“Why so long?” Zorina asked.
“Her father was insistent on a long engagement in case either of them changes their mind.”
“As it is decorated with love,” Zorina said, “I feel sure that it is something that they will never do. But then I had no chance to change mine.”
“Would you want to?” Rudolf asked.
Zorina put her arms around his neck.
“I cannot think now why you kept me waiting so long before you – carried me – away.”
She laid her cheek against his as she continued,
‘To me you are just like the Knight in the Fairy stories who rescues the Princess from the dragon. And they live happily ever after.”
“That is exactly what we are going to do.”
Zorina moved a little closer to him,
“There is something I – want to – say to you, Rudolf.”
“What is it?” he asked her.
“Although, as you know, I have no money and you may have to leave yours behind in Leothia – I shall still be ecstatically – happy with you – wherever we may be.”
Before Rudolf could say anything, she went on,
“If it is nothing but a cave or a tent and I have to work to provide for us both and perhaps our children, I shall still thank God – every day that I am – your wife – and the luckiest woman in the whole wide world.”
What she had said had come from the very depths of her heart and she knew that Rudolf was very touched as he kissed her gently and tenderly.
It was as if it was easier to express himself with kisses than with words.
*
They laughed a great deal over their luncheon of trout, which was delicious, and then they lay in the shade because the sun was too hot to do anything else.
They looked at the beauty around and above them and the only sound came from the stream as it cascaded down into the valley.
Later in the afternoon they talked of many things, not only themselves, but Rudolf told her of places that he had visited around the world.
He found that, although Zorina had not moved from Hampton Court Palace, she had travelled in her mind through all the travel books that she had read.
This had made her more intelligent and more perceptive than any woman he had ever known in his life.
“I have so much to show you, my darling,” he said. “But not even the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids or the Acropolis are more beautiful than you.”
“And no Greek God, not even Apollo, could be more handsome than you,” Zorina replied.
Rudolf laughed.
“Go on thinking like that, my darling, for I shall be a very jealous husband. If I find you even looking at another man, I shall either strangle or beat you!”
He spoke forcibly and Zorina laughed,
“You will get very conceited, my darling husband, if I keep telling you how wonderful I think you are and how, as far as I am concerned, no other man exists in the world.”
She paused and then went on,
“To me you are a God or a Knight in Shining Armour. You can take your choice.”
It was with difficulty that Rudolf left her to collect more eggs, freshly baked bread and fresh vegetables from Frau Toger.
While he was away, Zorina tidied up the house, laid the table for dinner and thought over and over again that she had never been so happy in all her days.
In fact she had never known that such happiness existed or how different everything seemed to be when one was in love.
As she made the bed, which had a soft mattress of goose feathers, she thought of Rudolf and the ecstasy that he had given her.
She knew that nothing else could ever matter beside their love for each other.
Zorina believed him when he said that he would never regret for one moment giving up being a Royal Prince.
Her own title had been of little significance when she and her mother had been so poor living in a Hampton Court Palace apartment.
But for Rudolf it was different.
He not only had The Palace as his home but he had the respect and admiration of the Court as his background.
He also had his horses and servants to wait on him, whether he was staying at home or travelling abroad.
It was almost as if someone else rather than herself had asked the question,
‘Can I possibly compensate him for losing so much?’
Then, as she patted the soft pillows where their heads had lain side by side, Zorina knew that the answer was ‘yes?’
The love they had for each other was the love that God had created for men and women and for which each one of them strove whether knowingly or unknowingly.
Many failed ever to find it, but for those who, like themselves, had been so fortunate, it was a pearl beyond price.
They could only go down on their knees and pray that they would never lose anything so precious and exquisite.
“I love you, my darling,” Zorina said out loud and kissed the place on the pillow where Rudolf’s head had rested.
When she heard him coming back up the path carrying a huge basket of food in one hand and a bag in the other, she ran to meet him.
She flung her arms around him and kissed him as if he had been away from her for years and years.
“You are back and – I missed you,” she cried. “Ten centuries have passed since you went away.”
“Let me put the food down,” Rudolf suggested, “so that I can tell you how much I have missed you too.”
They kissed each other until Zorina claimed that she was very hungry and they must start preparing their evening meal.
“Frau Toger feels insulted,” Rudolf then informed her, “because we have not wanted her help since we have been here. I have told her that tomorrow, when we have gone out, she can come in and clean the house.”
He smiled and then added,
“She can also bring us some more food to spare me from having to fetch it.”
“I have cleaned and tidied the house myself,” Zorina told him proudly. “I shall be offended if you think that I have not done it properly.”
“I can see you have worked very hard,” Rudolf replied. “Now I must pay your wages, which will be in kisses!”
“I am very expensive!” Zorina warned him.
