A Miracle of Love

by Barbara Cartland

  As he spoke to her, he reflected on the strange little Marriage Service the Captain had conducted.

  It was as Holy to them both as if it had taken place in a great Cathedral.

  The Captain had ended making them husband and wife with the words,

  “With the power invested in me by Her Majesty Queen Victoria of Great Britain I now pronounce you man and wife and may God bless your union.”

  He made them, the Prince then thought, completely united with each other and the vows that came from their hearts could never be broken.

  “I love you, Nico,” Sacia whispered to him again.

  As the Prince’s lips sought hers, he said from the very depth of his heart and his soul,

  “I love you, my precious, adorable and beautiful wife, I adore you for ever and ever.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “It has been so wonderful!” Sacia exclaimed. “I think today was the best of them all.”

  The Prince thought so too.

  He had taken her to every possible place in Greece that was remotely connected with Aphrodite.

  He sensed at every site as if they were in a wholly vibrant atmosphere that came from Aphrodite herself.

  Because he loved Sacia with his whole heart and she loved him, he felt that their lovemaking was Divine, as if they were on Mount Olympus with the Gods.

  It was indeed, the Prince recognised, the love he had always sought and the love he could never find.

  Yet like a miracle it had now happened to him.

  Nothing could be more marvellous or wonderful than the love Sacia gave him and he gave her.

  It was impossible for either of them to think or speak of anything but love and Aphrodite.

  They went up Mount Hyrrettus overlooking Athens where there was a spring where women drank who wished to have a child.

  Sacia looked at the Prince as he told her about it and then without saying anything she had gone down on her knees to drink a little of the water.

  Because it was a moment of Holiness and purity, neither of them spoke.

  They saw many marble statues of Aphrodite, but to both of them the effigies had little to do with the feelings within them.

  The Goddess was obviously blessing them both as she had brought them together in the first place.

  Of course they had discussed Aphrodite in detail.

  The Prince had read more about her than Sacia and he related to her how the ancient Greeks believed she was the daughter of Zeus by the shadowy Goddess Dione and she was also thought to have sprung from the foam of the sea.

  Scholars of mythology had written that Aphrodite was the child of ‘the earth and the sky’. And it was the sky which with thunder and lightning sends down the rain of fruitfulness for mankind.

  What struck them was the light in Greece, which they realised was so different from the light anywhere else in the world. It seemed to make the very air they breathed purer than any they had ever known.

  As the Prince told her, the Greeks were never tired of describing the appearance of this light, as the Goddess of Love was a young virgin rising out of the waves with the light from the foam making a background for her body – and that made her so different from every other Goddess and every woman who had ever tried to emulate her.

  They wandered around hand in hand from Temple to shrine.

  At times the Prince found himself talking to Sacia as if she was a man of his own age and he realised that her replies and questions were more intelligent than a man’s would have been.

  He found it hard to understand just how anyone so young and beautiful could be so astute and perceptive.

  It made him appreciate that he could never be bored with her as he had been with the women he had had a passing affaire de coeur with.

  For Sacia the wonder of Nico and his love made her feel as if she was still in a dream – it could not really be happening to her.

  The second night they were together, she whispered softly against the Prince’s shoulder and he knew, as she quoted the famous words of the poet Sophocles, that they came from her heart.

  “Many marvels there are, but none as marvellous as man.

  Over the dark he rides in the teeth of the Winter’s Storm.”

  “But not a winter’s storm for us,” she added. “But storms we both ran away from.”

  The Prince did not answer, because he did not want her to worry about what they had left behind or what they were to face in the future.

  He merely kissed her until they were floating in the foam of Aphrodite and then moving into the sky towards the Milky Way.

  *

  It was three weeks after they had arrived in Athens and had travelled over a great deal of Greece before the Prince took Sacia to Delphi.

  This he had kept to the last because he thought it was the most significant of all the places for her to visit and he recognised mournfully that their honeymoon must come to an end soon.

  It was from Delphi that they would return to the world that was no longer a part of the Goddess Aphrodite.

  It was a sunny day.

  As they walked up to the shining cliffs the haunting view beneath them was breathtakingly perfect.

  There was the faint blue of the sea in the distance and the valley of the grey-blue olive trees below and the blue mountains to the left and right with the shining cliffs rising behind them.

  There was a quietness and a mystery in the air that was impossible to describe.

  And once again the Prince knew it was Aphrodite blessing them. She had brought them together and now she joined them even closer in their love for each other.

  They sat down on some fallen marble and, holding Sacia by the hand, the Prince told her,

  “Apollo chose to land here first when he came to Greece. As he sprang out onto the land from the sea, he announced that he took for himself the beauty and wonder of this place – and it became his.”

  “I can understand him desiring it,” Sacia pondered. “Yet, however handsome and wonderful Apollo was, he could not be as marvellous as you, my Nico!”

