Pythia started preparing supper.
She was a far better cook than Erina.
Soon after she had come to live in the little thatched cottage, she had found that they enjoyed the food she prepared and she had taken over the cooking.
She did not mind because she had done it for her father and mother.
When she thought back of what fun it had been when they had eaten a meal cooked over a gypsy’s fire or in a peasant’s cottage, she wanted to cry.
But tears would not bring back her parents and she knew that she had to show the courage that had been characteristic of her mother.
After Lady Aileen O’Kelly had married Prince Lucian of Seriphos, her father, the Earl had hoped that his second daughter would make an equally impressive marriage.
He was not exactly a snob, but he was extremely proud of being descended from the Irish Kings.
It was therefore a bitter blow when after the birth of two daughters his wife could have no more children.
However his two daughters, being extremely pretty, became the joy of his heart.
When Prince Lucian proposed to Aileen, he gave the union his whole-hearted blessing.
The Earl, of course, could have had no idea that one day in the not so distant future Prince Lucian would have to leave Seriphos and that the Royal connection with Seriphos would come to an end.
Aileen O’Kelly had been beautiful and it was not surprising that her only child Erina should be beautiful too.
Erina was extremely striking with dark hair inherited from her father and blue eyes from her mother.
As she had dark lashes, the Irish called them ‘blue eyes put in with dirty fingers’.
The Earl’s second daughter Clodagh was also extremely pretty. In fact many people thought she was prettier than her sister.
There was only eighteen months in age between the two girls.
After the Wedding was over and Prince Lucian took his bride to Greece, the Earl looked around for a suitable match for Clodagh.
There were quite a number of young men of distinguished birth available in Ireland.
But their families were all impoverished and their Castles were falling down and crumbling..
The Earl therefore began to think it might be best for her to have a rich English husband.
Then the blow fell.
Clodagh fell madly in love with Patrick O’Connor who lived only a few miles away from her home. He was seven years older than she was and had been in England studying medicine.
Having gained a degree he came back to Ireland to see his family and decide what he should do next.
When he met Lady Clodagh, he knew at once that the only thing he wanted was to make her his wife.
They were obviously wildly and irrevocably infatuated with each other and the Earl realised that it would be quite useless for him to refuse to allow them to become engaged.
He merely said quietly,
“It will be a long engagement until Patrick can settle down in a practise, unless, of course, you are going to live on air!”
“We are going to see the world,” Patrick replied.
“How do you intend to do that?” the Earl asked in surprise.
“I have worked it all out,” Patrick answered. “I have no intention of burying myself and Clodagh in some stuffy little village where I shall tend the old and the maimed and occasionally set the leg of some boy who has fallen out of a tree when .stealing apples.”
The Earl was listening as Patrick went on,
“All I ask is at least to have my fares paid to the places where I wish to go. So I have approached the Missionary Society.”
“The Missionary Society?” the Earl expostulated. “What can they do for you?”
“Everything I want,” Patrick answered. “They are desperately short of Missionaries who have any medical skills.”
“You intend to become a Priest?” the Earl asked incredulously.
Patrick shook his head.
“I can hardly be a Priest and marry Clodagh! No, I have talked to them and they are quite prepared to send me abroad, calling me a Medical Missionary. I shall be a Lay Preacher, which does not require clerical training.”
“I don’t believe it!” the Earl said.
“You must understand, my Lord,” Patrick carried on, “that Clodagh and I will go to places we have read about and longed to see. I can think of no other way to go there unless we swim!”
The Earl did not laugh at the joke.
He merely said,
“I think you are crazy!”
“If we find it does not work out,” Patrick insisted, “we can always come home. But I would not mind betting all the money I don’t have that it will be a fantastic and delightful adventure.”
And that was exactly what it turned out to be.
As soon as they were married, Patrick and Clodagh set off in a cargo boat which carried them first to Greece.
They stayed with Princess Aileen and found that she was as happy with her Prince as they were with each other.
Because Patrick had always longed of all countries to visit Greece, they stayed there for a year.
They explored the many islands, Athens, the country beyond the City and then ended up in Delphi.
