Feeling a little nervous, but at the same time excited, she went into the cabin next door.
The Greek Ambassador and Lord Cardiff were there and they rose to their feet when she entered.
They were both, she saw, drinking a glass of sherry.
As she asked them to sit down again, the Ambassador began to pay her compliments.
He was speaking in his own language and was delighted when she replied with a fluency of Greek that he had not expected.
It was only after they had been chatting for some time that Avila realised that they were being rude to Lord Cardiff.
“I do apologise, my Lord,” she said in English, “but I need to polish up my Greek before we reach Athens so that I do not miss anything that is said to me. Just as I have no wish to miss anything I can see.”
Lord Cardiff laughed.
“I am afraid my Greek, ma’am, which I learnt at my school is not, shall we say, very conversational. However, I can usually manage to obtain what I want in restaurants and in shops.”
“That is a step in the right direction,” Avila smiled. “You will understand how exciting it will be for me to be in the country that I half-belong to for the first time since I was very small and to hear all the people speak a language which is not often heard in England.”
“When we return,” the Ambassador said, “I shall make certain that Your Royal Highness is notified of everything that takes place at the Embassy. I realise now that we have been very remiss in not asking you to attend when we have organised exhibitions of Greek dancing and Greek Lecturers who talk about the ancient history of Greece and its amazing ruins.”
“I would love that!” Avila replied enthusiastically.
Then she remembered that it would be Princess Marigold, not she, who would be invited to attend these events.
She talked a great deal to the Ambassador about the Temples that were still standing in Delphi and the Parthenon in Athens. They spoke about the many beautiful relics that could be found on the many and different Greek islands.
“You certainly know much more about Greece, ma’am, than I might have expected,” he said that night over dinner.
“And I never expected to see what I have only read about in books,” Avila replied.
“So you don’t remember much about the country before your father and mother came to England?” the Ambassador then asked her.
With a little throb of fear in her heart, Avila realised that she had made a mistake and it was something she must not do again.
She then tried desperately to recall just what she had been told about Princess Marigold’s early life.
“I am afraid,” she said after a pause, “I actually remember very little about it. I was only four years old at the time, but I can recall the garden where I played and the delightful room, which I think must have been my Nursery.”
“If only you had been a little older,” the Ambassador sighed. “But never mind we can make up for it now and I know, because you have Greek blood in your veins, you will find everywhere you look that there is something that pulls at your heart, and at the same time invigorates your mind.”
It was something that had never been said to Avila before and it made her feel even more excited than she was already.
She would see Greece and feel the Light which her mother had told her had eventually enveloped the world.
It was a sublime Light that not only dazzled the eyes, but had made the Greeks give the civilised world the power to think, to plan and to create.
That night, when she went to bed in her cabin, Avila prayed,
‘Thank You God, for letting me come on this wonderful voyage of discovery. Forgive me for deceiving my Papa and let me find in Greece the answer to the many questions about life that have always intrigued and puzzled me.’
It was a very sincere prayer.
Then she snuggled down against her soft pillows and she felt the ship’s engines turning beneath her.
She was thinking how incredibly fortunate she was.
A new world was opening out before her, a world that was so much a part of her blood, and she knew as well that it was also part of her heart and her soul.
‘Greece, the Gateway of the Mind’.
The Light which had been first lit by the God of Light himself.
Apollo!
CHAPTER FOUR
As the Battleship steamed on through the Mediterranean, Avila knew that she had never enjoyed herself so much in her entire life.
Ever since they had left Tilbury, Lady Bedstone had remained in her cabin.
She had refused to move until they had passed through the Bay of Biscay and this meant that Avila had the two elderly gentlemen to herself.
They complimented and praised her and talked to her ceaselessly about all the things that she found interesting about Ancient Greece and Modern Greece.
At first it seemed strange to be addressed as ‘Your Royal Highness’ or ‘ma’am’, but she soon grew used to it.
Equally she could not help wishing that her mother was with her and she knew just how much she would have enjoyed listening to the Greek Ambassador and his many recollections.
Avila learnt stories about Greece that she had never known about and was wildly excited when they eventually reached Athens.
H.M.S. Heroic steamed into the Port at exactly the expected time of arrival, which was midday.
The quay that they docked at was decorated with a profusion of Greek flags and Union Jacks intwined.
As Avila looked down at the large gathering crowd, the Ambassador told her,
“I can see the Prime Minister, so be prepared for a lengthy welcome.”
“At last I am really in Greece!” Avila enthused in a rapt tone.
In the distance she could see the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis with the Parthenon on the top of it.
Because it was all so thrilling, she wanted to clap her hands and cheer.
Then she became aware that seeing her on deck the people on the quay were waving and shouting out ‘welcome’ in Greek.