He kissed her until again they had to force themselves to remember that they required something to eat.
They sat talking to each other over dinner, which they had finally prepared, until the sun sank behind the mountains and the first evening stars flickered happily in the sky.
Zorina gave a little shiver and Rudolf said,
“I must go and light the fires, my darling. It is getting cold now and you are inadequately clothed for the wind that blows down from the snow.”
“I can wear my cape,” Zorina suggested.
“I think you would be warmer in bed,” Rudolf proposed. “And then there is no need for me to light two fires.”
“I believe you are just making an excuse for being lazy,” Zorina teased him.
Then, as he picked her up in his arms, she knew that there was already a fire burning in his eyes and little flames were rising deep within her.
*
“What are we going to do today?” Zorina asked the next morning after she had insisted on preparing Rudolf’s breakfast.
He had stood in the bright sunshine at the open door watching her.
As she came from the kitchen, her face a little flushed from the heat of the stove and her hair curling softly around her oval face, he thought that it was impossible for any woman to be so lovely.
He recognised that he was wildly and irrevocably in love.
Zorina aroused in him emotions that were completely different from anything he had ever felt.
He had vowed when they knelt in the little Church and the Cardinal had married them, that he would look after her and protect her all his life.
It was something that he firmly intended to do and every moment he was with Zorina
he felt his need of her growing and expanding.
It was not only her beauty but her intrinsic purity that made her so different from any other woman.
The sharpness and perceptiveness of her brain delighted him, as did the way that she responded to everything he asked of her in the act of love.
But it was still more than that.
It was, he thought, that her soul spoke to his soul and spiritually they were as close and a part of each other as they were physically.
When Zorina had put the last dish down on the table, she declared with a charming smile,
“Breakfast is ready.”
Rudolf walked towards her and asked,
“Have I told you yet this morning how much I love you?”
Her eyes shone and she turned towards him with an endearing little movement that touched his heart.
He moved his lips over the softness of her cheeks before he kissed her eyes, her straight little nose and then her lips.
He felt her quiver and he said in a voice that suddenly deepened,
“I want you, my darling. Breakfast can wait.”
Zorina gave a little cry,
“You are not to spoil it when I have taken so much trouble!”
She moved away from him and sat down at the table to pour out his coffee.
Rudolf smiled as he then said,
“Are you refusing me for the first time? And also disobeying me?”
“I am trying to make you behave sensibly!”
“If you want me to be sensible, you will have to hide your face and conceal your lips.”
Rudolf paused and then went on,
“I will definitely borrow one of Frau Toger’s shawls and hand-knitted skirts for you to wear.”
Zorina laughed.
“You will have to buy me something very soon – or that is exactly what I shall need.”
“We will talk about it this afternoon. I am so happy here with you, I really cannot bear to leave.”
“And I feel just the same,” Zorina nodded, putting out her hand. “Oh, darling, what do clothes matter? Let’s stay here as long as we can in our own wonderful little Paradise.”
Rudolf kissed her hand and then for a moment they just looked at each other before he said very quietly,
“I worship you.”
*
They left the table when they had finished breakfast, leaving it to be cleared away by Frau Toger, and went out into the sunshine.
“I think what we will do, if you can manage it,” Rudolf suggested, “is to climb a little way up the mountain.”
“That is what I would love to do,” Zorina replied. “The view is even more breathtaking than it is from here. You can look over almost the whole of Leothia.”
Zorina thought that perhaps it would be Rudolf’s way of saying ‘goodbye’ to the country that he loved and belonged to.
She did not speak of her thoughts aloud, she merely said,
“I shall have to come just as I am. If I get very sunburnt without a hat, you will still have to go on loving me!”
“Bring your chiffon scarf,” Rudolf replied. “I don’t want you to spoil your delightful skin.”
She smiled at him and then, as she turned to go back into the house to fetch her scarf, she looked down towards the valley and was suddenly very still.
Coming up the path she could see, moving through the trees, that there were men on horseback.
Zorina gave a gasp of horror and ran to where Rudolf was standing at the edge of the stream.
Before she reached him, he knew from the expression on her face that something was wrong.
“What is it, my darling?” he asked at once.
“They have – found us – oh, Rudolf, they have – found us! Where – can we – hide?”
He then looked downwards as she had done.
There were at least six men on horseback coming up the twisting path towards them.
Rudolf drew Zorina gently into the house.
He walked into the bedroom and she saw him take his tie from the drawer where she had tidied it away and put it round his neck.
She realised that he intended to receive their unwanted guests looking at least dignified.
She rushed to the cupboard to fetch his coat and put it down beside him.
Then she went over to the mirror to tidy her hair, knowing that it was not fashionably arranged as it had been when she had left The Palace.