Pythia was born in a small wooden hut not far from where the Temple of Apollo had once stood in all its ancient glory.
She was delivered by her father, who claimed that it was the most exciting experience of his life.
After she was born, he carried her in his arms amongst the ruins of what had been the great Temple and the Shrines of other Greek Gods.
He looked up at the Shining Cliffs and down into the valley. It was there that Apollo had once leaped ashore to declare to the Gods that everything he could see from where he stood was his.
Because he was not only the God of Light but of Good Taste, he had chosen to own the loveliest place in the whole of Greece.
After the great Temple was built in his honour, thousands of pilgrims came every year to the little Port of Chrisa.
They worshipped him and heard from the Priests the latest utterance of the famous Oracle.
It was her father who had told Pythia when she was old enough how she had received her name.
“Somewhere near the great Temple of Apollo there was a cave,” he related, “where the Priestess, who was called Pythia, sat on a bronze tripod.”
“Was she beautiful, Papa?” Pythia asked him.
“I am very sure that she was as beautiful as you are, my darling,” Patrick O’Connor answered, “but the Pythia obviously changed from time to time because the Oracle was consulted at Delphi for more than a thousand years.”
“And what did she do?” Pythia quizzed her father.
“She went into a trance and her incoherent ramblings which were inspired by the God were interpreted by the Priests and recast in metrical verses. In this form answers were given to the suppliants who came to Delphi from the four corners of the earth.”
“She must have been very proud.”
“I am sure that she was, and she was, of course, trained in the Priesthood and the only woman allowed into the Temple of Apollo.”
“So that is why you called me ‘Pythia’.”
“As I held you in my arms,” Patrick O’Connor answered, “I knew that it was your name. Because I am a Celt I have a special perception which is not accorded to many people.”
He paused a moment and then went on,
“One day you will hold a very special place in the world and you will need the help of the Spirits and Gods who are still left in Delphi.”
His voice deepened as he went on,
“I held you up and said to Apollo, ‘touch this child with your light, make her see with her eyes, hear with her ears and speak with her lips the wisdom, the beauty and light which comes from you. Let her in your name show the way for others who are not so blessed’.”
Pythia had given a little cry.
“Oh, Papa, that was a lovely prayer and I am very sure that Apollo heard it.”
“Of course he did,” Patrick O’Connor replied. “And you are just as lovely, my darling, as I wanted you to be.”
That certainly was true.
Pythia had a strange spiritual loveliness which made her different from other girls of her age.
Her hair was fair, very fair, the pure gold of the dawn when it first appears in the sky.
Her eyes were blue like her mother’s and her eyelashes were darker than her hair.
She was smaller than her cousin Erina, very slim and graceful.
To her father she had always exemplified Aphrodite the Goddess of Love.
Love was so much a part of Patrick O’Connor’s life that he transmitted it to everyone wherever he went.
As they travelled about the Balkans, they made many strange friends and Patrick practised his medical skills on people of many nationalities.
They took a particularly long journey to Romania the summer before the dreadful tragedy that changed Pythia’s life.
She loved the great romantic country with its mountains and lakes, its rivers and wild valleys.
Pythia, like her mother, loved the animals they found everywhere.
There were the chamois in the mountains, where they also saw the bearded eagles and in the forests there were the wild cats, bears, lynx and stags. There was also a huge variety of birds.
From Romania they travelled across Serbia and after spending some time with the people there with whom her father had a close rapport, they moved on again into Macedonia.
Having spent her life in the Balkans, Pythia found it easy to speak all of their languages.
It was his Irish blood and his Celtic intuition that made Patrick O’Connor understand them all as well
However complicated their problems he could help and comfort those who sought him out.
He had, however, decided after travelling such long distances over mountains and plains and along rivers and lakes that they would now move to somewhere more civilised.
Although he did not say so, he felt it was time that his beautiful daughter should meet some people of their own class.
He had friends in Italy who he knew would welcome them.
But when they reached Montenegro they were unfortunately very short of money.
It took them a little time to find a cargo ship, which was the cheapest way to travel to Italy.