  The Prince drew her a little closer.

  “I can only pray that you will go through our lives together still thinking that. I knew when I found you that there could never be anyone else to equal you or as divine as you are.”

  “But then you did not love me at first, Nico. I think that I loved you from the very first moment you drove the gondola away down the canal so that I could not be seen by anyone looking out of the windows.”

  The Prince smiled.

  “I think, actually, my lovely one, you succeed more than you think in expressing your feelings. I have never in my whole life talked to someone who could tell me exactly what I wanted to hear in words that are as beautiful as you are yourself.”

  She put out her hands to touch his face.

  “I love you! I adore you, Nico. Must we go back to reality? I want to stay here for ever and just dream my life away in your arms.”

  “That is what I want too, but unfortunately I have obligations, and you, of all people, would not expect me to disappoint those who rely on me.”

  “No, of course not!”

  Then in a small trembling voice, Sacia added,

  “Suppose they don’t like me?”

  “They will love you because you are beautiful,” the Prince answered. “And remember, too, that wherever we go the Blessing of Aphrodite will go with us.”

  “Are you quite sure?” Sacia asked.

  “Absolutely sure,” he insisted firmly.

  They then explored the shining cliffs and the Prince showed her where the Oracle had been which the pilgrims consulted and how the words from the lips of Priests were carried out into the world outside.

  The wonder and beauty of the sunshine seemed to blind their eyes and they felt as if they were listening in their hearts to the prophetic words of the Oracle.

  It told them that they should be brave and strong for the daunting tasks that lay ahead of them and also th
at they would succeed in helping other people as they themselves had been helped.

  The message was very clear and yet, because they were so close, there was no need for either the Prince or Sacia to attempt to translate it into words.

  Then in silence they rode back down the hill on the donkeys that had taken them up to the cliffs.

  The Prince recognised that he was now leaving the ancient Gods for the real world in which he and Sacia had to survive in the future.

  *

  He had left her one morning when they were in Athens and went to the Italian Embassy and sent a message to Texxo to be ready for his return.

  He told him to say nothing of what had happened or where he had been since they left Vienz and that he was writing to the Lord Chamberlain to prepare him in great confidence for the day of his homecoming.

  He had also, while he was at the Embassy, asked if they knew of any yacht he could charter, as he wished to be taken to Venice.

  He did not specify that he actually intended to stop before Venice at a point where Vienz had a narrow outlet to the sea.

  That he would have to sail up the Adriatic made the Embassy Officials realise that he required a large yacht.

  He did not use his Royal title, but one of his others, which made them aware he was of some consequence.

  Eventually they contacted a rich Greek, who owned a very comfortable yacht that he occasionally hired out to wealthy visitors who wished to explore the islands.

  The Prince had been delighted at his agreement and he was determined never again to encounter the rowdy young men who had upset Sacia on their voyage to Rome.

  He asked if the yacht could be available in three days time and had taken it first to carry them to Delphi.

  Sacia had been thrilled when she heard that he had hired it and admitted that she had been dreading being on the same type of ship they had travelled on previously.

  The yacht was very up-to-date and the crew, who were all Greeks, were most obliging.

  The Master cabin was exceedingly comfortable and it was even more luxurious than their cabin on the English ship that had brought them to Athens.

  The Prince had asked at the Embassy if they would arrange to have flowers sent to the yacht before he and his wife arrived as he wanted a display arranged in the Master cabin.

  Everything had been done according to his request.

  He had, after some consideration, decided that he must inform his Lord Chamberlain at the Palace in Vienz that he was returning.

  He was well aware that by this time they would be extremely anxious as to what had happened to him and he thought it would be a mistake for him to appear suddenly without warning them he was on his way.

  He had sat in the Embassy puzzling as to what he would say and finally he wrote to the Lord Chamberlain,

  “I am instructed to inform you that the gentleman, who has for some time now been missing, will be arriving by sea in about ten days. Please make arrangements for him to be met, but no one except yourself is to be aware that it is he who is returning.”

  The Prince did not sign the letter and, although the Secretary at the Embassy had looked at the address with surprise, he had been too diplomatic to ask any questions.

  He had only commented,

  “I believe Vienz, sir, is very near to Venice!”

  “You are quite right,” replied the Prince, “and it is as a matter of fact a very attractive country.”

  “I hope I shall have the opportunity to visit it some day,” the Secretary remarked.

  “I feel sure you will find it a delightful country to visit, but it does not boast the great history and traditions they have here in Greece.”

  The Prince then thanked him profusely for making the arrangements about the yacht.

  When he went back to Sacia, who was waiting for him anxiously in the hotel, she had jumped up as soon as he appeared and flung her arms round him.

  “You have been away a long time, Nico. I was half afraid you had forgotten me.”

  “Do you really think that possible, Sacia?”

  He had kissed her with what he meant to be just a kiss of happiness, but instead it became one of passion and fire.

