A Princess Runs Away, page 3
“To Windsor Castle!” she exclaimed in amazement.
“Her Majesty wishes to see you, Vasila, and so you must run upstairs and pack. You will stay a night or two.”
“But why? What is happening? And why has the Queen asked for me?” Vasila questioned in bewilderment.
“I think Her Majesty will want to tell you herself,” the Baroness said. “Now come and let’s pack your things quickly. The Equerries, who have been sent for you, were worried because you were not here when they arrived.”
“I cannot understand why they should expect us to be sitting around waiting for them,” Vasila replied, “when we had no idea that they were coming.”
The Baroness, however, then told her to speak more quietly and they went up the stairs together.
“Why are you not coming with me?” Vasila asked as they reached her bedroom.
The Baroness hesitated before she replied,
“Her Majesty was generous enough to invite me, but I do not really think I am wanted. There will be plenty of people to look after you when you arrive at The Castle.”
“I would much rather you came too.”
The Baroness smiled.
“I think this is an occasion, my dear, that concerns you and you alone.”
“I don’t know what you are saying,” Vasila replied.
While she was talking, the Baroness was bringing a trunk from the cupboard on the landing into her bedroom.
“Now put in your best dresses. I am afraid that they are not really smart enough. If we had been given a little notice, I would have made you a new gown or we could have gone into London and bought one.”
“If I look like Cinderella, it will not be your fault,” Vasila pointed out.
She owned several pretty dresses that she and the Baroness had made together. They were, however, not the sort of gown that would be worn at Windsor Castle.
The Baroness was in a hurry to pack everything.
“You must not forget your hair brushes,” she said, “and what about shoes? We meant to buy you a new pair a few weeks ago, but did not get around to it.”
“I don’t suppose they will be looking at my feet. Do you think there will be dancing tonight? Gladys said that I ought to have a dashing young man to dance with.”
“That would be exciting,” the Baroness replied. “I expect that there will be quite a lot of people there. And do remember all I have taught you. Curtsey to the Queen and if she then expects you to kiss her hand she will hold it out. You kiss it and then curtsey again.”
“I will not forget,” Vasila said lightly.
“And, when you leave her presence, you back out. Don’t forget that,” the Baroness advised her.
She was obviously nervous, Vasila thought, in case she made mistakes.
“If there is other Royalty present,” the Baroness continued, “you curtsey especially low if he is a King or a reigning Prince. Keep your back very straight, but go down nearly to the ground. Do you understand?”
“Of course, I understand,” Vasila replied. “We have practised lots of times, but I have never yet met a King.”
“Perhaps you will meet one at Windsor Castle. Just remember that you say ‘Your Royal Highness’ or ‘Sir’ to a Prince and never use the word ‘you’ in speaking to them.”
“I will remember, I will remember,” she promised. “And how do they address me?”
“In the same way.”
“I shall enjoy that. When I come back, I will tell you all about it.”
“You do that, my dear. I shall miss you.”
There was a distinct throb in the Baroness’s voice which Vasila thought was rather strange.
‘Can she really mind me going away for just two nights?’ she asked herself.
“Change your mind,” she proposed coaxingly, “and come. It will be much more fun for me to have you there.”
“I think not. But do remember all the little things to tell me and be quite certain you don’t put me to shame.”
Vasila changed her frock into one of her best and put on a little hat on the back of her head.
She looked very lovely when she was ready. At the same time she looked very young.
‘She just has no idea,’ the Baroness said to herself, ‘what is awaiting her.’
“This is an adventure!” Vasila exclaimed as she ran downstairs. “I cannot wait to tell the Ambassador.”
She then opened the sitting room door and inside she found two men, who both rose and bowed.
“It is a privilege to meet Your Royal Highness,” the first Equerry replied. “We have come on the instructions of the Queen to invite you to Windsor Castle.”
“But why?” Vasila enquired.
“Her Majesty is giving a party for Prince Godelov of Saralovia and wishes you to be present.”
“How exciting!” Vasila exclaimed.
She turned to the other Equerry and asked,
“Will there be dancing afterwards? I am sure that at Windsor Castle they have a lovely room to dance in.”
“I am not sure what is planned tonight, Your Royal Highness,” the first Equerry replied. “But there will most certainly be a large dinner for His Royal Highness and I am sure that Her Majesty will tell you about it this afternoon.”
“I am ready to leave,” Vasila offered and, as she spoke, the Baroness came into the room.
“Her Royal Highness’s trunk has been taken down the stairs,” she said, “and placed on the carriage.”
“Then we must go,” the second Equerry replied and the Baroness held out her hand.
“It has been nice meeting you, Lord Carstairs,” she said. “And I hope you will look after Her Royal Highness as she has never been to Windsor Castle before.”
“I promise you that she will be looked after and I hope that Her Royal Highness will enjoy herself.”
“It is something I did not expect, but I am sure it is going to be great fun,” Vasila enthused.
