The Lovelight of Apollo. Barbara Cartland

then resumed,

      “She will, I expect, be the only other English person in the party with the exception of the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whom I have never met.”

      She gave a little laugh as she added,

      “I am sure that they will expect me to remain in my cabin and feel sea-sick all through the Bay of Biscay and, when the ship reaches Athens, neither our Ambassador there nor any of his staff have ever met me.”

      Princess Marigold coughed and then carried on,

      “This is all a plot of Queen Victoria’s to try to separate us. I am certain that she is at this very moment working out in her mind how I will forget him and he will forget me. But that is something that will never ever happen!”

      Now the anxious note was back in her voice.

      There was something very pathetic in her eyes as she added,

      “Please, please help me! There is no one else who I can turn to and only someone who is Greek can understand what I feel.”

      Avila looked at her mother.

      Then, as Mrs. Grandell did not speak, she put a hand over hers.

      “Please, Mama, please,” she begged. “We would be very careful not to upset Papa and I promise I will do everything Her Royal Highness tells me to do.”

      “You just have to smile, keep saying ‘thank you’, and wave to the crowds,” the Princess said. “I can assure you, being a Royal person requires no brains, not unless you are in a spot like me and have to try to save yourself.”

      Mrs. Grandell now realised that both the Princess and her daughter were looking at her pleadingly.

      In a strange tone that did not sound like her usual voice, she said,

      “As I would like Avila to see Greece and because I am aware of the strange resemblance there is between her and Your Royal Highness, I will agree. But the only condition is that this is kept completely secret and my husband is not made aware of what is happening.”

      “I can assure you that from my point of view,” Princess Marigold answered, “no one will know except for us three and, of course, Prince Holden.”

      She smiled and then went on,

      “I will rely on him to work out every single move and every tiny detail so that we are not discovered.”

      Mrs. Grandell did not speak and the Princess added as an afterthought,

      “Avila and I are almost the same size and all that she will require is that dismal boring black of which I have dozens and dozens of gowns! Besides, of course, the correct bonnet with a dark veil which will prevent anyone from looking too closely at her until she is aboard the Battleship.”

      “And I can keep my head bent,” Avila suggested, “as if it is such a moving occasion that I must not look too happy about it.”

      The Princess smiled.

      “Exactly. I am sure that you will act the part very well and be much more charming and good-tempered than I would be.”

      She gave a little laugh and went on,

      “And I would be hating every minute of the voyage, the funeral and the people who are preventing me from being with Prince Holden.”

      “While I will love every minute of it,” Avila said in a rapt voice. “Oh, thank you, thank you, Your Royal Highness, for thinking of me.”

      “You should really thank Prince Holden, who happened to see you in Church,” Princess Marigold said. “But be very careful what you say to him if he is with your father.”

      “So you are not to say anything at all,” Mrs. Grandell came in. “The sole reason, Your Royal Highness, that I am allowing Avila to go on what seems to me a rather dangerous and certainly unusual journey is that she has always longed to see Greece.”

      She smiled and then added reflectively,

      “It was my country and I have wanted her to see it too. There is nowhere in the world that can compare with that sublime country.”

      “That is what my father always said,” Princess Marigold agreed, “and it broke his heart when the revolutionaries took away his Throne.”

      “I suppose they were incited to rebel by the Russians,” Mrs. Grandell said. “They have caused trouble in so many of the Balkan States. I have heard recently that they have also been busy in Greece.”

      Princess Marigold had heard Queen Victoria’s views on Russia’s recent behaviour, but she felt it unnecessary to become involved in that discussion at the moment.

      Instead she said,

      “I know that Avila will love Greece and I expect you have told her many stories about it that she will feel as if she is going home rather than to a foreign country.”

      For the first time since they had started their conversation, Mrs. Grandell smiled at the Princess.

      “You understand,” she replied softly.

      “As Greeks,” the Princess said, “we both know it is important for Avila to see Greece and how better than being taken to everything that she asks to see because they believe she is me?”

      “That is exactly what I was thinking,” Mrs. Grandell nodded. “Yet I can only pray, Your Royal Highness, that our little plot will not be discovered. Because if it is, there will be a great number of people very angry with us.”

      “No one is more aware of that than I am,” the Princess agreed. “I assure you, I shall be extremely careful and will not be happy until the Battleship moves out of Port carrying Avila instead of me!”

      Avila clasped her hands together.

      “Oh, thank you, thank you, ma’am!” she cried. “How can I ever tell you how grateful I am for this wonderful opportunity?”

      She looked so pretty as she spoke that the Princess could not help saying,

      “How is it possible that we look so alike? Surely, Mrs. Grandell, you must be aware of some explanation for it?”

      To her surprise Mrs. Grandell then rose to her feet.

      “I think, Your Royal Highness, it would be a mistake to speak of anything except for the task that lies ahead. I have so much to teach Avila before she leaves and a lot to tell her about Athens which is the one part of Greece she will certainly see.”

      “You must see everything else you can,” the Princess turned to Avila. “In a way I envy you. At the same time, even for the great splendour of Greece, I cannot risk losing my future happiness.”

      She rose from the sofa as she spoke and put out her hand towards Mrs. Grandell.

      “Thank you for being so understanding. I knew as soon as Prince Holden said you were Greek not only that we shared the same language but also that we can understand each other without words.”

      It was a pretty speech, said with all the charm that Princess Marigold could use when she chose to do so and when she wanted something special and would not be denied it.

      “Your Royal Highness is very kind,” Mrs. Grandell said. “Avila and I will wait for your instructions and then carry them out to the letter.”

      “Thank you again,” Princess Marigold smiled, “and now I must return to Windsor Castle to work out with Prince Holden every detail of what we have to do now.”

      “And when do you expect to leave?” Mrs. Grandell asked.

      “On Thursday,” Princess Marigold replied. “It will be from the Port of Tilbury and, of course, Prince Holden will send a carriage for you. I have not yet been told the name of the Battleship that I am supposed to be travelling in.”

      She saw the expression of delight in Avila’s