There were frequent tales of persecution, besides a great number of protests against new and severe taxation.
There was a short poignant silence between father and daughter until Zoleka asked,
“If I do agree to go, Papa, how long must I stay?”
Prince Lászlé thought for a moment.
“Just long enough to find out everything we want to know. And whether you think that we should take a strong line before it is too late.”
“That is the real question, Papa. If we are aware that things are in a bad way, you can be quite certain that the Prussians know it too.”
“I am not too sure of that. According to the man I talked to this morning, the majority of the people of Krnov are content with their life as it is. It is the Prime Minister, who has not been in office for very long, who is worried that laissez-faire might prove disastrous to their country.”
“As it has done in many places,” remarked Zoleka.
Not only was she naturally very intelligent, she was also very well read. Her father had a magnificent library that continually broadened her knowledge and kept her learning.
He so enjoyed reading every new book published on the subjects that he was interested in and Zoleka followed his example.
They enjoyed debating everything they had learned from each book, deliberately arguing just for the fun of it.
Secretly, because it was a mistake to make trouble unless it was absolutely necessary, they both disliked the Prussians.
They found it hard to feel convinced that the increase of prosperity both in Upper and Lower Silesia was worth the overwhelming presence of Prussians, who treated these countries contemptuously and their people like serfs.
At the same time they drew an enormous amount of advantage from them.
If there were failures, the Prussians were very angry and more aggressive than usual.
When the gold and silver mines became exhausted, they squeezed what they could out of the peasants.
Each time this occurred the three free Principalities shivered and increased their defences.
But recently Krnov had not been following the lead of the other two.
They all realised that if it came to another war they would not be able to stand up against the vast resources of the Prussians.
There was no one alive who did not still yearn for the day when Silesia could look towards Vienna rather than the Prussian Hohenzollerns.
Zoleka walked towards the window.
The Palace garden was a mass of flowers and the white doves which her mother had introduced were flying round the fountain.
“How can I go away and leave you and this beauty which I love so much, Papa?”
“We could say ‘no’, tell them to go to hell and stay happy as we are. But we have to be honest and admit that may just be endangering our own people, the people your mother loved and who loved her, and who are, I think, still very happy.”
“Of course they are so happy, Papa, you give them everything they have ever wanted. As you say, they loved Mama and we also have a place in their hearts.”
Her father sat down once more at his writing desk and then suddenly he brought his clenched fist down with a bang.
“Why on earth cannot Prince Majmir look after his people properly?” he demanded furiously. “It is now many years since he lost his wife and, I have heard, he was not particularly fond of her.”
He paused before he continued bitterly,
“He has a daughter, as I have, and he should be thinking of her rather than neglecting his country as he is so obviously doing at the moment.”
“In what way, Papa?”
“His messenger was vague. He merely insinuated that the Prince was not at all interested in what goes on day by day. The country is left to the administration of the Krnov Cabinet and the last Prime Minister was apparently a disaster.”
“So now the new one is attempting to modernise the government,” remarked Zoleka.
“It is going to be a big task and of course I have not been told very much. It was just suggested by the Prime Minister that the Princess should have a Lady-in-Waiting capable of helping her take her place as the rightful heir to the throne.”
Zoleka looked at her father in surprise.
“Prince Majmir is not thinking of abdicating?”
“I do hope not, but if he did, there would only be an ineffective and totally inexperienced young girl of eighteen to take his place.”
“Which, of course,” Zoleka said almost beneath her breath, “would make an excellent excuse for the Prussians to walk in unopposed.”
“You have said it for me, my bright daughter. That is exactly what I was thinking.”
Zoleka gave a big sigh.
“I tell you what I will do, Papa. I will go to Krnov for a short time to see what is happening. Then I will insist on returning home to you, so that I can tell you what I have discovered.”
She smiled as she added,
“Of course I could then have a serious illness which would prevent me from going back and they would have to find someone else in my place.”
Her father held up his hands.
“You are going too fast,” he protested. “One fence at a time. If you go, my dearest, you know it will break my heart to send you away. But I think you will be doing a great service not only in helping Krnov, but in making me and Prince Vaslov of Cieszyn aware of what is happening.”
“What is Prince Vaslov like?”
“I have not seen him for some years since he was finishing school and just about to go to University. When he left the latter, apparently with flying colours, he insisted on going round the world.”
“That was sensible of him.”
“When his father died six months ago, he took over as Ruler as everyone expected and I have been told that he is already bringing Cieszyn up-to-date in so many different ways.”
“Well, that is certainly a step in the right direction at any rate. And if he has any brains he will support you in anything you suggest in the future.”