She kissed the Baroness goodnight and as she did so she whispered in her ear,
“I will tell you everything that happens at Windsor Cstle, everything.”
The Equerries waited for her to get into the carriage and then the elder of the two sat beside her while the other Equerry sat in the small seat opposite.
The footman closed the door and the horses set off.
Vasila leant forward to wave and to her surprise she saw the Baroness touch her eye with a handkerchief as if she was wiping away a tear.
‘Why should she be crying?’ she asked herself, ‘it seems very strange.’
CHAPTER TWO
As the carriage drove along the High Road, Vasila began,
“This is very thrilling for me. I have never been inside Windsor Castle.”
“Is it really true?” the Equerry beside her asked.
“I have seen it, of course, from the outside,” Vasila went on, “and it is very impressive. I have always longed to see the maze of passages that one book told me people get lost in.”
The Equerries both laughed.
“That is so true, ma’am,” the elder one said. “One night a distinguished guest from abroad could not find his bedroom and so he slept on one of the sofas downstairs.”
“That must have been very uncomfortable for him,” Vasila remarked.
“The housemaids were horrified when they found him,” the Equerry sitting beside her went on. “In fact they thought that he must have had too much to drink and he was very indignant about it.”
“I hope I shall not get lost,” Vasila murmured.
“There will be plenty of Ladies-in-Waiting to look after Your Royal Highness,” the Equerry replied. “In fact they are looking forward to it.”
She wondered why they should be interested in her.
However, she thought it a mistake to ask too many questions. Instead she kept looking out of the window to see where they were going.
She had been to the town of Windsor several times with the Baroness when they were shopping, but that had not given them a very good view of The Castle.
She kept puzzling to herself as to why she had been asked there so unexpectedly without any notice.
She wondered if there was some particular reason why Her Majesty should suddenly want to see her.
Thinking that she was interested, the older Equerry began to tell her stories of Windsor Castle. He explained that it had been redecorated and made very comfortable in the reign of King George IV.
“There are still things that might be improved,” he said, “but, as long as Her Majesty is satisfied, we have to be satisfied too.”
Vasila was silent for a moment and then she asked,
“Is the Queen very frightening?”
She was aware that the two Equerries looked at each other before the one sitting next to her replied,
“It all depends, Your Royal Highness. If we have done something wrong or forgotten what we should have remembered, Her Majesty can on those occasions be very overwhelming.”
Vasila laughed.
“Then I must be very careful and the Baroness has given me strict instructions as to how I am to behave.”
There did not seem to be any answer to that and they drove on in silence.
Suddenly, as they were drawing nearer to Windsor Castle, Vasila gave a little cry.
“Oh, look,” she exclaimed, “there is a circus!”
“It has been there for two days,” the older Equerry replied, “and I am informed that it is a very good circus. I believe people have been flocking to visit it.”
“Have you been yourselves?” Vasila enquired.
“We just don’t have the time,” the younger Equerry replied, “not with all these people coming to stay and such a fuss being made about His Royal Highness.”
“Who is that?” Vasila asked curiously.
Then she saw that the older Equerry was frowning and shaking his head at the one sitting opposite.
Looking out of the window the other Equerry said,
“Now you can see the Big Top and they say that it will hold five hundred people.”
He was quite obviously, Vasila realised, attempting to divert her attention from what he had been saying.
She wondered what was wrong in her knowing who His Royal Highness was and if there was some mystery about him.
Now the horses were beginning to climb up the hill that led to Windsor Castle and she could see the Tower silhouetted against the sky in front of them.
The elder Equerry pulled out his gold watch.
“We are late,” he said, “and the Prime Minister will be furious.”
“He hates being kept waiting,” the other Equerry answered. “It was not our fault that Her Royal Highness did not come back earlier.”
“How was I to know,” Vasila enquired, “that you were calling on us unexpectedly? It is the first time it has ever happened.”
“There was no time available to notify Your Royal Highness,” the older Equerry said slowly. “We were not informed until yesterday that Her Majesty was expecting important guests coming from abroad. It always causes a commotion at The Castle.”
Vasila thought, if that was the case, she had perhaps been asked to make up the numbers.
She remembered her mother in the past saying how tiresome it was if someone was ill and making them one short at a luncheon party.
Once, she recalled, she had been obliged to come down for dinner dressed in her best to prevent there being thirteen at the dining table.
Now the horses were going through the gates and up to a grand entrance and Vasila could see that there were footmen waiting and a red carpet on the steps.
It was all enthralling and her eyes were shining as she stepped out of the carriage and as she did so she heard the butler saying to the Equerry,
“The Prime Minister is waiting for you, my Lord. He sent several times to ask why you’d not arrived.”
The Equerry then turned to Vasila and asked,
“Will you come this way, Your Royal Highness?”
The butler went ahead and Vasila followed him.