The passage was indeed cheap because the cargo was not a large one and the ship was very old.
Tragically, however, as they sailed into the Adriatic Sea a tempest rose which almost lifted the ship out of the water.
The Captain decided to try to return to Port, it was too late.
In the storm, which was a very fierce one, the ship literally seemed to fall to pieces.
Pythia was rescued by a sailor who kept her afloat and somehow, by what seemed later to be a miracle, they reached dry land.
Practically everybody else on board was drowned.
The ship itself foundered and what was left of it was dashed against the rocks.
Pythia was sent back to England under the auspices of the British Embassy at Cetinje, the Capital of Montenegro.
The journey took a long and tedious time, but eventually she found her aunt in Windsor Park.
Princess Aileen welcomed Pythia and wept when she heard how her sister had perished in the storm.
She and Erina were already finding it very difficult to make ends meet on the very small amount of money they had.
But, of course, she was ready to share everything they possessed with her orphaned niece.
Because she had loved her sister, she could hardly believe that she would never see her again or hear from her on her travels as she had over the years that they had been apart.
“Mama talked about you so often, Aunt Aileen,” Pythia sighed, “and it is very exciting for me to find I have a cousin who is only a little older than I am.”
Princess Aileen was delighted that the two girls became such good friends.
At the same time she wondered at night what would become of them in the future.
She herself was not at all well. She had suffered during the last three winters from arthritis in her legs and back.
The weather had been extremely cold and they could not afford to buy enough fuel for the fires. The house was therefore extremely cold and damp, but she was afraid to complain about it.
‘I suppose I am really lucky to have a roof over my head,’ she told herself.
Equally she continually thought of the prosperous and happy days that she had enjoyed with Prince Lucian in Seriphos.
And then it was hard not to cry because she felt so helpless.
She had often thought that it was very unkind of Queen Victoria to ignore not only her, which really did not matter, but also Erina. Never once had Erina been asked to any of the parties at Windsor Castle.
Now she had Pythia as well, who was eighteen, to think about.
She was so lovely that when they went shopping people in the streets stopped to stare at her.
*
A carriage drawn by two white horses had arrived at the thatched cottage.
The Princess was presented by a Gentleman-in-Waiting with a note.
It was from Queen Victoria asking Princess Aileen to visit her immediately at Windsor Castle on a matter of great importance.
The Princess could not imagine what had happened, but it flashed through her mind that perhaps after all this time the people of Seriphos had asked for her return.
Then she told herself that it was very unlikely.
The horses were waiting.
As Erina was nowhere to be found, Pythia helped her aunt into her best gown which she had not worn for several years. Then she put on her smartest hat which was admittedly not very elegant.
“It’s exciting for you, Aunt, going to Windsor Castle,” Pythia said. “Do try to remember everything you see and everyone you meet so that you can tell us about it this evening.”
“I will certainly do so,” the Princess agreed. “At the same time I really cannot imagine why Her Majesty wishes to see me.”
She sounded so worried that Pythia guessed she was very nervous.
“You must not be frightened, Aunt Aileen,” she said. “When people used to tell us of somebody, a King or a Chieftain, who was so overwhelming that people were terrified of him, Papa used to say ‘after all he is human and he will bleed if you prick him’!”
The Princess tried to laugh but failed.
Pythia knew that she was trembling as she climbed into the carriage.
She watched until the horses were out of sight and then went in search of her cousin.
She knew that she must be somewhere in the vicinity painting one of her watercolours, which she hoped she could be able to sell at some time.
“When I get a little better, Mama,” she had said to the Princess, “I am going to take my pictures to the Art shop in Windsor and ask them to sell them for me.”
The Princess had been horrified.
“You cannot do that, darling. Suppose the Queen heard about it?”
“If the Queen does not give us enough money to live on, we have to make it ourselves,” Erina said firmly. “I am tired of being poor, of never having a new gown or a hat that does not resemble a dilapidated birds’ nest!”
The Princess had laughed, but there had been an expression of pain in her eyes.
