boy and the fun he had with his family.”
“That was different,” Princess Louise replied, “and I only wish, dearest, that your Papa was with us now so that he could explain to you how important it is that you should behave in the right way and not upset the King.”
Her mother had sounded so unhappy as she spoke that Giona bit back the words that came to her lips and knew that it was no use complaining when she already knew the answers.
For several nights she cried herself to sleep and only in the morning did her natural joy of living and her irrepressible vitality make her feel that, however bad it was, she would somehow not only survive but win through.
How she was to succeed, she was not quite certain. She only felt as if she was fighting a battle on her own against overwhelming odds.
And yet faith and optimism made her feel that eventually everything would come right.
However, although she knew that it
was very un-Royal to show emotions in public, it was impossible to say goodbye to her mother and Chloris without tears.
Because Princess Louise knew how painful it would be, she had arranged not to accompany her daughter to the Battleship, but to say goodbye to her in their own home.
When Giona drove away in a smart carriage loaned by the Queen with the British Ambassador and his wife, her lips were trembling and tears filled her eyes, but with a superhuman effort she prevented them from falling.
Lady Bowden, who was a stout middle-aged woman, was tactful enough not to talk until they were several miles away and then to speak of quite ordinary things as if nothing untoward were happening.
Sir Edward was also very diplomatic and as kind as he could possibly be to Giona.
It was only the Slavonian Ambassador who, the moment he came near her, talked incessantly and made everything he said sound like a command or instructions on her future behaviour.
It was, however, a relief to know that they were travelling in a British ship with a British crew and the Captain, when she went aboard, assured her that he would do everything within his power to make the Royal Party as comfortable as possible.
Even so Giona heard the Slavonian Ambassador criticising various of the arrangements in a low voice to the other German members of his party and it made her dislike him more than she did already and try to avoid him as much as possible.
This, however, was difficult when he deliberately sought her out and at every opportunity tried to convince her that it was a mistake to continue her lessons with Captain Darius.
“As there is a great deal more for me to learn,” Giona replied, “and I have very little time in which to do it, I must insist on not only continuing my lessons but having them twice a day.”
The Slavonian Ambassador spluttered with rage, but Giona was so firm and spoke with such a new authority that he was obliged to give in to her.
He tried to insist that either Lady Bowden or a member of his staff should chaperone her during her lessons until Giona said firmly,
“If my mother permitted Captain Darius to teach me without anyone else being present, I cannot believe that it is now necessary simply because we are aboard a ship.”
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