Blood Royal (7 page)

Before we had time to ring, the door was opened, and we were presently ushered into a high-pitched salon, well and delicately furnished after the style of Louis XVI.

The Grand Duchess rose to greet us, looking more lovely than ever, so very white were her shoulders and so shapely her slim, bare arms.

At once she introduced us to the Countess Dresden of Salm, “who is really your hostess,” she said, “for you will eat her dinner and this is her house; but she lets me call it my party, because she has always spoiled me, ever since I was her bridesmaid six years ago.”

The Countess laughed.

“How many people in Vigil,” she said, “would jump at the chance?”

She was young and very good-looking and had a most charming smile, and I set her down at once as the wife of some high official, accustomed to entertaining and to playing a gracious part.

“There’s one other guest,” said the Grand Duchess: “and that, I’m afraid, is a man; but he very much wants to meet you and thank you for all you’ve done. He’s the Lord President of the Council and almost the only courtier we really trust. You see, I hide nothing from you and I want you to know where we stand. His name is Sully – the Baron Sully, if you like.”

Here the door was opened, and the man of whom she was speaking was ushered into the room.

It was our sometime tutor.

I looked round dazedly.

Madame Dresden was openly laughing, and the Grand Duchess was smiling at Hanbury, who was standing with his mouth open and a hand to his head.

Sully greeted the ladies. Then he laid his hands on our shoulders and held us fast.

“I am told,” he said, “that your German does me credit: that you both speak fluently, Hanbury with a fine carelessness, and Chandos with a rugged sincerity which knows no law.”

“Oh, what a shame!” cried the Grand Duchess. “And I never put it like that.”

But we were all laughing, for the description was as faithful as witty, as all of us knew.

Not until dinner was over was reference made to the matters which had led us to Riechtenburg.

Then the Grand Duchess looked at Sully, who sat on her right.

“How is the Prince?” she said.

“He is like the master of a ship, your Highness, in waters in which no ship can live. He carries on according to the best traditions, but the next big wave will be the end of him. Till then – well, he held a Council this afternoon.”

“And Johann?”

“Duke Johann gives rise to anxiety. As you know, he is Colonel-in-Chief of the Black Hussars. As such, he must do duty with them for one month in each year. Well, he has selected this month. Whilst we were talking yesterday, the matter was being rushed through. It appeared in Orders last night, and this morning he took up his command. He is on duty now – at the palace.”

“At the palace?” cried the Countess.

“At the palace,” said Sully. “Today is the first of July. Today at noon the Black Hussars were due to relieve the Greys. They will be there until September, when they in their turn will be relieved.”

The Grand Duchess set down her glass.

“He commands the Praetorian Guard.”

“I hope not,” said Sully. “But every soldier in and about the palace will normally do as he says.”

The Grand Duchess drew in her breath.

“It’s an act of war, Baron.”

Sully raised his eyebrows.

“Unhappily, your Highness, that is a matter of opinion. We consider it such. But one paper says, ‘In view of HRH’s indisposition, Duke Johann’s decision to command his regiment during its arduous term of duty as Body Guard is a particularly graceful act.’”

“He’s very clever,” said my lady musingly. “What can we do?”

“Not very much,” said Sully. “Sahreb has been told to go sick and Kneller has been wired for to take his place.”

“As lord-in-waiting?”

“Yes. But Kneller is a general upon the active list. He is, therefore, the Duke’s superior officer and could, for instance, put him under arrest.”

I think we all started, for Sully was not the man to use such words lightly, and violence of any sort was foreign to his soul.

“Does the Prince know?” said the Countess.

Sully nodded.

“When I told HRH, he laughed. ‘Wheresoever the carcase is,’ he said. Then he sent for Duke Johann and thanked him heartily. ‘I am much touched, Johann. On your last day of duty I shall be photographed with the field-officers of the Guard. Sully, you will remind me.’ The Duke did what he could to express his thanks. When he was gone, the Prince laughed till he coughed. Nothing will make him believe that his hour is at hand.”

There was a little silence.