As she drove towards Windsor, Castle she remembered that conversation and she wondered if she dared ask the Queen for just a little more money for the two girls.
Her Majesty was not aware that Pythia was also living in the thatched cottage and there had seemed no point in advising her of it.
Nor of telling any of the Officials at Windsor Castle that she had a guest staying with her.
She doubted whether if she did that one penny would be added to the meagre allowance she received every month.
Pythia looked amongst the trees for some sign of Erina and then returned to the house.
‘I wonder where she has gone?’ she mused.
She went into the kitchen to look for something different that she might cook for dinner, but there was practically nothing in the larder.
She thought perhaps that what remained of the rabbit that had been snared by a boy in the wood yesterday would make a reasonable stew.
Pythia had given him a few pennies for it and he had gone away to try to snare another one.
She was quite certain that the Queen’s gamekeepers would be furious if they knew, but it would have been foolhardy to send the boy away and go hungry.
She started to make the stew more nourishing with the addition of vegetables which came from their small garden. She and Erina tended it themselves, but they could not always afford the necessary seeds and plants.
As she cooked, Pythia was thinking of the delicious and strange meals she had eaten with her father and mother in all parts of the Balkans.
They had even eaten bear when they were in Romania and chamois had been a luxury when roasted properly.
‘I could do with a chamois now!’ Pythia thought nostalgically.
As she polished one of the saucepans, she heard a carriage draw up outside and knew that her aunt had returned.
She ran to the front door to find the Princess being assisted from the carriage by a footman.
It was a somewhat difficult process because of her unsteady legs and Pythia ran forward to help her on the other side.
With the aid of them both the Princess reached the front door and thanked the man for his assistance.
“It’s a pleasure, Your Highness,” he said politely, gracefully sweeping off his cockaded hat.
The Princess smiled at him and Pythia assisted her into the house and they moved into a small sitting room.
When the Princess was seated on the sofa, Pythia asked,
“Is everything all right, Aunt Aileen? Her Majesty did not eat you up?”
“No, no – not at all! Her Majesty was very kind,” the Princess replied. “But where is Erina? I want to tell you both the good news.”
As she spoke, the door into the sitting room opened and the Princess Erina came rushing in.
She was looking flushed and excited and Pythia saw to her surprise that behind her there was a very young handsome man.
He did not look English and, while she was wondering who it could be, Erina ran to her mother to say,
“Mama, I have brought someone to meet you.”
The Princess looked up in surprise and Erina went on,
“May I present, Mama, Don Marcos Roca? He comes from Peru.”
“How do you do,” the Princess said politely.
Don Marcos Roca bent over her hand before he said,
“It is a very great pleasure to meet Your Highness and I have come to ask if you will do me the great honour of allowing your daughter to become my wife!”
Pythia gasped.
The Princess just stared at Don Marcos Roca in sheer astonishment.
And then Erina went down on her knees beside her mother.
“You must forgive me, Mama, that I did not tell you before about Marcos. I met him only a week ago when I was painting a picture of The Castle, and I am afraid that I have met him every day since.”
“Why did you not tell me about him?” the Princess asked her gently.
Her daughter smiled.
“I was terrified that he would go away and forget about me and, because I wanted him so much to stay, I was afraid to talk about him in case it was unlucky – ”
“I have loved Erina from the moment I first saw her,” Marcos Roca interrupted, “and I knew then that all my dreams had come true. How can anyone be so lovely and not be just a part of my imagination?”
As he spoke, his eyes met Erina’s and it was obvious to the two people watching that for a moment the world had stood still.
There were only themselves in it.
The Princess looked at them in a somewhat bemused fashion.
Then she gave a little cry and said,
“If you are asking Erina to marry you, it is impossible, quite impossible!”
Marcos Roca stiffened.
“Impossible, Your Highness?”
Erina jumped to her feet.
“You cannot mean that. Mama! I love Marcos, I love him with all my – heart and I know he loves – me.”
She went to his side as if for protection and he put his arm round her.
“I am afraid, Your Highness,” he said very respectfully, “that this has been a shock for you, but I assure you that I will look after Erina and make her happy.”