Because it was long and thick, she merely twisted it into a chignon at the back of her head and pinned it as securely as possible with the few hairpins that she had left.
Rudolf shrugged himself into his coat and, putting his arms affectionately around Zorina, said quietly,
“Don’t be afraid, my darling.”
“They will – not take – me away from – you?” she asked in a frightened voice.
“You are my wife and whatever happens that is irrevocable.”
“You – are sure – quite sure?” Zorina almost demanded anxiously.
Now the fear in her voice was becoming very apparent.
“You must trust me.”
He kissed her very gently and felt her trembling against him.
She did not speak and she did not say it aloud, but he knew what Zorina was thinking. That, if they were separated, she would die.
He knew too that there would be no point for either of them in going on living without the other.
Holding his head high and looking, although he was not aware of it, very regal, Rudolf drew Zorina out of the bedroom and into the sitting room.
The sunshine was coming through the windows, but Zorina felt that everything was dark and menacing.
She was being carried away from the dazzling light of the mountains of love into a deep valley of despair.
They then heard the sound of the first horse stepping onto the plateau that the house was built on.
Rudolf did not move.
They stood together, side by side, with their backs to the chimneypiece and waited.
There were voices and then footsteps and finally in through the open door there came the Lord Chamberlain.
Rudolf’s fingers tightened on Zorina’s hand.
Her heart was beating frantically and she was trying to stop herself from trembling.
At the same time, if he could hold his head high, then she could certainly do the same.
Only her eyes revealed the tidal wave of fear that was seeping through her body and soul.
The Lord Chamberlain stood for a moment looking at them both and then unexpectedly he smiled before he bowed his head.
“Good morning, Sire,” he began. “I am gratified to find that I was correct in thinking that you would be here.”
He moved forward as he spoke.
Then, as he stood in front of Rudolf, he unexpectedly went down on one knee.
“The King is dead,” he announced in a firm tone. “Long live the King!”
For a moment Rudolf seemed turned to stone and Zorina did not understand what was happening.
Then, as the Lord Chamberlain rose to his feet, he said,
“I bring you, Sire, the sad tidings of yesterday.”
He paused to draw in his breath and then continued,
“His Majesty, accompanied only by the Crown Prince, drove in State to the House of Parliament. An anarchist then threw a bomb into the open carriage.”
He paused again, but, as both Rudolf and Zorina were incapable of speaking, he went on,
“The anarchist was shot by the soldiers on duty, but it was too late to save the King or Prince Karl. I can therefore only ask you, Sire, to return to The Palace and take up your new position.”
“It is difficult to comprehend that this has happened,” Rudolf said in a low voice. “It is a tremendous shock, Lord Chamberlain, as you can well imagine.”
The Lord Chamberlain replied,
“We all understand, Sire, but your presence is vitally needed now in the City.”
“I realise
that,” Rudolf said. “But if I return as you are asking, I must bring my wife with me.”
Zorina expected the Lord Chamberlain to look shocked and astonished, instead of which he replied to Rudolf.
“I will be honest with Your Majesty and say that is what I thought must have happened when I learnt yesterday that you were both missing.”
“What I would really like to know,” Rudolf enquired, “is how you had any idea that we might be here.”
The Lord Chamberlain gave a little laugh.
“I congratulate myself, Sire, on being a good detective.”
“It is certainly something I never expected you to be, Lord Chamberlain.”
“I have to admit that I took a liberty in looking for a clue, Sire,” the Lord Chamberlain explained, “in Your Majesty’s private desk at The Palace.”
As if he thought that Rudolf might be angry, the Lord Chamberlain went on hastily,
“I know that Your Majesty will understand that I had to act quickly. There was no one to take command and everything was in a turmoil following the two assassinations.”
“What did you find in my desk?” Rudolf quizzed him.
“A letter from your friend, Bernard, telling you that he was going to Greece and saying that his house was at your disposal if you wished to use it.”
Rudolf laughed.
“So it was as easy as that!”
“I know the girl who Bernard is engaged to and her father is an old friend of mine.”
The Lord Chamberlain coughed and then resumed his story,
“He had often discussed with me his considerable anxiety about his daughter moving from their luxurious Castle into such a small home. Although I can see now that it is, in its own way, very attractive.”
“That is e4xactly what my wife and I have found,” remarked Rudolf.
There was then the sound of a horse shaking its bridle outside and the Lord Chamberlain said,
“Please, Your Majesty, come back and help us. There is something like a panic at the moment in Archam.”
He spoke pleadingly as he continued,
“When the people know that you are back and have now taken over the Throne, the impending Coronation will prevent them from dwelling too much on the horrors of what has just occurred.”
Zorina could understand exactly what he implied and she looked up at Rudolf and knew that he was aware of it too.
An Adventure of Love Page 13