Then—

“Grieg has resigned his Commission,” continued Sully. “At least the
Gazette
says so, and I don’t imagine he’ll say the
Gazette
is wrong. I’d have liked to put him out of the country: but he wouldn’t take that lying down.”

“I’m disappointed,” said the Grand Duchess. “Grieg ought to be broken – and to drag Johann down in his fall.”

“That is a scandal,” said Sully, “which I would cheerfully face. But a charge of treason is a very high explosive, and, as such, we cannot use it, except to shatter the Duke. And we’ve no evidence against him.”

“Grieg?”

“Never,” said Sully. “All the hope he has is in
Prince
Johann.”

“And the others the same?”

“Undoubtedly,” said Sully. “Besides, their bare word would be useless. And so would Grieg’s. And I hardly think it likely that they have their orders in writing for what they have done.”

“Not their orders,” said George. We all looked at him. “But Grieg’s not the man to risk being double-crossed. I don’t know about the others, but I’ll bet he’s got some writing which Duke Johann will have to redeem if he comes to the throne.”

The Grand Duchess returned to Sully.

“Mr Hanbury’s right,” she said. “Grieg would never trust Johann. What’s more, scandal or no, Grieg ought to be under arrest.”

I confess I agreed with her. Grieg had received his sentence, and – a man may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. What was still more to the point, if Johann came to the throne, the sentence would be revoked.

Sully looked very grave.

“The inevitable court-martial, your Highness, would have been momentous. Counsel would have been engaged: Duke Paul would have had to appear. It was felt that it would be improper to subject his Highness Duke Paul to such an ordeal.”

“Ah,” said the Grand Duchess softly, and that was all.

Her little exclamation showed me the truth.

Court-martial Grieg, and Duke Paul must be cross-examined. That was a prospect his supporters dared not face.

The horrid irony of the business filled my mind. At every turn it was Duke Paul himself that put a spoke in his wheel. Great hearts were fighting his battle – with the man and all his works like a millstone about their neck.

“Still,” said Sully, “I am hoping that Grieg is an empty gun – a gun that has been fired and cannot, lest it burst in the hand, be fired again. Meanwhile, I am very thankful that your Highness is here. Since the news became known, there has been a marked rush to book seats for Wednesday night.”

The Grand Duchess turned to me.

“It is the Prince’s birthday, and a gala performance will be given in the opera house.
Tosca
. Paul and I have got to be on parade.”

“Such parades,” said Sully, “are invaluable. I trust you will persuade his Highness to appear with you tomorrow at the polo and on Tuesday at the Fête of St Anatole.”

The Grand Duchess raised her eyebrows.

“I’ll do what I can,” she said.

Then she glanced at the Countess and the five of us rose.

When the door had closed behind the two women, Sully returned to the table and lighted a cigarette.

“I became your tutor,” he said, “when Duke Paul’s father had renounced his right to the throne. I felt very strongly that his renunciation should not be accepted, that every effort should be made to induce him to think again. But the Prince was angry, very naturally very angry. A man, he said, that put his hand to the plough and then looked back was not fit for the kingdom of man. When I opposed him, he told me to take the same road… Perhaps he was right. No one will ever know that. But, when he fell sick, he recalled me. As you know, I left you and came. ‘Why did you oppose me?’ he said… I told him because I had mistrusted the Duke Johann.”

“You saw further,” said George.

“In politics,” said Sully, “there are two kinds of sight – near sight and long sight. Neither is satisfactory. The Prince has one and I have the other, and heaven only knows which is the best. At the present moment I wish that I had his eyes, for I cannot see my way clearly, and he, as I have told you, has his fast shut.”

George looked at me over the rim of his glass.

“Sister Anne, what do you see?”

“The palace guard,” said I, “must be changed.”

“That,” said Sully, “is impossible.”

“Then the Prince must be moved.”

“The physicians are against it,” said Sully, “and the Prince himself would refuse.”

“Then,” said I, “the Prince must contrive to live until August the first.”

“And I’ll back the lady,” said George. “Duke Paul must be dummy, and the Grand Duchess play the hands. Out and about the place from morning to night. The theatre, polo, shopping. But he must be in the picture.”