He paused a moment and then continued,
“My father is the Prime Minister of Peru and a very wealthy man. My whole family will, I know, welcome Erina from the first moment they see her.”
“Roca!” the Princess exclaimed. “Now I know who you are and I think it must have been your father who stayed with us once on Seriphos.”
Marcos Roca smiled and responded,
“I know my father was in Greece ten or twelve years ago. He thought it one of the most beautiful places in the world.”
“I remember him well,” the Princess said. “I can see that you bear a distinct likeness to him.”
She stopped and then in a very different tone she added,
“But – you cannot marry Erina. Her Majesty the Queen has – arranged for her to marry King Alexius of Vultarnia!”
For a moment there was complete silence in the room.
Then Erina cried out,
“I don’t believe it! When did the Queen tell you this?”
“She sent a carriage for me,” the Princess answered, “and I have only just returned from Windsor Castle. I could not imagine why she wanted to see me, but that was the reason.”
“I will not marry the King – I will not!” Erina exclaimed. “I want to marry Marcos – I love him!”
She saw the expression on her mother’s face and went on,
“You have always told me that you married Papa not because he was a Prince but because you fell in love. How, loving Marcos, could I – marry some strange man I have –never seen?”
The Peruvian took her by the shoulders and turned her round to face him.
“Do you mean that? Do you really mean it?”
“Of course I mean it!” Erina cried. “I love you and if you – leave me I shall want to –die!”
“That is exactly what I feel about you,” Marcos Roca said, “but you are quite certain that you are making the right choice?”
“Completely and absolutely certain,” Erina insisted.
For a moment they just stood gazing at each other and it seemed to Pythia that their hearts reached out to become one.
Finally Erina turned towards her mother.
“I am sorry, Mama, but you must tell the Queen that it is impossible for me to marry anyone but Marcos and – she will have to find another bride for the King.”
Princess Aileen clasped her hands together.
“Oh, darling, how can I go back to the Queen with such a message? She did not ask me if you would marry the King.”
She drew in her breath and went on,
“She simply told me that was what you have to do. Moreover she added that there was nobody else.”
“What do you mean – nobody else?” Erina enquired.
“Her Majesty said that she thought you were really too young and not capable of taking up such an important position at this particular moment of history, but you were the only unmarried and available relative she had.”
She stopped speaking and there was a little silence before she continued,
“Therefore, somewhat reluctantly, she has given her consent for you to leave within two weeks for Vultarnia.”
The Princess’s voice died away and Erina gave a scream.
“I will not do it! I will not! No one can – force me to marry anyone, even if he is – a King.”
“That is true,” Marcos Roca agreed.
“It is not true in this country,” the Princess told him. “Erina has to marry whoever as her legal Guardian I choose for her and if I fail in my duty, the Queen can make it a Royal Command!”
Erina hid her face against Marcos Roca’s shoulder and burst into a flood of tears.
“I will not – I will not marry the King! Oh, Marcos – save me, I want to be –your wife!”
Holding her closely against him the Peruvian said in a quiet voice to the Princess,
“Are you absolutely certain that you could not persuade Her Majesty to change her mind?”
“I just know that she would not listen to me,” the Princess answered helplessly. “I want my daughter’s happiness above all things, but if we make the Queen angry, anything might happen.”
She hesitated before she went on,
“She might turn me out of this house and then Pythia and I would have nowhere to go and no income.”
“I would not let you starve,” Marcos Roca volunteered, “of that you can be sure, but there must be a solution.”
Erina raised her head from his shoulder.
“I love you – oh, Marcos – I love you. You are so clever – to think of some way that you can – save me!”
Her voice was pitiful and the tears were still running down her cheeks.
Marcos drew her closely to him.
Then Erina gave a little cry.
“I have an idea!”
They all looked at her and waited and after a moment she said,
“Pythia! Why should not Pythia marry the King? The Queen does not know she is here and she has never seen me!”
There was silence while both Marcos Roca and the Princess stared first at Erina and then at Pythia.