The Ambassador rather stiffly led her down the gangway.
As he had warned her, the Prime Minister was there to greet her together with a number of other senior Statesmen.
Avila was given a large bouquet of flowers by a pretty small girl with long hair wearing a colourful dress.
There were three speeches of welcome, each one longer than the last.
.Avila was delighted that she was able to understand every word they said to her, but she thought that it was all too much talk even though Great Britain was their very strong ally.
Then in an open carriage she was driven to the British Embassy where she was to stay.
The Ambassador had already explained that it had been first thought that she would not be staying at The Royal Palace since the King was away visiting his relations in Denmark.
It was one thing, Avila thought, to deceive the Ambassador and the Prime Minister that she was a ‘Royal Highness’.
It was quite another to deceive a King!
She was well aware, because her mother had told her, of the difficulties there had been in Greece after they had deposed King Otto.
At last they had now found the King they required.
There had been a number of different candidates.
Finally the search had ended with William, the seventeen-year-old second son of the heir to the Throne of Denmark.
The Treaty of Accession had been signed in London all of twenty-three years ago by the representatives of Great Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia.
The new King took the title of ‘George I of the Hellenes’.
It had been easy for him to sign a protocol to become their King, but difficult to win the acceptance of the many Principalities and leading Greek families.
They all had their spheres of influence and wished to keep the power that they had held over the centuries.
Avila was glad that she did not have to listen to the ma
ny problems and squabbles which had ensued.
The British Embassy was a large and delightful building set in a large garden filled with exotic flowers.
The British Ambassador to Greece welcomed her with yet another speech, but not such a long one. He explained that his wife was unfortunately abroad, which Avila thought was a relief.
A woman, she felt, was far more likely than a man to notice if she did or said anything wrong or misleading.
Avila was therefore chaperoned by Lady Bedstone, who made a tremendous effort to be charming to everyone who spoke to her and even tried to speak a few words of Greek herself.
The funeral they soon learned was to take place the next day.
Avila wondered if she could say that there were a number of sights that she would like to see that afternoon.
It was then that the Greek Ambassador said to her,
“I think I should explain to Your Royal Highness that the deceased Prince Eumenus had no sons. His nephew, His Royal Highness Prince Darius of Kanidos, will therefore be looking after you and I am only surprised that he is not here already.”
“His Royal Highness did say,” a member of his staff who had joined them interposed, “that he had to see the Priests about the Funeral Service and so might be a little late.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” the Ambassador agreed, “I had forgotten.”
Even as he spoke a servant announced,
“His Royal Highness Prince Darius of Kanidos.”
Avila turned to see the Prince coming into the room.
He was certainly very good-looking.
In fact, as he advanced towards her, she could not help thinking that he might have been the model for a statue of Apollo.
He had perfectly chiselled features and her mother had told Avila that these were most characteristic of the aristocratic Greeks. He also had the lithe physique of an athlete and his dark eyes somehow resembled her own.
As he came nearer, Avila realised that he was looking at her searchingly as well as with an expression of surprise.
“Let me please present, Your Royal Highness,” the British Ambassador was now saying, “His Royal Highness Prince Darius of Kanidos, who will be very delighted to show you all the famous sights of Athens.”
Avila put out her hand.
When the Prince took it, she felt strange vibrations coming from his fingers.
It made her think that he was even more like a God than he had at first appeared.
She remembered that, when Apollo flew across the sky, flashing with a million points of Light and healing everyone he touched, he germinated the seeds of life and defied the Powers of Darkness.
She did not know why that particular description had suddenly come into her mind.
But it came to her again even more vividly as the Prince held her hand in his.
Almost as if he was speaking to himself, he sighed,
“You are even more beautiful than I expected you to be!”
Avila blushed and he added,
“I was told to show you the beauties of Athens, but now I want Athens to see you!”
What he said so charmingly sounded different in Greek from how it would have sounded in English.
Avila was thinking that no one had ever said anything so wonderful to her before.
When they went into luncheon, the Prince was seated on her right.
He then asked her what she wanted particularly to see while she was staying in Greece.
“Everything!” she almost demanded. “I cannot believe that I am really here as I have read about Greece and talked about it, but thought I would never actually be able to see it as I can now.”
There was no mistaking the enthusiasm and excitement in her voice.
The Prince then suggested quietly,
“I believe you are here for only a short time, but I promise I will not allow you to waste a minute. This afternoon I will take you first to the Parthenon.”
Avila gave a little cry of delight.
“I saw it! I could see it from the ship as we came into Port. It looked exactly as I always believed it would.”
“We will go there as soon as we have finished luncheon,” the Prince said, “but you must remember that nobody hurries in Athens.”
He smiled before he added,
“The women walk slowly and gracefully and the cafés are full of men gossiping.”