Sully seemed to wince.

“He is very difficult,” he said. “Grieg’s attempt has sorely shaken his nerve.”

“Naturally,” said George quietly. And then, “You mean he keeps house?”

“Yes.”

“The police?”

“The police are wolves in sheep’s clothing, so far as he is concerned.”

“I see,” said George, frowning. “If he felt safe, would he go when and where he was told?”

“Not always,” said Sully.

“Then he must have reason to think that, when he is out with her Highness, he is safer than anywhere else.”

Sully sat back in his chair.

“Bring that about,” he said warmly, “and you add five years to my life.”

“Easy enough,” said George, and turned to me. “Duke Paul trusts Bell and Rowley, and we’re not using the Rolls. Put the three at her disposal – not his.”

“With the greatest pleasure,” said I.

George returned to Sully.

“The Duchess had a nice Rolls-Royce,

With chauffeurs white as snow,

And everywhere the Duchess went,

The Duke was sure to go.”

Sully rose to his feet, with shining eyes.

“Kingmaker,” he said.

A gramophone was playing in the salon, and Caruso’s
Pagliacci
was floating into the night, but, when the song was over, the Grand Duchess called for light music and Sully changed the records while the rest of us danced.

“So I am to have your car,” said the Grand Duchess over my shoulder.

“It was Hanbury’s brain-wave,” said I.

“And to play the fine lady, while you and he—”

“You are the fine lady,” said I.

“For my sins,” she said shortly.

With that, she stopped dancing and led the way to a terrace that gave upon a garden shrouded with trees.

“I am very much depressed,” she said quietly. “Paul sulks in his cabin, and Johann has seized the bridge. My strutting on the promenade-deck can’t balance matters like that.”

“Tomorrow,” said I, “I very much hope that Duke Paul will go out and about.”

“Perhaps – thanks to you. But Paul is not Prince Charming. He does not inspire a loyalty which will weather a
coup d’état
.”

I could not bear to see her troubled, but I could think of no comfort that I could give.

Sully and George seemed to bend their eyes on the people, but I could see no further than the palace and the sentries about its gates. Already Johann as good as possessed the throne, and someone has said that possession is nine points of the law. To be sure, the Prince still lived, but the danger was imminent. Council-chamber, throne room, post-office – all were in Johann’s hands. At a nod from Johann, admission could and would be denied to Sully himself. As for Duke Paul…

“I am slow,” I said suddenly. “I cannot see the way out. But I will try to find it, for I know it is there.”

“This is not Barabbas,” said she.

“I know. That was very easy.”

“You made it seem so,” she said. She pulled a rose from a pillar and put it up to her lips. “What is your plan this time?”

“I have none,” I cried. “I tell you, I—”

“Try to think of one now.”

Desperately I covered my eyes. But I could think of nothing but the beautiful thing beside me with the pretty flower to her mouth.

As I lifted my head—

“Shall I leave you?” said the Grand Duchess.

I thought that she was smiling, but, because we stood in the shadows, I could not be sure.

“If I am to think of others, I fear your Highness must go.”

The Grand Duchess stood very still.

“You must not call me ‘Your Highness,’” she said quietly. “It – it does not suit you.”

“I will not do it again.”

With a sudden movement she put the rose to my lips.

“Marya has the sweetest roses,” she said. “Their perfume is like a message that cannot be put into words.”

I could only nod.

She took back the blossom and, after a moment, pinned it against her dress.

“Let us go back and dance,” she said.

George and I walked to our flat, for the night was lovely and we were glad of the stroll.

By one consent we had said nothing of Grieg, for, except that we knew where he dwelt, we had nothing to say, and the Grand Duchess would have been troubled to think that he and we were now living cheek by jowl.

The man had returned that evening, not long before we went out – to judge from the slam of his door, in an ugly mood. What he would do, when he learned that we were his neighbours, I should have been glad to know, for I could not make up my mind whether it was good or evil for each of such enemies to have the other under his eye.

My wish was granted before the hour was out.

Bell had admitted us, and we had just told him the new duty which he and Rowley were to do, when we heard a car in the drive.