  He then carried her to the bed and made her know without words how much she meant to him and how it was impossible for them ever to be parted.

  *

  Now they were riding together down through the olive trees to the little port where their yacht was waiting for them.

  When they reached the yacht it was already time to change for dinner and they discussed all they had seen that day.

  It was most fortunate that the Greek who owned the yacht employed a French chef and the food, since he was given carte blanche by the Prince, was not only delicious but original.

  There was a Greek wine to drink that the Prince had always enjoyed and which Sacia found an elixir.

  The Prince felt that she did not realise they were moving away from Greece and into the Adriatic and when they anchored a little later in a quiet bay, the Prince took her down to the Master cabin.

  He had underrated Sacia’s perceptiveness.

  “I think, darling,” she murmured, “you don’t want me to say ‘goodbye’ to Greece. I know we have already left it, but promise me we will come back again one day!”

  “Of course we will, Sacia, and we will teach our children almost from the moment they are born about the Greek Gods and Goddesses and how influential they have been in both our lives.”

  “I know,” Sacia said quietly, “that you were sent to me by the Goddess Aphrodite and that our children will each have a special God to protect them and make them as happy as we are.”

  The Prince kissed her as there was no need for any further discussion.

  *

  The next day and the day after they talked about themselves, their love and the wisdom of the Greek fathers.

  They were both aware that they were avoiding the moment when they would have to explain to one another who they really were.

  They recognised only too well the difficulties that could arise – difficulties that might easily sweep away the happiness of the dream-world they were still living in.

  When they were only a short distance from the Port of Vienz where they were to disembark, the Prince sent for the Captain.

  He told him he wished to arrive at eleven o’clock the following day and they would therefore anchor in some quiet bay for the night as there would be no hurry for them to leave the following morning.

  The Captain was wise enough to ask no questions, but just to do as he was told.

  He found a delightful bay. There were cliffs rising straight out of the sea that would prevent any inquisitive sightseers from observing them.

  After dinner they went out on deck to admire the moonlight shining silvery on the calm sea and millions of stars were coming out overhead.

  “I know, my darling husband,” said Sacia, “that you are thinking of me and not speaking of what lies ahead. But as we are to arrive tomorrow, I have to know who you are and to tell you who I am.”

  “I can only tell you that you are the most wonderful and perfect woman in the whole world,” the Prince replied. “I am not really concerned with who your parents are.”

  He paused before he continued,

  “But, as you say, we have to know the truth about each other and, although this might upset you a little, we will have to be married again.”

  Sacia stared at him.

  “Married again? But you told me our marriage was legal!”

  “It was completely and absolutely legal. But at the same time I cannot deprive my people of the happiness and joy of a wedding.”

  There was silence for a while and then Sacia asked,

  “Your people?”

  “I am Prince Nicolo of Vienz.”

  Again there was a silence.

  Then to his astonishment Sacia gave a little cry of delight.

  “Prince Nicolo!” she exclaimed. “I have heard of
you and, as you are Royal, Papa will be delighted.”

  The Prince stared at her.

  “Why should he be?”

  “Because, as I told you, Papa wanted me to marry somebody of great consequence. He had chosen a terrible and ghastly man who is King of Brankestoff.”

  She paused before continuing,

  “It is a tiny German Kingdom and he is a very big and horrible man. That was why I tried to drown myself.”

  The Prince felt bewildered, but he put his arms around her.

  “Are you telling me that your father expected you to marry a King? In that case, who is he?”

  “Although they live in Venice Papa is the Archduke Otto of Austria and Mama is the second daughter of King Ferdinand II of Naples. So you can understand why they wanted me to be a Queen!”

  For a moment the Prince could not find his voice.

  He had been so certain in his own mind that Sacia came perhaps from an influential family, but there was no Royalty in Venice because it was a Republic.

  Now he knew that only the Gods could have been so unbelievably kind to him.

  If Sacia’s father was an Archduke, it meant he was a son of the Emperor of Austria.

  Every male member of their Royal Family had the title of Archduke and their daughters were Princesses, and in Italy through her mother Sacia would be a Principessa.

  For a moment he could hardly believe that this was true and he was not dreaming.

  Nothing could be better for his country.

  If his wife’s father was Austrian that country would never attempt to absorb his and the Italians would respect Vienz because the Ruling Princess was the granddaughter of one of their Kings.

  He could hardly take it in that he had been so lucky.

  He could only gaze at Sacia in wonderment.

  “I was so afraid,” she said softly, “that Papa would be angry if I had refused someone Royal for someone he would think of as a ‘commoner’, but you are Royal! So he will, I know, be delighted.

  “We will certainly invite him and your mother to our wedding!”

  Then he was kissing her almost reverently as in his heart he acknowledged how Aphrodite had bequeathed to them everything they could have possibly desired on earth.

  *