“That is just what I need. We are three independent countries, but we have to be united. Otherwise we will be swallowed up by the Prussians like Upper and Lower Silesia and cease to be the individuals we are at the moment.”
Zoleka gave a little sigh.
“Don’t even think about it, Papa. It frightens me that those Prussians would so love to get their hands on our country and Krnov. Don’t forget we both have mines and they are increasingly pleading for our lead, iron and zinc to supplement their own production.”
“They are not going to have any of it, if I can help it. That is why, my precious little daughter, I want you to find out all you can about what is happening in Krnov.”
He was silent for a moment before he added,
“I had actually set some enquiries in motion earlier. But when I heard nothing from Krnov and Prince Majmir never bothered to communicate with me, I thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie.”
“I would have been only too glad to have agreed with you,” sighed Zoleka.
“But now that they have approached me, it is very difficult to refuse. As I have already indicated, I feel that only someone with your fine intelligence could find out what is really going on.”
“Do we have any diplomatic communication with Krnov, Papa?”
“There has been no reason for it. We want nothing from them and they have wanted nothing from us – until now.”
The Prince rose and walked to the mantelpiece and then back again, clearly deep in thought.
“I suppose if I am completely honest with myself, I have been worried for some time as to whether we should do something positive about Krnov. But there has been so much going on and it did not seem of such great importance. So I ignored a little voice in my head which told me that something was wrong.”
“I will try to find out what it is, Papa.”
Zoleka gave a deep sigh before she enquired,
“How soon do I h
ave to go?”
“As soon as possible! Let’s get it over with, my dearest. I want you back here and it is going to be a very miserable month or so for me while you are away.”
“Where is the envoy who came from Krnov to see you?”
“I sent him to talk to members of the Council. But I think they will get very little out of him. I sensed he was scared to say too much and had received strict instructions from his Prime Minister as to what he should and should not tell me.”
“It does sound to me as if I am going to have a very hard time learning anything in Krnov, Papa.”
Her father smiled.
“And I have never known you not to learn what you wanted to learn. Also we must not forget that astute little ‘Third Eye’ of yours, which you used to talk about when you were a child.”
When Zoleka was quite young, she had been given a book about Egypt.
In it she had seen that the Egyptian Pharaohs had a strange bump on their foreheads.
Her father explained to her at the time it was what the Egyptians called their ‘Third Eye’. They used it to know instinctively and clairvoyantly the truth, which other people failed to see.
Zoleka at the time had thought it amusing and she had walked about with a paint mark on her forehead, which she informed her father was her Third Eye.
He told her stories of how people had saved their lives by using their instinct and how others had made many precious discoveries. They had been made aware of many truths that were hidden from ordinary men and women.
Zoleka had practised using her intuition from the time she was twelve.
Now she sensed that she knew almost instantly the character and personality of men and women she met.
Long ago she had learnt that what she actually felt about them was in fact the truth.
At the time her father would encourage her to tell him exactly what she thought some dinner-guest was really like, and later he had her sitting with him when he engaged a new aide-de-camp or a servant.
“Now tell me what you think,” he would say when the candidates left the room.
He was forced to admit that Zoleka was very clever in spotting a weakness in someone they had talked to.
As she grew older she used the same powers to choose those whom she wished to be her friends.
She refused point blank to speak to one visitor at the Palace. Desperate to be accepted, the visitor constantly bought Zoleka and her mother bunches of flowers and presents. Before too long it became difficult to accept the woman’s kindness and still not invite her to any Royal festivities.
“She is bad, Mama,” Zoleka had said. “And I have no wish to accept her presents.”
“You can hardly refuse them, dearest,” her mother had replied firmly.
Zoleka had accepted the largesse and thanked the woman politely, but later her mother found she had made a bonfire and burnt the presents until they were nothing but ashes.
“How could you do anything so foolish, Zoleka?” she scolded. “If you did not want them, there are plenty of girls your age who would be grateful for them.”
“They are bad, Mama, and I don’t want anyone to touch them,” Zoleka insisted.
It was a year later that the woman in question was found to be an addict and arrested for smuggling drugs into the Palace.
Her devoted servant had tried to physically restrain her in a desperate bid to prevent her smoking opium, but she had resisted so violently that the man had nearly died in the struggle.
After that it became clear that she would never give up taking or selling drugs and the woman was barred from the Palace and forced to leave the country.
Zoleka’s father and mother had been compelled to admit that she had been right all along.
“How did you know she was like that, dearest?” her mother enquired fervently.
Zoleka smiled.
“I looked at her with my Third Eye!”
*
When the young diplomat, Anton Bauer, who had travelled from Krnov to meet her father, was introduced to Zoleka, she thought he was quite pleasant.
He was clearly frightened of saying the wrong thing concerning his visit.