She looked round as she did so and recognised with delight that there were several ornate carvings by Grinling Gibbons in the passage.
She had admired his work so often in the Palace at Hampton Court and she did not have the time to look very closely as the butler was walking quickly ahead of her as if to make up for lost time.
They seemed to walk a long way before they came to a room which had a footman standing outside it.
As soon as they appeared, he opened the door and then he announced in a stentorian voice,
“Her Royal Highness Princess Vasila, my Lord.”
She then had a quick glance at a most comfortably furnished sitting room.
A man with grey hair rose from a writing desk to walk towards her.
She knew that this was the Marquis of Salisbury as she had seen pictures of him in various magazines. He was good-looking but, she thought, rather austere.
As he bowed, she was not at all certain whether she should curtsey to him or not.
“I am delighted to see you, Your Royal Highness,” the Marquis began, “but I am slightly perturbed that those I sent to Hampton Court have been so long in finding you.”
Vasila smiled at him.
“As I did not know they were coming,” she said, “I was talking to some friends after my French lesson.”
The Marquis nodded.
“I hope that you are proficient in other languages besides French,” he said.
“I speak Italian, German and a little Spanish,” she replied. “And, of course, Russian.”
She thought that the Marquis raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised.
“I was very determined not to forget the language I talked to my father in and, although it was very difficult, I managed to find a good Teacher.”
“I am surprised that Your Royal Highness was able to do so,” the Marquis remarked.
While he was talking to Vasila, he had indicated a comfortable sofa just behind them.
Now he sat down beside her.
Vasila was telling him how difficult it had been for her to keep up her Russian.
She had borrowed some Russian books, as she was allowed to do, from the Palace at Hampton Court and it was there she had asked the Curator if he knew of anyone in the vicinity who spoke Russian.
“As it so happens, Your Royal Highness,” he had replied, “there is one man who comes here occasionally to read the Russian books that you are reading, but he is not allowed to take them away.”
“Because he is Russian?” Vasila enquired.
“No, because he is poor and, as he admits himself, he is afraid they might get damaged in the very dilapidated house he lives in.”
“Does he speak Russian?”
“I understand that when he was in Russia he was a Teacher. He left the country because he quarrelled with the Nobleman who paid his salary. He came to England to find that his talent was not required here. So he lives, I believe, by doing odd jobs for local people in their gardens, which is a terrible waste of his brain.”
“Of course, it is,” Vasila had replied, “and I would like to meet him.”
The Curator had arranged it for her and she and the Baroness found the Russian charming and very erudite.
He had lived in Russia all his life and he had only left because he had been humiliated by his employer.
He was delighted by the idea of helping Vasila to remember her Russian and the Baroness then arranged that he should come to their house once every two weeks.
Vasila very much enjoyed these lessons and it was a delight to find herself able to speak her father’s language.
Her Teacher, she soon realised, was not only very able but imaginative and in some way a visionary and they talked together about things that she could not discuss with any other Teacher or with the Baroness.
She knew that he enjoyed exercising her brain in a way that it had never been exercised before.
Now the Marquis of Salisbury said to her surprise,
“I think, Your Royal Highness, it would be wise for you to forget your Russian connection and concentrate on being as English as your mother was.”
“Why should I do that?” Vasila asked him.
“Maybe you are wondering just why you have been asked here so unexpectedly. I feel that I should apologise that we have been neglectful of Your Royal Highness in the past year or so.”
“Her Majesty has been kind enough to let me live in a Grace and Favour house,” Vasila replied, “and I have been very happy with the Baroness von Bergstein.”
“I am glad of that,” he said, “but now Your Royal Highness is eighteen, you have something most important to do that I know would have greatly pleased your mother, Princess Louise, if she was still with us.”
He spoke very seriously and Vasila could not help feeling a little apprehensive as she asked,
“What do you want me – to do?”
“We want you,” the Prime Minister said, “to help one of the Balkan countries that is in considerable danger of being overthrown by the Russians. I expect you know that they have been infiltrating into the Balkans and many Principalities have lost their legitimate Rulers.”
“Of course, I know that,” Vasila replied. “It was why Papa was killed. It was the Russians who stirred up a few of our people against him and when he defied them he was killed not by what were called the Revolutionaries but by the Russians because he refused to do what they wanted him to do.”
She spoke quite angrily and the Prime Minister put out his hand.
“I don’t want to upset Your Royal Highness. We all admired your father for the stand he took and the way he fought for his country and what he believed was right.”
“But we – lost him,” Vasila said in a small voice.
“He died in defence of his principles and I feel sure there will always be people in Kazana who will remember him with pride and admiration.”
“I hope you are right about that,” Vasila said in a low voice.
“I am sure I am,” he answered. “Now I want you to be as brave as your father was and help us to maintain the balance of power as he was trying to do.”
Vasila looked at him in surprise.
“How can I possibly do so?” she asked.
