IT WAS NOT the end of the matter.
It was not the end of the matter for one simple reason: melidrops did exist. Even if the Queen and the whole Court pretended that there was no such thing as a melidrop, it did not change the fact that there was such a thing and that thousands of people, far to the south, enjoyed eating it every day. And everyone knew it. Far to the south, people still rested under melidrop trees all day, as Sutton Pufrock had done on his travels, and plucked one melidrop after the other to their heart’s content. And there was another fact that it did not change: when you try to pretend that something doesn’t exist, you end up spending more time thinking about it than you ever did before.
The Queen could hardly think of anything else. In her mind, melidrops grew and grew, becoming bigger, fresher, juicier, sweeter and tastier by the day. No one mentioned them to her. No one would have dared to whisper the word. But it didn’t help. Try as she might, the Queen just couldn’t stop thinking about melidrops. They would appear suddenly in front of her, hanging in the air, when she was listening to a boring speech from an ambassador. They turned up on the desk beside her pen when she was signing the Prime Minister’s laws. A big orange one even skewered itself on top of her crown and refused to budge, no matter how many times the Queen told herself that it wasn’t really there. She was ready to cry with frustration. Was it really possible that she, the Queen, would never taste this fruit? Nothing else could give her any pleasure.
Mangoes, pineapples, apricots, bananas, peaches, passionfruit, pomegranates, grapes, blackberries, gooseberries, dates, figs and prickly pears arrived by the crateload, luscious and ripe, but the Queen turned up her nose and told her servants to take them home to their children. The servants’ children had never had so much to eat. As far as the Queen was concerned, if it wasn’t a melidrop, it may as well be a turnip!
The atmosphere became very bleak at Court. There was hardly any conversation. The Prime Minister came to tell the Queen about an excellent new law that he had invented. From now on, everyone would have to wear a hat between lunchtime and dinnertime, which would make him very popular with all the people who produced hats or sold them in shops. The Queen told him to go away and stop bothering her with his laws and regulations. When the Mayor asked her to come and open a new hospital, the Queen replied sharply that, as a matter of fact, she wasn’t feeling too well herself. She didn’t dance at the spring ball, she didn’t come to the midsummer concert. And as for the travellers whose stories she had loved to listen to so much—she couldn’t bear the sight of them! Sutton Pufrock hadn’t been seen on his stretcher for weeks. The Court, in fact, was becoming a very dull and gloomy place. All for the sake of a melidrop!
Lord Ronald of Tull had tea with the Queen every Thursday. Lord Ronald had been a great friend of the old King and had known the Queen ever since she was a baby princess. He had always been her closest adviser, helping her with difficult decisions and sharing the wisdom gained from his long experience, and he loved her like a father. Lord Ronald had never seen her so unhappy. One week followed another, and each Thursday the Queen hardly touched her tea. She would raise her cup to her lips, sigh, and put it down again without taking a sip. Lord Ronald could not bring himself to drink his tea either. He could not bring himself to munch a single one of the butter cakes that he loved so much. He was too sad and upset at the sight of the Queen’s unhappiness. Eventually he couldn’t bear it any more.
‘Are you quite all right, madam?’ he said one Thursday, as the Queen stared vacantly at her cold tea.
The Queen did not take her eyes off the cup in front of her. ‘Yes, I believe so,’ she murmured tonelessly.
Out of habit, Lord Ronald patted his moustache with his napkin. He had a fine white moustache that collected crumbs whenever he ate, and he often patted it. But there were no crumbs there this time, since Lord Ronald had not touched a single cake.
‘I couldn’t help noticing—’
‘What have you noticed, Lord Ronald?’ the Queen asked, looking up at him sharply.
Lord Ronald coughed. ‘Madam, I am an old man. When one is as old as I am there is only one thing that brings any pleasure, and that is to see young people who are happy. You, Madam, are not happy. No, you are not. And if there is anything I can do—’
‘There is nothing you can do, Lord Ronald! That is the truth, as we both know. To remind me of it simply makes things worse. So let us not speak of it again.’
‘No, madam.’
The Queen nodded. She stared at her tea once more. The footman who was standing beside the door watched her gravely. His white powdered wig, which often made a footman look ridiculous, seemed to add to the concern on his face.
‘Do you know what your father, the King, would have done?’ Lord Ronald said suddenly.
The Queen looked up in surprise.
‘Do you know what he would have done?’ Lord Ronald demanded.
‘Lord Ronald, I thought we were not going to speak of it again.’
‘Well, I’ll tell you what he would—’
‘Lord Ronald! Do not forget to whom you are speaking.’
Lord Ronald had not forgotten to whom he was speaking. But nothing could stop him now. When he had been younger he had been a famous politician, and had given fiery speeches that had gone on for hours. When another person needed his advice, Lord Ronald gave it, whether the other person wanted it or not. And if there was one thing that the young Queen needed now, it was advice: his advice.
‘Do you know what he would have done?’ Lord Ronald repeated once more as the Queen stared at him, speechless with shock. ‘I knew him, Madam, long before you were born! Your father was a wise and careful king. But no single person can know everything. When your father needed advice, he listened. He found friends who were not frightened to speak their minds, and he listened when they spoke. More than anything else, that was the secret of his wisdom. You, Madam, are not too old to learn. You will never be too old to learn from his example.’
The Queen’s mouth hung open. No one had spoken to her like this since the crown had been placed upon her head!
‘The King, Madam, never let a matter rest until he had worked it out,’ Lord Ronald continued. ‘He did not brood or weep. He worked it out, one way or the other, and then he put it out of his mind. Now, if you want a melidrop—’
‘Lord Ronald!’
‘Melidrop! Melidrop!’ cried Lord Ronald. ‘There—I’ve said it. It’s just a word. It doesn’t bite. Now, if you want a melidrop, find a way to get it. Find someone who’ll do it. And if there really is no way to get one—put the idea out of your mind once and for all. Don’t pretend the thing doesn’t exist. Don’t stop people talking about it. Don’t deceive yourself that others won’t enjoy it. They will. Good luck to them! The world won’t change. That is my advice, Madam.’ Lord Ronald drew a deep breath. ‘Now you can do what you like with me. You can throw me out like you threw out poor old Sutton Pufrock, if you like, just because he told you a story you didn’t want to hear.’
Lord Ronald sat back and drained his cold tea at a gulp. He glanced at the footman, who could not hide a smile, even though he was not meant to listen to any of the conversations he heard while serving the Queen.
The Queen picked up a slice of heart-shaped butter cake and nibbled it daintily. She ate it slowly. She ate it so slowly that Lord Ronald had already wolfed down two butter cakes himself before the Queen looked back at him.
‘Lord Ronald,’ the Queen said eventually, ‘you speak far too plainly. You speak far too much.’ She smiled. It was the first smile Lord Ronald had seen from her in weeks, and it filled him with joy. ‘You are the best friend that I have.’