As the colour came and went in Pythia’s cheeks, Erina drew herself from Marcos Roca’s arms.
Then she went down on her knees beside Pythia.
“Please Pythia – please, darling,” she begged, “let me marry Marcos! Anyway – you understand the Balkans and would be a far better Queen than I could ever be.”
It seemed as if the whole room was waiting breathlessly for Pythia’s answer.
At last in a very small voice she stammered,
“I will – do anything, dearest Erina, if it will make you – happy.”
Erina gave a cry, flung her arms round her cousin and kissed her.
“Oh, Pythia, Pythia. I know I am asking a great deal, but you are – not in love as I am and how can either of us let Mama be in – disgrace and have to face the – fury of the Queen?”
“I-I am sure she will – find out,” Princess Aileen said in a frightened voice.
“I see no reason why she should,” Marcos Roca replied. “Erina has told me when we have talked together that she has never seen the Queen and has never visited Windsor Castle.”
“That – that is true,” the Princess whispered.
“I am just thinking things out,” Marcos Roca went on, “and what I suggest, Your Highness, is that Erina and I leave very early tomorrow morning for my own country.”
Erina, who still had her arms round Pythia, asked,
“Can we – possibly do that?”
“My yacht,” Marcos Roca replied, “is anchored in the River Thames and as soon as we have put to sea my Captain can marry us, which as you are aware, is perfectly legal.”
Erina looked at her mother.
“I have heard that is – possible,” the Princess said faintly, “but it is a strange way for my daughter to be married.”
“I am aware of that,” Marcos declared, “but ‘needs must when the Devil drives’!”
He spoke lightly.
Then, as if he realised that it might be interpreted as an insult directed at the Queen, he added,
“All that matters, Your Highness, is that Erina should be married to me and not to King Alexius.”
“B-but – suppose they find out?” the Princess asked.
“There is no reason why anybody should suspect for a moment that such a thing has happened,” Erina pointed out. “You know, Mama, nobody at Windsor Castle has taken the slightest interest in us the whole time we have been here. Why should they know that Pythia is here? And if she pretends to be me, why should anybody question her?”
“I believe the British Ambassador to Vultarnia will be calling on me tomorrow,” the Princess said, “and Her Majesty intimated to me that, if I was not well enough to undertake the journey, the Ambassadress would escort Erina to Vultarnia.”
She paused for breath before continuing,
“She will travel in one of the British Battleships as far as Montenegro.”
“If the Ambassador is coming here,” Marcos Roca said, “it is essential that Erina and I should leave very early before he is likely to arrive.”
“I am afraid that I have no trousseau – ” Erina began.
“That is another thing,” the Princess interrupted. “Her Majesty said that, as I had no money, she would give Erina her trousseau, but it would have to be completed before she left in two weeks’ time.”
Erina gave a little laugh.
“If Pythia is not to go to the King barefoot and naked, what about me?”
“You shall have the most beautiful clothes that any bride ever possessed,” Marcos Roca promised. “If I consider it safe, we will go first to Paris before we cross the Atlantic to Peru. If not, my darling, you may have to wait for a little while.”
“I will go anywhere and wait for years if you tell me to, as long as you are quite –.certain I can be – your wife,” Erina said in a low voice.
“I am quite, quite certain and nothing shall stop us from being married at the latest by tomorrow afternoon,” Marcos replied firmly.
The Princess put her hands up to her head.
“You are going too fast and I am frightened – terribly frightened at what you are asking me to agree to.”
Pythia moved to sit down on the sofa beside her.
“Don’t be intimidated by them, Aunt Aileen,” she said comfortingly. “I am your niece and I am sure, because you loved Mama and know how happy she was, it will not be difficult to pretend that I am your daughter.”
“But – the Wedding will not be – legal,” the Princess replied frantically, “if you use a false name.”
Pythia smiled.
“You have forgotten, Aunt Aileen, that I too was christened ‘Erina’.”
The Princess started.
“Of course! I had forgotten. It was my mother’s name and on my Wedding Day she said to me and to Clodagh, ‘because I want you both to be as happy as I have been with your father and also because I love Ireland, if either of you have a daughter I want you to call her after me’.”