Zoleka smiled at him.
“Do tell me about Princess Udele. Does she find it rather hard being an only child, as I have?”
“I expect so and it will be very nice for Her Royal Highness to have your company,” replied Anton Bauer.
Zoleka asked him other questions about Krnov, all of which received rather vague answers.
She began to think, like her father, that perhaps the whole country was limp and ineffective.
In which case the Prussians would certainly start to infiltrate it.
As her father had said to her, the sooner she went to Krnov, the sooner it would all be over.
Zoleka agreed to the arrangements he had made and began to choose those whom she would take with her.
Marla, her lady’s maid, was an obvious choice as she had been in her service for more than six years.
The aide-de-camp, whom she chose next, was forty-year-old Pieter Seitz. Pieter was known to be a sensible man and she thought he could probably use his easy going manner to visit places where she would be unable to go and talk to people she was unlikely to come into contact with.
She was quite certain that he would be most useful in finding out what she needed to know.
*
Finally the day arrived when they were to travel to Krnov in two carriages.
It was not a particularly long journey, but some of the route was over mountainous roads.
The night before Zoleka left, she dined alone with her father, which they always enjoyed so much more than when they had to have other people with them.
“You must take extra good care of yourself, Papa, whilst I am away and think of me every day.”
“You know I will, my darling. I shall miss our rides and the times like this when we can be together and talk without being afraid of being overheard.”
“That is one problem I was thinking about. Do you imagine that the Palace in Krnov has concealed holes in the walls through which a spy can see or overhear? I have heard so many stories about this happening in Russia and other countries.”
“I think, my dearest Zoleka, that they will simply treat you as a charming young girl, who will be a nice companion for their young Princess.”
He smiled before he continued,
“I don’t think that Anton Bauer would believe for a single moment that you might be an Ambassador for your country.”
“An Ambassador with a keen eye and ear who will miss nothing!” exclaimed Zoleka.
“What you must not do is to put anything down in writing,” her father warned.
“Then how am I to tell you what I have found out?”
“I think the wisest way would be to take a second aide-de-camp with you who we trust. He can always be sent backwards and forwards ostensibly with gifts and to fetch items for you, but really to tell me what you want me to know.”
Zoleka clasped her hands together.
“You are quite right, Papa, we should have thought of it before. If it is something very serious, I will come back myself, but if we take a special messenger, he will make me feel that I can reach you very quickly if I want to.”
“You are not to anticipate anything really nasty or untoward happening. If you do, it might perhaps prejudice you unreasonably.”
“It would not do that, Papa, it is just that I think we should be prepared.”
“I am afraid you may be disappointed, my dearest. You will find Krnov exceedingly dull and may learn very little after all.”
Zoleka threw up her hands.
“Now you are trying to put me off the trip, Papa! You know I will find it dreadfully boring. In which case I will return home at once and then the Krnovians will have to look after themselves.”
“I have the feeling that is what Prince Majmir really wants. It is only that I am so very frightened of losin
g our independence, which is so precious to us all.”
“Of course it is, Papa, and something we must not lose whatever happens. I will do my best and no one can do more.”
“I wouldn’t mind betting that your best will be very good indeed, as it always has been.”
“Now you are flattering me and I love it!”
“When you come back,” her father suggested, “we will throw a ball, which will be the finest ball we have ever given.”
He put his hand over hers.
“I am feeling rather guilty that I have not given you enough parties, which your mother would have wanted for you now that you are eighteen.”
“I have been perfectly happy riding with you, Papa, and doing all the things we have done. The balls can wait, as can all the young men, who I do know at the back of your mind you believe should be around to amuse me.”
Her father smiled at her.
“I admit I have been rather selfish. I have wanted you all to myself and have not concentrated on counting up how many eligible young gentlemen there are to be found in the neighbourhood!”
“If you mean eligible for me to marry, Papa, I can tell you here and now that I do not wish to marry anyone for several years at least!”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it would be so terrible to be forced into an unhappy arranged marriage. You and dear Mama were so happy, but of course it was a million to one chance against that you should have fallen in love with each other. You could so easily have hated each other and then what would have happened?”
“If I am honest, that was what I was afraid of, but it was so very important for our country that I should have a Consort. Luckily fortune smiled on me and no one could have been more in love than your darling mother and I.”
“That is why I am now asking how I can be sure of being equally lucky.”
“We shall just have to pray that Heaven is listening to our plea, and you must now use your Third Eye on every unfortunate individual who lays his heart at your feet!”
Zoleka laughed.
“I am not going to worry at all about the ones who lay their hearts at my feet. It is those that say I would be of great assistance in building up their own country or keeping the enemies from the gate who frighten me!”
Ruled by Love Page 2