Avila laughed.
“But I shall have to hurry, otherwise, how else am I to see everything in Greece before the Battleship carries me back to England?”
“I have a distinct feeling that there are to be more speeches to listen to when luncheon is finished, but with your permission I will suggest that they are kept until after dinner tonight when it will be too dark to show you the beauty of Athens.”
“Oh, yes, please arrange it,” Avila pleaded.
Because she was so excited she grudged the time they took to eat the delicious food they were offered.
As the Prince had suggested, he asked the Ambassador that there should be no speeches until this evening,
“Her Royal Highness wishes to see the whole of Greece in a few days,” he said, “but, as that is impossible, I have to show her at least the most beautiful places before she returns to her own country.”
There was a murmur of agreement at this proposal.
Finally, even sooner than Avila might have anticipated, they had left the Embassy and were driving in an open carriage along the road that led to the Acropolis.
Lady Bedstone had to go with them.
Avila however, told her in a whisper that she was to stay in the carriage and not to try to walk up to the Parthenon on the summit of the Acropolis.
Lady Bedstone was only too delighted to stay where she was and, as she had enjoyed the luncheon, Avila was certain that, if she had the opportunity, she would soon drop off to sleep.
The horses climbed as far as they could up to the great entrance portal of the Acropolis.
Then the Prince sprang out of the carriage and held out his hand to Avila.
Again she felt that strange and unusual vibration.
It seemed in some odd way that she did not understand, to link her with him.
The Parthenon itself was even grander and more impressive than she had ever imagined. It rose above the purple rock like a great ship with all its sails flying.
“That is what I have always thought,” the Prince told her quietly.
She turned to stare at him.
“You are reading my thoughts.”
“I realised at luncheon that it was what I could do,” the Prince said. “I cannot explain it, but why should we want to?”
There was something in the way he looked at Avila that made her feel a little confused.
Because she was beginning to feel shy, she began to ask him a multitude of questions.
He told her how the marble of the Parthenon had been painted with different colours of blue, scarlet and gold.
“Today however,” he said quietly, “we see it as the Greeks saw it perhaps around 440 B.C. shortly before it was finished.”
They wandered amongst its many columns and the Prince quoted the words of Pericles.
He had claimed that the Parthenon was built so ‘the heart may be warmed and the eye delighted for ever’.
“That is exactly what has happened,” Avila said. “One cannot help just looking at it and being delighted. At the same time it makes me feel small and unimportant.”
“That is something you could never be,” the Prince smiled at her.
He next took her to the Erechtheion, the ancient Temple dedicated to the glory of the Goddess Athena. The six figures had been sculpted in the form of beautiful maidens in a rare but lovely form of architecture.
The Prince then told her that columns sculpted in this way were known as Karyatids. The word meant ‘maidens of the little country town of Karyar’.
They were widely noted for performing ritual dances in which they sometimes pose
d in this attitude.
Avila stood looking at them and thinking how beautiful and at the same time mysterious they were. She felt that the Erechtheion had a special feeling of sanctity about it.
Then she became aware that Prince Darius was gazing at her.
As if the Prince was again reading her thoughts, he said,
“The sacred robe of Athene was preserved here. It was here too that the golden lamp was never allowed to go out.”
“I wish I could have seen Athene!” Avila remarked.
“I am seeing her!” the Prince answered.
She looked at him in some surprise.
Then, when she realised what he had meant, she blushed.
“This is the right place for you,” he said softly. “While the Parthenon is masculine, the Erechtheion is wholly feminine. I feel certain that you have been here before and, as Athene belonged to the Light, so do you.”
Avila drew in her breath.
She could hardly believe that anyone was actually saying these things to her that she had thought of only in her dreams.
From what she had read about the Gods and Goddesses she had imagined that she herself was one of them.
She knew that nothing in the world could be more complimentary than that the Prince should think of her in the same breath as Athene.
Then very softly he went on,
“Athene meant so much to the Ancient Greeks and she was worshipped by them under so many conflicting aspects.”
His voice deepened as he continued,
“There was ‘Athene the Warrior’, shaking her tall spear, ‘Athene the Companion’ and ‘Athene of the Household’. She was Goddess of all things fair and she was as well ‘Athene the Virgin’, who was determined to protect the virginity of her beloved City.”
“That is so ‒ beautiful ‒ the way you say it,” Avila murmured.
There was a little pause before the Prince replied,
“There was also ‘Athene the Goddess of Love’. I always think of these maidens whom we have just been admiring as if they were Priestesses of Athene as the Goddess of Love.”
He looked down at Avila and then added,
“Now I know exactly why I have always been drawn to the Erechtheion more than to the Parthenon itself.”
The Love Light of Apollo Page 5