“So you see,” Pythia said, “I was christened ‘Erina’ to please Grandmama and ‘Pythia’ because my father was certain that I belong to Apollo.”
The Princess gave a little sigh and the girls were not certain whether it was of relief or because she was still desperately worried.
It was then that Marcos Roca took charge of everything.
“You are not to worry,” he urged. “What I am going to do is leave now and make arrangements to bring a carriage here at seven o’clock tomorrow morning.”
He smiled before he went on,
“Erina must be ready to come with me in it to my yacht. No one will have any idea that she has gone and, when the Ambassador calls on the Queen’s instructions, all you have to do is to present Miss Pythia as your daughter.”
Pythia smiled.
“It all sounds very easy, but I don’t want, when I go, to leave Aunt Aileen here alone and terrified that one of us will be exposed.”
“I have already thought of that,” Marcos Roca answered. “I was just going to suggest to the Princess that, as soon as you have left for Vultarnia, I will arrange for her to come to Peru. I know that my father and my family will welcome her and she will be provided with a house on our estate.”
He smiled at the Princess before he added,
“I am sure, Your Highness, that you will make a great many friends who will be very proud to know you and will certainly not ignore you year after year as Queen Victoria has done.”
“C-can I really do that?” Princess Aileen asked.
“I am not going to allow you to say ‘no’,” Marcos Roca replied. “I will arrange everything and you will travel on the most comfortable ship available with a lady’s maid to look after you and a Courier to attend to all your needs during the journey.”
Erina gave a cry of delight and once again threw herself into his arms.
“Oh, Marcos, Marcos,” she cried, “how can you be so marvellous and make us all so happy. Of course Mama must come to Peru. She has been so lonely and so miserable here without Papa.”
“Leave everything to me,” Marcos Roca proposed, “and, of course, Your Highness, it would be a great mistake to tell anyone here where you are going.”
He paused and then continued,
“Only sometime after you have left England would it be wise to notify Her Majesty that you will not be returning.”
“I understand,” the Princess nodded, “and I am very grateful – although I am still terribly afraid that something may go wrong.”
“Nothing will go wrong for us,” Erina said. “But the person I am worried for is Pythia, who has to marry some frightening man – she has never seen.”
“I shall be happy just to be in the Balkans again,” Pythia answered. “I have not actually visited Vultarnia, but I am sure that its language will not be difficult. I shall learn about it from the Ambassador while we are at sea.”
“Then it is all settled!” Marcos Roca declared.
He spoke like a man who was used to solving difficult problems and naturally having his own way.
He stepped forward to raise the Princess’s hand to his lips before he said,
“I thank Your Highness from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to marry your beautiful and adorable daughter. I swear to you on everything I hold sacred that I will make her happy.”
The way he spoke was very moving.
Then, as he walked from the room, Erina went with him.
She obviously wished to say ‘farewell’ in the hall and Pythia took the Princess’s hands in both of hers.
“Don’t be upset, Aunt Aileen,” she urged her, “Erina is very happy and I think Don Marcos Roca is a very charming man.”
“I am so frightened,” the Princess trembled. “If the Queen discovers that we have deceived her, I cannot think – what she might do.”
“She will never find out,” Pythia replied. “I will make certain of that and in two weeks’ time we shall all have left England. So why should the Queen be curious about us?”
She saw that her aunt was now looking a little happier.
Then as if she felt that it was something she should say, the Princess murmured,
“Are you quite certain, dearest child, you will not be afraid of going to a strange country and marrying a King?”
“Of course it is – terrifying put like that,” Pythia replied, “but, when Erina asked me to help her – I knew that Papa was telling me that was what I must do.”
She took a deep breath and then carried on,
“I could almost hear his voice. I believe that this was what was planned for me when I was born and there is no way of avoiding Fate.”
She spoke in a dreamy voice, almost as if the words were coming to her mind from another planet.
For a moment the Princess did not speak.
Then she said,
“I am sure, my dear, since you feel like that, that God and Apollo will bless you.”